PART I
SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
In addition to historical information, this Annual Report on Form 10-K (this “Form 10-K”) may contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), which are subject to the “safe harbor” created by those sections. All statements, other than statements of historical facts included in this Form 10-K, including statements concerning our plans, objectives, goals, beliefs, business strategies, future events, business conditions, results of operations, financial position, business outlook, business trends and other information, may be forward-looking statements. Words such as “estimates,” “expects,” “contemplates,” “will,” “anticipates,” “projects,” “plans,” “intends,” “believes,” “forecasts,” “may,” “should,” and variations of such words or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements are not historical facts, and are based upon our current expectations, beliefs, estimates and projections, and various assumptions, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and beyond our control. Our expectations, beliefs, estimates and projections are expressed in good faith and we believe there is a reasonable basis for them. However, there can be no assurance that management’s expectations, beliefs, estimates, and projections will result or be achieved and actual results may vary materially from what is expressed in or indicated by the forward-looking statements.
There are a number of risks, uncertainties, and other important factors, many of which are beyond our control, that could cause our actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained in this Form 10-K. Such risks, uncertainties and other important factors include, among others, the risks, uncertainties and factors set forth under “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and elsewhere in this Form 10-K. Moreover, we operate in an evolving environment. New risk factors and uncertainties may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for management to predict all risk factors and uncertainties. See “Item 1A. Risk Factors” for more information.
Gardner Denver Holdings, Inc. is a holding company whose operating subsidiaries are Gardner Denver, Inc. (“GDI”) and certain of GDI’s subsidiaries. The holding company and its consolidated subsidiaries are collectively referred to in this Annual Report as “we,” “us,” “our,” “ourselves,” “Company,” or “Gardner Denver.”
Service marks, trademarks and trade names, and related designs or logotypes owned by Gardner Denver or its subsidiaries are shown in italics.
Our Company
We are a leading global provider of mission-critical flow control and compression equipment and associated aftermarket parts, consumables and services, which we sell across multiple attractive end-markets within the industrial, energy and medical industries. We manufacture one of the broadest and most complete ranges of compressor, pump, vacuum and blower products in our markets, which, combined with our global geographic footprint and application expertise, allows us to provide differentiated product and service offerings to our customers. Our products are sold under a collection of premier, market-leading brands, including Gardner Denver, CompAir, Nash, Emco Wheaton, Robuschi, Elmo Rietschle and Thomas, which we believe are globally recognized in their respective end-markets and known for product quality, reliability, efficiency and superior customer service.
These attributes, along with over 155 years of engineering heritage, generate strong brand loyalty for our products and foster long-standing customer relationships, which we believe have resulted in leading market positions within each of our operating segments. We have sales in more than 175 countries and our diverse customer base utilizes our products across a wide array of end-markets, including industrial manufacturing, energy (with particular exposure to the North American upstream land-based market), transportation, medical and laboratory sciences, food and beverage packaging and chemical processing.
Our products and services are critical to the processes and systems in which they are utilized, which are often complex and function in harsh conditions where the cost of failure or downtime is high. However, our products typically represent only a small portion of the costs of the overall systems or functions that they support. As a result, our customers place a high value on our application expertise, product reliability and the responsiveness of our service. To support our customers and market presence, we maintain significant global scale with 41 key