CDW, §1A diff (2016 → 2017)

Item 1A. Risk Factors There are many factors that affect our business, results of operations and cash flows, some of which are beyond our control. The following is a description of some important factors that may cause our actual results of operations and cash flows in future periods to differ materially from those currently expected or desired. Risks Related to Our Business General economic conditions could negatively affect technology spending by our customers and put downward pressure on prices, which may have an adverse impact on our business, results of operations or cash flows. Weak economic conditions generally, sustained uncertainty about global economic conditions, government spending cuts and the impact of new government programs, or a tightening of credit markets, could cause our customers and potential customers to postpone or reduce spending on technology products or services or put downward pressure on prices, which could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations or cash flows. Our financial performance could be adversely affected by decreases in spending on technology products and services by our public sector customers. Our sales to our public sector customers are impacted by government spending policies, budget priorities and revenue levels. An adverse change in government spending policies (including ongoing budget cuts at the federal level), budget priorities or revenue levels could cause our public sector customers to reduce their purchases or to terminate or not renew their contracts with us, which could adversely affect our business, results of operations or cash flows. For example, in 2013, as a result of sequestration and related budget uncertainty and the partial shutdown of the U.S. federal government for 16 days, we experienced significantly reduced U.S. Federal sales in our Public segment. Our business depends on our vendor partner relationships and the availability of their products. We purchase products for resale from vendor partners, which include OEMs and software publishers, and wholesale distributors. For the year ended December 31, 2015, we purchased approximately 50% of the products we sold directly from vendor partners and the remaining amount from wholesale distributors for our North American Operations. We are authorized by vendor partners to sell all or some of their products via direct marketing activities. Our authorization with each vendor partner is subject to specific terms and conditions regarding such things as sales channel restrictions, product return privileges, price protection policies, purchase discounts and vendor partner programs and funding, including purchase rebates, sales volume rebates, purchasing incentives and cooperative advertising reimbursements. However, we do not have any long-term contracts with our vendor partners and many of these arrangements are terminable upon notice by either party. A reduction in vendor partner programs or funding or our failure to timely react to changes in vendor partner programs or funding could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations or cash flows. In addition, a reduction in the amount of credit granted to us by our vendor partners could increase our need for, and the cost of, working capital and could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations or cash flows, particularly given our substantial indebtedness. From time to time, vendor partners may terminate or limit our right to sell some or all of their products or change the terms and conditions or reduce or discontinue the incentives that they offer us. For example, there is no assurance that, as our vendor partners continue to sell directly to end users and through resellers, they will not limit or curtail the availability of their products to solutions providers like us. Any such termination or limitation or the implementation of such changes could have a negative impact on our business, results of operations or cash flows. Although we purchase from a diverse vendor base, in 2015, products we purchased from wholesale distributors Tech Data and SYNNEX each represented 9% of our total purchases and Ingram Micro represented 8% of our total North American purchases. In addition, sales of products manufactured by Apple, Cisco, EMC, HP Inc., Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Lenovo and Microsoft in the aggregate represented 56% of our 2015 Net sales. Sales of products manufactured by Cisco and the companies formerly known as Hewlett-Packard Company represented 16% and 18%, respectively, of our 2015 consolidated Net sales. The loss of, or change in business relationship with, any of these or any other key vendor partners, the diminished availability of their products, or backlogs for their products leading to manufacturer allocation, could reduce the supply and increase the cost of products we sell and negatively impact our competitive position. Additionally, the relocation of key distributors utilized in our purchasing model could increase our need for, and the cost of, working capital and have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations or cash flows. Further, the sale, spin-off or combination of any of our vendor partners and/or certain of their business units, including any such sale to or combination with a vendor with whom we do not currently have a commercial relationship or whose products we do not sell, could have an adverse impact on our business, results of operations or cash flows. Our sales are dependent on continued innovations in hardware, software and services offerings by our vendor partners and the competitiveness of their offerings, and our ability to partner with new and emerging technology providers. The technology industry is characterized by rapid innovation and the frequent introduction of new and enhanced hardware, software and services offerings, such as cloud-based solutions, including SaaS, IaaS and PaaS, and the Internet of Things (“IoT”). We have been and will continue to be dependent on innovations in hardware, software and services offerings, as well as the acceptance of those innovations by customers. A decrease in the rate of innovation, or the lack of acceptance of innovations by customers, could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations or cash flows. In addition, if we are unable to keep up with changes in technology and new hardware, software and services offerings, for example by providing the appropriate training to our account managers, sales technology specialists and engineers to enable them to effectively sell and deliver such new offerings to customers, our business, results of operations or cash flows could be adversely affected. We also are dependent upon our vendor partners for the development and marketing of hardware, software and services to compete effectively with hardware, software and services of vendors whose products and services we do not currently offer or that we are not authorized to offer in one or more customer channels. In addition, our success is dependent on our ability to develop relationships with and sell hardware, software and services from new emerging vendors and vendors that we have not historically represented in the marketplace. To the extent that a vendor’s offering that is highly in demand is not available to us for resale in one or more customer channels, and there is not a competitive offering from another vendor that we are authorized to sell in such customer channels, or we are unable to develop relationships with new technology providers or companies that we have not historically represented, our business, results of operations or cash flows could be adversely impacted. Substantial competition could reduce our market share and significantly harm our financial performance. Our current competition includes: • resellers, such as Computacenter, Dimension Data, ePlus, Insight Enterprises, PC Connection, PCM, Presidio, SCC, Softchoice, World Wide Technology and many smaller resellers; • manufacturers who sell directly to customers, such as Dell, HP Inc., Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Apple; • large service providers and system integrators, such as IBM, Accenture, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Dell; • e-tailers, such as Amazon, Newegg and TigerDirect.com; • cloud providers, such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft and Box; and • retailers (including their e-commerce activities), such as Staples and Office Depot. We expect the competitive landscape in which we compete to continue to change as new technologies are developed. While innovation can help our business as it creates new offerings for us to sell, it can also disrupt our business model and create new and stronger competitors. For instance, while cloud-based solutions present an opportunity for us, cloud-based solutions and technologies that deliver technology solutions as a service could increase the amount of sales directly to customers rather than through solutions providers like us, or could reduce the amount of hardware we sell, leading to a reduction in our sales and/or profitability. In addition, some of our hardware and software vendor partners sell, and could intensify their efforts to sell, their products directly to our customers. Moreover, traditional OEMs have increased their services capabilities through mergers and acquisitions with service providers, which could potentially increase competition in the market to provide comprehensive technology solutions to customers. If any of these trends becomes more prevalent, it could adversely affect our business, results of operations or cash flows. We focus on offering a high level of service to gain new customers and retain existing customers. To the extent we face increased competition to gain and retain customers, we may be required to reduce prices, increase advertising expenditures or take other actions which could adversely affect our business, results of operations or cash flows. Additionally, some of our competitors may reduce their prices in an attempt to stimulate sales, which may require us to reduce prices. This would require us to sell a greater number of products to achieve the same level of net sales and gross profit. If such a reduction in prices occurs and we are unable to attract new customers and sell increased quantities of products, our sales growth and profitability could be adversely affected. The success of our business depends on the continuing development, maintenance and operation of our information technology systems. Our success is dependent on the accuracy, proper utilization and continuing development of our information technology systems, including our business systems, such as our sales, customer management, financial and accounting, marketing, purchasing, warehouse management, e-commerce and mobile systems, as well as our operational platforms, including voice and data networks and power systems. The quality and our utilization of the information generated by our information technology systems, and our success in implementing new systems and upgrades, affects, among other things, our ability to: • conduct business with our customers, including delivering services and solutions to them; • manage our inventory and accounts receivable; • purchase, sell, ship and invoice our hardware and software products and provide and invoice our services efficiently and on a timely basis; and • maintain our cost-efficient operating model while scaling our business. The integrity of our information technology systems is vulnerable to disruption due to forces beyond our control. While we have taken steps to protect our information technology systems from a variety of threats, including computer viruses, malware, phishing, social engineering, unauthorized access and other malicious attacks, both internal and external, and human error, there can be no guarantee that those steps will be effective. Furthermore, although we have redundant systems at a separate location to back up our primary systems, there can be no assurance that these redundant systems will operate properly if and when required. Any disruption to or infiltration of our information technology systems could significantly harm our business and results of operations. Breaches of data security could adversely impact our business. Our business involves the storage and transmission of proprietary information and sensitive or confidential data, including personal information of coworkers, customers and others. In addition, we operate data centers for our customers which host their technology infrastructure and may store and transmit both business-critical data and confidential information. In connection with our services business, our coworkers also have access to our customers’ confidential data and other information. We have privacy and data security policies in place that are designed to prevent security breaches; however, as newer technologies evolve, we could be exposed to increased risk of breaches in security. Breaches in security could expose us, our customers or other individuals to a risk of public disclosure, loss or misuse of this information, resulting in legal claims or proceedings, liability or regulatory penalties under laws protecting the privacy of personal information, as well as the loss of existing or potential customers and damage to our brand and reputation. In addition, the cost and operational consequences of implementing further data protection measures could be significant. Such breaches, costs and consequences could adversely affect our business, results of operations or cash flows. The failure to comply with our public sector contracts or applicable laws and regulations could result in, among other things, termination, fines or other liabilities, and changes in procurement regulations could adversely impact our business, results of operations or cash flows. Revenues from our public sector customers are derived from sales to governmental entities, educational institutions and healthcare customers, through various contracts and open market sales of products and services. Sales to public sector customers are highly regulated. Noncompliance with contract provisions, government procurement regulations or other applicable laws or regulations (including the False Claims Act and the Medicare and Medicaid Anti-Kickback Statute or similar laws of the jurisdictions for our business activities outside of the United States) could result in civil, criminal and administrative liability, including substantial monetary fines or damages, termination of government contracts or other public sector customer contracts, and suspension, debarment or ineligibility from doing business with the government and other customers in the public sector. In addition, contracts in the public sector are generally terminable at any time for convenience of the contracting agency or group purchasing organization (“GPO”) or upon default. Furthermore, our inability to enter into or retain contracts with GPOs may threaten our ability to sell to customers in those GPOs and compete. The effect of any of these possible actions could adversely affect our business, results of operations or cash flows. In addition, the adoption of new or modified procurement regulations and other requirements may increase our compliance costs and reduce our gross margins, which could have a negative effect on our business, results of operations or cash flows. If we fail to provide high-quality services to our customers, or if our third-party service providers fail to provide high-quality services to our customers, our reputation, business, results of operations or cash flows could be adversely affected. Our service offerings include field services, managed services, warranties, configuration services, partner services and telecom services. Additionally, we deliver and manage mission critical software, systems and network solutions for our customers. We also offer certain services, such as implementation and installation services and repair services, to our customers through various third-party service providers engaged to perform these services on our behalf. If we or our third-party service providers fail to provide high quality services to our customers or such services result in a disruption of our customers’ businesses, this could, among other things, result in legal claims and proceedings and liability. Moreover, as we expand our services and solutions business, we may be exposed to additional operational, regulatory and other risks. We also could incur liability for failure to comply with the rules and regulations applicable to the new services and solutions we provide to our customers. If any of the foregoing were to occur, our reputation with our customers, our brand and our business, results of operations or cash flows could be adversely affected. If we lose any of our key personnel, or are unable to attract and retain the talent required for our business, our business could be disrupted and our financial performance could suffer. Our success is heavily dependent upon our ability to attract, develop, engage and retain key personnel to manage and grow our business, including our key executive, management, sales, services and technical coworkers. Our future success will depend to a significant extent on the efforts of Thomas E. Richards, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, as well as the continued service and support of our other executive officers. Our future success also will depend on our ability to retain our customer-facing coworkers, who have been given critical CDW knowledge regarding, and the opportunity to develop strong relationships with, many of our customers. In addition, as we seek to expand our offerings of value-added services and solutions, our success will even more heavily depend on attracting and retaining highly skilled technology specialists and engineers, for whom the market is extremely competitive. Our inability to attract, develop and retain key personnel could have an adverse effect on our relationships with our vendor partners and customers and adversely affect our ability to expand our offerings of value-added services and solutions. Moreover, our inability to train our sales, services and technical personnel effectively to meet the rapidly changing technology needs of our customers could cause a decrease in the overall quality and efficiency of such personnel. Such consequences could adversely affect our business, results of operations or cash flows. The interruption of the flow of products from suppliers could disrupt our supply chain. A significant portion of the products we sell are manufactured or purchased by our vendor partners outside of the U.S., primarily in Asia. Political, social or economic instability in Asia, or in other regions in which our vendor partners purchase or manufacture the products we sell, could cause disruptions in trade, including exports to the U.S. Other events that could also cause disruptions to our supply chain include: • the imposition of additional trade law provisions or regulations; • the imposition of additional duties, tariffs and other charges on imports and exports; • foreign currency fluctuations; • natural disasters or other adverse occurrences at, or affecting, any of our suppliers’ facilities; • restrictions on the transfer of funds; • the financial instability or bankruptcy of manufacturers; and • significant labor disputes, such as strikes. We cannot predict whether the countries in which the products we sell are purchased or manufactured, or may be purchased or manufactured in the future, will be subject to new or additional trade restrictions or sanctions imposed by the U.S. or foreign governments, including the likelihood, type or effect of any such restrictions. Trade restrictions, including new or increased tariffs or quotas, embargoes, sanctions, safeguards and customs restrictions against the products we sell, as well as foreign labor strikes and work stoppages or boycotts, could increase the cost or reduce the supply of product available to us and adversely affect our business, results of operations or cash flows. In addition, our exports are subject to regulations and noncompliance with these requirements could have a negative effect on our business, results of operations or cash flows. A natural disaster or other adverse occurrence at one of our primary facilities or customer data centers could damage our business. We have two warehouse and distribution facilities in the United States and one in the United Kingdom. If the warehouse and distribution equipment at one of our distribution centers were to be seriously damaged by a natural disaster or other adverse occurrence, we could utilize another distribution center or third-party distributors to ship products to our customers. However, this may not be sufficient to avoid interruptions in our service and may not enable us to meet all of the needs of our customers and would cause us to incur incremental operating costs. In addition, we operate three customer data centers and numerous sales offices which may contain both business-critical data and confidential information of our customers. A natural disaster or other adverse occurrence at any of the customer data centers or at any of our major sales offices could negatively impact our business, results of operations or cash flows. We are heavily dependent on commercial delivery services. We generally ship hardware products to our customers by FedEx, United Parcel Service and other commercial delivery services and invoice customers for delivery charges. If we are unable to pass on to our customers future increases in the cost of commercial delivery services, our profitability could be adversely affected. Additionally, strikes, inclement weather, natural disasters or other service interruptions by such shippers could adversely affect our ability to deliver products on a timely basis. We are exposed to accounts receivable and inventory risks. We extend credit to our customers for a significant portion of our net sales, typically on 30-day payment terms. We are subject to the risk that our customers may not pay for the products they have purchased, or may pay at a slower rate than we have historically experienced, the risk of which is heightened during periods of economic downturn or uncertainty or, in the case of public sector customers, during periods of budget constraints. We are also exposed to inventory risks as a result of the rapid technological changes that affect the market and pricing for the products we sell. We seek to minimize our inventory exposure through a variety of inventory management procedures and policies, including our rapid-turn inventory model, as well as vendor price protection and product return programs. However, if we were unable to maintain our rapid-turn inventory model, if there were unforeseen product developments that created more rapid obsolescence or if our vendor partners were to change their terms and conditions, our inventory risks could increase. We also from time to time take advantage of cost savings associated with certain opportunistic bulk inventory purchases offered by our vendor partners or we may decide to carry high inventory levels of certain products that have limited or no return privileges due to customer demand or request. These bulk purchases could increase our exposure to inventory obsolescence. We could be exposed to additional risks if we continue to make strategic investments or acquisitions or enter into alliances. We may continue to pursue transactions, including strategic investments, acquisitions or alliances, in an effort to extend or complement our existing business. These types of transactions involve numerous business risks, including finding suitable transaction partners and negotiating terms that are acceptable to us, the diversion of management’s attention from other business concerns, extending our product or service offerings into areas in which we have limited experience, entering into new geographic markets, the potential loss of key coworkers or business relationships and successfully integrating acquired businesses, any of which could adversely affect our operations. In addition, our financial results could be adversely affected by financial adjustments required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) in connection with these types of transactions where significant goodwill or intangible assets are recorded. To the extent the value of goodwill or identifiable intangible assets with indefinite lives becomes impaired, we may be required to incur material charges relating to the impairment of those assets. Our future operating results may fluctuate significantly. We may experience significant variations in our future quarterly results of operations. These fluctuations may cause the market price of our common stock to be volatile and may result from many factors, including the condition of the technology industry in general, shifts in demand and pricing for hardware, software and services and the introduction of new products or upgrades. Our operating results are also highly dependent on our level of gross profit as a percentage of net sales. Our gross profit percentage fluctuates due to numerous factors, some of which may be outside of our control, including general macroeconomic conditions; pricing pressures; changes in product costs from our vendor partners; the availability of price protection, purchase discounts and incentive programs from our vendor partners; changes in product, order size and customer mix; the risk of some items in our inventory becoming obsolete; increases in delivery costs that we cannot pass on to customers; and general market and competitive conditions. In addition, our cost structure is based, in part, on anticipated sales and gross margins. Therefore, we may not be able to adjust our cost structure quickly enough to compensate for any unexpected sales or gross margin shortfall, and any such inability could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations or cash flows. Fluctuations in foreign currency have an effect on our reported results of operations. Our exposure to fluctuations in foreign currency rates results primarily from the translation exposure associated with the preparation of our Consolidated Financial Statements. While our Consolidated Financial Statements are reported in U.S. dollars, the financial statements of our subsidiaries outside the U.S. are prepared using the local currency as the functional currency and translated into U.S. dollars. As a result, fluctuations in the exchange rate of the U.S. dollar relative to the local currencies of our international subsidiaries, particularly the British pound and the Canadian dollar, could cause fluctuations in our reported results of operations. We also have foreign currency exposure to the extent sales and purchases are not denominated in a subsidiary’s functional currency, such as sales and purchases in euros, which could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations or cash flows. We are exposed to risks from legal proceedings and audits. We are party to various legal proceedings that arise in the ordinary course of our business, which include commercial, employment, tort and other litigation. We are subject to intellectual property infringement claims against us in the ordinary course of our business, either because of the products and services we sell or the business systems and processes we use to sell such products and services, in the form of cease-and-desist letters, licensing inquiries, lawsuits and other communications and demands. In our industry, such intellectual property claims have become more frequent as the complexity of technological products and the intensity of competition in our industry have increased. Increasingly, many of these assertions are brought by non-practicing entities whose principal business model is to secure patent licensing revenue, but we may also be subject to suits from inventors, competitors or other patent holders who may seek licensing revenue, lost profits and/or an injunction preventing us from engaging in certain activities, including selling certain products and services. Because of our significant sales to governmental entities, we also are subject to audits by federal, state, international, national, provincial and local authorities. We also are subject to audits by various vendor partners and large customers, including government agencies, relating to purchases and sales under various contracts. In addition, we are subject to indemnification claims under various contracts. Current and future litigation, infringement claims, governmental proceedings and investigations, audits or indemnification claims that we face, including the SEC’s investigation of our vendor partner program incentives, may result in substantial costs and expenses and significantly divert the attention of our management regardless of the outcome. In addition, these matters could lead to increased costs or interruptions of our normal business operations. Litigation, infringement claims, governmental proceedings and investigations, audits or indemnification claims involve uncertainties and the eventual outcome of any such matter could adversely affect our business, results of operations or cash flows. Failure to comply with the laws and regulations applicable to our operations could adversely impact our business, results of operations or cash flows. Our operations are subject to numerous U.S. and foreign laws and regulations in a number of areas including areas of labor and employment, advertising, e-commerce, tax, import and export requirements, anti-corruption, data privacy requirements, anti-competition, and environmental, health, and safety. Compliance with these laws, regulations and similar requirements may be onerous and expensive, and they may be inconsistent from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, further increasing the cost of compliance and doing business, and the risk of noncompliance. We have implemented policies and procedures designed to help ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations, but there can be no guarantee against coworkers, contractors, or agents violating such laws and regulations or our policies and procedures. As a public company, we also are subject to increasingly complex public disclosure, corporate governance and accounting requirements that increase compliance costs and require significant management focus. We have significant deferred cancellation of debt income. As a result of a 2009 debt modification, we realized $395.5 million of cancellation of debt income (“CODI”). We made an election under Code Section 108(i) to defer this CODI from taxable income, pursuant to which we are also required to defer certain original issue discount (“OID”) deductions as they accrue. As of December 31, 2013, we had deferred approximately $114.5 million of OID deductions. Starting in 2014, we were required to include the deferred CODI and the deferred OID into taxable income ratably over a five-year period ending in 2018. Because we have more CODI than the aggregate of our deferred OID on the relevant remaining debt instruments, we will have a future cash tax liability associated with our significant deferred CODI. We have reflected the associated cash tax liability in our deferred taxes for financial accounting purposes. All of our deferred CODI will be accelerated into current taxable income if, prior to 2018, we engage in a so-called “impairment transaction” and the gross value of our assets immediately afterward is less than 110% of the sum of our total liabilities and the tax on the net amount of our deferred CODI and OID (the “110% test”) as determined under the applicable Treasury Regulations. An “impairment transaction” is any transaction that impairs our ability to pay the tax on our deferred CODI, and includes dividends or distributions with respect to our equity and charitable contributions, in each case in a manner that is not consistent with our historical practice within the meaning of the applicable Treasury Regulations. Prior to 2018, our willingness to pay dividends or make distributions with respect to our equity could be adversely affected if, at the time, we do not meet the 110% test and, as a result, the payment of a dividend or the making of a distribution would accelerate the tax payable with respect to our deferred CODI. We believe that, based on our interpretation of applicable Treasury Regulations, the gross value of our assets exceeds 110% of the sum of our total liabilities and the tax on the net amount of our deferred CODI and OID as of the filing date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. However, we cannot assure you that this will continue to be true in the future. Risks Related to Our Indebtedness We have a substantial amount of indebtedness, which could have important consequences to our business. We have a substantial amount of indebtedness. As of December 31, 2015, we had $3.3 billion of total long-term debt outstanding, as defined by GAAP, and $439.6 million of obligations outstanding under our inventory financing agreements, and the ability to borrow an additional $843.1 million under our senior secured asset-based revolving credit facility (the “Revolving Loan”) and an additional £50.0 million ($73.7 million) under our Kelway revolving credit facility (“Kelway Credit Facility”). Our substantial indebtedness could have important consequences, including the following: • making it more difficult for us to satisfy our obligations with respect to our indebtedness; • requiring us to dedicate a substantial portion of our cash flow from operations to debt service payments on our and our subsidiaries’ debt, which reduces the funds available for working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes; • requiring us to comply with restrictive covenants in our senior credit facilities and indentures, which limit the manner in which we conduct our business; • making it more difficult for us to obtain vendor financing from our vendor partners, including original equipment manufacturers and software publishers; • limiting our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in the industry in which we operate; • placing us at a competitive disadvantage compared to any of our less-leveraged competitors; • increasing our vulnerability to both general and industry-specific adverse economic conditions; and • limiting our ability to obtain additional debt or equity financing to fund future working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions or other general corporate requirements and increasing our cost of borrowing. Restrictive covenants under our senior credit facilities and, to a lesser degree, our indentures may adversely affect our operations and liquidity. Our senior credit facilities and, to a lesser degree, our indentures contain, and any future indebtedness of ours may contain, various covenants that limit our ability to, among other things: • incur or guarantee additional debt; • pay dividends or make distributions to holders of our capital stock or to make certain other restricted payments or investments; • repurchase or redeem capital stock; • make loans, capital expenditures or investments or acquisitions; • receive dividends or other payments from our subsidiaries; • enter into transactions with affiliates; • create liens; • merge or consolidate with other companies or transfer all or substantially all of our assets; • transfer or sell assets, including capital stock of subsidiaries; and • prepay, repurchase or redeem debt. As a result of these covenants, we are limited in the manner in which we conduct our business and we may be unable to engage in favorable business activities or finance future operations or capital needs. A breach of any of these covenants or any of the other restrictive covenants would result in a default under our senior credit facilities. Upon the occurrence of an event of default under our senior credit facilities, the lenders: • will not be required to lend any additional amounts to us; • could elect to declare all borrowings outstanding thereunder, together with accrued and unpaid interest and fees, to be due and payable; or • could require us to apply all of our available cash to repay these borrowings. The acceleration of amounts outstanding under our senior credit facilities would likely trigger an event of default under our existing indentures. If we were unable to repay those amounts, the lenders under our senior credit facilities could proceed against the collateral granted to them to secure our borrowings thereunder. We have pledged a significant portion of our assets as collateral under our senior credit facilities. If the lenders under our senior credit facilities accelerate the repayment of borrowings, we cannot assure you that we will have sufficient assets to repay our senior credit facilities and our other indebtedness or the ability to borrow sufficient funds to refinance such indebtedness. Even if we were able to obtain new financing, it may not be on commercially reasonable terms, or terms that are acceptable to us. In addition, under our Revolving Loan, we are permitted to borrow an aggregate amount of up to $1,250.0 million. However, our ability to borrow under our Revolving Loan is limited by a borrowing base and a liquidity condition. The borrowing base at any time equals the sum of up to 85% of CDW LLC and its subsidiary guarantors’ eligible accounts receivable (net of accounts reserves) (up to 30% of such eligible accounts receivable which can consist of federal government accounts receivable) plus the lesser of (i) 75% of CDW LLC and its subsidiary guarantors’ eligible inventory (valued at cost and net of inventory reserves) and (ii) the product of 85% multiplied by the net orderly liquidation value percentage multiplied by eligible inventory (valued at cost and net of inventory reserves), less reserves (other than accounts reserves and inventory reserves). The borrowing base in effect as of December 31, 2015 was $1,423.1 million, and therefore, did not restrict our ability to borrow under our Revolving Loan as of that date. Our ability to borrow under our Revolving Loan is also limited by a minimum liquidity condition, which provides that, if excess cash availability is less than the lesser of (i) $125.0 million and (ii) the greater of (A) 10% of the borrowing base and (B) $100.0 million, the lenders are not required to lend any additional amounts under our Revolving Loan unless the consolidated fixed charge coverage ratio (as defined in the credit agreement for our Revolving Loan) is at least 1.0 to 1.0. Moreover, our Revolving Loan provides discretion to the agent bank acting on behalf of the lenders to impose additional availability reserves, which could materially impair the amount of borrowings that would otherwise be available to us. We cannot assure you that the agent bank will not impose such reserves or, were it to do so, that the resulting impact of this action would not materially and adversely impair our liquidity. We will be required to generate sufficient cash to service our indebtedness and, if not successful, we may be forced to take other actions to satisfy our obligations under our indebtedness. Our ability to make scheduled payments on or to refinance our debt obligations depends on our financial and operating performance, which is subject to prevailing economic and competitive conditions and to certain financial, business and other factors beyond our control. Our outstanding long-term debt will impose significant cash interest payment obligations on us and, accordingly, we will have to generate significant cash flow from operating activities to fund our debt service obligations. We cannot assure you that we will maintain a level of cash flows from operating activities sufficient to permit us to pay the principal, premium, if any, and interest on our indebtedness. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations-Liquidity and Capital Resources” included elsewhere in this report. If our cash flows and capital resources are insufficient to fund our debt service obligations, we may be forced to reduce or delay capital expenditures, sell assets or operations, seek additional debt or equity capital, restructure or refinance our indebtedness, or revise or delay our strategic plan. We cannot assure you that we would be able to take any of these actions, that these actions would be successful and permit us to meet our scheduled debt service obligations or satisfy our capital requirements, or that these actions would be permitted under the terms of our existing or future debt agreements, including our senior credit facilities and indentures. In the absence of such operating results and resources, we could face substantial liquidity problems and might be required to dispose of material assets or operations to meet our debt service and other obligations. Our senior credit facilities restrict our ability to dispose of assets and use the proceeds from the disposition. We may not be able to consummate those dispositions or to obtain the proceeds which we could realize from them and these proceeds may not be adequate to meet any debt service obligations then due. Furthermore, Madison Dearborn and Providence Equity have no obligation to provide us with debt or equity financing. If we cannot make scheduled payments on our debt, we will be in default and, as a result: • our debt holders could declare all outstanding principal and interest to be due and payable; • the lenders under our senior credit facilities could foreclose against the assets securing the borrowings from them and the lenders under our Revolving Loan and Kelway Credit Facility could terminate their commitments to lend us money; and • we could be forced into bankruptcy or liquidation. Despite our indebtedness levels, we and our subsidiaries may be able to incur substantially more debt, including secured debt. This could further increase the risks associated with our leverage. We and our subsidiaries may be able to incur substantial additional indebtedness in the future. The terms of our senior credit facilities and indentures do not fully prohibit us or our subsidiaries from doing so. To the extent that we incur additional indebtedness or such other obligations, the risks associated with our substantial indebtedness described above, including our possible inability to service our debt, will increase. As of December 31, 2015, we had $843.1 million available for additional borrowing under our Revolving Loan after taking into account borrowing base limitations (net of $2.1 million of issued and undrawn letters of credit and $439.6 million of reserves related to our floorplan sub-facility) and an additional £50.0 million ($73.7 million) available under our Kelway Credit Facility. Variable rate indebtedness subjects us to interest rate risk, which could cause our debt service obligations to increase significantly. Certain of our borrowings, primarily borrowings under our senior credit facilities, are at variable rates of interest and expose us to interest rate risk. As of December 31, 2015, we had $1,586.5 million of variable rate debt outstanding, $1,498.1 million of which is subject to a 1.0% LIBOR floor. If interest rates increase above 1% per annum, our debt service obligations on the variable rate indebtedness would increase even though the amount borrowed remained the same, and our net income would decrease. Although we have entered into interest rate cap agreements on our term loan facility to reduce interest rate volatility, we cannot assure you we will be able to enter into interest rate cap agreements in the future on acceptable terms or that such caps or the caps we have in place now will be effective. Risks Related to Ownership of Our Common Stock Our common stock price may be volatile and may decline regardless of our operating performance, and holders of our common stock could lose a significant portion of their investment. The market price for our common stock may be volatile. Our stockholders may not be able to resell their shares of common stock at or above the price at which they purchased such shares, due to fluctuations in the market price of our common stock, which may be caused by a number of factors, many of which we cannot control, including the risk factors described in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and the following: • changes in financial estimates by any securities analysts who follow our common stock, our failure to meet these estimates or failure of securities analysts to maintain coverage of our common stock; • downgrades by any securities analysts who follow our common stock; • future sales of our common stock by our officers, directors and significant stockholders, including Madison Dearborn and Providence Equity; • market conditions or trends in our industry or the economy as a whole; • investors’ perceptions of our prospects; • announcements by us or our competitors of significant contracts, acquisitions, joint ventures or capital commitments; and • changes in key personnel. In addition, the stock markets have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have affected and continue to affect the market prices of equity securities of many companies, including companies in our industry. In the past, securities class action litigation has followed periods of market volatility. If we were involved in securities litigation, we could incur substantial costs, and our resources and the attention of management could be diverted from our business. Future sales or distributions of our common stock, or the perception in the public markets that these sales or distributions may occur, may depress our stock price. Sales of substantial amounts of our common stock in the public market, or the perception that these sales could occur, could adversely affect the price of our common stock and could impair our ability to raise capital through the sale of additional shares. As of February 19, 2016, there were 167,740,043 shares of our common stock outstanding. The shares of our common stock sold in our initial public offering and in registered secondary offerings are freely tradable without restriction under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), except that any shares of our common stock that may be acquired by our directors, executive officers and other affiliates, as that term is defined in the Securities Act, may be sold only in compliance with certain volume limitations and other restrictions of Rule 144 under the Securities Act. The remaining shares of our common stock, to the extent not previously sold pursuant to an exemption from registration, will continue to be “restricted securities” within the meaning of Rule 144 under the Securities Act and subject to certain restrictions on resale. Restricted securities may be sold in the public market only if they are registered under the Securities Act or are sold pursuant to an exemption from registration such as Rule 144 under the Securities Act. As of February 19, 2016, the holders of approximately 16,000,000 shares of our common stock, including Madison Dearborn and Providence Equity, will continue to have the right to require us to register the sales of such shares under the Securities Act, under the terms of an agreement between us and the holders. As of February 19, 2016, Madison Dearborn beneficially owned approximately 4.9% of our common stock and Providence Equity beneficially owned approximately 4.3% of our common stock. Madison Dearborn and Providence Equity are permitted to distribute all or a portion of the shares of common stock that they hold in one or more pro rata distributions to their respective limited partners, and the recipients of the shares would generally be permitted to sell the shares immediately pursuant to Rule 144 under the Securities Act. A distribution of shares by Madison Dearborn or Providence Equity, and the subsequent sale of shares by the recipients, or the perception that such a distribution and subsequent sale of shares might occur, could adversely affect the price of our common stock and could impair our ability to raise capital through the sale of additional shares. In the future, we may also issue our securities in connection with investments or acquisitions. The number of shares of our common stock issued in connection with an investment or acquisition could constitute a material portion of our then-outstanding shares of our common stock. Anti-takeover provisions in our charter documents and Delaware law might discourage or delay acquisition attempts for us that you might consider favorable. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws contain provisions that may make the acquisition of the Company more difficult without the approval of our Board of Directors. These provisions: • authorize the issuance of undesignated preferred stock, the terms of which may be established and the shares of which may be issued without stockholder approval, and which may include super voting, special approval, dividend, or other rights or preferences superior to the rights of the holders of common stock; • establish a classified Board of Directors so that not all members of our Board of Directors are elected at one time; • generally prohibit stockholder action by written consent, requiring all stockholder actions be taken at a meeting of our stockholders; • provide that special meetings of the stockholders can only be called by or at the direction of our Board of Directors pursuant to a written resolution adopted by the affirmative vote of the majority of the total number of directors that the Company would have if there were no vacancies; • establish advance notice requirements for nominations for elections to our Board of Directors or for proposing matters that can be acted upon by stockholders at stockholder meetings; and • provide that our Board of Directors is expressly authorized to make, alter or repeal our amended and restated bylaws. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation also contains a provision that provides us with protections similar to Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, and will prevent us from engaging in a business combination with a person who acquires at least 15% of our common stock for a period of three years from the date such person acquired such common stock, unless board or stockholder approval is obtained prior to the acquisition. These anti-takeover provisions and other provisions under Delaware law could discourage, delay or prevent a transaction involving a change in control of the Company, even if doing so would benefit our stockholders. These provisions could also discourage proxy contests and make it more difficult for our stockholders to elect directors of their choosing and to cause us to take other corporate actions our stockholders desire. Conflicts of interest may arise because some of our directors are principals of Madison Dearborn and Providence Equity. Paul Finnegan and Robin Selati, who are principals of Madison Dearborn, and Glenn Creamer and Michael Dominguez, who are managing directors of Providence Equity, serve on our Board of Directors. Madison Dearborn, Providence Equity and the entities respectively controlled by them may hold equity interests in entities that directly or indirectly compete with us, and companies in which they currently invest may begin competing with us. As a result of these relationships, when conflicts arise between the interests of Madison Dearborn or Providence Equity, on the one hand, and of other stockholders, on the other hand, these directors may not be disinterested. Although our directors and officers have a duty of loyalty to us under Delaware law and our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, transactions that we enter into in which a director or officer has a conflict of interest are generally permissible so long as (1) the material facts relating to the director’s or officer’s relationship or interest as to the transaction are disclosed to our Board of Directors and a majority of our disinterested directors approves the transaction, (2) the material facts relating to the director’s or officer’s relationship or interest as to the transaction are disclosed to our stockholders and a majority of our disinterested stockholders approve the transaction or (3) the transaction is otherwise fair to us. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation also provides that any principal, officer, member, manager and/or employee of Madison Dearborn or Providence Equity or any entity that controls, is controlled by or under common control with Madison Dearborn or Providence Equity (other than us or any company that is controlled by us) or an investment fund managed by Madison Dearborn or Providence Equity will not be required to offer any transaction opportunity of which they become aware to us and could take any such opportunity for themselves or offer it to other companies in which they have an investment, unless such opportunity is offered to them solely in their capacities as our directors. We cannot assure you that we will continue to pay dividends on our common stock or repurchase any of our common stock under our share repurchase program, and our indebtedness and certain tax considerations could limit our ability to continue to pay dividends on, or make share repurchases of, our common stock. If we do not continue to pay dividends, you may not receive any return on investment unless you are able to sell your common stock for a price greater than your purchase price. We expect to continue to pay a cash dividend on our common stock of $0.1075 per share per quarter, or $0.43 per share per annum. However, any determination to pay dividends in the future will be at the discretion of our Board of Directors. Any determination to pay dividends on, or repurchase, shares of our common stock in the future will depend upon our results of operations, financial condition, business prospects, capital requirements, contractual restrictions, any potential indebtedness we may incur, restrictions imposed by applicable law, tax considerations and other factors our Board of Directors deems relevant. In addition, our ability to pay dividends on, or repurchase, shares of our common stock will be limited by restrictions on our ability to pay dividends or make distributions to our stockholders and on the ability of our subsidiaries to pay dividends or make distributions to us, in each case, under the terms of our current and any future agreements governing our indebtedness. There can be no assurance that we will continue to pay a dividend at the current rate or at all or that we will repurchase shares of our common stock. If we do not pay dividends in the future, realization of a gain on your investment will depend entirely on the appreciation of the price of our common stock, which may never occur. See “--Risks Related to Our Business--We have significant deferred cancellation of debt income” for a discussion of certain tax considerations that could affect our willingness to pay dividends in the future. We are a holding company and rely on dividends, distributions and other payments, advances and transfers of funds from our subsidiaries to meet our obligations. We are a holding company that does not conduct any business operations of our own. As a result, we are largely dependent upon cash dividends and distributions and other transfers from our subsidiaries to meet our obligations. The agreements governing the indebtedness of our subsidiaries impose restrictions on our subsidiaries’ ability to pay dividends or other distributions to us. The deterioration of the earnings from, or other available assets of, our subsidiaries for any reason could also limit or impair their ability to pay dividends or other distributions to us. Item 1B.