text
stringlengths 0
1.95M
|
---|
property rights. The outcome of such litigation can be uncertain, and the cost of prosecuting such litigation may have an adverse impact
|
on our earnings. We have patent and trademark registrations for several patents and marks. However, any registrations may not adequately
|
cover our intellectual property or protect us against infringement by others. Effective patent, trademark, service mark, copyright and
|
trade secret protection may not be available in every country in which our products and services may be made available online. We also
|
currently own or control a number of Internet domain names and have invested time and money in the purchase of domain names and other
|
intellectual property, which may be impaired if we cannot protect such intellectual property. We may be unable to protect these domain
|
names or acquire or maintain relevant domain names in the United States and in other countries. If we are not able to protect our patents,
|
trademarks, domain names or other intellectual property, we may experience difficulties in achieving and maintaining brand recognition
|
and customer loyalty. Because we are involved in litigation from
|
time to time and are subject to numerous laws and governmental regulations, we could incur substantial judgments, fines, legal fees and
|
other costs as well as reputational harm. We are sometimes the
|
subject of complaints or litigation from customers, employees or other third parties for various reasons. The damages sought against us
|
in some of these litigation proceedings could be substantial. Although we maintain liability insurance for some litigation claims, if
|
one or more of the claims were to greatly exceed our insurance coverage limits or if our insurance policies do not cover a claim, this
|
could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. 63 Existing or future
|
government regulation could expose us to liabilities and costly changes in our business operations and could reduce customer demand for
|
our products and services. We are subject to federal
|
and state consumer protection laws and regulations, including laws protecting the privacy of customer non-public information and regulations
|
prohibiting unfair and deceptive trade practices, as well as laws and regulations governing businesses in general and the Internet and
|
e-commerce and certain environmental laws. Additional laws and regulations may be adopted with respect to the Internet. These laws may
|
cover issues such as user privacy, spyware and the tracking of consumer activities, marketing e-mails and communications, other advertising
|
and promotional practices, money transfers, pricing, content and quality of products and services, taxation, electronic contracts and
|
other communications, intellectual property rights, and information security. Furthermore, it is not clear how existing laws such as those
|
governing issues such as property ownership, sales and other taxes, trespass, data mining and collection, and personal privacy apply to
|
the Internet and e-commerce. To the extent we expand into international markets, we will be faced with complying with local laws and regulations,
|
some of which may be materially different than U.S. laws and regulations. Any such foreign law or regulation, any new U.S. law or regulation,
|
or the interpretation or application of existing laws and regulations to our business may have a material adverse effect on our business,
|
prospects, financial condition and results of operations by, among other things, subjecting us to fines, penalties, damages or other liabilities,
|
requiring costly changes in our business operations and practices, and reducing customer demand for our products and services. We may
|
not maintain sufficient, or any, insurance coverage to cover the types of claims or liabilities that could arise as a result of such regulation. We may be affected
|
by global climate change or by legal, regulatory, or market responses to such change. The growing political
|
and scientific sentiment is that global weather patterns are being influenced by increased levels of greenhouse gases in the earth’s
|
atmosphere. This growing sentiment and the concern over climate change have led to legislative and regulatory initiatives aimed at reducing
|
greenhouse gas emissions which warm the earth’s atmosphere. These warmer weather conditions could result in a decrease in demand
|
for auto parts in general. Moreover, proposals that would impose mandatory requirements on greenhouse gas emissions continue to be considered
|
by policy makers in the United States. Laws enacted that directly or indirectly affect our suppliers (through an increase in the cost
|
of production or their ability to produce satisfactory products) or our business (through an impact on our inventory availability, cost
|
of sales, operations or demand for the products we sell) could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations
|
and cash flows. Significant increases in fuel economy requirements or new federal or state restrictions on emissions of carbon dioxide
|
that may be imposed on vehicles and automobile fuels could adversely affect demand for vehicles, annual miles driven or the products we
|
sell or lead to changes in automotive technology. Compliance with any new or more stringent laws or regulations, or stricter interpretations
|
of existing laws, could require additional expenditures by us or our suppliers. Our inability to respond to such changes could adversely
|
impact the demand for our products and our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. Possible new tariffs
|
that might be imposed by the United States government could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations. Changes in U.S. and foreign
|
governments’ trade policies have resulted in, and may continue to result in, tariffs on imports into and exports from the U.S.,
|
among other restrictions. Throughout 2018 and 2019, the U.S. imposed tariffs on imports from several countries, including China. If further
|
tariffs are imposed on imports of our products, or retaliatory trade measures are taken by China or other countries in response to existing
|
or future tariffs, we could be forced to raise prices on all of our imported products or make changes to our operations, any of which
|
could materially harm our revenue or operating results. Any additional future tariffs or quotas imposed on our products or related materials
|
may impact our sales, gross margin and profitability if we are unable to pass increased prices onto our customers. 64 Risks Related to Our Relationship with Our
|
Manager Termination of the management services agreement
|
will not affect our manager’s rights to receive profit allocations and removal of our manager may cause us to incur significant
|
fees. Our manager owns all of our allocation shares,
|
which generally will entitle our manager to receive a profit allocation as a form of preferred distribution. In general, this profit allocation
|
is designed to pay our manager 20% of the excess of the gains upon dispositions of our subsidiaries, plus an amount equal to the net income
|
of such subsidiaries since their acquisition by us, over an annualized hurdle rate. If our manager resigns or is removed, for any reason,
|
it will remain the owner of our allocation shares. It will therefore remain entitled to all profit allocations while it holds our allocation
|
shares regardless of whether it is terminated as our manager. If we terminate our manager, it may therefore be difficult or impossible
|
for us to find a replacement to serve the function of our manager, because we would not be able to force our manager to transfer its allocation
|
shares to a replacement manager so that the replacement manager could be entitled to a profit allocation. Therefore, as a practical matter,
|
it may be difficult for us to replace our manager without its cooperation. If it becomes necessary to replace our manager and we are unable
|
to replace our manager without its cooperation, we may be unable to continue to manage our operations effectively and our business may
|
fail. If we terminate the management services agreement
|
with our manager, any fees, costs and expenses already earned or otherwise payable to our manager upon termination would become immediately
|
due. Moreover, if our manager were to be removed and our management services agreement terminated by a vote of our board of directors
|
and a majority of our common shares other than common shares beneficially owned by our manager, we would also owe a termination fee to
|
our manager on top of the other fees, costs and expenses. In addition, the management services agreement is silent as to whether termination
|
of our manager “for cause” would result in a termination fee; there is therefore a risk that the agreement may be interpreted
|
to entitle our manager to a termination fee even if terminated “for cause”. The termination fee would equal twice the sum
|
of the amount of the quarterly management fees calculated with respect to the four fiscal quarters immediately preceding the termination
|
date of the management services agreement. As a result, we could incur significant management fees as a result of the termination of our
|
manager, which may increase the risk that our business may be unable to meet its financial obligations or otherwise fail. Mr. Ellery W. Roberts, our Chairman and Chief
|
Executive Officer, controls our manager. If some event were to occur to cause Mr. Roberts (or his designated successor, heirs, beneficiaries
|
or permitted assigns) not to control our manager without the prior written consent of our board of directors, our manager would be considered
|
terminated under our agreement. Our manager and the members of our management
|
team may engage in activities that compete with us or our businesses. Although our Chief Executive Officer intends to
|
devote substantially all of his time to the affairs of our company and our manager must present all opportunities that meet our acquisition
|
and disposition criteria to our board of directors, neither our manager nor our Chief Executive Officer is expressly prohibited from investing
|
in or managing other entities. In this regard, the management services agreement and the obligation to provide management services will
|
not create a mutually exclusive relationship between our manager and its affiliates, on the one hand, and our company, on the other. See
|
Item 1 “ Business—Our Manager ” for more information about our relationship with our manager and our management
|
team. Our manager need not present an acquisition
|
opportunity to us if our manager determines on its own that such acquisition opportunity does not meet our acquisition criteria. Our manager will review any acquisition opportunity
|
to determine if it satisfies our acquisition criteria, as established by our board of directors from time to time. If our manager determines,
|
in its sole discretion, that an opportunity fits our criteria, our manager will refer the opportunity to our board of directors for its
|
authorization and approval prior to signing a letter of intent, indication of interest or similar document or agreement. Opportunities
|
that our manager determines do not fit our criteria do not need to be presented to our board of directors for consideration. In addition,
|
upon a determination by our board of directors not to promptly pursue an opportunity presented to it by our manager, in whole or in part,
|
our manager will be unrestricted in its ability to pursue such opportunity, or any part that we do not promptly pursue, on its own or
|
refer such opportunity to other entities, including its affiliates. If such an opportunity is ultimately profitable, we will have not
|
participated in such opportunity. See Item 1 “ Business—Our Manager—Acquisition and Disposition Opportunities ”
|
for more information about our current acquisition criteria. Our Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Ellery
|
W. Roberts, controls our manager and, as a result we may have difficulty severing ties with Mr. Roberts. Under the terms of the management services agreement,
|
our board of directors may, after due consultation with our manager, at any time request that our manager replace any individual seconded
|
to us, and our manager will, as promptly as practicable, replace any such individual. However, because Mr. Roberts controls our manager,
|
we may have difficulty completely severing ties with Mr. Roberts absent terminating the management services agreement and our relationship
|
with our manager. Further, termination of the management services agreement could give rise to a significant financial obligation, which
|
may have a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition. See Item 1 “ Business—Our Manager ”
|
for more information about our relationship with our manager. 65 If the management services agreement is
|
terminated, our manager, as holder of the allocation shares, has the right to cause us to purchase its allocation shares, which may have
|
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.