UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, DC 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date of report (date of earliest event reported): June 27, 2003
SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)
| Cayman Islands | 001-31560 | 98-0355609 | ||
(State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation) | (Commission File Number) | (IRS Employer Identification Number) |
P.O. Box 309GT, Ugland House, South Church Street, George Town, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands | NA | |
| (Address of Principal Executive Office) | (Zip Code) |
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (345) 949-8066
NA
(Former Name or Former Address, if Changed Since Last Report)
Item 5. Other Events and Required FD Disclosure
We recently filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission a registration statement on Form S-1 that included an undated set of risk factors that may affect our business, results of operations and financial information. We are filing this current report on Form 8-K to provide the updated set of risk factors under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 and to include such risk factors in our existing registration statements on Form S-8.
Risks Related to Our Business
Competition—Our industry is highly competitive and our products have experienced significant price erosion.
Even during periods when demand is stable, the rigid disc drive industry is intensely competitive and vendors typically experience substantial price erosion over the life of a product. Our competitors have historically offered existing products at lower prices as part of a strategy to gain or retain market share and customers, and we expect these practices to continue. We may need to reduce our prices to retain our market share, which could adversely affect our results of operations. Based on our recent experience in the industry with respect to new product introductions, we believe that the rate of increase in areal density, or the storage capacity per square inch on a disc, is slowing from its previous levels. This trend may contribute to increased average price erosion to the extent that historical price erosion patterns continue, product life cycles are lengthened and we are unable to offset these factors with new product introductions at higher average prices. As a result, our results of operations could be adversely affected.
Moreover, a significant portion of our success over the past two fiscal years is a result of increasing our market share at the expense of our competitors. Our current market share may be negatively affected by our customers’ preference to diversify their sources of supply or if they decide to meet their requirements by manufacturing rigid disc drives themselves, particularly in the enterprise sector. Any significant increase in market share by one of our competitors would likely result in a decline in our market share, which could adversely affect our results of operations.
Principal Competitors—We compete with both captive manufacturers, who do not depend solely on sales of rigid disc drives to maintain their profitability, and independent manufacturers, whose primary focus is producing technologically advanced rigid disc drives.
We have experienced and expect to continue to experience intense competition from a number of domestic and foreign companies, including other independent rigid disc drive manufacturers and large captive manufacturers such as:
Captive | Independent | |
Fujitsu Limited | Maxtor Corporation | |
Hitachi Global Storage Technologies | Western Digital Corporation | |
Samsung Electronics Incorporated | ||
Toshiba Corporation |
The term “independent” in this context refers to manufacturers that primarily produce rigid disc drives as a stand-alone product, and the term “captive” refers to rigid disc drive manufacturers that produce complete computer or other systems that contain rigid disc drives or other information storage products. Captive manufacturers are formidable competitors because they have the ability to determine pricing for complete systems without regard to the margins on individual components. Because components other than rigid disc drives generally contribute a greater portion of the operating margin on a complete computer system than do rigid disc drives, captive manufacturers do not necessarily need to realize a profit on the rigid disc drives included in a computer system and, as a result, may be willing to sell rigid disc drives to third parties at very low margins. Many captive manufacturers are also formidable competitors because they have more substantial resources than we do. To the extent we are not successful competing with captive or independent rigid disc drive manufacturers, our results of operations will be adversely affected.
In addition, in response to customer demand for high-quality, high-volume and low-cost rigid disc drives, manufacturers of rigid
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disc drives have had to develop large, in some cases global, production facilities with highly developed technological capabilities and internal controls. The development of large production facilities and industry consolidation can contribute to the intensification of competition. We also face indirect competition from present and potential customers who evaluate from time to time whether to manufacture their own rigid disc drives or other information storage products.
Industry Consolidation—Consolidation among captive manufacturers may serve to increase their resources and improve their access to customers, thereby making them more formidable competitors.
Consolidation among captive manufacturers may provide them with competitive advantages over independent manufacturers, including us. For example, IBM recently merged its disc drive business with the disc drive business of Hitachi through the formation of Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, a separate company that is 70% owned by Hitachi. As a part of this transaction, each of IBM and Hitachi has agreed to multi-year supply commitments with the new company. Because IBM is one of our most significant customers and Hitachi is one of our most significant competitors, there is a significant risk that IBM will decrease the number of rigid disc drives purchased from us and increase the number purchased from the new company. Moreover, economies of scale and the combination of the two companies’ technological capabilities, particularly in the enterprise sector of our industry, could make the new company a more formidable competitor than IBM or Hitachi operating alone.
Volatility of Quarterly Results—Our quarterly operating results fluctuate significantly from period to period, and this may cause our stock price to decline.
In the past, our quarterly revenue and operating results fluctuated significantly from period to period. We expect this fluctuation to continue for a variety of reasons, including:
| · | changes in the demand for the computer systems, storage subsystems and consumer electronics that contain our rigid disc drives, due to seasonality and other factors; |
| · | changes in purchases from period to period by our primary customers; |
| · | competitive pressures resulting in lower selling prices, a condition that is exacerbated when competitors exit the industry or specific product lines and liquidate their remaining inventory; |
| · | adverse changes in the level of economic activity in the United States and other major regions in which we do business; |
| · | our high proportion of fixed costs, including research and development expenses; |
| · | delays or problems in the introduction of our new products; |
| · | announcements of new products, services or technological innovations by us or our competitors; |
| · | increased costs or adverse changes in availability of supplies; |
| · | the impact of external factors, such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, on customer demand or on our operations; and |
| · | the ability of our competition to regain their recent market share losses, particularly with respect to enterprise products, through the introduction of technologically advanced products and their ability to improve their operational execution. |
As a result, we believe that quarter-to-quarter comparisons of our revenue and operating results may not be meaningful, and that these comparisons may not be an accurate indicator of our future performance. Our operating results in one or more future quarters may fail to meet the expectations of investment research analysts or investors, which could cause an immediate and significant decline in the trading price of our common shares.
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Industry Demand—Slowdown in demand for computer systems and storage subsystems has caused and may continue to cause a decline in demand for our products.
Our rigid disc drives are components in computer systems and storage subsystems. The demand for these products has been volatile. In a weak economy, consumer spending tends to decline and retail demand for PCs tends to decrease, as does enterprise demand for computer systems and storage subsystems. Currently, demand for rigid disc drives in the enterprise sector is being adversely impacted as a result of the weakened economy and because enterprises have shifted their focus from making new equipment purchases to more efficiently using their existing information technology infrastructure through, among other things, adopting new storage architectures. Unexpected slowdowns in demand for computer systems and storage subsystems have generally caused sharp declines in demand for rigid disc drive products. During economic slowdowns such as the one that began in 2001, our industry has experienced periods in which the supply of rigid disc drives has exceeded demand.
Additional causes of declines in demand for our products in the past have included announcements or introductions of major operating system or semiconductor improvements. We believe these announcements and introductions have from time to time caused consumers to defer their purchases and made inventory obsolete. Whenever an oversupply of rigid disc drives causes participants in our industry to have higher than anticipated inventory levels, we experience even more intense price competition from other rigid disc drive manufacturers than usual.
Seasonality—Because we experience seasonality in the sales of our products, our results of operations will generally be adversely impacted during the summer months.
Because sales of computer systems, storage subsystems and consumer electronics tend to be seasonal, we expect to continue to experience seasonality in our business as we respond to variations in our customers’ demand for rigid disc drives. In particular, we anticipate that sales of our products will continue to be lower during the summer months than the rest of the year. In the desktop computer and consumer electronics sectors of our business, this seasonality is partially attributable to our customers’ increased sales during the winter holiday season of PCs and consumer electronics. In the enterprise sector of our business, our sales are seasonal because of the capital budgeting and purchasing cycles of our end users. Because our working capital needs peak during periods in which we are increasing production in anticipation of orders that have not yet been received, our operating results will fluctuate seasonally even if the forecasted demand for our products proves accurate. Furthermore, it is difficult for us to evaluate the degree to which this seasonality may affect our business in future periods because our overall growth may have reduced the impact of this seasonality in recent periods.
Difficulty in Predicting Quarterly Demand—If we fail to predict demand accurately for our products in any quarter, we may not be able to recapture the cost of our investments.
The rigid disc drive industry operates on quarterly purchasing cycles, with much of the order flow in any given quarter coming at the end of that quarter. Our manufacturing process requires us to make significant product-specific investments in inventory in each quarter for that quarter’s production. Because we typically receive the bulk of our orders late in a quarter after we have made our investments, there is a risk that our orders will not be sufficient to allow us to recapture the costs of our investment before the products resulting from that investment have become obsolete. We cannot assure you that we will be able to accurately predict demand in the future. Other factors that may negatively impact our ability to recapture the cost of investments in any given quarter include:
| · | our inability to reduce our fixed costs to match sales in any quarter because of our vertical manufacturing strategy, which means that we make more capital investments than we would if we were not vertically integrated; |
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| · | the timing of orders from and shipment of products to key customers; |
| · | our product mix and the related margins of the various products; |
| · | accelerated reduction in the price of our rigid disc drives due to technological advances and an oversupply of rigid disc drives in the market, a condition that is exacerbated when competitors exit the industry or specific product lines and liquidate their remaining inventory; |
| · | manufacturing delays or interruptions, particularly at our major manufacturing facilities in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand; |
| · | variations in the cost of components for our products; |
| · | limited access to components that we obtain from a single or a limited number of suppliers; |
| · | the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates on the cost of producing our products and the effective price of our products to foreign consumers; and |
| · | operational issues arising out of the increasingly automated nature of our manufacturing processes. |
Variable Product Life Cycles—The variability of product life cycles can make planning product transitions difficult.
Historically the rate of increase of areal density has grown rapidly; however, recently this rate of increase is slowing. Higher areal densities mean that fewer read/write heads and rigid discs are required to achieve a given rigid disc drive storage capacity. In addition, advances in computer hardware and software have led to the demand for successive generations of storage products with increased storage capacity and/or improved performance and reliability. As a result, product life cycles shortened because of recent rapid increases in areal density. The introduction of new rigid disc drives requires us to engage in new product qualifications with our customers and we expect to engage in several competitive product qualifications during the balance of this calendar year, particularly with respect to our notebook products, and on an ongoing basis in future years. Short product cycles make it more difficult to recover the cost of product development because those costs must be recovered over increasingly shorter periods of time during the life cycles of products.
In contrast to historical trends, based on our recent experience in the industry with respect to new product introductions, we believe that the current rate of increase in areal density is slowing from the rate of the last several years. We believe that this slowdown in the rate of increase in areal density will continue until a significant advance in technology for the electronic storage of data, such as perpendicular recording technology, becomes commercially available. When the rate of increase in areal density slows, it may contribute to increased average price erosion to the extent historical price erosion patterns continue, product life cycles are lengthened and our ability to introduce new products at higher prices is limited. In addition, the variability of product life cycles can make planning product transitions more difficult. To the extent that we prematurely discontinue a product, or do not timely introduce new products, our operating results may be adversely affected.
New Product Offerings—Market acceptance of new product introductions cannot be accurately predicted, and our results of operations will suffer if there is less demand for our new products than is anticipated.
We are continually developing new products in the hope that we will be able to introduce technologically advanced rigid disc drives into the marketplace ahead of our competitors. The success of our new product introductions is dependent on a number of factors, including market acceptance, our ability to manage the risks associated with product transitions, the effective management of inventory levels in line with anticipated product demand, and the risk that our new products will have quality problems or other defects in the early stages of introduction that were not anticipated in the design of those products. Accordingly, we cannot accurately determine the ultimate effect that our new products will have on our sales or results of operations.
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In addition, the success of our new product introductions is dependent upon our ability to qualify as a primary source of supply with our original equipment manufacturer, or OEM, customers. In order for our products to be considered by our customers for qualification, we must be among the leaders in time-to-market with those new products. Once a product is accepted for qualification testing, any failure or delay in the qualification process can result in our losing sales to that customer until new products are introduced. The effect of missing a product qualification opportunity is magnified by the limited number of high-volume OEMs. These risks are further magnified because we expect competitive pressures to result in declining sales and declining gross margins on our current generation products. We cannot assure you that we will be among the leaders in time-to-market with new products or that we will be able to successfully qualify new products with our customers in the future.
Smaller Form Factor Rigid Disc Drives—If we do not successfully market smaller form factor rigid disc drives, our business may suffer.
Increases in sales of notebook computers and in areal density are resulting in a shift to smaller form factor rigid disc drives for an expanding number of applications, including PCs, enterprise storage applications and consumer electronics. These applications have typically used rigid disc drives with a 3.5-inch form factor, which we currently manufacture. Notebook computers typically use 2.5-inch form factor rigid disc drives. Although we are currently shipping notebook drives to OEMs, we currently have not completed qualification programs with a number of OEMs which are material to the success of these products. Furthermore, our announced products only address a limited portion of the existing notebook market. We cannot assure you that we will receive additional qualifications or that we will be able to successfully compete in the market for smaller form factor rigid disc drives. If we do not suitably adapt our technology and product offerings to successfully develop and introduce smaller form factor rigid disc drives, customers may decrease the amounts of our products that they purchase.
Importance of Time-to-Market—Our operating results depend on our being among the first-to-market and achieving sufficient production volume with our new products.
To achieve consistent success with our OEM customers, we must be an early provider of new types of rigid disc drives featuring leading, high-quality technology. Our operating results in the past two years have substantially depended, and in the future will substantially depend, upon our ability to be among the first-to-market with new product offerings. Our market share will be adversely affected, which would harm our operating results, if we fail to:
| · | consistently maintain or improve our time-to-market performance with our new products; |
| · | produce these products in sufficient volume; |
| · | qualify these products with key customers on a timely basis by meeting our customers’ performance and quality specifications; or |
| · | achieve acceptable manufacturing yields and costs with these products. |
If delivery of our products is delayed, our OEM customers may use our competitors’ products to meet their production requirements. If the delay of our products causes delivery of those OEMs’ computer systems into which our products are integrated to be delayed, consumers and businesses may purchase comparable products from the OEMs’ competitors.
Moreover, we face the related risk that consumers and businesses may wait to make their purchases if they want to buy a new product that has been shipped or announced but not yet released. If this were to occur, we may be unable to sell our existing inventory of products that may have become less efficient and cost effective compared to new products. As a result, even if we are among the first-to-market with a given product, subsequent introductions or announcements by our competitors of new products could cause us to lose revenue and not achieve a positive return on our investment in existing products and inventory.
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Importance of Reducing Operating Costs—If we do not reduce our operating expenses, we will not be able to compete effectively in our industry.
Our strategy involves, to a substantial degree, increasing revenue while at the same time reducing operating expenses. In furtherance of this strategy, we have engaged in ongoing, company-wide manufacturing efficiency activities intended to increase productivity and reduce costs. These activities have included closures and transfers of facilities, significant personnel reductions and efforts to increase automation. We cannot assure you that our efforts will result in the increased profitability, cost savings or other benefits that we expect. Moreover, the reduction of personnel and closure of facilities may adversely affect our ability to manufacture our products in required volumes to meet customer demand and may result in other disruptions that affect our products and customer service. In addition, the transfer of manufacturing capacity of a product to a different facility frequently requires qualification of the new facility by some of our OEM customers. We cannot assure you that these activities and transfers will be implemented on a cost-effective basis without delays or disruption in our production and without adversely affecting our customer relationships and results of operations.
New Product Development and Technological Change—If we do not develop products in time to keep pace with technological changes, our operating results will be adversely affected.
Our customers have demanded new generations of rigid disc drive products as advances in computer hardware and software have created the need for improved storage products with features such as increased storage capacity, improved performance and reliability of smaller form factors. We and our competitors have developed improved products, and we will need to continue to do so in the future. For the fiscal year ended June 28, 2002 and the nine months ended March 28, 2003, we had product development expenses of $698 million and $496 million, respectively. We cannot assure you that we will be able to successfully complete the design or introduction of new products in a timely manner, that we will be able to manufacture new products in sufficient volumes with acceptable manufacturing yields, that we will be able to successfully market these new products or that these products will perform to specifications on a long-term basis.
When we develop new products with higher capacity and more advanced technology, our operating results may decline because the increased difficulty and complexity associated with producing these products increases the likelihood of reliability, quality or operability problems. If our products suffer increases in failures, are of low quality or are not reliable, customers may reduce their purchases of our products and our manufacturing rework and scrap costs and service and warranty costs may increase. In addition, a decline in the reliability of our products may make us less competitive as compared with other rigid disc drive manufacturers.
Impact of Technological Change—Increases in the areal density of disc drives may outpace customers’ demand for storage capacity.
The rate of increase in areal density, or storage capacity per square inch on a disc, may be greater than the increase in our customers’ demand for aggregate storage capacity. As a result, our customers’ storage capacity needs may be satisfied with fewer rigid disc drives. In addition, as areal densities have increased, delivering products with the reliability and performance characteristics, as well as manufacturing yields, of prior product generations has become increasingly difficult. This may cause our OEM customers to delay transitions to our newer product offerings. These factors could decrease our sales, especially when combined with continued price erosion, which could adversely affect our results of operations.
Changes in Information Storage Products—Future changes in the nature of information storage products may reduce demand for traditional rigid disc drive products.
We expect that in the future new personal computing devices and products will be developed, some of which, such as Internet appliances, may not contain a rigid disc drive. While we are investing development resources in designing information storage
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products for new applications, it is too early to assess the impact of these new applications on future demand for rigid disc drive products. We cannot assure you that we will be successful in developing other information storage products. In addition, there are currently no widely accepted standards in various technical areas that may be important to the future of our business, including the developing sector of intelligent storage solutions. Products using alternative technologies, such as semiconductor memory, optical storage and other storage technologies could become a significant source of competition to particular applications of our products. For example, semiconductor memory is much faster than rigid disc drives, but currently is volatile in that it is subject to loss of data in the event of power failure and is much more costly than rigid disc drive technologies. Flash EEPROM, a nonvolatile semiconductor memory, is currently much more costly than rigid disc drive technologies and, while it has higher read performance than rigid disc drives, it has lower write performance. Flash EEPROM could become competitive in the near future for applications requiring less storage capacity than is required in traditional markets for our products.
High Fixed Costs—Our vertical integration strategy entails a high level of fixed costs.
Our vertical integration strategy entails a high level of fixed costs and requires a high volume of production and sales to be successful. During periods of decreased production, these high fixed costs have had, and could in the future have, a material adverse effect on our operating results and financial condition. For example, in 1998 our predecessor experienced a significant decrease in the demand for its products, and because our predecessor was unable to adequately reduce its costs to offset this decrease in revenue, its gross and operating margins suffered. In addition, a strategy of vertical integration has in the past and could in the future delay our ability to introduce products containing market-leading technology, because we may not have developed the technology and source of components for our products and do not have access to external sources of supply without incurring substantial costs.
Research and development expenses represent a significant portion of our fixed costs. As part of our vertical integration strategy, we explore a broad range of ways to improve rigid disc drives as well as possible alternatives to rigid disc drives for storing and retrieving electronic data. If we fail to develop new technologies in a timely manner, and our competitors succeed in doing so, our ability to sell our products could be significantly diminished. Conversely, if we over invest in technologies that can never be profitably manufactured and marketed, our results of operations could suffer. By way of example, we have incurred expenses in exploring new technologies for storing electronic data, including perpendicular recording technology, which involves a different orientation for the magnetic field than is currently used in rigid disc drives, and heat assisted magnetic recording technology, which uses heat generated by a laser to improve storage capacity. We believe these new technologies could significantly improve the storage capacity of rigid disc drives over the long-term. To date, we have not yet developed a commercial product based on these technologies. Furthermore, based on our recent experience in the industry with respect to new product introductions, we believe that the rate of increase of areal density is slowing as compared to its previous levels, which has lengthened the life cycles of existing products and may further postpone returns on our investments in new technologies. If we have invested too much in new technologies, our results of operations could be adversely affected. In addition, as we replace our existing assets with new, higher cost assets, we expect that our depreciation expense will increase, which will contribute to our high level of fixed costs and reduce our earnings. This could cause the market price of our common shares to decline.
Dependence on Supply of Equipment and Components—If we experience shortages or delays in the receipt of critical equipment or components necessary to manufacture our products, we may suffer lower operating margins, production delays and other material adverse effects.
The cost, quality and availability of some equipment and components used to manufacture rigid disc drives and other information storage products are critical to the successful manufacture of these products. The equipment we use to manufacture our products is frequently custom made and comes from a few suppliers. Particularly important components include read/write heads, recording media, application-specific integrated circuits, or ASICs, spindle motors and printed circuit boards. We rely on sole suppliers and a limited number of suppliers for some of these components, including the read/write heads and recording media that
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we do not manufacture, ASICs, spindle motors and printed circuit boards. In the past, we have experienced increased costs and production delays when we were unable to obtain the necessary equipment or sufficient quantities of some components and have been forced to pay higher prices for some components that were in short supply in the industry in general.
For example, during the months preceding the November 2000 transactions, Seagate Delaware’s ability to satisfy customer demand was constrained by a limited supply of electrical components from external suppliers. Due to the recent downturn in the economy in general and in the technology sector of the economy in particular, the rigid disc drive industry has experienced economic pressure, which has resulted in consolidation among component manufacturers and may result in some component manufacturers exiting the industry or not making sufficient investments in research to develop new components. These events could affect our ability to obtain critical components for our products, which in turn could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
If there is a shortage of, or delay in supplying us with, critical components, then:
| · | it is likely that our suppliers would raise their prices and, if we could not pass these price increases to our customers, our operating margin would decline; |
| · | we might have to reengineer some products, which would likely cause production and shipment delays, make the reengineered products more costly and provide us with a lower rate of return on these products; |
| · | we would likely have to allocate the components we receive to certain of our products and ship less of others, which could reduce our revenues and could cause us to lose sales to customers who could purchase more of their required products from manufacturers that either did not experience these shortages or delays or that made different allocations; and |
| · | we might be late in shipping products, causing potential customers to make purchases from our competitors and, thus, causing our revenue and operating margin to decline. |
We cannot assure you that we will be able to obtain critical components in a timely and economic manner, or at all.
Dependence on Key Customers—We may be adversely affected by the loss of, or reduced, delayed or cancelled purchases by, one or more of our larger customers.
For fiscal year 2002 and the nine months ended March 28, 2003, our top 10 customers accounted for approximately 63% and 62%, respectively, of our rigid disc drive revenue. Compaq Computer Corporation, together with Hewlett-Packard, accounted for approximately 20% of our rigid disc drive revenue for fiscal year 2002, and Hewlett-Packard accounted for approximately 17% of our rigid disc drive revenue in the nine months ended March 28, 2003. If any of our key customers were to significantly reduce their purchases from us, our results of operations would be adversely affected. While sales to major customers may vary from period to period, a major customer that permanently discontinues or significantly reduces its relationship with us could be difficult to replace. In line with industry practice, new customers usually require that we pass a lengthy and rigorous qualification process at the customer’s cost. Accordingly, it may be difficult for us to attract new major customers.
Customer Concentration—Consolidation among our customers could cause sales of our products to decline.
Mergers, acquisitions, consolidations or other significant transactions involving our customers generally entail risks to our business. For example, IBM, which is one of our key customers, recently merged its disc drive business with the disc drive business of Hitachi through the formation of a new company with which IBM has entered into a multi-year supply agreement. As a result, IBM may decrease its purchases from us in favor of this new company. If a significant transaction involving any of our key customers results in the loss of or reduction in purchases by these key customers, it could have a materially adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects.
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OEM Purchase Agreements—Our OEM customers are not obligated to purchase our products.
Typically, our OEM purchase agreements permit OEMs to cancel orders and reschedule delivery dates without significant penalties. In the past, orders from many of our OEMs were cancelled and delivery schedules were delayed as a result of changes in the requirements of the OEMs’ customers. These order cancellations and delays in delivery schedules have had a material adverse effect on our results of operations in the past and may do so again in the future. Our OEMs and distributors typically furnish us with non-binding indications of their near term requirements, with product deliveries based on weekly confirmations. If actual orders from distributors and OEMs decrease from their non-binding forecasts, these variances could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects.
Economic Risks Associated with International Operations—Our international operations subject us to risks related to currency exchange fluctuations, longer payment cycles for sales in foreign countries, seasonality and disruptions in foreign markets, tariffs and duties, price controls, potential adverse tax consequences, increased costs, our customers’ credit and access to capital and health-related risks.
We have significant operations in foreign countries, including manufacturing facilities, sales personnel and customer support operations. For fiscal year 2002 and the nine months ended March 28, 2003, approximately 31% and 32%, respectively, of our rigid disc drive revenue were from sales to customers located in Europe and approximately 30% and 35%, respectively, were from sales to customers located in the Far East. We have manufacturing facilities in China, Malaysia, Northern Ireland, Singapore and Thailand, in addition to those in the United States. A substantial portion of our desktop rigid disc drive assembly occurs in our facility in China.
Our international operations are subject to economic risks inherent in doing business in foreign countries, including the following:
| · | Disruptions in Foreign Markets. Disruptions in financial markets and the deterioration of the underlying economic conditions in the past in some countries, including those in Asia, have had an impact on our sales to customers located in, or whose end-user customers are located in, these countries. |
| · | Fluctuations in Currency Exchange Rates. Prices for our products are denominated predominately in U.S. dollars, even when sold to customers that are located outside the United States. Currency instability in Asian and other geographic markets may make our products more expensive than products sold by other manufacturers that are priced in the local currency. Moreover, many of the costs associated with our operations located outside the United States are denominated in local currencies. As a consequence, the increased strength of local currencies against the U.S. dollar in countries where we have foreign operations would result in higher effective operating costs and, potentially, reduced earnings. Currently, we do not hedge our foreign exchange risk. We cannot assure you that fluctuations in foreign exchange rates will not have a negative effect on our operations and profitability. |
| · | Longer Payment Cycles. Our customers outside of the United States are often allowed longer time periods for payment than our U.S. customers. This increases the risk of nonpayment due to the possibility that the financial condition of particular customers may worsen during the course of the payment period. |
| · | Seasonality. Seasonal reductions in the business activities of our customers during the summer months, particularly in Europe, typically result in lower earnings during those periods. |
| · | Tariffs, Duties, Limitations on Trade and Price Controls. Our international operations are affected by limitations on imports, currency exchange control regulations, transfer pricing regulations, price controls and other restraints on trade. In addition, the governments of many countries, including China, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, in which we have significant operating assets, have exercised and continue to exercise significant influence over many aspects of their domestic economies and international trade. |
| · | Potential Adverse Tax Consequences. Our international operations create a risk of potential adverse tax consequences, including imposition of withholding or other taxes on payments by subsidiaries. |
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| · | Increased Costs. The shipping and transportation costs associated with our international operations are typically higher than those associated with our U.S. operations, resulting in decreased operating margins in some foreign countries. |
| · | Credit and Access to Capital Risks. Our international customers could have reduced access to working capital due to higher interest rates, reduced bank lending resulting from contractions in the money supply or the deterioration in the customer’s or its bank’s financial condition, or the inability to access other financing. |
| · | Health-Related Risks. We have manufacturing facilities in China, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, all of which are areas that have recently experienced outbreaks of SARS. An outbreak of SARS in or near any of our facilities could result in the quarantine or closure of such a facility and have an adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. |
Political Risks Associated with International Operations—Our international operations subject us to risks related to political unrest and terrorism.
We have manufacturing facilities in parts of the world that periodically experience political unrest. This could disrupt our ability to manufacture important components as well as cause interruptions and/or delays in our ability to ship components to other locations for continued manufacture and assembly. Any such delays or interruptions could result in delays in our ability to fill orders and have an adverse effect on our results of operation and financial condition. U.S. and international responses to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the ongoing hostilities in Afghanistan and Iraq and the risk of hostilities with North Korea could exacerbate these risks.
Legal and Operational Risks Associated with International Operations—Our international operations subject us to risks related to staffing and management, legal and regulatory requirements and the protection of intellectual property.
Operating outside of the United States creates difficulties associated with staffing and managing our international manufacturing facilities, complying with local legal and regulatory requirements and protecting our intellectual property. We cannot assure you that we will continue to be found to be operating in compliance with applicable customs, currency exchange control regulations, transfer pricing regulations or any other laws or regulations to which we may be subject. We also cannot assure you that these laws will not be modified.
Conflicts of Interest of our Directors and Officers—Our directors and executive officers may have conflicts of interest because of their ownership of capital stock of, and their employment with, our parent company and our affiliates.
Many of our directors and executive officers hold ordinary shares of our parent company, New SAC, and some of them hold shares of capital stock and options to purchase the capital stock of our affiliate, Crystal Decisions, Inc., a business intelligence software solutions company. Ownership of the capital stock of our parent company and our affiliates by our directors and officers could create, or appear to create, potential conflicts of interest when our directors and officers are faced with decisions that could have different implications for us and for New SAC or our affiliates.
Some of our directors also serve on the board of New SAC, and on the boards of Certance Holdings, a tape drive company, and Crystal Decisions, both of which are owned by New SAC. Several of our executive officers also serve as officers and/or directors of those entities as well as of other affiliates of ours. In view of these overlapping relationships, conflicts of interest may exist or arise with respect to existing and future business dealings, including the relative commitment of time and energy by our directors and officers to us and to our parent company and affiliates, potential acquisitions of businesses or properties and other business opportunities, the issuance of additional securities, the election of new or additional directors and the payment of distributions by us. We cannot assure you that any conflicts of interest will be resolved in our favor.
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Risks Associated with Future Acquisitions—We may not be able to identify suitable strategic alliance, acquisition or investment opportunities, or successfully acquire and integrate companies that provide complementary products or technologies.
Our growth strategy may involve pursuing strategic alliances with, and making acquisitions of or investments in, other companies that are complementary to our business. There is substantial competition for attractive strategic alliance, acquisition and investment candidates. We may not be able to identify suitable acquisition, investment or strategic partnership candidates. Even if we were able to identify them, we cannot assure you that we will be able to partner with, acquire or invest in suitable candidates, or integrate acquired technologies or operations successfully into our existing technologies and operations. Our ability to finance potential acquisitions will be limited by our high degree of leverage, the covenants contained in the indenture that governs our outstanding 8% senior notes, the credit agreement that governs our senior secured credit facilities and any agreements governing any other debt we may incur.
If we are successful in acquiring other companies, these acquisitions may have an adverse effect on our operating results, particularly while the operations of the acquired business are being integrated. It is also likely that integration of acquired companies would lead to the loss of key employees from those companies or the loss of customers of those companies. In addition, the integration of any acquired companies would require substantial attention from our senior management, which may limit the amount of time available to be devoted to our day-to-day operations or to the execution of our strategy. Furthermore, the expansion of our business involves the risk that we might not manage our growth effectively, that we would incur additional debt to finance these acquisitions or investments and that we would incur substantial charges relating to the write-off of in-process research and development, similar to that which we incurred in connection with several of our prior acquisitions. Each of these items could have a material adverse effect on our financial position and results of operations.
Potential Loss of Licensed Technology—The closing of the November 2000 transactions may have triggered change of control or anti-assignment provisions in some of our license agreements, which could result in a loss of our right to use licensed technology.
We have a number of cross-licenses with third parties that enable us to manufacture our products free from any infringement claims that might otherwise be made by these third parties against us. A number of these licenses contain change of control or anti-assignment provisions. We have taken steps to transfer these licenses in connection with the closing of the November 2000 transactions; however, we cannot assure you that these transfers will not be challenged. For example, Papst Licensing GmbH, IBM and Hitachi initially took the position that their license agreements did not transfer to our new business entities. Subsequently, we entered into new license agreements with IBM and Hitachi in December 2001. In September 2002, we settled a broader dispute with Papst that also resolved the claim by Papst that its license agreement was not properly transferred.
Recently, we received a letter dated November 20, 2002 from Read-Rite Corporation asserting that we do not currently have a license to its patented technology and that our rigid disc drive products infringe at least two of its patents. We have since received additional letters from Read-Rite Corporation making the same claims. Seagate Delaware entered into a Patent Cross License Agreement dated December 31, 1994, which covered the two patents referenced in the November 20 letter, as well as other intellectual property of Read-Rite Corporation. Prior to the November 20, 2002 letter, Read-Rite Corporation had not responded to our efforts to confirm that under the Patent Cross License Agreement we were entitled to a new license agreement in our own name and on materially the same terms as the 1994 agreement.
In order to clarify the parties’ rights under the Patent Cross License Agreement, we filed a declaratory judgment action on May 7, 2003 in the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara, seeking a declaration that we are entitled to a cross-license, effective as of November 22, 2000, under terms substantially identical to those contained in the Patent Cross License Agreement. On
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June 11, 2003 Read-Rite Corporation answered the complaint putting forward a general denial and asserting various affirmative defenses. On June 17, 2003, Read-Rite Corporation filed a voluntary petition for bankruptcy under Chapter 7 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Upon notice, our declaratory judgment action has been stayed.
To the extent that third party cross-licenses, including the Patent Cross License Agreement dated December 31, 1994 between Read-Rite Corporation and Seagate Delaware, are deemed not to have been properly assigned to us in the November 2000 transactions, our inability to either obtain new licenses or transfer existing licenses could result in delays in product development or prevent us from selling our products until equivalent substitute technology can be identified, licensed and/or integrated or until we are able to substantially engineer our products to avoid infringing the rights of third parties. We might not be able to renegotiate agreements, be able to obtain necessary licenses in a timely manner, on acceptable terms, or at all, or be able to re-engineer our products successfully. Moreover, the loss of or inability to extend any of these licenses would increase the risk of infringement claims being made against us, which claims could have a material adverse effect on our business.
Risk of Intellectual Property Litigation—Our products may infringe the intellectual property rights of others, which may cause us to incur unexpected costs or prevent us from selling our products.
We cannot be certain that our products do not and will not infringe issued patents or other intellectual property rights of others. Historically, patent applications in the United States and some foreign countries have not been publicly disclosed until the patent is issued, and we may not be aware of currently filed patent applications that relate to our products or technology. If patents are later issued on these applications, we may be liable for infringement. We may be subject to legal proceedings and claims, including claims of alleged infringement of the patents, trademarks and other intellectual property rights of third parties by us or our licensees in connection with their use of our products. We are currently subject to a suit by Convolve, Inc. and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a suit pending in Nanjing, China. In addition, as noted above, Read-Rite Corporation, in a letter dated November 20, 2002 and in correspondence since that date, asserted that we do not currently have a license to Read-Rite Corporation patented technology and that our rigid disc drive products infringe at least two Read-Rite Corporation patents. We filed a declaratory judgment action in the Superior Court of California, seeking to clarify our rights to Read-Rite Corporation’s patented technology. Read-Rite Corporation responded by filing a general denial and asserting various affirmative defenses. On June 17, 2003, Read-Rite Corporation filed a voluntary petition for bankruptcy under Chapter 7 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and, pursuant to a notice we received on June 19, 2003, our declaratory judgment action has been stayed.
Intellectual property litigation is expensive and time-consuming, regardless of the merits of any claim, and could divert our management’s attention from operating our business. In addition, intellectual property lawsuits are subject to inherent uncertainties due to the complexity of the technical issues involved, and we cannot assure you that we will be successful in defending ourselves against intellectual property claims. Moreover, software patent litigation has increased due to the current uncertainty of the law and the increasing competition and overlap of product functionality in the field. If we were to discover that our products infringe the intellectual property rights of others, we would need to obtain licenses from these parties or substantially reengineer our products in order to avoid infringement. We might not be able to obtain the necessary licenses on acceptable terms, or at all, or be able to reengineer our products successfully. Moreover, if we are sued for infringement and lose the suit, we could be required to pay substantial damages and/or be enjoined from using or selling the infringing products or technology. Any of the foregoing could cause us to incur significant costs and prevent us from selling our products.
Dependence on Intellectual Property—If our intellectual property and other proprietary information were copied or independently developed by competitors, our operating results would be negatively affected.
Our success depends to a significant degree upon our ability to protect and preserve the proprietary aspects of our technology. However, we may be unable to prevent third parties from using our technology without our authorization, particularly in those
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countries where the laws do not protect our proprietary rights as fully as in the United States, or protect us from independently developing or acquiring technology that is similar to ours. For example, in its bankruptcy proceedings under Chapter 7 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, Read-Rite Corporation’s patents and other intellectual property rights will likely be sold by the bankruptcy trustee. It is possible that one of our competitors could purchase this intellectual property and use it to compete against us. The use of our technology or similar technology by others could reduce or eliminate any competitive advantage we have developed, cause us to lose sales or otherwise harm our business. If it became necessary for us to resort to litigation to protect these rights, any proceedings could be burdensome and costly, and we may not prevail.
Limitations on Patent Protection—Our issued and pending patents may not adequately protect our intellectual property or provide us with any competitive advantage.
Although we have numerous U.S. and foreign patents and numerous pending patents that relate to our technology, we cannot assure you that any patents, issued or pending, will provide us with any competitive advantage or will not be challenged by third parties. Moreover, our competitors may already have applied for patents that, once issued, will prevail over our patent rights or otherwise limit our ability to sell our products in the United States or abroad. Our competitors also may attempt to design around our patents or copy or otherwise obtain and use our proprietary technology. With respect to our pending patent applications, we may not be successful in securing patents for these claims. Our failure to secure these patents may limit our ability to protect the intellectual property rights that these applications were intended to cover.
Disclosure of our Proprietary Technology—Confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements may not adequately protect our proprietary technology or trade secrets.
We have entered into confidentiality agreements with our employees and non-disclosure agreements with customers, suppliers and potential strategic partners, among others. If any party to these agreements were to violate their agreement with us and disclose our proprietary technology to a third party, we may be unable to prevent the third party from using this information. Because a significant portion of our proprietary technology consists of specialized knowledge and technical expertise developed by our employees, we have a program in place designed to ensure that our employees communicate any developments or discoveries they make to other employees. However, employees may choose to leave our company before transferring their knowledge and expertise to our other employees. Violations by others of our confidentiality or non-disclosure agreements and the loss of employees who have specialized knowledge and expertise could harm our competitive position and cause our sales and operating results to decline. Our trade secrets may otherwise become known or independently developed by others, and trade secret laws provide no remedy against independent development or discovery.
Service Marks and Trademarks—Our failure to obtain trademark registrations or service marks, or challenges to those marks, could impede our marketing efforts.
We have registered and applied for some service marks and trademarks, and will continue to evaluate the registration of additional service marks and trademarks, as appropriate. We cannot guarantee the approval of any of our pending applications by the applicable governmental authorities. Moreover, even if the applications are approved, third parties may seek to oppose or otherwise challenge these registrations. A failure to obtain trademark registrations in the United States and in other countries could limit our ability to use our trademarks and impede our marketing efforts in those jurisdictions.
Environmental Matters—We could incur substantial costs, including cleanup costs, fines and civil or criminal sanctions, as a result of violations of or liabilities under environmental laws.
Our operations inside and outside the United States are subject to laws and regulations relating to the protection of the environment, including those governing the discharge of pollutants into the air and water, the management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes and the cleanup of contaminated sites. In addition to the U.S. federal, state and local laws to which our domestic operations are subject, our extensive international manufacturing operations subject us to environmental regulations imposed by foreign governments.
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Although our policy is to apply strict standards for environmental protection at our sites inside and outside the United States, we could incur substantial costs, including cleanup costs, fines and civil or criminal sanctions, third-party property damage or personal injury claims if we were to violate or become liable under environmental laws or become non-compliant with environmental permits required at our facilities. Contaminants have been detected at some of our present and former sites, principally in connection with historical operations. In addition, we have been named as a potentially responsible party at several superfund sites. While we are not currently aware of any contaminated or superfund sites as to which material outstanding claims or obligations exist, the discovery of additional contaminants or the imposition of additional cleanup obligations at these or other sites could result in significant liability. In addition, the ultimate costs under environmental laws and the timing of these costs are difficult to predict. Liability under some environmental laws relating to contaminated sites can be imposed retroactively and on a joint and several basis. In other words, one liable party could be held liable for all costs at a site. Potentially significant expenditures could be required in order to comply with environmental laws that may be adopted or imposed in the future.
Dependence on Key Personnel—The loss of some key executive officers and employees could negatively impact our business prospects.
Our future performance depends to a significant degree upon the continued service of key members of management as well as marketing, sales and product development personnel. The loss of one or more of our key personnel would have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition. We believe our future success will also depend in large part upon our ability to attract, retain and further incentivize highly skilled management, marketing, sales and product development personnel. A significant portion of the incentive compensation for our senior management vests in calendar year 2003 and substantially all of this compensation will have vested by November 2004. We may not be able to provide our senior management with adequate additional incentives to remain employed by us after this time. We have experienced intense competition for personnel, and we cannot assure you that we will be able to retain our key employees or that we will be successful in attracting, assimilating and retaining personnel in the future.
System Failures—System failures caused by events beyond our control could adversely affect computer equipment and electronic data on which our operations depend.
Our operations are dependent on our ability to protect our computer equipment and the information stored in our databases from damage by, among other things, earthquake, fire, natural disaster, power loss, telecommunications failures, unauthorized intrusion and other catastrophic events. As our operations become more automated and increasingly interdependent, our exposure to the risks posed by these types of events will increase. A significant part of our operations is based in an area of California that has experienced power outages and earthquakes and is considered seismically active. We do not have a contingency plan for addressing the kinds of events referred to in this paragraph that would be sufficient to prevent system failures and other interruptions in our operations that could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Potential Tax Legislation—Negative publicity about companies located in certain offshore jurisdictions may lead to new legislation that could increase our tax burden.
Several members of the United States Congress have introduced legislation relating to the U.S. federal tax treatment of U.S. companies that have undertaken certain types of expatriation transactions. While we do not believe that this legislation, as currently proposed, would adversely affect us, the exact scope of the legislation and whether it will ultimately be enacted is unclear at this time. In addition, certain state legislatures have proposed similar legislation. Therefore, it is possible that federal or state legislation in this area, if enacted, could materially increase our future tax burden or otherwise affect our business.
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Risks Related to Our Substantial Indebtedness
Substantial Leverage—Our substantial leverage may place us at a competitive disadvantage in our industry.
We are leveraged and have significant debt service obligations. Our significant debt and debt service requirements could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and may limit our ability to take advantage of potential business opportunities. For example, our high level of debt presents the following risks to you:
| · | we are required to use a substantial portion of our cash flow from operations to pay principal and interest on our debt, thereby reducing the availability of our cash flow to fund working capital, capital expenditures, product development efforts, strategic acquisitions, investments and alliances and other general corporate requirements; |
| · | our interest expense could increase if prevailing interest rates increase, because a substantial portion of our debt bears interest at floating rates; |
| · | our substantial leverage increases our vulnerability to economic downturns and adverse competitive and industry conditions and could place us at a competitive disadvantage compared to those of our competitors that are less leveraged; |
| · | our debt service obligations could limit our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business and our industry and could limit our ability to pursue other business opportunities, borrow more money for operations or capital in the future and implement our business strategies; |
| · | our level of debt may restrict us from raising additional financing on satisfactory terms to fund working capital, capital expenditures, product development efforts, strategic acquisitions, investments and alliances, and other general corporate requirements; and |
| · | covenants in our debt instruments limit our ability and the ability of our subsidiaries to pay distributions or make other restricted payments and investments. |
Significant Debt Service Requirements—Servicing our debt requires a significant amount of cash, and our ability to generate cash may be affected by factors beyond our control.
Our business may not generate cash flow in an amount sufficient to enable us to pay the principal of, or interest on, our indebtedness or to fund our other liquidity needs, including working capital, capital expenditures, product development efforts, strategic acquisitions, investments and alliances, and other general corporate requirements. Our ability to generate cash is subject to general economic, financial, competitive, legislative, regulatory and other factors that are beyond our control. We cannot assure you that:
| · | our business will generate sufficient cash flow from operations; |
| · | we will continue to realize the cost savings, revenue growth and operating improvements that resulted from the execution of our long-term strategic plan; or |
| · | future borrowings will be available to us under our senior secured credit facilities or that other sources of funding will be available to us, in each case, in amounts sufficient to enable us to fund our liquidity needs. |
If we cannot fund our liquidity needs, we will have to take actions such as reducing or delaying capital expenditures, product development efforts, strategic acquisitions, investments and alliances, selling assets, restructuring or refinancing our debt, or seeking additional equity capital. We cannot assure you that any of these remedies could, if necessary, be effected on commercially reasonable terms, or at all. In addition, our existing debt instruments permit us to incur a significant amount of additional debt. If we incur additional debt above the levels now in effect, the risks associated with our substantial leverage, including the risk that we will be unable to service our debt or generate enough cash flow to fund our liquidity needs, could intensify.
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Restrictions Imposed by Debt Covenants—Restrictions imposed by our existing debt instruments will limit our ability to finance future operations or capital needs or engage in other business activities that may be in our interest.
Our existing debt instruments, including the indenture governing our outstanding 8% senior notes, impose, and the terms of any future debt may impose, operating and other restrictions on us. The indenture governing our 8% notes limits our ability to incur additional indebtedness if our consolidated coverage ratio, which is the ratio of the aggregate consolidated EBITDA of our subsidiary, Seagate Technology HDD Holdings, the issuer of our 8% senior notes, and its restricted subsidiaries, to the total interest expense of those entities, is less than or equal to 3.0 to 1.0 during any consecutive four-quarter period. Our existing debt instruments also limit, among other things, our ability to:
| · | pay dividends or make distributions in respect of our shares; |
| · | redeem or repurchase shares; |
| · | make investments or other restricted payments; |
| · | sell assets; |
| · | issue or sell shares of restricted subsidiaries; |
| · | enter into transactions with affiliates; |
| · | create liens; |
| · | enter into sale/leaseback transactions; |
| · | effect a consolidation or merger; and |
| · | make certain amendments to our deferred compensation plans. |
These covenants are subject to a number of important qualifications and exceptions, including exceptions that permit us to make significant distributions of cash. In addition, the obligation to comply with many of the covenants under the indenture governing our 8% senior notes will cease to apply if the notes achieve investment grade status.
Our existing debt instruments also require us to achieve specified financial and operating results and maintain compliance with specified financial ratios. Our ability to comply with these ratios may be affected by events beyond our control.
A breach of any of the restrictive covenants described above or our inability to comply with the required financial ratios could result in a default under our existing debt instruments. If a default occurs, the holders of our outstanding 8% senior notes may elect to declare all of our outstanding obligations, together with accrued interest and other fees, to be immediately due and payable. If our outstanding indebtedness were to be accelerated, we cannot assure you that our assets would be sufficient to repay in full that debt and any future indebtedness, which would cause the market price of our common shares to decline significantly.
Risks Related to the Common Shares
Control by Our Sponsor Group—Because our sponsor group, through its ownership of New SAC, holds a controlling interest in us, the influence of our public shareholders over significant corporate actions is limited.
Affiliates of Silver Lake Partners, Texas Pacific Group, August Capital, J.P. Morgan Partners, LLC and investment partnerships
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affiliated with Goldman, Sachs & Co. indirectly own approximately 26.1%, 18.1%, 9.3%, 5.4% and 1.8%, respectively, of our outstanding common shares through their ownership of New SAC. The sponsors’ ownership of New SAC and New SAC’s and the sponsors’ ownership of us is the subject of shareholders agreements and other arrangements that result in the sponsors’ acting as a group with respect to all matters submitted to our shareholders. As a result, the members of our sponsor group have the power to:
| · | control all matters submitted to our shareholders; |
| · | elect our directors; and |
| · | exercise control over our business, policies and affairs. |
Also, New SAC is not prohibited from selling a controlling interest in us to a third party.
Accordingly, our ability to engage in significant transactions, such as a merger, acquisition or liquidation, is limited without the consent of members of our sponsor group. Conflicts of interest could arise between us and our sponsor group, and any conflict of interest may be resolved in a manner that does not favor us. The members of our sponsor group may continue to retain control of us for the foreseeable future and may decide not to enter into a transaction in which you would receive consideration for your common shares that is much higher than the cost to you or the then-current market price of those shares. In addition, the members of our sponsor group could elect to sell a controlling interest in us and you may receive less than the then-current fair market value or the price you paid for your shares. Any decision regarding their ownership of us that members of our sponsor group may make at some future time will be in their absolute discretion.
Future Sales—Additional sales of our common shares by New SAC, our sponsors or our employees or issuances by us in connection with future acquisitions or otherwise could cause the price of our common shares to decline.
If New SAC or – after any distribution to our sponsors of our shares by New SAC – our sponsors sell a substantial number of our common shares in the future, the market price of our common shares could decline. The perception among investors that these sales may occur could produce the same effect. New SAC and our sponsors have rights, subject to specified conditions, to require us to file registration statements covering common shares or to include common shares in registration statements that we may file. By exercising their registration rights and selling a large number of common shares, New SAC or any of the sponsors could cause the price of our common shares to decline. Furthermore, if we were to include common shares in a registration statement initiated by us, those additional shares could impair our ability to raise needed capital by depressing the price at which we could sell our common shares.
One component of our business strategy is to make acquisitions. In the event of any future acquisitions, we could issue additional common shares, which would have the effect of diluting your percentage ownership of the common shares and could cause the price of our common shares to decline.
Volatile Public Markets—The price of our common shares may be volatile and could decline significantly.
The stock market in general, and the market for technology stocks in particular, has recently experienced volatility that has often been unrelated to the operating performance of companies. If these market or industry-based fluctuations continue, the trading price of our common shares could decline significantly independent of our actual operating performance. The market price of our common shares could fluctuate significantly in response to several factors, including among others:
| · | actual or anticipated variations in our results of operations; |
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| · | announcements of innovations, new products or significant price reductions by us or our competitors; |
| · | our failure to meet the performance estimates of investment research analysts; |
| · | the timing of announcements by us or our competitors of significant contracts or acquisitions; |
| · | general stock market conditions; |
| · | the occurrence of major catastrophic events; and |
| · | changes in financial estimates by investment research analysts. |
Failure to Pay Quarterly Distributions—Our failure to pay quarterly distributions to our common shareholders could cause the market price of our common shares to decline significantly.
In accordance with our quarterly dividend policy in effect at such time, our board of directors declared and paid quarterly distributions of $0.03 per share, or approximately $13 million, to all of our shareholders of record as of each of February 14, 2003 and May 9, 2003, including New SAC. On June 27, 2003, our board of directors amended our dividend policy and, pursuant to our new policy, we expect to pay our shareholders a quarterly distribution of up to $0.04 per share ($0.16 annually) so long as the aggregate amount of the distributions do not exceed 50% of our consolidated net income for the quarter in which the distributions are declared.
Our ability to pay quarterly distributions will be subject to, among other things, general business conditions within the rigid disc drive industry, our financial results, the impact of paying distributions on our credit ratings, and legal and contractual restrictions on the payment of distributions by our subsidiaries to us or by us to our shareholders, including restrictions imposed by the covenants contained in the indenture governing our senior notes and the credit agreement governing our senior secured credit facilities which limit annual distributions to $80 million. Any reduction or discontinuation of quarterly distributions could cause the market price of our common shares to decline significantly. Moreover, in the event our payment of quarterly distributions is reduced or discontinued, our failure or inability to resume paying distributions at historical levels could result in a persistently low market valuation of our common shares.
Taxation of Distributions—Certain U.S. shareholders may be ineligible for favorable U.S. federal income tax treatment on distributions on our common shares.
Because we did not have any current or accumulated earnings and profits for U.S. federal income tax purposes for our taxable year ended June 27, 2003, distributions on our common shares during this period were treated as a return of capital rather than dividend income for U.S. federal income tax purposes. There can be no assurance, however, that we will not have current or accumulated earnings and profits for U.S. federal income tax purposes in future years. To the extent that we have current or accumulated earnings and profits for U.S. federal income tax purposes, distributions on our common shares will not be treated as a return of capital distribution and will be treated as dividend income.
Furthermore, we currently believe that we are a foreign personal holding company for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Under recent U.S. federal income tax legislation, U.S. shareholders who are individuals will not be eligible for reduced rates of taxation applicable to certain dividend income (currently a maximum rate of 15%) on distributions on our common shares if we qualify as a foreign personal holding company in the year in which such distributions were made or in the preceding taxable year. As a result, if distributions on our common shares are treated as dividend income because we have current or accumulated earnings and profits in the taxable year in which such distributions are made, U.S. shareholders who are individuals may not qualify for favorable U.S. federal income tax treatment under the new legislation.
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Potential Governmental Action—Governmental action against companies located in offshore jurisdictions may lead to a reduction in the demand for our common shares.
Recently, several state and other governmental officials have threatened to take legislative and other actions against U.S. companies that have expatriated to specific foreign jurisdictions. For example, the California state treasurer has requested that certain pension funds eliminate from their investment portfolios all public equity and fixed income holdings of companies that have reincorporated in foreign jurisdictions. If we are included within the scope of such legislation or governmental action, it may reduce the demand for, and have a material adverse effect on the price of, our common shares.
Securities Litigation—Significant fluctuations in the market price of our common shares could result in securities class action claims against us.
Significant price and value fluctuations have occurred with respect to the publicly traded securities of rigid disc drive companies and technology companies generally. The price of our common shares is likely to be volatile in the future. In the past, following periods of decline in the market price of a company’s securities, class action lawsuits have often been pursued against that company. If similar litigation were pursued against us, it could result in substantial costs and a diversion of management’s attention and resources, which could materially adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition and liquidity.
Limited Protection of Shareholder Interests—Holders of the common shares may face difficulties in protecting their interests because we are incorporated under Cayman Islands law.
Our corporate affairs are governed by our second amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, by the Companies Law (2003 Revision) and the common law of the Cayman Islands. The rights of our shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors under Cayman Islands law are not as clearly established as under statutes or judicial precedent in existence in jurisdictions in the United States. Therefore, you may have more difficulty in protecting your interests in the face of actions by our management, directors or controlling shareholder than would shareholders of a corporation incorporated in a jurisdiction in the United States, due to the comparatively less developed nature of Cayman Islands law in this area.
Unlike many jurisdictions in the United States, Cayman Islands law does not specifically provide for shareholder appraisal rights on a merger or consolidation of a company. This may make it more difficult for you to assess the value of any consideration you may receive in a merger or consolidation or to require that the offeror give you additional consideration if you believe the consideration offered is insufficient.
Shareholders of Cayman Islands exempted companies such as ourselves have no general rights under Cayman Islands law to inspect corporate records and accounts or to obtain copies of lists of shareholders of the company. Our directors have discretion under our articles of association to determine whether or not, and under what conditions, our corporate records may be inspected by our shareholders, but are not obliged to make them available to our shareholders. This may make it more difficult for you to obtain the information needed to establish any facts necessary for a shareholder motion or to solicit proxies from other shareholders in connection with a proxy contest.
Subject to limited exceptions, under Cayman Islands law, a minority shareholder may not bring a derivative action against the board of directors. Our Cayman Islands counsel is not aware of any reported class action or derivative action having been brought in a Cayman Islands court.
Anti-Takeover Provisions Could Discourage or Prevent an Acquisition of Us—Provisions of our articles of association and Cayman Islands corporate law may impede a takeover, which could adversely affect the value of the common shares.
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Our articles of association permit our board of directors to issue preferred shares from time to time, with such rights and preferences as they consider appropriate. Our board of directors could authorize the issuance of preferred shares with terms and conditions and under circumstances that could have an effect of discouraging a takeover or other transaction.
Unlike many jurisdictions in the United States, Cayman Islands law does not provide for mergers as that expression is understood under corporate law in the United States. While Cayman Islands law does have statutory provisions that provide for the reconstruction and amalgamation of companies, which are commonly referred to in the Cayman Islands as a “scheme of arrangement,” the procedural and legal requirements necessary to consummate these transactions are more rigorous and take longer to complete than the procedures typically required to consummate a merger in the United States. Under Cayman Islands law and practice, a scheme of arrangement in relation to a solvent Cayman Islands exempted company must be approved at a shareholders’ meeting by a majority of the company’s shareholders who are present and voting (either in person or by proxy) at such meeting. The shares voted in favor of the scheme of arrangement must also represent at least 75% of the value of each class of the company’s shareholders (excluding the shares owned by the parties to the scheme of arrangement) present and voting at the meeting. The convening of these meetings and the terms of the amalgamation must also be sanctioned by the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands. Although there is no requirement to seek the consent of the creditors of the parties involved in the scheme of arrangement, the Grand Court typically seeks to ensure that the creditors have consented to the transfer of their liabilities to the surviving entity or that the scheme of arrangement does not otherwise materially adversely affect the creditors’ interests. Furthermore, the Grand Court will only approve a scheme of arrangement if it is satisfied that:
| · | the statutory provisions as to majority vote have been complied with; |
| · | the shareholders have been fairly represented at the meeting in question; |
| · | the scheme of arrangement is such as a businessman would reasonably approve; and |
| · | the scheme of arrangement is not one that would more properly be sanctioned under some other provision of the Companies Law. |
Enforcement of Civil Liabilities—Holders of our common shares may have difficulty obtaining or enforcing a judgment against us because we are incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands.
Because we are a Cayman Islands exempted company, there is uncertainty as to whether the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands would recognize or enforce judgments of United States courts obtained against us predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the securities laws of the United States or any state thereof, or be competent to hear original actions brought in the Cayman Islands against us predicated upon the securities laws of the United States or any state thereof.
The risks and uncertainties described above are not the only ones that we face. Additional risks and uncertainties that are not presently known to, or that are currently deemed immaterial by, us may also impair our business operations.
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SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
| SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY | ||||||||||
| Date: July 10, 2003 | By: | /s/ WILLIAM L. HUDSON | ||||||||
| Name: | William L. Hudson | |||||||||
| Title: | Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary | |||||||||
