Home
Jump to Risk Factors
Jump to Industries
Jump to Exposures
Jump to Event Codes
Jump to Wiki Summary

Industries
Asset Management and Custody Banks
Technology Hardware Storage and Peripherals
Information Technology
Technology Hardware and Equipment
Exposures
Provide
Military
Intelligence
Rights
Express intent
Event Codes
Solicit support
Sports contest
Yield
Promise policy support
Accident
Force
Agree
Wiki Wiki Summary
Stock market A stock market, equity market, or share market is the aggregation of buyers and sellers of stocks (also called shares), which represent ownership claims on businesses; these may include securities listed on a public stock exchange, as well as stock that is only traded privately, such as shares of private companies which are sold to investors through equity crowdfunding platforms. Investment is usually made with an investment strategy in mind.
Customer relationship management Customer relationship management (CRM) is a process in which a business or other organization administers its interactions with customers, typically using data analysis to study large amounts of information.CRM systems compile data from a range of different communication channels, including a company's website, telephone, email, live chat, marketing materials and more recently, social media. They allow businesses to learn more about their target audiences and how to best cater for their needs, thus retaining customers and driving sales growth.
Business Business is the activity of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit."Having a business name does not separate the business entity from the owner, which means that the owner of the business is responsible and liable for debts incurred by the business.
Business-to-business Business-to-business (B2B or, in some countries, BtoB) is a situation where one business makes a commercial transaction with another. This typically occurs when:\n\nA business is sourcing materials for their production process for output (e.g., a food manufacturer purchasing salt), i.e.
Small business Small businesses are corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships which have fewer employees and/or less annual revenue than a regular-sized business or corporation. Businesses are defined as "small" in terms of being able to apply for government support and qualify for preferential tax policy varies depending on the country and industry.
Financial condition report In accounting, a financial condition report (FCR) is a report on the solvency condition of an insurance company that takes into account both the current financial status, as reflected in the balance sheet, and an assessment of the ability of the company to survive future risk scenarios. Risk assessment in an FCR involves dynamic solvency testing, a type of dynamic financial analysis that simulates management response to risk scenarios, to test whether a company could remain solvent in the face of deteriorating economic conditions or major disasters.
Balance sheet In financial accounting, a balance sheet (also known as statement of financial position or statement of financial condition) is a summary of the financial balances of an individual or organization, whether it be a sole proprietorship, a business partnership, a corporation, private limited company or other organization such as government or not-for-profit entity. Assets, liabilities and ownership equity are listed as of a specific date, such as the end of its financial year.
Financial analysis Financial analysis (also referred to as financial statement analysis or accounting analysis or Analysis of finance) refers to an assessment of the viability, stability, and profitability of a business, sub-business or project. \nIt is performed by professionals who prepare reports using ratios and other techniques, that make use of information taken from financial statements and other reports.
Form 10-K A Form 10-K is an annual report required by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), that gives a comprehensive summary of a company's financial performance. Although similarly named, the annual report on Form 10-K is distinct from the often glossy "annual report to shareholders," which a company must send to its shareholders when it holds an annual meeting to elect directors (though some companies combine the annual report and the 10-K into one document).
Arithmetic Arithmetic (from Ancient Greek ἀριθμός (arithmós) 'number', and τική [τέχνη] (tikḗ [tékhnē]) 'art, craft') is an elementary part of mathematics that consists of the study of the properties of the traditional operations on numbers—addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, exponentiation, and extraction of roots. In the 19th century, Italian mathematician Giuseppe Peano formalized arithmetic with his Peano axioms, which are highly important to the field of mathematical logic today.
Surgery Surgery is a medical or dental specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a person to investigate or treat a pathological condition such as a disease or injury, to help improve bodily function, appearance, or to repair unwanted ruptured areas.\nThe act of performing surgery may be called a surgical procedure, operation, or simply "surgery".
Bitwise operation In computer programming, a bitwise operation operates on a bit string, a bit array or a binary numeral (considered as a bit string) at the level of its individual bits. It is a fast and simple action, basic to the higher-level arithmetic operations and directly supported by the processor.
New product development In business and engineering, new product development (NPD) covers the complete process of bringing a new product to market, renewing an existing product or introducing a product in a new market. A central aspect of NPD is product design, along with various business considerations.
Marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emphasize in advertising; operation of advertising campaigns; attendance at trade shows and public events; design of products and packaging attractive to buyers; defining the terms of sale, such as price, discounts, warranty, and return policy; product placement in media or with people believed to influence the buying habits of others; agreements with retailers, wholesale distributors, or resellers; and attempts to create awareness of, loyalty to, and positive feelings about a brand. Marketing is typically done by the seller, typically a retailer or manufacturer.
Digital marketing Digital marketing is the component of marketing that uses the Internet and online based digital technologies such as desktop computers, mobile phones and other digital media and platforms to promote products and services. Its development during the 1990s and 2000s changed the way brands and businesses use technology for marketing.
Koch Industries Koch Industries, Inc. () is an American privately held multinational conglomerate corporation based in Wichita, Kansas.
Goodwill Industries Goodwill Industries International Inc., often shortened in speech and writing to Goodwill (stylized as goodwill), is an American nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that provides job training, employment placement services, and other community-based programs for people who have barriers to their employment. Goodwill Industries also hires veterans and individuals who lack either education, job experience or face employment challenges.
Britannia Industries Britannia Industries Limited is an Indian company specialised in food industry, part of the Wadia Group headed by Nusli Wadia. Founded in 1892 and headquartered in Kolkata, it is one of India's oldest existing companies and best known for its biscuit products.
Adverse effect An adverse effect is an undesired harmful effect resulting from a medication or other intervention, such as surgery. An adverse effect may be termed a "side effect", when judged to be secondary to a main or therapeutic effect.
Consolidation (business) In business, consolidation or amalgamation is the merger and acquisition of many smaller companies into a few much larger ones. In the context of financial accounting, consolidation refers to the aggregation of financial statements of a group company as consolidated financial statements.
Timeline of Apple Inc. products This timeline of Apple Inc. products is a list of all stand-alone Apple II, Macintosh, and other computers, as well as computer peripherals, expansion cards, ancillary products, and consumer electronics sold by Apple Inc.
Godrej Consumer Products Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL) is an Indian consumer goods company based in Mumbai, India. GCPL's products include soap, hair colourants, toiletries and liquid detergents.
Product strategy Product strategy defines the high-level plan for developing and marketing a product, how the product supports the business strategy and goals, and is brought to life through product roadmaps. A product strategy describes a vision of the future with this product, the ideal customer profile and market to serve, go-to-market and positioning (marketing), thematic areas of investment, and measures of success.
Burger King products When the predecessor of international fast food restaurant chain Burger King (BK) first opened in 1953, its menu predominantly consisted of hamburgers, French fries, soft drinks, milkshakes, and desserts. After being acquired by its Miami, Florida franchisees and renamed in 1954, BK began expanding its menu by adding the Whopper sandwich in 1957, and has since added non-beef items such as chicken, fish, and vegetarian offerings, including salads and meatless sandwiches.
Adverse possession Adverse possession, sometimes colloquially described as "squatter's rights", is a legal principle in the Anglo-American common law under which a person who does not have legal title to a piece of property—usually land (real property)—may acquire legal ownership based on continuous possession or occupation of the property without the permission (licence) of its legal owner. The possession by a person is not adverse if they are in possession as a tenant or licensee of the legal owner.
Line of credit A line of credit is a credit facility extended by a bank or other financial institution to a government, business or individual customer that enables the customer to draw on the facility when the customer needs funds. A line of credit takes several forms, such as an overdraft limit, demand loan, special purpose, export packing credit, term loan, discounting, purchase of commercial bills, traditional revolving credit card account, etc.
Primary Dealer Credit Facility On March 17, 2008, in response to the subprime mortgage crisis and the collapse of Bear Stearns, the Federal Reserve announced the creation of a new lending facility, the Primary Dealer Credit Facility (PDCF). Eligible borrowers include all financial institutions listed as primary dealers, and the term of the loan is a repurchase agreement, or "repo" loan, whereby the broker dealer sells a security in exchange for funds through the Fed's discount window.
Information technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of electronic data and information. IT is typically used within the context of business operations as opposed to personal or entertainment technologies.
Bachelor of Technology A Bachelor of Technology (Latin Baccalaureus Technologiae, commonly abbreviated as B.Tech. or BTech; with honours as B.Tech.
Regulation Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context.
Regulation A In the United States under the Securities Act of 1933, any offer to sell securities must either be registered with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or meet certain qualifications to exempt it from such registration. Regulation A (or Reg A) contains rules providing exemptions from the registration requirements, allowing some companies to use equity crowdfunding to offer and sell their securities without having to register the securities with the SEC. Regulation A offerings are intended to make access to capital possible for small and medium-sized companies that could not otherwise bear the costs of a normal SEC registration and to allow nonaccredited investors to participate in the offering.
Regulation (European Union) A regulation is a legal act of the European Union that becomes immediately enforceable as law in all member states simultaneously. Regulations can be distinguished from directives which, at least in principle, need to be transposed into national law.
Radio regulation Radio regulation refers to the regulation and licensing of radio in international law, by individual governments, and by municipalities.\n\n\n== International regulation ==\nThe International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) that is responsible for issues that concern information and communication technologies.
Regulation of therapeutic goods The regulation of therapeutic goods, defined as drugs and therapeutic devices, varies by jurisdiction. In some countries, such as the United States, they are regulated at the national level by a single agency.
Risk Factors
INFOUSA INC Item 1A Risk Factors Described below and throughout this report are certain risks that the Company’s management believes are applicable to our business and the industry in which we operate
There may be additional risks that are not presently material or known
There are also risks within the economy, the industry and the capital markets that affect business generally, and the Company as well, which have not been described
If any of the described events occur, the Company’s business, results of operations, financial condition, liquidity or access to the capital markets could be materially adversely affected
Our business would be harmed if we do not continue to successfully implement our Internet strategy
We use the Internet as our primary vehicle to provide sales leads and database information to our customers
The Internet is widely accepted by businesses all over the world
It is a very fluid distribution channel for information
The Company has always used the cutting edge technology to deliver its information to its customers
infoUSA was the first database company to offer its products on magnetic media, CD, DVD and also the Internet
Our Salesgenie, SalesLeadsUSA and other products are now being offered on the Internet on a subscription basis
We cannot guarantee that in the future that the Internet will be as prevalent as it is now, but we believe this will be the primary method of delivery of information
12 _________________________________________________________________ [68]Table of Contents We have adopted an Internet strategy because we believe that the Internet represents an important and rapidly evolving market for marketing information products and services
Our business, financial condition and results of operations would be adversely affected if we: • Fail to develop products and services that are well suited to the Internet market; • Experience difficulties that delay or prevent the successful development, introduction and marketing of these products and services; or • Fail to achieve sufficient traffic to our Internet sites to generate significant revenues, or to successfully implement electronic commerce operations
Our markets are highly competitive and many of our competitors have greater resources than we do
The business and consumer marketing information industry in which we operate is highly competitive
Intense competition could harm us by causing, among other things, price reductions, reduced gross margins, and loss of market share
Our competition includes: Acxiom, Experian (a subsidiary of Great Universal Stores, PLC (“GUS”)), Equifax, Harte-Hanks Communications, Inc
In addition, we may face competition from new entrants to the business and consumer marketing information industry as a result of the rapid expansion of the Internet, which creates a substantial new channel for distributing business information to the market
Many of our competitors have longer operating histories, better name recognition and greater financial resources than we do, which may enable them to implement their business strategies more readily than we can
Changes in the direct marketing industry and in the industries in which our customers operate may adversely affect our business
Many large companies are reducing their use of direct mail advertising and increasing their use of on-line advertising, including e-mail, search words, and banner advertisements
As a result of this change in the direct marketing industry, such customers are purchasing less data for direct mail applications
In addition, several of our customers operate in industries, in particular the financial and telecommunications industries, that are undergoing consolidation
Such consolidation reduces the number of companies in those industries, and therefore may reduce the number of customers we serve
We are addressing these changes by offering products that integrate our data, data processing, database marketing and e-mail resources, and pursuing industries that are experiencing growth rather than consolidation
We cannot assure you that the marketplace will accept these new products, or that we will be successful in entering new markets
If we do not gain acceptance for our new products or successfully enter new markets, our business, financial condition and results of operations would be adversely affected
As of December 31, 2005, we had total indebtedness of approximately dlra148dtta0 million
Substantially all of our assets are pledged as security under the terms of the Credit Facility
Our ability to pay principal and interest on the indebtedness under the Credit Facility and our ability to satisfy our other debt obligations will depend upon our future operating performance
Our performance will be affected by prevailing economic conditions and financial, business and other factors
Certain of these factors are beyond our control
The future availability of revolving credit under the Credit Facility will depend on, among other things, our ability to meet certain specified financial ratios and maintenance tests
We expect that our operating cash flow should be sufficient to meet our operating expenses, to make necessary capital expenditures and to service our debt requirements as they become due
If we are unable to service our indebtedness, however, we will be forced to take actions such as reducing or delaying acquisitions and/or capital expenditures, selling assets, restructuring or refinancing our indebtedness (including the Credit Facility) or seeking additional equity capital
We may not be able to implement any such measures or obtain additional financing on terms that are favorable or satisfactory to us, if at all
13 _________________________________________________________________ [69]Table of Contents Fluctuations in our operating results may result in decreases in the market price of our common stock
Our operating results may fluctuate on a quarterly and annual basis
Our expense levels are relatively fixed and are based, in part, on our expectations as to future revenues
As a result, unexpected changes in revenue levels may have a disproportionate effect on operating performance in any given period
In some period or periods our operating results may be below the expectations of public market analysts and investors
Our failure to meet analyst or investor expectations could result in a decrease in the market price of our common stock
If we do not adapt our products and services to respond to changes in technology, they could become obsolete
We provide marketing information and services to our customers in a variety of formats, including printed formats, electronic formats such as CD-Rom and DVD, and over the Internet
Advances in information technology may result in changing customer preferences for products and product delivery formats
If we do not successfully adapt our products and services to take advantage of changes in technology and customer preferences, our business, financial condition and results of operations would be adversely affected
Our ability to increase our revenues will depend to some extent upon introducing new products and services, and if the marketplace does not accept these new products and services, our revenues may decline
To increase our revenues, we must enhance and improve existing products and continue to introduce new products and new versions of existing products that keep pace with technological developments, satisfy increasingly sophisticated customer requirements, and achieve market acceptance
We believe much of our future growth prospects will rest on our ability to continue to expand into newer products and services
Products and services that we plan to market in the future are in various stages of development
We cannot assure you that the marketplace will accept these products
If our current or potential customers are not willing to switch to or adopt our new products and services, our ability to increase revenues will be impaired
Changes in laws and regulations relating to data privacy could adversely affect our business
We engage in direct marketing, as do many of our customers
Certain data and services provided by us are subject to regulation by federal, state and local authorities in the United States as well as those in Canada and the United Kingdom
For instance, some of the data and services that we provide are subject to regulation under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which regulates the use of consumer credit information, and to a lesser extent, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which regulates the use of non-public personal information
We are also subject to the United Kingdom’s Data Protection Act of 1998, which became fully effective on October 24, 2001 and regulates the manner in which we can use third-party data, and recent regulatory limitations relating to use of the Electoral Roll, one of our key data sources in the United Kingdom
In addition, growing concerns about individual privacy and the collection, distribution and use of information about individuals have led to self-regulation of such practices by the direct marketing industry through guidelines suggested by the Direct Marketing Association and to increased federal and state regulation
There is increasing awareness and concern among the general public regarding marketing and privacy concerns, particularly as it relates to the Internet
This concern is likely to result in new laws and regulations
Compliance with existing federal, state and local laws and regulations and industry self-regulation has not to date seriously affected our business, financial condition or results of operations
Nonetheless, federal, state and local laws and regulations designed to protect the public from the misuse of personal information in the marketplace and adverse publicity or potential litigation concerning the collection, management or commercial use of such information may increasingly affect our operations
This could result in substantial regulatory compliance or litigation expense or a loss of revenue
14 _________________________________________________________________ [70]Table of Contents Our business would be harmed if we do not successfully integrate future acquisitions
Our business strategy includes continued growth through acquisitions of complementary products, technologies or businesses
We have made over 25 acquisitions since 1996 and completed the integration of these acquisitions into our existing business by the end of 2004, with the exception of the companies recently acquired during 2005
We continue to evaluate strategic opportunities available to us and intend to pursue opportunities that we believe fit our business strategy
Acquisitions of companies, products or technologies may result in the diversion of management’s time and attention from day-to-day operations of our business and may entail numerous other risks, including difficulties in assimilating and integrating acquired operations, databases, products, corporate cultures and personnel, potential loss of key employees of acquired businesses, difficulties in applying our internal controls to acquired businesses, and particular problems, liabilities or contingencies related to the businesses being acquired
To the extent our efforts to integrate future acquisitions fail, our business, financial condition and results of operations would be adversely affected