Item 1A. Risk Factors.
An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the following risk factors, together with all of the other information included in this Form 10-Q, before making an investment decision. The occurrence of one or more of the events or circumstances described in these risk factors, alone or in combination with other events or circumstances may have an adverse effect on our business, cash flows, financial condition and results of operations. You should also carefully consider the following risk factors in addition to the other information included in this Form 10-Q, including matters addressed in the section entitled “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.” We may face additional risks and uncertainties that are not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial, which may also impair our business or financial condition. The following discussion should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and notes to the financial statements included herein.
Risks Related to the Company’s Business and Industry
In this section “we,” “us,” “our” and other similar terms refer to MSP and its subsidiaries prior to the Business Combination and to the Company following the Business Combination.
41
We have a history of net losses and no substantial revenue to date, and we may not achieve recoveries, generate significant revenue or achieve profitability. Our relatively limited operating history makes it difficult to evaluate our current business and future prospects and increases the risk of your investment.
Our relatively limited operating history makes it difficult to evaluate our current business and plan for our future growth. MSP Recovery started in 2014 with its very first assignment from a health plan in Miami, Florida. To date, we have achieved no substantial revenue and limited actual recoveries from our assigned claims, and there is no guarantee that we will achieve recoveries, revenue and profitability as we have projected. We have encountered and will continue to encounter significant risks and uncertainties frequently experienced by new and growing companies in rapidly changing industries, such as determining appropriate investments for our limited resources, competition from other data analytics companies, acquiring and retaining Assignors, hiring, integrating, training and retaining skilled personnel, unforeseen expenses, challenges in forecasting accuracy and successfully integrating new strategies. If we are unable to achieve actual recoveries, increase our Assignor base, successfully manage our recovery efforts from third-party payers or successfully expand, our revenue and our ability to achieve and sustain profitability would be impaired. If our assumptions regarding these and other similar risks and uncertainties, which we use to plan our business, are incorrect or change as we gain more experience operating our business or due to changes in our industry, or if we do not address these challenges successfully, our operating and financial results could differ materially from our expectations and our business could suffer.
We have a limited history of actual recoveries to date, and there are risks associated with estimating the amount of revenue that we recognize from the recovery. If our estimates of revenue are materially inaccurate, it would impact the timing and the amount of our revenue recognition and have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
We have a limited track record of generating actual recoveries and related revenue from the claims we have purchased or otherwise been assigned. There are risks associated with estimating the amount of future recoveries and revenues that we may achieve under our assigned claims. Our estimates and projections depend on significant assumptions and involve significant risks which could cause our actual results to vary materially.
Examples of material assumptions we make include, but are not limited to:
• Our assessment that the assigned claims are potentially recoverable claims;
•The achievement of multiples above the paid amount of potentially recoverable claims; and
•The length (and cost) of litigation required to achieve recoveries.
Any of these assumptions may prove over time to be materially inaccurate. If our estimates of revenues are materially inaccurate, it could impact the timing and the amount of our revenue recognition and have a material adverse impact on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Under most of our agreements with Assignors, we assume the risk of failure to recover on the assigned claims, and if we fail to make recoveries with respect to the assigned claims receivables and therefore, are unable to generate recovery proceeds greater than or equal to the amounts paid by us to purchase the assigned claims, it can adversely affect our business.
In many instances, we pay our Assignors an upfront purchase price for assignment of their healthcare claims recoveries. Accordingly, there is a risk that we may not successfully recapture the upfront purchase price if we fail to make recoveries with respect to the assigned claims. If we fail to generate significant recovery proceeds with respect to the assigned claims, it would have an adverse effect on our profitability and business.
A significant portion of our recovery collections relies upon our success in individual lawsuits brought against third parties, which are inherently unpredictable, and our ability to collect on judgments in our favor.
We generate, and expect to generate, a significant portion of our revenue by collecting on judgments that are granted by courts in lawsuits filed against insurers, tortfeasors, and other liable parties. A decrease in the willingness of courts to grant these judgments, a change in the requirements for filing these cases or obtaining these judgments, or a decrease in our ability to collect on these judgments could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results. As we increase our use of the legal channels for collections, our short-term margins may decrease as a result of an increase in upfront court costs and costs related to counter claims. We may not be able to collect on certain aged claims because of applicable statutes of limitations and we may be subject to adverse effects of regulatory changes.
Our recoveries are dependent upon the court system, and unfavorable court rulings, delays, damages calculations or other limitations can adversely affect our recovery efforts and our business.
42
Typically, we must file actions in court to recover monies related to those paid by our Assignors and a substantial amount of our recoveries are dependent on the courts. Because we rely on the courts to adjudicate recoveries, we can be subject to adverse court rulings, significant delays, damages calculations or other limitations, each of which can negatively impact our business and recovery efforts.
For example, from time to time, the courts dismiss our cases with or without prejudice. When one of our cases is dismissed without prejudice, we can refile the action. Accordingly, we retain the ability to bring those claims in a recovery action. When our case is dismissed with prejudice, we cannot refile the action. Accordingly, we lose the ability to pursue such claims. We cannot guarantee that we will not receive adverse rulings in court. Historically, we have received adverse rulings such as:
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
Dismissal for failure to file within the applicable statute of limitations. |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
Dismissal because an assignment did not include the claim that was brought in court (or such assignment was found to be invalid). |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
Dismissal for lack of standing to assert claims. |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
Dismissal for lack of personal jurisdiction. |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
Dismissal for pleading deficiencies. |
Additionally, in certain of our cases, our recoveries may be limited as a function of courts’ damages calculations.
For example, in certain antitrust matters, recoveries may be limited to the difference between the price that a drug manufacturer charged for the drug and the price of the drug absent the relevant anticompetitive action. The list above is not exhaustive of unfavorable rulings, damages calculations or other limitations which we may or have encountered. We can be subject to many other unfavorable rulings, damages calculations or limitations which are not listed above. Such unfavorable rulings, damages calculations or other limitations can negatively affect our business and our recovery efforts.
Litigation outcomes are inherently risky and difficult to predict, and an adverse outcome may result in complete loss of our claims associated with that matter (or a complete loss in value associated with those claims).
It is difficult to predict litigation outcomes, particularly complex litigation of the type that forms the basis of our business. If we do not succeed in the litigation, if the damages awarded in our favor are less than what we expected or if it is not possible to successfully enforce a favorable judgment, we could suffer a variety of adverse consequences, including complete loss of our claims associated with that matter and, in some jurisdictions, liability for the adverse costs of the successful party to the litigation. Unfavorable litigation outcomes could, individually or in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Our assignments can be deemed invalid in court which could adversely affect our recoveries and our business.
We typically receive assignments of healthcare claims recoveries from our Assignors via irrevocable assignments. Accordingly, we are able to pursue those claims that our Assignors originally owned. Enforceability of our assignment agreements is often challenged by defendants in court. If a court determines that an assignment agreement is invalid (whether due to a technical deficiency or regulatory prohibition or otherwise), we will lose the ability to pursue those claims. This can adversely affect our recovery efforts and our business.
43
Courts may find some of our damages calculations to include expenses that are unreasonable, unrelated or unnecessary.
Our damage calculations at times include medical expenses paid by our Assignors that the courts may deem unreasonable, unrelated or unnecessary. Accordingly, a court may find our damages calculations to be incorrect, which could lead to lower than anticipated recoveries. Such a result can adversely affect our business and our recoveries.
Some of our recoveries may be subject to different interpretations of the applicable statutes of limitations.
Our recoveries can be subject to different interpretations of the applicable statutes of limitations. Therefore, recovery claims made in some forums may be brought later in another forum. Failure to bring our claims within the applicable limitations period in the selected forum can result in having our claim dismissed as untimely and can adversely affect our business and our recoveries.
Our fee sharing arrangement with the Law Firm materially reduces our recoveries.
We enter into legal services agreements with the Law Firm and the various entities that hold claims. The Law Firm is engaged to act as exclusive lead counsel to represent MSP Recovery and each of its subsidiaries and affiliates (or other applicable entity) on a contingency basis as it pertains to the assigned claims. The Law Firm engages outside litigation counsel from around the U.S. as co-counsel and these arrangements are made directly between the Law Firm and other counsel. For the services provided, the Law Firm typically collects a 40% fee from the proceeds recovered and this fee is typically paid from our 50% portion of the Net Proceeds. This contingency fee can change in the future. The Law Firm is also entitled to attorney’s fees that are awarded to the Law Firm pursuant to any fee shifting statute, by agreement or court award. An increase in these fees would further adversely affect our net recoveries. For more information about our fee sharing arrangement, see “Business —Scale of Current Portfolio” and “ —Fee Sharing Arrangements.”
We may experience delays due to inconsistent court rulings.
Inconsistent court rulings on different cases can create delays in our recovery efforts. This uncertainty may have an adverse impact on our recoveries and our business.
We may experience delays and other uncertainties surrounding the effects of COVID-19 on the judicial system calendar and capacity.
We continue to closely monitor the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic on all aspects of our business. We face potential delays in resolving pending legal matters as a result of court, administrative as well as other closures and delays as a result of COVID-19 in many of the jurisdictions in which we operate. The ultimate content, timing or effect of any potential future legislation or litigation and the outcome of other lawsuits cannot be predicted and may be delayed as a result of court closures and reduced court dockets as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Assignors may pursue recovery on claims directly or may use recovery agents other than us in connection with the Assignor’s efforts to recover on claims.
With respect to the Assignors of the assigned claims, some of our agreements exclude from the assignment of claims those claims that are assigned to or being pursued by other recovery vendors of the Assignor at the time of the assignment. We have identified instances where the Assignor did not filter its data provided to us to account for such exclusions. This resulted in some claims being identified by us for purposes of our recovery estimates. This also has resulted in other recovery agents of the Assignor making collections on claims that we previously believed were assigned to us. Although we endeavor to seek appropriate clarification from Assignors to properly identify claims that are being pursued by other recovery vendors, due to the nature and volume of data, it may not be possible to identify with precision all such claims. While we do not believe that there is any overlap with other recovery vendors with respect to assigned claims to be material, there can be no assurance as to the ultimate impact on our recoveries or our business.
If lawyers who we rely on to litigate claims and defenses do not exercise due skill and care, or the interests of their clients do not align with the interests of our clients, there may be a material adverse effect on the value of our assets.
We are particularly reliant on lawyers to litigate claims and defenses with due skill and care. If they are unable or unwilling to do this for any reason, it is likely to have a material adverse effect on the value of our assets. We may have limited experience or no prior dealings with such lawyers and there can be no guarantee that the outcome of a case will be in line with our or the lawyers’ assessment of the case or that such lawyers will perform with the expected skill and care.
44
Our business and future growth depend on our ability to successfully expand the volume of our healthcare claims and obtain data from new Assignors and healthcare claims from our existing Assignor base.
We expect a significant portion of our future revenue growth to come from expanding the volume of claims we are assigned; this includes obtaining claims and data from new Assignors as well as our existing Assignors. Our efforts to do so may not be successful. If we are unable to successfully expand the scope of healthcare claims assigned from potential and existing Assignors, it could have a material adverse effect on our growth and on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The positions we will typically acquire in connection with our acquisition of claims are unsecured and may be effectively subordinated to other obligations.
The types of claims we invest in are typically unsecured, and therefore will be subordinated to existing or future secured obligations and may be subordinated to other unsecured obligations of the parties against which we seek recoveries. The repayment of these claims and rights is subject to significant uncertainties. The holders of other obligations may have priority over us to collect amounts due to them and therefore would be entitled to be paid in full before assets would be available for distribution to us.
Our investments in claims may entail special risks including, but not limited to, fraud on the part of the Assignor of the claim.
One concern in investing in claims is the possibility of material misrepresentations or omissions on the part of an Assignor, underlying beneficiary or other counterparty (e.g., some Assignors may set out to defraud investors like us). For example, an Assignor may misrepresent the quality, validity or existence of a claim or other information provided to us. There is no assurance we will detect such fraud and any inaccuracy or incompleteness, if undetected, may adversely affect the valuation of one or more claims and adversely affect our business and performance. Under certain circumstances, recoveries may be reclaimed if any such payment or distribution is later determined to have been a fraudulent conveyance.
Internal improvements to healthcare claims and retail billing processes by our Assignors could reduce the need for, and revenue generated by, our solutions, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We offer solutions that help our Assignors enhance payment accuracy in an increasingly complex environment, including through our Chase to Pay platform. Over time, our work may increase compliance amongst third-party payers. If such processes continue to improve, demand for our solutions could be reduced. With enough time and investment, many of our Assignors may be able to reduce or resolve recurring payment process complexities and resulting payment inaccuracies. As the skills, experience and resources of such technology, systems and personnel improve, they may be able to identify payment inaccuracies before using our services, which would reduce the payment inaccuracies identified by our solutions and our ability to generate revenue, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Healthcare spending fluctuations, simplification of the healthcare delivery and reimbursement system, programmatic changes to the scope of benefits and limitations to payment integrity initiatives could reduce the need for our data-driven solutions, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our solutions improve our Assignors’ ability to accurately pay healthcare claims and prevent or recover inaccurate payments, which often are a result of complexities in the healthcare claims payment system. Although the healthcare benefit and payment systems continue to grow in complexity due to factors such as increased regulation and increased healthcare enrollment, the need for and user adoption of our solutions and/or the scope and profitability of the solutions that we provide to our Assignors could be negatively affected by, among other things:
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
simplification of the U.S. healthcare delivery and reimbursement systems, either through shifts in the commercial healthcare marketplace or through legislative or regulatory changes at the federal or state level; |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
reductions in the scope of private sector or government healthcare benefits (for example, decisions to eliminate coverage of certain services); |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
the transition of healthcare beneficiaries from fee-for-service plans to value-based plans; |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
the adoption of healthcare plans with significantly higher deductibles; |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
limits placed on payment integrity initiatives, including the Medicare RAC program; and |
45
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
lower than projected growth in private health insurance or the various Medicare and Medicaid programs, including Medicare Advantage. |
Any of these developments could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
If our existing Assignors prematurely terminate their agreement with us or if either party materially breaches an agreement, and we can no longer receive future assignments of healthcare claims recoveries, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We expect in the future to derive a significant portion of our revenue from our existing Assignors and, accordingly, we are reliant on ongoing data transfers and the associated assignments of claims from existing Assignors. As a result, maintaining these relationships is critical to our future growth and our business, financial condition and results of operations. We may experience significantly more difficulty than we anticipate in maintaining our existing Assignor agreements. Factors that may affect our ability to continue providing our services under such agreements for our services and our ability to sell additional solutions include:
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
the price, performance and functionality of our solutions; |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
the availability, price, performance and functionality of competing solutions; |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
our Assignors’ perceived ability to review claims accurately using their internal resources; |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
our ability to develop complementary solutions; |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
our continued ability to access the data necessary to enable us to effectively develop and deliver new solutions to Assignors; |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
the stability and security of our platform; |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
changes in healthcare laws, regulations, or trends; and |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
the business environment of our Assignors. |
Pursuant to the claims recovery and assignment agreements with our Assignors, the Assignors may choose to discontinue one or more services under an existing contract, may exercise flexibilities within their contracts to adjust service volumes, and may breach or terminate the contract prior to its agreed upon completion date. A material breach by either party to the agreement may also result in the termination of receiving future claims. Any such occurrences could reduce our revenue from these Assignors. Although a cancellation or termination of a contract does not revoke the original assignment from our Assignors in many instances because such assignment was irrevocable, termination still affects future transfers of data and future assignment of claims. Accordingly, such cancellations or terminations can constrain our growth and result in a decrease in revenue, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
If we are unable to develop new Assignor relationships, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
As part of our strategy, we seek to develop new Assignor relationships, principally among healthcare payers and providers. Our ability to develop new relationships depends on a variety of factors, including the quality and performance of our solutions, as well as the ability to market and sell our solutions effectively and differentiate ourselves from our competitors. We may not be successful in developing new Assignor relationships. If we are unable to develop new Assignor relationships, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In some events, we may act as a servicing agent for another party. If one of these parties terminates their agreement with us or if either party materially breaches an agreement, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Sometimes, we may provide our services as a servicing agent to third parties. These services include, but are not limited to, identifying, processing, prosecuting and recovering monies related to recoverable claims. As a servicing agent, we will act as an independent contractor on behalf of a contracting party who owns the rights to certain recoverable claims. If a party terminates such servicing agreement with us, or if either party is in default of any servicing agreement, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
46
We have long sales and implementation cycles for many of our data-driven solutions and if we fail to close sales after expending time and resources, or if we experience delays in implementing the solutions, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Potential customers generally perform a thorough evaluation of available payment accuracy solutions and require us to expend time, effort and money educating them as to the value of our solutions prior to entering into a contract with them. We may expend significant funds and management resources during the sales cycle and ultimately fail to close the sale. Our sales cycle may be extended due to our potential customer’s budgetary constraints or for other reasons. In addition, following a successful sale, the implementation of our systems frequently involves a lengthy process, as we onboard the new customer’s healthcare data into our proprietary systems. If we are unsuccessful in closing sales after expending funds and management resources or if we experience delays in such sales or in implementing our solutions, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
If our Assignors’ risk agreements change, it can have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Many of our Assignors are first-tier entities, as defined in 42 CFR § 422.2. A first-tier entity is a party that enters into a written arrangement, acceptable to CMS, with an MAO or applicant to provide administrative services or healthcare services for a Medicare eligible individual under the Medicare Advantage program. These entities enter into risk agreements with downstream entities, as defined under 42 CFR § 422.2. If these agreements change or include any restrictions on the assignability of claims, it can have a material adverse effect on our recoveries, business, financial condition, and results of operations.
We obtain and process a large amount of sensitive data. Our systems and networks may be subject to cyber-security breaches and other disruptions that could compromise our information. Any real or perceived improper use of, disclosure of, or access to such data could harm our reputation as a trusted brand, as well as have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We use, obtain and process large amounts of confidential, sensitive and proprietary data, including protected health information (“PHI”) subject to regulation under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009, and personally identifiable information (“PII”) subject to state and federal privacy, security and breach notification laws. The secure processing and maintenance of this information is critical to our operations and business strategy. We face risks associated with new and untested personnel, processes and technologies which have recently been implemented to augment our security and privacy management programs. If our security measures or those of the third-party vendors we use who have access to this information are inadequate or are breached as a result of third-party action, employee error, malfeasance, malware, phishing, hacking attacks, system error, trickery or otherwise, and, as a result, someone obtains unauthorized access to sensitive information, including PHI and PII, on our systems or our providers’ systems, our reputation and business could be damaged. We cannot guarantee that our security efforts will prevent breaches or breakdowns to our or our third-party vendors’ databases or systems.
In addition, our operations are spread across the United States and Puerto Rico and we rely heavily on technology to communicate internally and efficiently perform our services. We have implemented measures that are designed to mitigate the potential adverse effects of a disruption, relocation or change in operating environment; however, we cannot provide assurance that the situations we plan for and the amount of insurance coverage that we maintain will be adequate in any particular case. In addition, despite system redundancy and security measures, our systems and operations are vulnerable to damage or interruption from, among other sources:
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
power loss, transmission cable cuts and telecommunications failures; |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
damage or interruption caused by fire, earthquakes and other natural disasters; |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
attacks by hackers or nefarious actors; |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
computer viruses and other malware or software defects; and |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
physical break-ins, sabotage, intentional acts of vandalism, terrorist attacks and other events beyond our control. |
If we encounter a business interruption, if we fail to effectively maintain our information systems, if it takes longer than we anticipate to complete required upgrades, enhancements or integrations or if our business continuity plans and business interruption insurance do not effectively compensate on a timely basis, we could suffer operational disruptions, disputes with Assignors, civil or criminal
47
penalties, regulatory problems, increases in administrative expenses, loss of our ability to produce timely and accurate financial and other reports or other adverse consequences, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Because of the large amount of data that we collect and manage, it is possible that hardware failures or errors in our systems could result in data loss or corruption or cause the information that we collect to be incomplete or contain inaccuracies that our partners regard as significant. If our data were found to be inaccurate or unreliable due to fraud or other error, or if we, or any of the third-party service providers we engage, were to fail to maintain information systems and data integrity effectively, we could experience operational disruptions that may hinder our ability to provide services, establish appropriate pricing for services, retain and attract Assignors, establish reserves, report financial results timely and accurately and maintain regulatory compliance, among other things. Additionally, as Assignors maintain their own supporting documentation, data and records, it is possible that they may provide us with erroneous or inaccurate data. The occurrence of any of these events could cause our solutions to be perceived as vulnerable, cause our Assignors to lose confidence in our solutions, negatively affect our ability to attract new Assignors and cause existing Assignors to terminate or not renew our solutions. If the information is lost, improperly disclosed or threatened to be disclosed, we could incur significant liability and be subject to regulatory scrutiny and penalties. Furthermore, we could be forced to expend significant resources in response to a security breach, including investigating the cause of the breach, repairing system damage, increasing cyber-security protection costs by deploying additional personnel and protection technologies, notifying and providing credit monitoring to affected individuals, paying regulatory fines and litigating and resolving legal claims and regulatory actions, all of which could increase our expenses and divert the attention of our management and key personnel away from our business operations.
In addition, if our own confidential business information were improperly disclosed, our business could be materially adversely affected. A core aspect of our business is the reliability and security of our technology platform. Any perceived or actual breach of security could have a significant impact on our reputation as a trusted brand, cause us to lose existing Assignors, prevent us from obtaining new Assignors, require us to expend significant funds to remedy problems caused by breaches and to implement measures to prevent further breaches and expose us to legal risk and potential liability. Any security breach at a third-party vendor providing services to us could have similar effects. Any breach or disruption of any systems or networks on which we rely could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our information technology strategy and execution are critical to our continued success. We expect to continue to invest in long-term solutions that will enable us to continue being a differentiator in the market and to protect against cybersecurity risks and threats. Our success is dependent, in large part, on maintaining the effectiveness of existing technology systems and continuing to deliver and enhance technology systems that support our business processes in a cost-efficient and resource-efficient manner. Increasing regulatory and legislative changes will place additional demands on our information technology infrastructure that could have a direct impact on resources available for other projects tied to our strategic initiatives. In addition, recent trends toward greater patient engagement in health care require new and enhanced technologies, including more sophisticated applications for mobile devices. Connectivity among technologies is becoming increasingly important. We must also develop new systems to meet current market standards and keep pace with continuing changes in information processing technology, evolving industry and regulatory standards and patient needs. Failure to do so may present compliance challenges and impede our ability to deliver services in a competitive manner. Further, because system development projects are long-term in nature, they may be more costly than expected to complete and may not deliver the expected benefits upon completion. Our failure to effectively invest in, implement improvements to and properly maintain the uninterrupted operation and data integrity of our information technology and other business systems could adversely affect our results of operations, financial position and cash flow.
If we fail to innovate and develop new solutions, or if these new solutions are not adopted by existing and potential Assignors or other users, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our results of operations and continued growth will depend on our ability to successfully develop and market new solutions that our existing and potential Assignors or other users are willing to adopt. For example, as part of our “Chase to Pay” model, we launched LifeWallet in January 2022, a platform designed to organize and facilitate access to users’ medical records. We cannot provide assurance that our new or modified solutions will be responsive to Assignor or users preferences or industry changes, or that the product and service development initiatives we prioritize will yield the gains that we anticipate, if any.
If we are unable to predict market preferences or if our industry changes, or if we are unable to modify our solutions on a timely basis, we may lose Assignors or fail to attract new ones. If existing Assignors are not willing to adopt new solutions, or if potential Assignors or other users do not value such new solutions, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
48
Certain of our activities present the potential for identity theft or similar illegal behavior by our employees or contractors with respect to third parties, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our solutions involve the use and disclosure of personal information that in some cases could be used to impersonate third parties or otherwise improperly gain access to their data or funds.
If any of our employees or contractors take, convert, or misuse such information, or we experience a data breach creating a risk of identity theft, we could be liable for damages and our business reputation could be damaged. In addition, we could be perceived to have facilitated or participated in illegal misappropriation of documents or data and, therefore, be subject to civil or criminal liability. In addition, federal and state regulators may take the position that a data breach or misdirection of data constitutes an unfair or deceptive act or trade practice. We also may be required to notify individuals affected by any data breaches. Further, a data breach or similar incident could impact the ability of our Assignors that are creditors to comply with the federal “red flags” rules, which require the implementation of identity theft prevention programs to detect, prevent and mitigate identity theft in connection with Assignor accounts, which could be costly. If data utilized in our solutions are misappropriated for the purposes of identity theft or similar illegal behavior, it could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations.
If we fail to comply with applicable privacy, security and data laws, regulations and standards, including with respect to third-party service providers that utilize sensitive personal information on our behalf, it could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations.
In order to provide our services and solutions, we often receive, process, transmit and store PHI and PII of individuals, as well as other financial, confidential and proprietary information belonging to our Assignors and third parties from which we obtain information (e.g., private insurance companies, financial institutions, etc.). The receipt, maintenance, protection, use, transmission, disclosure, and disposal of this information is regulated at the federal, state, international and industry levels and we are also obligated by our contractual requirements with customers. These laws, rules and requirements are subject to frequent change. Compliance with new privacy and security laws, regulations and requirements may result in increased operating costs and may constrain or require us to alter our business model or operations. For example, we are subject to federal regulation as a result of the Final Omnibus Privacy, Security, Breach Notification and Enforcement Rules (the “Omnibus Final Rule”) amendments to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009. We collectively refer to these acts and their implementing federal regulations, including the Omnibus Final Rule, as “HIPAA.”
HIPAA establishes privacy and security standards that limit our use and disclosure of PHI and requires us to implement administrative, physical and technical safeguards to ensure the confidentiality, integrity and availability of PHI, as well as notify our covered entity customers of breaches of unsecured PHI and security incidents. HIPAA also imposes direct penalties on us for violations of its requirements. In addition to HIPAA, we are also subject to varying state laws governing the use and disclosure of PII, including medical record information, as well as state laws requiring notification in case of a breach of such information. The Omnibus Final Rule significantly increased the risk of liability to us, our business associates and subcontractors by making us directly subject to many of HIPAA’s requirements and made more incidents of inadvertent disclosure reportable and subject to penalties.
We act as a business associate to our covered entity customers because we collect, use, disclose and maintain PHI in order to provide services to these customers. HIPAA requires us to enter into satisfactory written business associate agreements with our covered entity customers, which contain specified written assurances that we will safeguard PHI that we create or access and will fulfill other material obligations. Under the Omnibus Final Rule, we may be held directly liable under our business associate agreements and HIPAA for any violations of HIPAA. Therefore, we could face contractual liability with our Assignors as well as liability to the government under HIPAA if we do not comply with our business associate obligations and those provisions of HIPAA that are applicable to us. While we take measures to comply with applicable laws and regulations as well as our internal privacy policies, such laws, regulations and related legal standards for privacy and security continue to evolve and any failure or perceived failure to comply with applicable laws, regulations and standards may result in threatened or actual proceedings, actions and public statements against us by government entities, private parties, consumer advocacy groups or others, or could cause us to lose Assignors, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. The penalties for a violation of HIPAA are significant and, if imposed, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. While we have included protections in our contracts with our third-party service providers, as required by the Omnibus Final Rule, we have limited oversight or control over their actions and practices. In addition, we could also be exposed to data breach risk if there is unauthorized access to one of our or our subcontractors’ secured facilities or from lost or stolen laptops, other portable media from current or former employee theft of data containing PHI, from misdirected mailings containing PHI, or other forms of administrative or operational error. HHS conducts audits to assess HIPAA compliance efforts by covered entities and business associates. An audit resulting in findings or allegations of noncompliance could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial position and cash flows.
49
Additional risks include our ability to effectively manage growth, process, store, protect and use personal data in compliance with governmental regulations, contractual obligations and other legal obligations related to privacy and security and manage our obligations as a provider of healthcare services under Medicare and Medicaid.
Noncompliance or findings of noncompliance with applicable laws, regulations or requirements, or the occurrence of any privacy or security breach involving the misappropriation, loss or other unauthorized disclosure of sensitive personal information, whether by us or by one of our third-party service providers, could have a material adverse effect on our reputation and business, including, among other consequences, mandatory disclosure to the media, loss of existing or new Assignors, significant increases in the cost of managing and remediating privacy or security incidents and material fines, penalties and litigation awards, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial position and cash flows. Further, if such laws and regulations are not enforced equally against other competitors in a particular market, our compliance with such laws may put us a competitive disadvantage vis-à-vis competitors who do not comply with such requirements.
We have Assignors throughout the United States and our solutions may contain healthcare information of patients located across all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Therefore, we may be subject to the privacy laws of each such jurisdiction, which may vary and, in some cases, can impose more restrictive requirements than federal law. Where state laws are more protective, we have to comply with the stricter provisions. In addition to fines and penalties imposed upon violators, some of these state laws also afford private rights of action to individuals who believe their personal information has been misused. California’s patient privacy laws, for example, provide for penalties of up to $250,000 and permit injured parties to sue for damages. The interplay of federal and state laws may be subject to varying interpretations by courts and government agencies, creating complex compliance issues for us and our Assignors and potentially exposing us to additional expense, adverse publicity and liability. Further, as regulatory focus on privacy issues continues to increase and laws and regulations concerning the protection of personal information expand and become more complex, these potential risks to our business could intensify. Changes in laws or regulations associated with the enhanced protection of certain types of sensitive data, such as PHI or PII, along with increased customer demands for enhanced data security infrastructure, could greatly increase our cost of providing our services, decrease demand for our services, reduce our revenue and/or subject us to additional liabilities.
The following legal and regulatory developments also could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations:
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
amendment, enactment, or interpretation of laws and regulations that restrict the access and use of personal information and reduce the supply of data available to Assignors; |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
changes in cultural and consumer attitudes to favor further restrictions on information collection and sharing, which may lead to regulations that prevent full utilization of our solutions; |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
failure of our solutions to comply with current laws and regulations; and |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
failure of our solutions to adapt to changes in the regulatory environment in an efficient, cost-effective manner. |
Changes in legislation, both federal and state, or in laws relating to healthcare programs and policies, and steps we take in anticipation of such changes, particularly as they relate to the Medicare Secondary Payer Act and Medicare and Medicaid programs, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Approximately 88% of our expected recoveries arise from claims being brought under the Medicare Secondary Payer Act. This law allows us to pursue recoveries against Primary Payers for reimbursement of medical expenses that our Assignors paid for when Primary Payers (i.e. liability insurers) were responsible for payment. While we believe we have been successful at both the federal and state level in establishing a legal basis for our recoveries, changes to the laws on which we base our recoveries, particularly the Medicare Secondary Payer Act, can adversely affect our business. For example, the Repair Abuses of MSP Payments Act (RAMP Act, H.R. 8063) that was introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives in June 2022 seeks to repeal the private cause of action under the Medicare Secondary Payer Act – a fundamental component of how we are able to calculate damages. The Medicare Secondary Payer Act’s private cause of action incentivizes private parties, such as MSP Recovery, to pursue reimbursement of conditional payments by rewarding them with double damages. The repeal of the private cause of action would remove the possibility of recovering double damages. Also, any changes to the Federal Medicare and Medicaid programs can affect our ability to attract new Assignors and acquire new data, thus substantially affecting our business, growth and recoveries. If the Medicare Secondary Payer Act is substantially changed or repealed, or if the RAMP Act were enacted to apply retroactively, it could significantly reduce our potential recoveries and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
50
Changes in the United States healthcare environment, or in laws relating to healthcare programs and policies, and steps we take in anticipation of such changes, particularly as they relate to the Affordable Care Act and Medicare and Medicaid programs, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The healthcare industry in the United States is subject to a multitude of changing political, economic and regulatory influences that affect every aspect of our healthcare system. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act (the “Affordable Care Act”), made major changes in how healthcare is delivered and reimbursed, and generally increased access to health insurance benefits to the uninsured and underinsured population of the United States. Among other things, the Affordable Care Act increased the number of individuals with Medicaid and private insurance coverage, implemented reimbursement policies that tie payment to quality, facilitated the creation of accountable care organizations that may use capitation and other alternative payment methodologies, strengthened enforcement of fraud and abuse laws and encouraged the use of information technology. However, many of these changes require implementing regulations that have not yet been drafted or have been released only as proposed rules. In addition, there have been and continue to be a number of legislative and regulatory initiatives to contain healthcare costs, reduce federal and state government spending on healthcare products and services and limit or restrict the scope of the Medicare RAC program and other program integrity initiatives.
Future changes to the Affordable Care Act and to the Medicare and Medicaid programs and other federal or state healthcare reform measures may lower reimbursement rates, establish new payment models, increase or decrease government involvement in healthcare, decrease the Medicare RAC program and otherwise change the operating environment for us and our Assignors. If efforts to waive, modify or otherwise change the Affordable Care Act, in whole or in part, are successful, if we are unable to adapt our solutions to meet changing requirements or expand service delivery into new areas, or the demand for our solutions is reduced as a result of healthcare organizations’ reactions to changed circumstances and financial pressures, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Healthcare organizations may react to such changed circumstances and financial pressures, including those surrounding the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, by taking actions such as curtailing or deferring their retention of service providers, which could reduce the demand for our data driven solutions and, in turn, have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
A significant portion of our claims comes from a limited number of Assignors, and the loss of one or more of these Assignors could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We have acquired a significant portion of our claims from and entered into agreements for new services with a limited number of large Assignors. These Assignors assign these claims with an irrevocable assignment from the Assignor to us (“assignment agreement”) each with different and/or staggered terms. In addition, we also rely on our reputation and recommendations from key Assignors to promote our solutions to potential new Assignors.
Further, our ability to pursue a significant portion of our claims depends on our arrangements pursuant to which we are granted access to health care data, which may be terminated upon the occurrence of certain events. See “- We use various data sources in our business and if we lose access to those data sources it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.” Accordingly, if any of these Assignors fail to renew or terminate their existing agreements with us, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our revenues and operations are dependent upon a limited number of key existing payers and our Assignors’ continued relationship with those payers, and disruptions in those relationships (including renegotiation, non-renewal or termination of capitation agreements) or the inability of such payers to maintain their contracts with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, could adversely affect our business.
Our operations are dependent on a concentrated number of payers with whom our Assignors contract to provide services. The loss of these contracts for our Assignors could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. The sudden loss of any of our Assignors’ payer partners or the renegotiation of any of our Assignors’ payer contracts could adversely affect our operating results.
Moreover, our inability to maintain agreements with our Assignors with respect to their health care claims recovery rights and data or to negotiate favorable terms for those agreements in the future could result in the loss of revenue and could have a material adverse effect on our profitability and business.
51
The data healthcare analytics and healthcare payment market is relatively new and unpenetrated, and if it does not develop or if it develops more slowly than we expect, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The data healthcare analytics and healthcare payment accuracy market is relatively new and the overall market opportunity remains relatively unpenetrated. It is uncertain whether this market will achieve and sustain high levels of demand, client acceptance and market adoption. Our success will depend to a substantial extent on the willingness of our Assignors to use, and to increase the
frequency and extent of their utilization of our solutions, as well as on our ability to demonstrate the value of data-driven solutions and payment accuracy solutions to healthcare payers and government agencies. If our Assignors or other potential customers do not perceive the benefits of our data-driven solutions, then our market may not continue to develop, or it may develop more slowly than we expect. If any of these events occurs, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Negative publicity concerning the data healthcare analytics and healthcare payment accuracy industry or patient confidentiality and privacy could limit the future growth of the healthcare payment accuracy market.
Our data-driven solutions help prevent and recover improper payments made to healthcare providers. As a result, healthcare providers, insurers, third-party payers and others have criticized the healthcare payment accuracy industry and have hired lobbyists to discredit the reported success that payment accuracy solutions have had in improving the accuracy of payments. Further, negative publicity regarding patient confidentiality and privacy could limit market acceptance of our healthcare solutions. Many consumer advocates, privacy advocates and government regulators believe that the existing laws and regulations do not adequately protect privacy. They have become increasingly concerned with the use of personal information. As a result, they are lobbying for further restrictions on the dissemination or commercial use of personal information to the public and private sectors. If healthcare providers, privacy advocates and others are successful in creating negative publicity for the healthcare payment accuracy industry, government and private healthcare payers could hesitate to contract with payment accuracy providers, such as us, which could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations.
We face significant competition and we expect competition to increase.
Competition among providers of healthcare payment accuracy solutions to U.S. healthcare insurance companies is strong and we may encounter additional competition as new competitors enter this area.
Our current healthcare solutions competitors include:
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
other payment accuracy vendors, including vendors focused on discrete aspects of the healthcare payment accuracy process; |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
fraud, waste, and abuse claim edit and predictive analysis companies; |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
primary claims processors; |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
numerous regional utilization management companies; |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
in-house payment accuracy capabilities; |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
Healthcare consulting firms and other third-party liability service providers. |
We may not be able to compete successfully against existing or new competitors. In addition, we may be forced to increase the consideration we provide for assigned claims or lower our pricing, or the demand for our data-driven solutions may decrease as a result of increased competition. Further, a failure to be responsive to our existing and potential Assignors’ needs could hinder our ability to maintain or expand our Assignor base, hire and retain new employees, pursue new business opportunities, complete future acquisitions and operate our business effectively. Any inability to compete effectively could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
52
If we are unable to protect our proprietary technology, information, processes and know-how, the value of our solutions may be diminished, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We rely significantly on proprietary technology, information, processes and know-how that are not subject to patent or copyright protection. We seek to protect this information through trade secret or confidentiality agreements with our employees, consultants,
subcontractors or other parties, as well as through other security measures. These agreements and security measures may be inadequate to deter misappropriation of intellectual property and may be insufficient to protect our proprietary information. Misappropriation of our intellectual property by third parties, or any disclosure or dissemination of our business intelligence, queries, algorithms and other similar information by any means, could undermine competitive advantages we currently derive or may derive therefrom. Any of these situations could result in our expending significant time and incurring expense to enforce our intellectual property rights. Although we have taken measures to protect our proprietary rights, others may compete with our business by offering solutions or services that are substantially similar to ours. If the protection of our proprietary rights is inadequate to prevent unauthorized use or appropriation by third parties or our employees, the value of our solutions, brand and other intangible assets may be diminished and competitors may be able to more effectively offer solutions that have the same or similar functionality as our solutions, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our success depends on our ability to protect our intellectual property rights.
Our success depends in part on our ability to protect our proprietary software, confidential information and know-how, technology and other intellectual property and intellectual property rights. To do so, we rely generally on copyright, trademark and trade secret laws, confidentiality and invention assignment agreements with employees and third parties, and license and other agreements with consultants, vendors and Assignors. There can be no assurance that employees, consultants, vendors and Assignors have executed such agreements or have not breached or will not breach their agreements with us, that we will have adequate remedies for any breach, or that our trade secrets will not otherwise become known or independently developed by competitors. Additionally, we monitor our use of open source software to avoid uses that would require us to disclose our proprietary source code or violate applicable open source licenses, but if we engaged in such uses inadvertently, we could be required to take remedial action or release certain of our proprietary source code. These scenarios could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, despite the protections we place on our intellectual property, a third party could, without authorization, copy or otherwise obtain and use our products or technology, or develop similar technology. In addition, agreement terms that address non-competition are difficult to enforce in many jurisdictions and might not be enforceable in certain cases.
As we begin to pursue patents, we might not be able to obtain meaningful patent protection for our technology. In addition, if any patents are issued in the future, they might not provide us with any competitive advantages or might be successfully challenged by third parties.
We rely on unpatented proprietary technology. It is possible that others will independently develop the same or similar technology or otherwise obtain access to our unpatented technology. To protect our trade secrets and other proprietary information, we require employees, consultants, advisors and collaborators to enter into confidentiality agreements. We cannot assure you that these agreements will provide meaningful protection for our trade secrets, know-how, or other proprietary information in the event of any unauthorized use, misappropriation, or disclosure of such trade secrets, know-how, or other proprietary information. Further, the theft or unauthorized use or publication of our trade secrets and other confidential business information could reduce the differentiation of our services and harm our business, and the value of our investment in development or business acquisitions could be reduced and third parties might make claims against us related to losses of their confidential or proprietary information.
We rely on our trademarks, service marks, trade names and brand names to distinguish our services from the services of our competitors and have registered or applied to register many of these trademarks. We cannot assure you that our trademark applications will be approved. Third parties may also oppose our trademark applications or otherwise challenge our use of the trademarks. In the event that our trademarks are successfully challenged, we could be forced to rebrand our services, which could result in loss of brand recognition and could require us to devote resources advertising and marketing new brands. Further, we cannot assure you that competitors will not infringe our trademarks or that we will have adequate resources to enforce our trademarks. Additionally, if we expand our focus to the international payment accuracy market, there is no guarantee that our trademarks, service marks, trade names and brand names will be adequately protected.
Our ability to obtain, protect and enforce our intellectual property rights is subject to uncertainty as to the scope of protection, registrability, patentability, validity and enforceability of our intellectual property rights in each applicable jurisdiction, as well as the risk of general litigation or third-party oppositions.
Existing U.S. federal and state intellectual property laws offer only limited protection. Moreover, if we expand our business into markets outside of the United States, our intellectual property rights may not receive the same degree of protection as they would in the United States because of the differences in foreign trademark and other laws concerning proprietary rights. Governments may
53
adopt regulations, and government agencies or courts may render decisions, requiring compulsory licensing of intellectual property rights. When we seek to enforce our intellectual property rights, we may be subject to claims that the intellectual property rights are invalid or unenforceable. Litigation may be necessary in the future to enforce our intellectual property rights and to protect our trade secrets. Litigation brought to protect and enforce our intellectual property rights could be costly, time consuming and distracting to management and could result in the impairment or loss of portions of our intellectual property rights. Furthermore, our efforts to enforce our intellectual property rights may be met with defenses, counterclaims and countersuits attacking the validity and enforceability of our intellectual property rights. Our inability to protect our proprietary technology against unauthorized copying or use, as well as any costly litigation or diversion of our management’s attention and resources, could delay further sales or the implementation of our solutions, impair the functionality of our solutions, delay introductions of new solutions, result in our substituting inferior or more costly technologies into our solutions, or have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our qui tam litigation may be subject to Government Intervention and Dismissal pursuant to 31 U.S.C. § 3730(c)(2)(A).
We file qui tam (“whistleblower”) actions on behalf of the United States federal government (“Federal Government”) under the False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. § 3729 et seq. These actions give the Federal Government the opportunity to intervene and participate in the action. The False Claims Act authorizes the Attorney General to dismiss a qui tam action over the relator’s objection. The action can be dismissed if the Federal Government determines their best interests are not served with the litigation. This can be the case if the litigation does not advance their interests, preserve their limited resources or avoid adverse precedent.
The Federal Government may dismiss an action notwithstanding the objections of the relator if the relator has received notice from the Federal Government and the person is afforded an opportunity to be heard on the Federal Government’s motion to dismiss. Courts have stated that the Federal Government has an “unfettered” right to dismiss a qui tam action. Swift v. United States, 318 F.3d 250, 252 (D.C. Cir. 2003). Federal Government intervention as well as dismissal pursuant to 31 U.S.C. § 3730(c)(2)(A), can negatively affect our business and our recovery efforts.
We are subject to extensive government regulation. Any violation of the laws and regulations applicable to us or a negative audit or investigation finding could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Much of our business is regulated by the Federal Government and the states in which we operate. The laws and regulations governing our operations generally are intended to benefit and protect individual citizens, including government program beneficiaries, health plan members and providers, rather than stockholders. The government agencies administering these laws and regulations have broad latitude to enforce them. These laws and regulations regulate how we do business, what services we offer and how we interact with our Assignors, providers, other healthcare payers and the public. Increased involvement by us in analytic or audit work that can have an impact on the eligibility of individuals for medical coverage or specific benefits could increase the likelihood and incidence of us being subjected to scrutiny or legal actions by parties other than our Assignors, based on alleged mistakes or deficiencies in our work, with significant resulting costs and strain on our resources.
In addition, because we may receive payments from federal and state governmental agencies, we may become subject to various laws, including the Federal False Claims Act and similar state statutes, which permit government law enforcement agencies to institute suits against us for violations and, in some cases, to seek double or treble damages, penalties and assessments. In addition, private citizens, acting as whistleblowers, can sue on behalf of the Federal Government under the “qui tam” provisions of the Federal False Claims Act and similar statutory provisions in many states.
The expansion of our operations into new products and services may further expose us to requirements and potential liabilities under additional statutes and legislative schemes that previously have not been relevant to our business, such as banking statutes, that may both increase demands on our resources for compliance activities and subject us to potential penalties for noncompliance with statutory and regulatory standards.
If the government discovers improper or illegal activities in the course of audits or investigations, we may be subject to various civil and criminal penalties and administrative sanctions, which may include termination of contracts, forfeiture of profits, suspension of payments, fines and suspensions and debarment from doing business with the government. Such risks, particularly under the Federal False Claims Act and similar state fraud statutes, have increased in recent years due to legislative changes that have (among other amendments) expanded the definition of a false claim to include, potentially, any unreimbursed overpayment received from, or other monetary debt owed to, a government agency. If we are found to be in violation of any applicable law or regulation, or if we receive an adverse review, audit or investigation, any resulting negative publicity, penalties or sanctions could have an adverse effect on our reputation in the industry, impair our ability to compete for new contracts and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
54
Our business depends on effective information processing systems that are compliant with current HIPAA transaction and code set standards and the integrity of the data in, and operations of, our information systems, as well as those of other entities that provide us with data or receive data from us.
Our ability to conduct our operations and accurately report our financial results depends on the integrity of the data in our information systems and the integrity of the processes performed by those systems. These information systems and applications require continual maintenance, upgrading and enhancement to meet our operational needs, satisfy Assignor requests and handle and enable our expansion and growth. Despite our testing and quality control measures, we cannot be certain that errors or system deficiencies will not be found and that remediation can be done in a timeframe that is acceptable to our Assignors or that Assignor relationships will not be impaired by the occurrence of errors or the need for remediation. In addition, implementation of upgrades and enhancements may cost more, take longer or require more testing than originally expected. Given the large amount of data we collect and manage, it is possible that hardware failures, errors or technical deficiencies in our systems could result in data loss or corruption or cause the information that we collect, utilize or disseminate to be incomplete or contain inaccuracies that our Assignors regard as significant.
Moreover, because we submit high volumes of monetary claims to third parties, the efficiency and effectiveness of our own operations are to some degree dependent on the claims processing systems of these third parties and their compliance with any new transaction and code set standards. Since October 1, 2015, health plans, commercial payers and healthcare providers have been required to transition to the new ICD-10 coding system, which greatly expands the number and detail of diagnosis codes used for inpatient, outpatient and physician claims. The transition to the new transaction and code set standard is expensive, time-consuming and may initially result in disruptions or delays as we and other stakeholders make necessary system adjustments to be fully compliant and capable of exchanging data.
In addition, we may experience delays in processing claims and therefore earning our fees if the third parties with whom we work are not in full compliance with these new standards in the required timeframe. Claims processing systems failures, incapacities or deficiencies internal to these third parties could significantly delay or obstruct our ability to recover money, and thereby interfere with our performance and our ability to generate revenue in the timeframe we anticipate, which in turn could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In the event we fail to maintain our Security Organization Control 2, HITRUST or other certifications, we could be in breach of our obligations under our contracts, fines and other penalties could result and we may suffer reputational harm and damage to our business.
In addition to government regulations and securities laws, we are subject to self-regulatory standards and industry certifications that may legally or contractually apply to us. These include Security Organization Control 2 (“SOC 2”), with which we are currently compliant. In the event we fail to maintain our SOC 2 compliance or fail to receive recertification from HITRUST, we could be in breach of our obligations under Assignor and other contracts, fines and other penalties could result, and we may suffer reputational harm and damage to our business. Further, our Assignors may expect us to comply with more stringent privacy and data security requirements than those imposed by laws, regulations or self-regulatory requirements, and we may be obligated contractually to comply with additional or different standards relating to our handling or protection of data.
Any failure or perceived failure by us to comply with federal or state laws or regulations, industry standards or other legal obligations, or any actual or suspected privacy or security incident, whether or not resulting in unauthorized access to, or acquisition, release or transfer of PII or other data, may result in governmental enforcement actions and prosecutions, private litigation, fines and penalties or adverse publicity and could cause our Assignors to lose trust in us, which could have an adverse effect on our reputation and business. We may be unable to make such changes and modifications in a commercially reasonable manner or at all, and our ability to pursue recoveries could be limited. Any of these developments could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations. Privacy and data security concerns, whether valid or invalid, may inhibit retention of our systems by existing Assignors or onboarding onto or, in the case of our Chase to Pay services, adoption of our systems by new Assignors. For more information on Chase to Pay services, please see the section entitled “Business - Chase to Pay.”
Costs associated with, and our ability to obtain and maintain adequate insurance, could adversely affect our profitability and financial condition.
We hold a number of insurance policies, including directors’ and officers’ liability insurance, business interruption insurance, property insurance and workers’ compensation insurance. The cost of maintaining directors’ and officers’ liability insurance has increased substantially over the past few years and could continue to increase, due to general market trends, as part of an evaluation of our specific loss history and other factors. If the costs of maintaining adequate insurance coverage should increase significantly in the future, our operating results could be materially adversely affected. Likewise, if any of our current insurance coverage should become unavailable to us or become economically impractical, we would be required to operate our business without indemnity from commercial insurance providers. Similarly, if we exhaust our current insurance coverage for any given policy period, we would be
55
required to operate our business without indemnity from commercial insurance providers for any claims made that are attributable to that policy period.
Our services could become subject to new, revised or enhanced regulatory requirements in the future, which could result in increased costs, could delay or prevent our introduction of new solutions, or could impair the function or value of our existing solutions, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The healthcare industry is highly regulated at the federal, state and local levels, and is subject to changing legislative, regulatory, political and other influences. As has been the trend in recent years, it is reasonable to assume that there will continue to be increased government oversight and regulation of the healthcare industry in the future. Changes to existing laws and regulations, or the enactment of new federal and state laws and regulations affecting the healthcare industry, could create unexpected liabilities for us, could cause us or our Assignors to incur additional costs and could restrict our or our Assignors’ operations. Many healthcare laws are complex, subject to frequent change and dependent on interpretation and enforcement decisions from government agencies with broad discretion. We cannot assure our stockholders as to the ultimate content, timing or effect of any new healthcare legislation or regulations, nor is it possible at this time to estimate the impact of potential new legislation or regulations on our business. In addition, federal and state legislatures periodically have considered programs to reform or amend the U.S. healthcare system at both the federal and state level, such as the enactment of the Affordable Care Act. It is possible that the changes to the Medicare, Medicaid or other governmental healthcare program reimbursements may serve as precedent to possible changes in other payers’ reimbursement policies in a manner adverse to us. Similarly, changes in private payer reimbursements could lead to adverse changes in Medicare, Medicaid and other governmental healthcare programs, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Our failure to anticipate accurately the application of these laws and similar or future laws and regulations, or our failure to comply with them, could create liability for us, result in adverse publicity and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
While we believe that we have structured our agreements and operations in material compliance with applicable healthcare laws and regulations, there can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully address changes in the current regulatory environment. We believe that our business operations materially comply with applicable healthcare laws and regulations. However, some of the healthcare laws and regulations applicable to us are subject to limited or evolving interpretations, and a review of our business or operations by a court, law enforcement or a regulatory authority might result in a determination that could have a material adverse effect on us. Furthermore, the healthcare laws and regulations applicable to us may be amended or interpreted in a manner that could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, results of operations and financial condition.
Our services may become subject to new or enhanced regulatory requirements and we may be required to change or adapt our services in order to comply with these regulations. If we fail to successfully implement a new regulatory framework, it could adversely affect our ability to offer services deemed critical by our Assignors, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. New or enhanced regulatory requirements may render our solutions obsolete or prevent us from performing certain services. Further, new or enhanced regulatory requirements could impose additional costs on us, thereby making existing solutions unprofitable, and could make the introduction of new solutions more costly or time consuming than we anticipate, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
If we fail to accurately estimate the factors upon which we base our contract pricing, we may generate less profit than expected or incur losses on those contracts, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our Assignor contracts are generally recovery-based. We receive a fee for such contracts based on the monies identified and ultimately recovered. Our ability to earn a profit on a performance-based agreement requires that we accurately estimate the costs involved and outcomes likely to be achieved and assess the probability of completing multiple tasks and transactions within the contracted time period.
We derive a relatively small portion of our revenue on a “fee-for-service” basis whereby billing is based upon a flat fee or a fee per hour. To earn a profit on these contracts, we must accurately estimate costs involved and assess the probability of achieving certain milestones within the contracted time period. If we do not accurately estimate the costs and timing for completing projects, or if we encounter increased or unexpected costs, delays, failures, liabilities or risks, including those outside of our control, our contracts could prove unprofitable for us or yield lower profit margins than anticipated. Although we believe that we have recorded adequate provisions in our financial statements for losses on our fee-for-service contracts where applicable, as required under GAAP, we cannot provide assurance that our contract provisions will be adequate to cover all actual future losses. The inability to accurately estimate the factors upon which we base our contract pricing could have a material adverse effect on business, financial condition and results of operations.
56
If we fail to cost-effectively develop widespread brand awareness and maintain our reputation, or if we fail to achieve and maintain market acceptance, our business could suffer.
We believe that maintaining and enhancing our reputation and brand recognition is critical to our relationships with our Assignors and ability to attract new Assignors. The promotion of our brand may require us to make substantial investments and we anticipate that, as our market becomes increasingly competitive, these marketing initiatives may become increasingly difficult and expensive. Our marketing activities may not be successful or yield increased revenue and to the extent that these activities yield increased revenue, the increased revenue may not offset the expenses we incur and our results of operations could be harmed. In addition, any factor that diminishes our reputation or that of our management, including failing to meet expectations, or any adverse publicity or litigation involving or surrounding us, could make it substantially more difficult for us to attract new Assignors. In addition, negative publicity resulting from any adverse government audit could injure our reputation. If we do not successfully maintain and enhance our reputation and brand recognition, our business may not grow and we could lose our relationships with Assignors, which would harm our business, results of operations and financial condition.
The registered or unregistered trademarks or trade names that we own or license may be challenged, infringed, circumvented, declared generic, lapsed or determined to be infringing on or dilutive of other marks. We may not be able to protect our rights in these trademarks and trade names, which we need in order to build name recognition with Assignors, payers and other partners. In addition, third parties may in the future file for registration of trademarks similar or identical to our trademarks. If they succeed in registering or developing common law rights in such trademarks, and if we are not successful in challenging such third-party rights, we may not be able to use these trademarks to promote our business in certain relevant jurisdictions. If we are unable to establish name recognition based on our trademarks and trade names, we may not be able to compete effectively and our brand recognition, reputation and results of operations may be adversely affected.
Our ability to execute on business plans, maintain high levels of service or adequately address competitive challenges will be negatively impacted if we fail to properly manage our growth, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In recent years, our size and the scope of our business operations have expanded rapidly, and we expect that we will continue to grow and expand into new areas within the healthcare industry; however, such growth and expansion has resulted in nominal revenue to date and carries costs and risks that, if not properly managed, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. To effectively manage our business plans, we must continue to improve our operations, while remaining competitive. We must also be flexible and responsive to our Assignors’ needs and to changes in the political, economic and regulatory environment in which we operate. The greater size and complexity of our expanding business puts additional strain on our administrative, operational and financial resources and makes the determination of optimal resource allocation more difficult. A failure to anticipate or properly address the demands that our growth and diversification may have on our resources and existing infrastructure may result in unanticipated costs and inefficiencies and could adversely impact our ability to execute on our business plans and growth goals, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We may require significant capital expenditures and the allocation of valuable management resources to grow and change in these areas. We must effectively increase our headcount and continue to effectively train and manage our employees. We will need to continue to hire, train and manage additional qualified information technology, operations and marketing staff, and improve and maintain our technology and information systems to properly manage our growth. If our new hires perform poorly, or if we are unsuccessful in hiring, training, managing and integrating these new employees, or if we are not successful in retaining our existing employees, our business may be adversely affected. We will be unable to manage our business effectively if we are unable to alleviate the strain on resources caused by growth in a timely and successful manner. If we fail to effectively manage our anticipated growth and change, the quality of our services may suffer, which could negatively affect our brand and reputation and harm our ability to attract and retain Assignors and employees.
We have encountered and will continue to encounter risks and difficulties frequently experienced by growing companies in rapidly changing industries, including increasing expenses as we continue to grow our business. We expect our operating expenses to increase significantly over the next several years as we continue to hire additional personnel, expand our operations and infrastructure, and continue to expand to reach more Assignors. In addition to the expected costs to grow our business, we also expect to incur additional legal, accounting, investor relations and other expenses as a newly public company. These investments may be more costly than we expect, and if we do not achieve the benefits anticipated from these investments, or if the realization of these benefits is delayed, they may not result in increased revenue or growth in our business. If our growth rate were to decline significantly or become negative, it could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. If we are not able to achieve or maintain positive cash flow in the long term, we may require additional financing, which may not be available on favorable terms or at all and/or which could be dilutive to our stockholders. Our failure to achieve or maintain profitability could negatively impact the value of our common stock.
57
We may not be able to obtain additional capital to continue the development of our business.
There can be no assurance that our future proposed operations and claims recovery will be implemented successfully or that we will ever have profits. If we are unable to successfully recover on claims and continue pursuing recoveries, holders of our common stock
may lose their entire investment. We face all of the risks inherent in a new business and a new public company, including the expenses, difficulties, complications and delays frequently encountered in connection with conducting operations, including the need for significant additional capital requirements and management’s potential underestimation of initial and ongoing costs. In evaluating our business and future prospects, these difficulties should be considered. If we are not effective in addressing these risks, we would not be able to implement our business strategy and our results of operations would be adversely affected. To date, the Company’s sources of liquidity to fund working capital have been through funds from servicing agreements, member contributions and investments from other third parties. Our ability to obtain necessary financing may be impaired by factors such as the health of and access to capital markets, our limited track record or the substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.
If we do not successfully integrate future acquisitions or strategic partnerships that we may enter into, we may not realize the anticipated benefits of any such acquisitions or partnerships, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We expect to pursue future acquisitions in order to expand and diversify our business. We may also form strategic partnerships with third parties that we believe will complement or augment our existing business. We cannot, however, provide assurance that we will be able to identify any potential acquisition or strategic partnership candidates, consummate any additional acquisitions or enter into any strategic partnerships or that any future acquisitions or strategic partnerships will be successfully integrated or will be advantageous to us. Entities we acquire may not achieve the revenue and earnings we anticipate or their liabilities may exceed our expectations. We could face integration issues pertaining to the internal controls and operational functions of the acquired companies and we also could fail to realize cost efficiencies or synergies that we anticipated when selecting our acquisition candidates. Assignor dissatisfaction or performance problems with a particular acquired entity or resulting from a strategic partnership could have a material adverse effect on our reputation as a whole. We may be unable to profitably manage any acquired entities, or we may fail to integrate them successfully without incurring substantial expenses, delays or other problems. We may not achieve the anticipated benefits from any strategic partnerships we form. In addition, business acquisitions and strategic partnerships involve a number of risks that could affect our business, financial condition and results of operations, including but not limited to:
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
our ability to integrate operational, accounting and technology policies, processes and systems and the implementation of those policies and procedures; |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
our ability to integrate personnel and human resources systems as well as the cultures of each of the acquired businesses; |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
our ability to implement our business plan for the acquired business; |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
transition of operations, users and Assignors to our existing platforms or the integration of data, systems and technology platforms with our platforms; |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
compliance with regulatory requirements and avoiding potential conflicts of interest in markets that we serve; |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
diversion of management’s attention and other resources; |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
our ability to retain or replace key personnel; |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
our ability to maintain relationships with the clients of the acquired business or a strategic partner and further develop the acquired business or the business of our strategic partner; |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
our ability to cross-sell our solutions of the acquired businesses or strategic partners to our respective Assignors; |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
entry into unfamiliar markets; |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
assumption of unanticipated legal or financial liabilities and/or negative publicity related to prior acts by the acquired entity; |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
litigation or other claims in connection with the acquired company, including claims from terminated employees, Assignors, former stockholders or third parties; |
58
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
misuse of intellectual property by our strategic partners; |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
disagreements with strategic partners or a misalignment of incentives within any strategic partnership; |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
becoming significantly leveraged as a result of incurring debt to finance an acquisition; |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
unanticipated operating, accounting or management difficulties in connection with the acquired entities; and |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
impairment of acquired intangible assets, including goodwill, and dilution to our earnings per share. |
If we fail to successfully integrate the businesses that we acquire or strategic partnerships that we enter into, we may not realize any of the benefits we anticipate in connection with the acquisitions or partnerships, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We may incur substantial additional indebtedness, including in connection with future claims acquisitions.
We may incur substantial additional indebtedness in order to finance acquisitions, which are an important part of our long-term growth strategy, or otherwise in connection with financing our operations, and such increased leverage could adversely affect our business. In particular, the increased leverage could increase our vulnerability to sustained, adverse macroeconomic weakness, limit our ability to obtain further financing and limit our ability to pursue other operational and strategic opportunities. The increased leverage, potential lack of access to financing and increased expenses could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
In connection with the Prepaid Forward, we may receive only a portion of the Prepayment Amount, which could materially affect the amount of proceeds we receive from the Prepaid Forward.
Pursuant to the Prepaid Forward described in “MSP Recovery Inc.’s Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Sources of Liquidity”, and in Note 16 Derivative Liabilities in our June 30, 2022 unaudited interim condensed combined and consolidated financial statements, CF entered into an agreement for the Prepaid Forward (the “Confirmation”) in which it agreed to acquire up to 3.5 million shares of Class A Common Stock from holders of Common Stock that had elected or intended to redeem Common Stock in connection with the Business Combination at a price per share equal to the redemption price as defined in the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation, as amended from time to time (the “Redemption Price”). Upon the closing of the Business Combination, the Company paid to CF $11,420,144.79, which was the product of the number of shares subject to the Forward Purchase Agreement multiplied by the Redemption Price (the “Prepayment Amount”).
At any time, and from time to time, after May 23, 2022 (the closing of the Business Combination), CF may sell Subject Shares (as defined in the Confirmation) at its sole discretion in one or more transactions, publicly or privately and, in connection with such sales, terminate the Prepaid Forward in whole or in part in an amount corresponding to the Terminated Shares. Any OET Shares will cease to be Subject Shares. CF will give written notice to MSP of any sale of Subject Shares by CF within one business day of the date of such sale, such notice to include the date of the sale, the number of Subject Shares sold, and the sale price per Subject Share. In connection with each such optional early termination, on the Valuation Date (as defined in the Confirmation), (a) CF will receive from the Escrow Account an amount equal to the positive excess, if any, of (x) the product of the Redemption Price and the aggregate number of OET Shares over (y) an amount equal to the proceeds received by CF in connection with sales of the OET Shares, and (b) the Company will receive from the Escrow Account the amount set forth in (y) above.
Because CF is not obligated to sell any shares under the Prepaid Forward and the amounts to be released to us from the Escrow Account will be reduced to the extent CF sells shares for less than the Redemption Price, we will not receive any amount with respect to shares not sold by CF and the amounts we receive for any shares sold may be significantly less than their Redemption Price, which could significantly affect the amount of proceeds we receive and reduce the liquidity benefit we might receive from the Prepaid Forward.
If we fail to maintain or upgrade our operational platforms, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We expect to make substantial investments in and changes to our operational platforms, systems and applications to compete effectively and keep up with technological advances. We may also face difficulties in integrating any upgraded platforms into our current technology infrastructure. In addition, significant technological changes could render our existing solutions obsolete. Although we have invested, and will continue to invest, significant resources in developing and enhancing our solutions and platforms, any failure to keep up with technological advances or to integrate upgraded operational platforms and solutions into our existing technology infrastructure could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
59
We are currently party to and may in the future become party to additional litigation, regulatory or other dispute resolution proceedings. Adverse judgments or settlements in any of these proceedings could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We are currently party to, and may in the future become party to, lawsuits and other claims against us that arise from time to time in the ordinary course of our business. These may include lawsuits and claims related to, for example, contracts, subcontracts, protection of confidential information or trade secrets, wage and benefits, employment of our workforce or compliance with any of a wide array of state and federal statutes, rules and regulations that pertain to different aspects of our business. We also may be required to initiate expensive litigation or other proceedings to protect our business interests. In addition, because of the payments we may receive from potential future government Assignors, we may become subject to unexpected inquiries, investigations, legal actions or enforcement proceedings pursuant to the False Claims Act, healthcare fraud, waste and abuse laws or similar legislation. Any investigations, settlements or adverse judgments stemming from such legal disputes or other claims may result in significant monetary damages or injunctive relief against us, as well as reputational injury that could adversely affect us. In addition, litigation and other legal claims are subject to inherent uncertainties and management’s view of currently pending legal matters may change in the future. Those uncertainties include, but are not limited to, costs of litigation, unpredictable judicial or jury decisions and the differing laws and judicial proclivities regarding damage awards among the states in which we operate. Unexpected outcomes in such legal proceedings, or changes in management’s evaluation or predictions of the likely outcomes of such proceedings (possibly resulting in changes in established reserves) could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
If we are unable to successfully identify and recover on future claims, our results of operations could be adversely affected.
As a part of our business plan, we have acquired the right to pursue recoveries and we intend to continue to pursue acquiring additional claims to support our business strategy. These recoveries can involve a number of risks and challenges, any of which could cause significant operating inefficiencies and adversely affect our growth and profitability. Such risks and challenges include:
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
underperformance relative to our expectations and the price paid for the claims; |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
unanticipated demands on our management and operational resources; |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
failure to successfully recover on legal claims; |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
difficulty in integrating personnel, operations, and systems; |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
maintaining current customers and securing future customers of the combined businesses; |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
assumption of liabilities; and |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
litigation-related charges. |
The profits of claims may take considerable time to recover and certain recoveries may fall short of expected returns. If our recoveries are not successful, we may record impairment charges. Our ability to grow our capital will depend upon our success at identifying and recovering legal claims, which requires substantial judgment in assessing their values, strengths, weaknesses, liabilities, and potential profitability, as well as the availability of capital.
If we fail to accurately calculate the Paid Amount and Paid Value of Potential Recoverable Claims, it can have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition, and cash flows.
Typically, we identify recoverable claims using our proprietary algorithms which comb through historical paid claims data and search for possible recoveries based on the various Funnels and Layers we have identified. Our potential ability to achieve recovery revenues are based largely on the Paid Value of Potentially Recoverable Claims of our portfolio and our ability to discover, quantify and settle the gap between Billed Amount and Paid Amount on a large scale. If we fail to accurately calculate the Paid Amount or the Paid Value of Potential Recoverable Claims, the Recovery Multiple or the recovery rights we are entitled to may not be appropriately captured, which may have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
We use software vendors, utility providers and network providers in our business and if they cannot deliver or perform as expected or if our relationships with them are terminated or otherwise change, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
60
Our ability to service our Assignors and deliver and implement solutions requires that we work with certain third-party providers, including software vendors, utility providers and network providers, and depends on such third parties meeting our expectations in both timeliness and quality. We might incur significant additional liabilities if the services provided by these third parties do not meet our expectations, if they terminate or refuse to renew their relationships with us or if they were to offer their services to us on less advantageous terms, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, while there are backup systems in many of our operating facilities, an extended outage of utility or network services supplied by these vendors or providers could impair our ability to deliver our solutions, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We use various data sources in our business and if we lose access to those data sources, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Our ability to service our Assignors and deliver and implement solutions requires that we use several data sources when identifying recoveries. If we were to lose access to those data sources, including as a result of any termination of our data access arrangements, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Third parties may claim that we are infringing their intellectual property, and we could suffer significant litigation or licensing expenses or be prevented from selling certain solutions, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We could be subject to claims that we are misappropriating or infringing intellectual property or other proprietary rights of others. These claims, even if not meritorious, could be expensive to defend and divert management’s attention from our operations. If we become liable to third parties for infringing these rights, we could be required to pay a substantial damage award and develop non-infringing technology, cease using the solutions or providing the services that use or contain the infringing intellectual property or obtain a license. We may be unable to develop non-infringing solutions or obtain a license on commercially reasonable terms, or at all. We may also be required to indemnify our Assignors if they become subject to third-party claims relating to intellectual property that we license or otherwise provide to them, which could be costly. If we are subject to claims of misappropriating or infringing the intellectual property or other proprietary rights of others, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Changes in, or interpretations of, tax rules and regulations may adversely affect our effective tax rates.
We have operations throughout the United States and in Puerto Rico. Accordingly, we are subject to taxation in many jurisdictions with increasingly complex tax laws, the application of which can be uncertain.
Unanticipated changes in our tax rates could affect our future financial condition and results of operations. Our future effective tax rates could be unfavorably affected by changes in the tax rates in jurisdictions where our income is earned and taxed, by changes in, or our interpretation of, tax rules and regulations in the jurisdictions in which we do business, by increases in expenses not deductible for tax purposes including impairments of goodwill, by changes in GAAP or other applicable accounting standards or by changes in the valuation of our deferred tax assets and liabilities.
In addition, we are subject to the continual examination of our income tax returns by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) and other domestic and international tax authorities. Tax authorities in various jurisdictions may disagree with and subsequently challenge the amount of profits taxed in their state or country, which may result in increased tax liability, including accrued interest and penalties, which would cause our tax expense to increase. There can be no assurance that the final determination of any of these examinations will not have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
We will be required to pay the TRA Parties (as defined in the TRA) for most of the benefits relating to, among other things, an increase in tax attributes as a result of the Company’s direct and indirect allocable share of existing tax basis acquired in the Business Combination, and the Company’s increase in its allocable share of existing tax basis and anticipated tax basis adjustments we receive in connection with sales or exchanges of Up-C Units after the Business Combination.
In connection with the Business Combination, we entered into a Tax Receivable Agreement with the TRA Parties (as defined in the TRA) that provides for the payment by the Company to such TRA Parties of 85% of the benefits, if any, that the Company is deemed to realize (calculated using certain assumptions) as a result of (i) the Company’s direct and indirect allocable share of existing tax basis acquired in the Business Combination, (ii) increases in the Company’s allocable share of existing tax basis and tax basis adjustments that will increase the tax basis of the tangible and intangible assets of Opco as a result of the Business Combination and as a result of sales or exchanges of Up-C Units for cash or shares of the Company’s Class A common stock, and (iii) certain other tax benefits related to entering into the Tax Receivable Agreement, including tax benefits attributable to payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement. These increases in existing tax basis and tax basis adjustments generated over time may reduce the amount of
61
tax that the Company would otherwise be required to pay in the future, although the IRS may challenge all or part of the validity of that tax basis, and a court could sustain such a challenge. Actual tax benefits realized by the Company may differ from tax benefits calculated under the Tax Receivable Agreement as a result of the use of certain assumptions in the Tax Receivable Agreement, including the use of an assumed weighted-average state and local income tax rate to calculate tax benefits. The payment obligation under the Tax Receivable Agreement is an obligation of the Company and not of Opco. While the amount of existing tax basis, the anticipated tax basis adjustments and the actual amount and utilization of tax attributes, as well as the amount and timing of any payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement, will vary depending upon a number of factors, including the timing of exchanges of Up-C Units for shares of the Company common stock, the applicable tax rate, the price of shares of the Company’s Class A common stock at the time of exchanges, the extent to which such exchanges are taxable and the amount and timing of our income, we expect that as a result of the size of the transfers and increases in the tax basis of the tangible and intangible assets of Opco and our possible utilization of tax attributes, including existing tax basis acquired at the time of the Business Combination, the payments that the Company may make under the Tax Receivable Agreement will be substantial. The payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement are not conditioned on the exchanging holders of Opco Units or other TRA Parties continuing to hold ownership interests in us. To the extent payments are due to the TRA Parties under the Tax Receivable Agreement, the payments are generally required to be made within five business days after the tax benefit schedule (which sets forth the Company’s realized tax benefits covered by the Tax Receivable Agreement for the relevant taxable year) is finalized. The Company is required to deliver such a tax benefit schedule to the TRA Parties’ Representative (as defined in the TRA), for its review, within ninety calendar days after the due date (including extensions) of the Company’s federal corporate income tax return for the relevant taxable year.
In certain cases, payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement may be accelerated and/or significantly exceed the actual benefits the Company realizes in respect of the tax attributes subject to the Tax Receivable Agreement.
The Company’s payment obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement will be accelerated in the event of certain changes of control or its election to terminate the Tax Receivable Agreement early. The accelerated payments will relate to all relevant tax attributes then allocable to the Company in the case of an acceleration upon a change of control and to all relevant tax attributes allocable or that would be allocable to the Company (in the case of an election by the Company to terminate the Tax Receivable Agreement early, assuming all Up-C Units were then exchanged). The accelerated payments required in such circumstances will be calculated by reference to the present value (at a specified discount rate determined by reference to LIBOR) of all future payments that holders of Up-C Units or other recipients would have been entitled to receive under the Tax Receivable Agreement, and such accelerated payments and any other future payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement will utilize certain valuation assumptions, including that the Company will have sufficient taxable income to fully utilize the deductions arising from the increased tax deductions and tax basis and other benefits related to entering into the Tax Receivable Agreement. In addition, recipients of payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement will not reimburse us for any payments previously made under the Tax Receivable Agreement if such tax basis and the Company’s utilization of certain tax attributes is successfully challenged by the IRS (although any such detriment would be taken into account in future payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement). The Company’s ability to achieve benefits from any existing tax basis, tax basis adjustments or other tax attributes, and the payments to be made under the Tax Receivable Agreement, will depend upon a number of factors, including the timing and amount of our future income. As a result, even in the absence of a change of control or an election to terminate the Tax Receivable Agreement, payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement could be in excess of 85% of the Company’s actual cash tax benefits.
Accordingly, it is possible that the actual cash tax benefits realized by the Company may be significantly less than the corresponding Tax Receivable Agreement payments or that payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement may be made years in advance of the actual realization, if any, of the anticipated future tax benefits. There may be a material negative effect on our liquidity if the payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement exceed the actual cash tax benefits that the Company realizes in respect of the tax attributes subject to the Tax Receivable Agreement and/or distributions to the Company by Opco are not sufficient to permit the Company to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement after it has paid taxes and other expenses. We may need to incur additional indebtedness to finance payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement to the extent our cash resources are insufficient to meet our obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement as a result of timing discrepancies or otherwise, and these obligations could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing certain mergers, asset sales, other forms of business combinations or other changes of control.
The acceleration of payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement in the case of certain changes of control may impair our ability to consummate change of control transactions or negatively impact the value of our Company common stock.
In the case of a “Change of Control” under the Tax Receivable Agreement (which is defined to include, among other things, a 50% change in control of the Company, the approval of a complete plan of liquidation or dissolution of the Company, or the disposition of all or substantially all of the Company’s direct or indirect assets), payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement will be accelerated and may significantly exceed the actual benefits the Company realizes in respect of the tax attributes subject to the Tax Receivable Agreement. We expect that the payments that we may make under the Tax Receivable Agreement (the calculation of which is described in the immediately preceding risk factor) in the event of a change of control will be substantial. As a result, our accelerated
62
payment obligations and/or the assumptions adopted under the Tax Receivable Agreement in the case of a change of control may impair our ability to consummate change of control transactions or negatively impact the value received by owners of our Company common stock in a change of control transaction.
Our success may depend on the continued service and availability of key personnel.
Our success and future growth is dependent upon the ability of our executive officers, senior managers and other key personnel to operate and manage our business and execute on our growth strategies successfully. We cannot provide assurance that we will be able to continue to retain our executive officers, senior managers or other key personnel or attract additional key personnel. We may incur increased expenses in connection with the hiring, promotion, retention or replacement of any of these individuals. The loss of the services of any of our key personnel could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our business is dependent on our ability to attract and retain qualified employees.
Our ability to operate our business and provide our solutions is dependent on our ability to recruit, employ, train and retain the skilled personnel who have relevant experience in the healthcare and data analytics industries as well as information technology professionals who can design, implement, operate and maintain complex information technology systems. For example, certain of our employees in our company must either have or rapidly develop a significant amount of technical knowledge with regard to medical insurance coding and procedures. In addition, certain of our retrospective data-driven solutions rely on a team of trained registered nurses or medical coding professionals to review medical information and provide feedback with respect to the medical appropriateness of care provided. Innovative, experienced and technologically proficient professionals, qualified nurses and experienced medical coding professionals are in great demand and are likely to remain a limited resource. Our ability to recruit and retain such individuals depends on a number of factors, including the competitive demands for employees having, or able to rapidly develop, the specialized skills we need and the level and structure of compensation required to hire and retain such employees. We may not be able to recruit or retain the personnel necessary to efficiently operate and support our business. Even if our recruitment and retention strategies are successful, our labor costs may increase significantly. In addition, our internal training programs may not be successful in providing inexperienced personnel with the specialized skills required to perform their duties. If we are unable to hire, train and retain sufficient personnel with the requisite skills without significantly increasing our labor costs, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
General economic, political and market forces and dislocations beyond our control could reduce demand for our solutions, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The demand for our data-driven solutions may be impacted by factors that are beyond our control, including macroeconomic, political and market conditions, the availability of short-term and long-term funding and capital, the level and volatility of interest rates, currency exchange rates and inflation. The United States economy recently experienced periods of contraction and both the future domestic and global economic environments may continue to be less favorable than those of prior years. Any one or more of these factors may contribute to reduced activity and prices in the securities markets generally and could result in a reduction in demand for our solutions, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
COVID-19 or another pandemic, epidemic, or outbreak of an infectious disease may have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows, the nature and extent of which are highly uncertain and unpredictable.
The severity, magnitude and duration of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is uncertain and rapidly changing. As of the date of this Form 10-Q, the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic may impact our business, results of operations and financial condition remains uncertain. Furthermore, because of our business model, the full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic may not be fully reflected in our results of operations and overall financial condition until future periods.
Numerous state and local jurisdictions, including certain of the markets where we operate, had or have imposed, and others in the future may impose, “shelter-in-place” orders, quarantines, executive orders and similar government orders and restrictions for their residents to control the spread of COVID-19. Such orders or restrictions have resulted in periods of remote operations at our headquarters and medical centers, work stoppages among some vendors and suppliers, slowdowns and delays, travel restrictions and cancellation of events, among other effects, thereby negatively impacting our operations. Other disruptions or potential disruptions include restrictions on the ability of our personnel to travel; delays in actions of regulatory bodies; diversion of or limitations on employee resources that would otherwise be focused on the operations of our business, including because of sickness of employees or their families or the desire of employees to avoid contact with groups of people; business adjustments or disruptions of certain third parties; and additional government requirements or other incremental mitigation efforts. The extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic impacts our business will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new information which may emerge concerning the severity and spread of COVID-19 and the actions to contain COVID-19 or treat its impact, among others.
63
It is not currently possible to reliably project the direct impact of COVID-19 on our operating revenues and expenses. Key factors include the duration and extent of the outbreak in areas in which we operate, as well as societal and governmental responses.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we made operational changes to the staffing and operations of our offices to minimize potential exposure to COVID-19. If the COVID-19 pandemic worsens, especially in regions where we have offices, our business activities originating from affected areas could be adversely affected. Disruptive activities could include business closures in impacted areas, further restrictions on our employees’ ability to travel, impacts to productivity if our employees or their family members experience health issues, and potential delays in hiring and onboarding of new employees. We may take further actions that alter our business operations as may be required by local, state, or federal authorities or that we determine are in the best interests of our employees. Such measures could negatively affect our sales and marketing efforts, and employee productivity, any of which could harm our financial condition and business operations.
We are concentrated in certain geographic regions, which makes us sensitive to regulatory, economic, environmental and competitive conditions in those regions.
Due to the concentration of our operations in Florida, our business may be adversely affected by economic conditions that disproportionately affect Florida as compared to other states. In addition, our exposure to many of the risks described herein are not mitigated by a diversification of geographic focus.
Moreover, regions in and around the southeastern United States commonly experience hurricanes and other extreme weather conditions. As a result, our offices, especially those in Florida and Puerto Rico, are susceptible to physical damage and business interruption from an active hurricane season or a single severe storm. Moreover, global climate change could increase the intensity of individual hurricanes or the number of hurricanes that occur each year. Even if our facilities are not directly damaged, we may experience considerable disruptions in our operations due to property damage or electrical outages experienced in storm-affected areas by our employees. Additionally, long-term adverse weather conditions, whether caused by global climate change or otherwise, could cause an outmigration of people from the communities where our offices are located. If any of the circumstances described above occurred, there could be a harmful effect on our business and our results of operations could be adversely affected.
We depend on our senior management team and other key employees, and the loss of one or more of these employees or an inability to attract and retain other highly skilled employees could harm our business.
Our success depends largely upon the continued services of our senior management team and other key employees. We rely on our leadership team in the areas of operations, information technology and security, marketing, compliance and general and administrative functions. From time to time, there may be changes in our executive management team resulting from the hiring or departure of executives, which could disrupt our business. The loss (including as a result of a COVID-19 infection) of one or more of the members of our senior management team, or other key employees, could harm our business. In particular, the loss of the services of our founder and Chief Executive Officer, John H. Ruiz, could significantly delay or prevent the achievement of our strategic objectives. Changes in our executive management team may also cause disruptions in, and harm to, our business.
Our overall business results may suffer from an economic downturn.
During periods of high unemployment, governmental entities often experience budget deficits as a result of increased costs and lower than expected tax collections. These budget deficits affect federal, state and local government entities and may result in reductions in spending for health and human service programs, including Medicare, Medicaid and similar programs, which represent significant payer sources for our Assignors.
Risks Related to Legal and Regulatory Matters and Being a Public Company
In this section, unless otherwise noted or the context otherwise requires, “we”, “us”, and “our” refer to MSP prior to the Business Combination and to the Company following the Business Combination.
We are controlled by the Members, including John H. Ruiz and Frank C. Quesada, whose interests may conflict with our interests and the interests of other stockholders.
The Members (or their designees) hold all of our issued and outstanding Class V Common Stock, which control approximately 97.9% of the combined voting power of our common stock, and John H. Ruiz and Frank C. Quesada, as a group, control approximately 97.8% of the combined voting power of our common stock. They effectively have the ability to determine all corporate actions requiring stockholder approval, including the election and removal of directors, any amendment to our certificate of incorporation or bylaws, or the approval of any merger or other significant corporate transaction, including a sale of substantially all of our assets. This
64
could have the effect of delaying or preventing a change in control or otherwise discouraging a potential acquirer from attempting to obtain control of the Company, which could cause the market price of our Class A Common Stock to decline or prevent stockholders from realizing a premium over the market price for Class A Common Stock. The Members’ interests may conflict with our interests as a company or the interests of our other stockholders.
Our stockholders will experience substantial dilution as a consequence of, among other transactions, any future issuances of common stock.
The Company currently has an aggregate of 4,532,405 Public Warrants outstanding and no Private Warrants outstanding, which have become exercisable as of 10 days after closing of the Business Combination, on a cashless basis with an exercise price of $0.0001.
In addition, there are outstanding or designated Up-C Units that may be exchanged for 3,167,967,900 shares of Common Stock.
In addition, the Company will have the ability to issue up to 98,736,750 shares of Class A Common Stock pursuant to awards under the Incentive Plan. The shares of Class A Common Stock reserved for future issuance under the Incentive Plan will become eligible for sale in the public market once those shares are issued, subject to provisions relating to various vesting agreements, lock-up agreements and, in some cases, limitations on volume and manner of sale applicable to affiliates under Rule 144, as applicable. The aggregate number of shares that may be issued pursuant to awards under the Incentive Plan will be subject to an annual increase on January 1 of each calendar year (commencing with January 1, 2023 and ending on and including January 1, 2031) equal to the lesser of (i) a number of shares equal to 3% of the total number of shares actually issued and outstanding on the last day of the preceding fiscal year or (ii) a number of shares as determined by the Board. The Company is expected to file one or more registration statements on Form S-8 under the Securities Act to register shares of Class A Common Stock or securities convertible into or exchangeable for shares of Class A Common Stock issued pursuant to the Incentive Plan. Any such Form S-8 registration statements will automatically become effective upon filing. Accordingly, shares registered under such registration statements will be available for sale in the open market.
Depending upon market liquidity at the time, sales of shares of our Class A Common Stock under the CF Purchase Agreement may cause the trading price of our Class A Common Stock to decline. After CF has acquired shares under the CF Purchase Agreement, it may sell all, some or none of those shares. Sales to CF by us pursuant to the CF Purchase Agreement may result in substantial dilution to the interests of other holders of our Class A Common Stock. The sale of a substantial number of shares of our Class A Common Stock to CF, or anticipation of such sales, could make it more difficult for us to sell equity or equity-related securities in the future at a time and at a price that we might otherwise wish to effect sales. However, we have the right to control the timing and amount of any sales of our shares to CF, and the CF Purchase Agreement may be terminated by us at any time at our discretion without penalty.
The sale of substantial amounts of shares of our Common Stock or warrants, or the perception that such sales could occur, could cause the prevailing market price of shares of our Common Stock and warrants to decline significantly. These sales, or the possibility that these sales may occur, also might make it more difficult for us to sell equity securities in the future at a time and at a price that we deem appropriate. We believe the likelihood that warrant holders will exercise their warrants is dependent upon the market price of our Common Stock.
We qualify as a “controlled company” within the meaning of the Nasdaq listing standards and, as a result, our stockholders may not have certain corporate governance protections that are available to stockholders of companies that are not controlled companies.
So long as more than 50% of the voting power for the election of directors is held by an individual, a group or another company, we will qualify as a “controlled company” under the Nasdaq listing requirements. Mr. Ruiz controls more than a majority of the voting power of our outstanding capital stock. As a result, we qualify as a “controlled company” under the Nasdaq listing standards and will not be subject to the requirements that would otherwise require us to have: (i) a majority of “independent directors,” as defined under the listing standards of Nasdaq; (ii) a nominating and corporate governance committee comprised solely of independent directors; and (iii) a compensation committee comprised solely of independent directors. In addition, the Members, including John H. Ruiz and Frank C. Quesada have the ability to control matters requiring stockholder approval, including the election and removal of directors, any amendment to our certificate of incorporation or bylaws, or the approval of any merger or other significant corporate transaction, including a sale of substantially all of our assets. See “We are controlled by the Members, including John H. Ruiz and Frank C. Quesada, whose interests may conflict with our interests and the interests of other stockholders.”
The Members, including John H. Ruiz and Frank C. Quesada, may have their interest in us diluted due to future equity issuances, repurchases under the LLC Agreement from the MSP Principals in connection with the exercise of New Warrants or Members or their designees selling shares of Class A Common Stock, in each case, which could result in a loss of the “controlled company” exemption under the Nasdaq listing rules. We would then be required to comply with those provisions of the Nasdaq listing requirements.
65
There can be no assurance that we will be able to comply with the continued listing standards of Nasdaq.
Our Class A Common Stock, Public Warrants and New Warrants are currently listed on Nasdaq. If Nasdaq delists our Class A Common Stock, Public Warrants or New Warrants from trading on its exchange for failure to meet the listing standards, we and our stockholders could face significant material adverse consequences including:
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
a limited availability of market quotations for our securities; |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
reduced liquidity for our securities; |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
a determination that the Class A Common Stock is a “penny stock” which will require brokers trading in the Class A Common Stock to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly result in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our securities; |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
a limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in future. |
The National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, which is a federal statute, prevents or preempts the states from regulating the sale of certain securities, which are referred to as “covered securities.” To the extent our Class A Common Stock, Public Warrants and New Warrants are listed on Nasdaq, they are covered securities. Although the states are preempted from regulating the sale of our securities, the federal statute does allow the states to investigate companies if there is a suspicion of fraud, and, if there is a finding of fraudulent activity, then the states can regulate or bar the sale of covered securities in a particular case.
If our shares are delisted from Nasdaq and become subject to the penny stock rules, it would become more difficult to trade our shares.
The SEC has adopted rules that regulate broker-dealer practices in connection with transactions in penny stocks. Penny stocks are generally equity securities with a price of less than $5.00, other than securities registered on certain national securities exchanges or authorized for quotation on certain automated quotation systems, provided that current price and volume information with respect to transactions in such securities is provided by the exchange or system. If we do retain a listing on Nasdaq and if the price of our common stock is less than $5.00, our Common Stock will be deemed a penny stock. The penny stock rules require a broker-dealer, before a transaction in a penny stock not otherwise exempt from those rules, to deliver a standardized risk disclosure document containing specified information. In addition, the penny stock rules require that before effecting any transaction in a penny stock not otherwise exempt from those rules, a broker-dealer must make a special written determination that the penny stock is a suitable investment for the purchaser and receive (i) the purchaser’s written acknowledgment of the receipt of a risk disclosure statement; (ii) a written agreement to transactions involving penny stocks; and (iii) a signed and dated copy of a written suitability statement. These disclosure requirements may have the effect of reducing the trading activity in the secondary market for our common stock, and therefore stockholders may have difficulty selling their shares.
Our success is dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel. The loss of key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of the Company and its financial condition could suffer as a result.
It is possible that we will lose some key personnel, the loss of which could negatively impact the operations and profitability of the Company. We anticipate that some or all of the management of the Company will remain in place.
The Company’s success depends to a significant degree upon the continued contributions of senior management, certain of whom would be difficult to replace. Departure by certain of the Company’s officers could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, financial condition or operating results. The Company does not maintain key-man life insurance on any of its officers. The services of such personnel may not continue to be available to the Company.
We may be required to take write-downs or write-offs, restructuring and impairment or other charges that could have a significant negative effect on our financial condition, results of operations and our stock price, which could cause you to lose some or all of your investment.
Although due diligence was conducted on MSP prior to the Business Combination, we cannot assure you that this diligence surfaced all material issues that may be present in MSP’s business, that it would be possible to uncover all material issues through a customary amount of due diligence, or that factors outside of MSP’s business and outside of our and MSP’s control will not later arise. As a result of these factors, we may be forced to write down or write off assets, restructure operations, or incur impairment or other charges that could result in losses. Even if our due diligence successfully identifies certain risks, unexpected risks may arise and previously
66
known risks may materialize in a manner not consistent with our preliminary risk analysis. Even though these charges may be non-cash items and not have an immediate impact on our liquidity, the fact that we report charges of this nature could contribute to negative market perceptions about the Company or its securities. Accordingly, any of our stockholders could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such stockholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
Unanticipated changes in effective tax rates or adverse outcomes resulting from examination of our income or other tax returns could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
We will be subject to federal and state income taxes in the United States and potentially in other jurisdictions. Our future effective tax rates could be subject to volatility or adversely affected by a number of factors, including:
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
changes in the valuation of our deferred tax assets and liabilities; |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
expected timing and amount of the release of any tax valuation allowances; |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
tax effects of stock-based compensation; |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
changes in tax laws, regulations, or interpretations thereof; or |
|
|
|
|
|
• |
|
lower than anticipated future earnings in jurisdictions where we have lower statutory tax rates and higher than anticipated future earnings in jurisdictions where we have higher statutory tax rates. |
In addition, we may be subject to audits of our income, sales and other transaction taxes by taxing authorities. Outcomes from these audits could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
Past performance by members of our management team may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in the Company.
Past performance by members of our management team is not a guarantee of success with respect to the Company. You should not rely on the historical record of members of our management team’s performance as indicative of the future performance of an investment in the Company or the returns the Company will, or is likely to, generate going forward.
We may be unable to obtain additional financing to fund the operations and growth of the Company.
We may require additional financing to fund the operations or growth of the Company. The failure to secure additional financing could have a material adverse effect on the continued development or growth of the Company. None of our officers, directors or stockholders is required to provide any financing to us.
Changes in laws, regulations or rules, or a failure to comply with any laws, regulations or rules, may adversely affect our business, investments and results of operations.
We are subject to laws, regulations and rules enacted by national, regional and local governments and Nasdaq. In particular, we are required to comply with certain SEC, Nasdaq and other legal or regulatory requirements. Compliance with, and monitoring of, applicable laws, regulations and rules may be difficult, time-consuming and costly. Those laws, regulations or rules and their interpretation and application may also change from time to time and those changes could have a material adverse effect on our business, investments and results of operations. In addition, a failure to comply with applicable laws, regulations or rules, as interpreted and applied, could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
In some jurisdictions, our recoveries may be limited due to legal restrictions, which may have negative consequences for the value or enforcement of our contractual agreements with our counterparties, for our ability to do business in certain jurisdictions or for our cost of doing business.
There exist in various jurisdictions prohibitions or restrictions in connection with purchasing claims from plaintiffs (known as maintenance, and a form of maintenance, called champerty), assignment of certain kinds of claims, and/or participating in a lawyer’s contingent fee interests. Such prohibitions and restrictions, to the extent they exist, are governed by the rules and regulations of each state and jurisdiction in the United States and vary in degrees of strength and enforcement in different states and federal jurisdictions. Some jurisdictions in the U.S. and other jurisdictions may not, for legal and professional ethics reasons, permit us to pursue certain recoveries, or the law and regulations in those jurisdictions may be uncertain, and accordingly we may not have the ability or the desire to pursue recoveries in these jurisdictions, thereby limiting the size of the potential market. If we, our counterparties or the lawyers handling the underlying matters were to be found to have violated the relevant prohibitions or restrictions in connection with
67
certain matters, there could be a materially adverse effect on the value of the affected assets, our ability to enforce the relevant contractual agreements with our counterparties and the amounts we would be able to recover with respect to such matters, or our costs for such matters.
Anti-takeover provisions contained in our Charter and bylaws, as well as provisions of Delaware law, could impair a takeover attempt.
Our Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation (our “Charter”) contains provisions that may discourage unsolicited takeover proposals that stockholders may consider to be in their best interests. We are also subject to anti-takeover provisions under Delaware law, which could delay or prevent a change of control. Together, these provisions may make more difficult the removal of management and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities. These provisions include:
• no cumulative voting in the election of directors, which limits the ability of minority stockholders to elect candidates to serve as a director of the Board;
•a classified board of directors with three-year staggered terms, which could delay the ability of stockholders to change the membership of a majority of the Board;
•the requirement that, at any time from and after the date on which the voting power of John H. Ruiz and his affiliates represent less than 50% of the voting power of all of the then outstanding shares entitled to vote (“Voting Rights Threshold Date”), directors elected by the stockholders generally entitled to vote may be removed from the Board solely for cause and only by affirmative vote of the holders of at least 66 2/3% of the voting power of the then outstanding shares entitled to vote, voting together as a single class
•the exclusive right of the Board to fill newly created directorships and vacancies with respect to directors elected by the stockholders generally entitled to vote, which prevents stockholders from being able to fill vacancies on the Board;
•the prohibition on stockholder action by written consent from and after the Voting Rights Threshold Date, which forces stockholder action from and after the Voting Rights Threshold Date to be taken at an annual or special meeting of stockholders;
•the requirement that special meetings of stockholders may only be called by the Chairperson of the Board, the Chief Executive Officer of the Company or the Board, which may delay the ability of our stockholders to force consideration of a proposal or to take action, including the removal of directors;
•the requirement that, from and after the Voting Rights Threshold Date, amendments to certain provisions of the Charter and amendments to the Amended and Restated Bylaws must be approved by the affirmative vote of the holders of at least 66 2/3% in voting power of the then outstanding shares of the Company generally entitled to vote;
•our authorized but unissued shares of common stock and preferred stock are available for future issuances without stockholder approval and could be utilized for a variety of corporate purposes, including future offerings to raise additional capital, acquisitions and employee benefit plans; the existence of authorized but unissued and unreserved shares of common stock and preferred stock could render more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of us by means of a proxy contest, tender offer, merger or otherwise;
•advance notice procedures set forth in the Amended and Restated Bylaws that stockholders must comply with in order to nominate candidates to the Board or to propose other matters to be acted upon at a meeting of stockholders, which may discourage or deter a potential acquirer from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect the acquirer’s own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to obtain control of the Company; and
•an exclusive forum provision which provides that, unless the Company consents in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, (i) any derivative action brought on behalf of the Company, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer, or employee of the Company to the Company or the Company’s stockholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim
•arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL, the Charter or the Amended and Restated Bylaws, or (iv) any action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine of the State of Delaware, in each case, will be required to be filed in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (or, if the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware lacks jurisdiction over any such action or proceeding, then a state court located within the State of Delaware or the federal district court for the District of Delaware).
The Charter contains a provision renouncing our interest and expectancy in certain corporate opportunities.
68
The Charter provides that the Company will have no interests or expectancy in, or being offered an opportunity to participate in any corporate opportunity, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, with respect to any lines of business or business activity or business venture conducted by any holder of common stock, any affiliate of such holder or any director, officer or stockholder of such holder or any affiliate thereof (“Relevant Persons”) as of the date of the filing of the Charter with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware or received by, presented to or originated by the Relevant Persons after the date of the filing of the Charter with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware in such person’s capacity as a Relevant Person (and not in his, her or its capacity as a director, officer or employee of the Company). These provisions of the Charter create the possibility that a corporate opportunity of ours may be used for the benefit of the Relevant Persons.
Risks Related to Ownership of Our Common Stock
In this section, unless otherwise noted or the context otherwise requires, “we”, “us”, and “our” refer to the Company.
A market for our securities may not continue, which would adversely affect the liquidity and price of our securities.
The price of our securities may fluctuate significantly due to the market’s reaction to the Business Combination and general market and economic conditions. An active trading market for our securities may never develop or, if developed, it may not be sustained. In addition, the price of our securities can vary due to general economic conditions and forecasts, our general business condition and the release of our financial reports. Additionally, if our securities are not listed on, or become delisted from, Nasdaq for any reason, and are quoted on the OTC Bulletin Board, an inter-dealer automated quotation system for equity securities that is not a national securities exchange, the liquidity and price of our securities may be more limited than if we were quoted or listed on Nasdaq or another national securities exchange. You may be unable to sell your securities unless a market can be established or sustained.
If the Business Combination’s benefits do not meet the expectations of investors, stockholders or financial analysts, the market price of our securities may decline.
If the benefits of the Business Combination do not meet the expectations of investors or securities analysts, the market price of the Company’s securities may decline.
In addition, fluctuations in the price of our securities could contribute to the loss of all or part of your investment. Immediately prior to the Business Combination, there was not a public market for MSP’s stock and trading in the shares of the Company’s Class A Common Stock was not active. Accordingly, the valuation ascribed to MSP and the Company’s Class A Common Stock in the Business Combination may not be indicative of the price of the Company that will prevail in the current trading market. If an active market for our securities develops and continues, the trading price of our securities could be volatile and subject to wide fluctuations in response to various factors, some of which are beyond our control. Any of the factors listed below could have a material adverse effect on your investment in our securities and our securities may trade at prices significantly below the price you paid for them. In such circumstances, the trading price of our securities may not recover and may experience a further decline.
Broad market and industry factors may materially harm the market price of our securities irrespective of our operating performance. The stock market in general and Nasdaq have experienced price and volume fluctuations that have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of the particular companies affected. The trading prices and valuations of these stocks, and of our securities, may not be predictable. A loss of investor confidence in the market for the stocks of other companies that investors perceive to be similar to the Company could depress our stock price regardless of our business, prospects, financial conditions or results of operations. A decline in the market price of our securities also could adversely affect our ability to issue additional securities and our ability to obtain additional financing in the future.
In the past, securities class action litigation has often been initiated against companies following periods of volatility in their stock price. This type of litigation could result in substantial costs and divert our management’s attention and resources and could also require us to make substantial payments to satisfy judgments or to settle litigation.
If securities or industry analysts do not publish or cease publishing research or reports about the Company, its business, or its market, or if they change their recommendations regarding our Class A Common Stock adversely, then the price and trading volume of our Class A Common Stock could decline.
The trading market for our Class A Common Stock will be influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts may publish about us, our business, our market, or our competitors. Securities and industry analysts do not currently, and may never, publish research on the Company. If no securities or industry analysts commence coverage of Company, our stock price and trading volume would likely be negatively impacted. If any of the analysts who may cover the Company change their recommendation regarding our stock adversely, or provide more favorable relative recommendations about our competitors, the price of our Class A Common Stock would likely decline. If any analyst who may cover the Company were to cease coverage of the Company or fail to
69
regularly publish reports on it, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline.
We cannot predict the impact our dual class capital structure may have on the market price of the shares of Class A Common Stock.
We cannot predict whether our dual class structure, combined with the concentrated control of the Company, will result in a lower or more volatile market price of the Class A Common Stock or in adverse publicity or other adverse consequences. For example, certain index providers have announced restrictions on including companies with multiple-class share structures in certain of their indices. Under any such announced policies or future policies, our dual class capital structure could make us ineligible for inclusion in certain indices, and as a result, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and other investment vehicles that attempt to passively track those indices will not be investing in our stock. It is unclear what effect, if any, these policies will have on the valuations of publicly traded companies excluded from such indices, but it is possible that they may depress valuations as compared to similar companies that are included. As a result, the market price of shares of Class A Common Stock could be adversely affected.
We may amend the terms of the Public Warrants in a manner that may be adverse to holders with the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then-outstanding Public Warrants. As a result, the exercise price of a holder’s Public Warrants could be increased, the exercise period could be shortened and the number of shares of our Common Stock purchasable upon exercise of a Public Warrant could be decreased, all without the approval of that warrant holder.
Our Public Warrants were issued in registered form under the Existing Warrant Agreement. The Existing Warrant Agreement provides that the terms of the Public Warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any defective provision or provide for the delivery of Alternative Issuance (as defined in the Existing Warrant Agreement) but requires the approval by the holders of at least 65% of the then-outstanding Public Warrants to make any other change, including any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders. Accordingly, we may amend the terms of the Public Warrants in a manner adverse to a holder if holders of at least 65% of the then-outstanding Public Warrants approve of such amendment. Although our ability to amend the terms of the Public Warrants with the consent of at least 65% of the then-outstanding Public Warrants is unlimited, examples of such amendments could be amendments to, among other things, increase the exercise price of the Public Warrants, shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of shares of Class A Common Stock purchasable upon exercise of a Public Warrant.
We may redeem unexpired Public Warrants and New Warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to warrant holders, thereby making such warrants worthless.
We have the ability to redeem outstanding Public Warrants and New Warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per warrant; provided that the last reported sales price of our Class A Common Stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (or as otherwise adjusted pursuant to the Existing Warrant Agreement or New Warrant Agreement, as applicable) for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading-day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which we give proper notice of such redemption to the warrant holders and provided certain other conditions are met. During the most recent 60-day trading period, the price of our Class A Common Stock has remained below the threshold that would allow us to redeem the Public Warrants and New Warrants. If and when the Public Warrants and New Warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. Redemption of the outstanding Public Warrants and New Warrants could force the warrant holders: (i) to exercise their Public Warrants or New Warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for them to do so; (ii) to sell their Public Warrants or New Warrants at the then-current market price when they might otherwise wish to hold their Public Warrants or New Warrants; or (iii) to accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding New Warrants are called for redemption, is likely to be substantially less than the market value of their New Warrants. None of the Private Warrants will be redeemable by us so long as they are held by their initial purchasers or such initial purchasers’ permitted transferees. Pursuant to the terms of the Existing Warrant Agreement, the exercise price of the Public Warrants and Private Warrants has decreased to $0.0001 after giving effect to the issuance of the New Warrants. None of the Private Warrants will be redeemable by us so long as they are held by the Sponsor or its permitted transferees.
The Company has no obligation to notify holders of the Public Warrants or the New Warrants that they have become eligible for redemption. However, in the event the Company determined to redeem the Public Warrants or the New Warrants, holders of the Public Warrants and the New Warrants, as applicable, would be notified of such redemption as described in the Existing Warrant Agreement and the New Warrant Agreement, as applicable. Specifically, in the event that the Company elects to redeem all of the redeemable warrants as described above, the Company shall fix a date for the redemption (the “Redemption Date”). Notice of redemption shall be mailed by first class mail, postage prepaid, by the Company not less than 30 days prior to the Redemption Date to the registered holders of the redeemable warrants to be redeemed at their last addresses as they appear on the registration books. Any notice mailed in the manner provided in the Existing Warrant Agreement and the New Warrant Agreement shall be conclusively
70
presumed to have been duly given whether or not the registered holder received such notice. In addition, beneficial owners of the redeemable warrants will be notified of such redemption via the Company’s posting of the redemption notice to DTC.
Warrants have become exercisable for our Class A Common Stock, which has increased the number of shares eligible for future resale in the public market and may result in dilution to our stockholders.
We issued Public Warrants to purchase 11,500,000 shares of Class A Common Stock as part of our IPO and, on the IPO closing date, we issued Private Warrants to the Sponsor and Nomura to purchase in the aggregate 325,000 shares of our Class A Common Stock. In addition, the Company issued an aggregate of 1,028,046,326 New Warrants to the holders of the Company’s Class A Common Stock as of the close of business on the Closing Date. Pursuant to the terms of the Existing Warrant Agreement, the exercise price of the Public Warrants and Private Warrants decreased to $0.0001 per share after giving effect to the issuance of the New Warrants. Pursuant to the terms of the LLC Agreement, at least twice a month, to the extent any New Warrants have been exercised in accordance with their terms, the Company is required to purchase from the MSP Principals, proportionately, the number of Up-C Units or shares of Class A Common Stock owned by such MSP Principal equal to the Aggregate Exercise Price divided by the Warrant Exercise Price in exchange for the Aggregate Exercise Price. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the shares of Class A Common Stock issuable upon exercise of our warrants will result in dilution to the then existing holders of Class A Common Stock of the Company and increase the number of shares eligible for resale in the public market. Sales of substantial numbers of such shares in the public market could adversely affect the market price of our Class A Common Stock.
The Private Warrants are identical to the Public Warrants sold as part of the Public Units issued in our IPO except that, so long as they are held by the Sponsor, Nomura or their permitted transferees: (i) they will not be redeemable by us; (ii) they (including the Class A Common Stock issuable upon exercise of these warrants) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the Sponsor until 30 days after the completion of an initial business combination; (iii) they may be exercised by the holders on a net share (cashless) basis; and (iv) are subject to registration rights. The New Warrants will be issued in registered form under the New Warrant Agreement between the Company and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company. The New Warrant Agreement is filed as an exhibit to the registration statement and incorporated by reference herein.
The Company’s management has limited experience in operating a public company.
The Company’s executive officers have limited experience in the management of a publicly traded company. The Company’s management team may not successfully or effectively manage its transition to a public company that will be subject to significant regulatory oversight and reporting obligations under federal securities laws. Their limited experience in dealing with the increasingly complex laws pertaining to public companies could be a significant disadvantage in that it is likely that an increasing amount of their time may be devoted to these activities which will result in less time being devoted to the management and growth of the Company. The Company may not have adequate personnel with the appropriate level of knowledge, experience, and training in the accounting policies, practices or internal controls over financial reporting required of publicly traded companies. The development and implementation of the standards and controls necessary for the Company to achieve the level of accounting standards required of a publicly traded company may require costs greater than expected. It is possible that the Company will be required to expand its employee base and hire additional employees to support its operations as a public company, which will increase its operating costs in future periods.
The provision of our Charter requiring exclusive forum in the courts in the State of Delaware for certain types of lawsuits may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers.
The Charter requires that, unless the Company consents in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, (i) any derivative action brought on behalf of the Company; (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer, or employee of the Company to the Company or the Company’s stockholders; (iii) any action asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL, the Charter or Amended and Restated Bylaws; or (iv) any action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine of the State of Delaware, in each case, is to be filed in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (or, if the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware lacks jurisdiction over any such action or proceeding, then a state court located within the State of Delaware or the federal district court for the District of Delaware). The exclusive forum provision described above does not apply to actions arising under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act. Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder, and Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. The Charter provides that the federal district courts of the United States of America will, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the sole and exclusive forum for resolving any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the federal securities laws, including the Securities Act and the rules and regulations thereunder. Our decision to adopt such a federal forum provision followed a decision by the Supreme Court of the State of Delaware holding that such provisions are facially valid under Delaware law. While there can be no assurance that federal or state courts will follow the holding of the Delaware Supreme Court or determine that our federal forum provision should be enforced in a particular case, application of
71
our federal forum provision means that suits brought by our stockholders to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder must be brought in federal court and cannot be brought in state court. Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all claims brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. Accordingly, actions by our stockholders to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder must be brought in federal court. Our stockholders will not be deemed to have waived our compliance with the federal securities laws and the regulations promulgated thereunder.
Although we believe that these exclusive forum provisions benefit us by providing greater consistency in the application of Delaware law, the exclusive forum provisions may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable in disputes with us or any of our directors, officers or stockholders, which may discourage lawsuits with respect to such claims. Further, in the event a court finds the exclusive forum provision contained in the Charter to be unenforceable or inapplicable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could harm our business, operating results and financial condition.
The JOBS Act permits “emerging growth companies” like us to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies.
We currently qualify as an “emerging growth company” as defined in Section 2(a)(19) of the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (“JOBS Act”). As such, we take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies for as long as we continue to be an emerging growth company, including: (i) the exemption from the auditor attestation requirements with respect to internal control over financial reporting under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (“SOX”); (ii) the exemptions from say-on-pay, say-on-frequency and say-on-golden parachute voting requirements; and (iii) reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements. As a result, our stockholders may not have access to certain information they deem important. We will remain an emerging growth company until the earliest of (i) the last day of the fiscal year: (a) following August 18, 2025, the fifth anniversary of our IPO; (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion; or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Class A Common Stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the last business day of our prior second fiscal quarter, and the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt during the prior three-year period.
In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act provides that an emerging growth company can take advantage of the exemption from complying with new or revised accounting standards provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act as long as it is an emerging growth company. An emerging growth company can therefore delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies, but any such election to opt out is irrevocable. We have elected to avail ourselves of such extended transition period, which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, we, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of our financial statements with another public company that is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company that has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.
We cannot predict if investors will find our Class A Common Stock less attractive because we rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our Class A Common Stock less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our Class A Common Stock and our stock price may be more volatile.
MSP inherited from LCAP material weaknesses that LCAP identified in its internal control over financial reporting. These material weaknesses could continue to adversely affect MSP's ability to report its results of operations and financial condition accurately and in a timely manner. We may identify additional material weaknesses in the future that may cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations or result in material misstatements in our financial statements. If we fail to remediate our material weaknesses, we may not be able to report our financial results accurately or to prevent fraud.
Following the issuance of the “Staff Statement on Accounting and Reporting Considerations for Warrants issued by Special Purpose Acquisition Companies” by the staff of the SEC (the “SEC Staff Statement”), and after consultation with LCAP’s independent registered public accounting firm, LCAP’s management and audit committee concluded that, in light of the SEC Staff Statement, it was appropriate to restate previously issued and audited financial statements as of and for the period ended December 31, 2020.
Additionally, LCAP previously recorded a portion of its Class A common stock subject to possible redemption in permanent equity. In accordance with SEC Staff guidance on redeemable equity instruments, ASC 480-10-S99, “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity”, and EITF Topic D-98, “Classification and Measurement of Redeemable Securities”, redemption provisions not solely within the control of the issuing company require common stock subject to redemption to be classified outside of permanent equity. LCAP’s
72
management re-evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures and concluded that the misclassification of the Class A common stock was quantitatively material to individual line items within the balance sheet. LCAP concluded that the restatement of the Class A common stock represents a material weakness. In addition, on March 31, 2022, LCAP’s management and its audit committee concluded that a disclosure in regard to related parties was not disclosed within the notes to the Company’s audited Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2021. As a result, LCAP identified a material weakness in its internal controls over financial reporting.
LCAP also identified a material weakness in its internal control over financial reporting related to the accounting for complex financial instruments. As a result of this material weakness, LCAP’s management concluded that its internal control over financial reporting was not effective as of December 31, 2020. This material weakness resulted in a material misstatement of the LCAP’s derivative liabilities, change in fair value of derivative liabilities, Class A Common Stock subject to possible redemption, Class A Common Stock, additional paid-in capital, accumulated deficit and related financial disclosures for the period from December 23, 2019 (inception) through December 31, 2020. For a discussion of management’s consideration of the material weakness identified related to LCAP’s accounting for a significant and unusual transaction related to the warrants LCAP issued in connection with the IPO, see “Note 2-Restatement of Previously Issued Financial Statements” to LCAP’s audited financial statements. In addition, LCAP identified a material weakness in its internal controls over financial reporting as a result of not including certain disclosure in regard to related parties within the notes to its audited Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2021. As a result, such financial statements were amended in order to appropriately disclose the related party transaction.
LCAP also has concluded that its internal control over financial reporting was ineffective as of December 31, 2020 and 2021, and MSP Recovery concluded that its internal control over financial reporting was ineffective as of June 30, 2022, because material weaknesses existed in LCAP’s internal control over financial reporting and they have not been remediated to date. MSP has taken a number of measures to remediate the material weaknesses described herein; however, if it is unable to remediate its material weaknesses in a timely manner or MSP identifies additional material weaknesses, it may be unable to provide required financial information in a timely and reliable manner, and MSP may incorrectly report financial information. Likewise, if MSP’s financial statements are not filed on a timely basis, MSP could be subject to sanctions or investigations by the stock exchange on which MSP’s common stock is listed, the SEC or other regulatory authorities. In either case, there could result a material adverse effect on MSP. The existence of material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in internal control over financial reporting could adversely affect MSP’s reputation or investor perceptions, which could have a negative effect on the trading price of the Class A Common Stock. In addition, MSP will incur additional costs to remediate material weaknesses in its internal control over financial reporting.
Further, as a result of such material weakness, the change in accounting for the warrants, and other matters raised or that may in the future be raised by the SEC, MSP faces potential for litigation or other disputes which may include, among others, claims invoking the federal and state securities laws, contractual claims or other claims arising from the material weaknesses in MSP’s internal control over financial reporting and the preparation of MSP’s financial statements. As of the date of this filing, MSP has no knowledge of any such litigation or dispute. However, MSP can provide no assurance that such litigation or dispute will not arise in the future. Any such litigation or dispute, whether successful or not, could have a material adverse effect on MSP, results of operations and financial condition.
If we identify any new material weaknesses in the future, any such newly identified material weakness could limit our ability to prevent or detect a misstatement of our accounts or disclosures that could result in a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements. In such case, we may be unable to maintain compliance with securities law requirements regarding timely filing of periodic reports in addition to applicable stock exchange listing requirements, investors may lose confidence in our financial reporting and our stock price may decline as a result. We cannot assure you that the measures we have taken to date, or any measures we may take in the future, will be sufficient to avoid potential future material weaknesses.
MSP can give no assurance that the measures it has taken and plans to take in the future will remediate the material weaknesses identified or that any additional material weaknesses or restatements of financial results will not arise in the future due to a failure to implement and maintain adequate internal control over financial reporting or circumvention of these controls. In addition, even if MSP is successful in strengthening its controls and procedures, in the future those controls and procedures may not be adequate to prevent or identify irregularities or errors or to facilitate the fair presentation of its financial statements.
MSP has identified material weaknesses in MSP’s internal control over financial reporting. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of MSP’s annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. If MSP is unable to remediate these material weaknesses, or if MSP identifies additional material weaknesses in the future or otherwise fails to maintain an effective system of internal controls, MSP may not be able to accurately or timely report their financial condition or results of operations, which may adversely affect investor confidence in MSP and, as a result, their stock price.
73
As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, MSP has identified material weaknesses in MSP’s internal control over financial reporting. The material weaknesses MSP identified were as follows:
•MSP did not have sufficient accounting and financial reporting resources to address its financial reporting requirements. Specifically:
oMSP did not have sufficient resources with an appropriate level of knowledge and GAAP expertise to identify, evaluate and account for transactions;
oMSP did not have an adequate segregation of duties or appropriate level of review that is needed to comply with financial reporting requirements.
•MSP did not design, implement or maintain an effective control environment over our financial reporting requirements. Specifically:
oMSP did not have effective controls over the period end financial reporting process and preparation of financial statements due to:
▪A lack of a sufficient level of formal accounting policies and procedures that define how transactions should be initiated, recorded, processed and reported;
▪A lack of an effective control environment over period end close procedures.
oMSP did not have appropriate controls or documented segregation of duties over information technology systems used to create or maintain financial reporting records;
oMSP did not design or maintain the appropriate controls related to the separation of accounting records for each entity included within the combined and consolidated financial statements of MSP.
The Company did not design or maintain the appropriate controls related to the separation of accounting records for each entity included within the combined and consolidated financial statements of the Company.
These control deficiencies did not result in errors that were material to MSP’s annual financial statements. However, these control deficiencies could result in a misstatement in MSP’s accounts or disclosures that would result in a material misstatement to the annual financial statements that would not be prevented or detected. Accordingly, MSP determined that these control deficiencies constitute material weaknesses.
MSP is in the process of implementing measures designed to improve their internal control over financial reporting and remediate the control deficiencies that led to the material weaknesses. As of June 30, 2022, MSP has hired, and is in the process of hiring, key accounting personnel with appropriate levels of GAAP expertise and financial reporting knowledge and experience as well as begun developing formal accounting policies and procedures, designing a control environment over how transactions are initiated, recorded, processed and reported, and implementing period end close procedures. MSP also has implemented certain accounting systems to automate manual processes, to help implement segregation of duties and to assist in consolidation and period end close. However, MSP is still in the process of addressing these deficiencies and there is no assurance that these measures will significantly improve or remediate the material weaknesses described above. MSP and their independent registered public accounting firm, were not required to perform an evaluation of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2021 in accordance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and as such, there is no assurance that MSP has identified all material weaknesses or that there will not be additional material weaknesses or deficiencies that are identified. While MSP’s independent registered public accounting firm is not required to audit the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting until after MSP is no longer an “emerging growth company” as defined in the JOBS Act, a failure to design, implement or maintain effective internal control over financial reporting could adversely affect the results of annual independent registered public accounting firm audit reports regarding the effectiveness of MSP’s internal control over financial reporting that the Company will eventually be required to include in reports that will be filed with the SEC. If at such time, MSP’s independent registered public accounting firm issues an audit report that is adverse due to one or more material weaknesses in MSP’s internal control over financial reporting, then this could have a material and adverse effect on MSP’s business, results of operations and financial condition, and it could cause a decline in the trading price of the Company’s Class A common stock.
Our internal control over financial reporting may not be effective and our independent registered public accounting firm may not be able to certify as to their effectiveness, which could have a significant and adverse effect on our business and reputation.
As a public company, we are required to comply with the SEC’s rules implementing Sections 302 and 404 of SOX, which require management to certify financial and other information in our quarterly and annual reports and provide an annual management report on the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting. To comply with the requirements of being a public company, the Company may be required to provide the management report on internal controls commencing with the annual report for fiscal year
74
ended December 31, 2022 and we may need to undertake various actions, such as implementing additional internal controls and procedures and hiring additional accounting or internal audit staff. The standards required for a public company under Section 404 of SOX are significantly more stringent than those required of MSP as a privately held company. Further, as an emerging growth company, our independent registered public accounting firm is not required to formally attest to the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 of SOX until the date we are no longer an emerging growth company. Our independent registered public accounting firm may issue a report that is adverse in the event that it is not satisfied with the level at which the controls of the Company are documented, designed or operating.
Testing and maintaining these controls can divert our management’s attention from other matters that are important to the operation of our business. If we identify material weaknesses in the internal control over financial reporting of the Company or are unable to comply with the requirements of Section 404 of SOX or assert that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, or if our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to express an opinion as to the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting when we no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports and the market price of our common stock could be negatively affected and we could become subject to investigations by the SEC or other regulatory authorities, which could require additional financial and management resources.
The Company’s stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against the Company to the extent of distributions received by them.
If the Company is forced to file a bankruptcy case or an involuntary bankruptcy case is filed against the Company which is not dismissed, any distributions received by stockholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover all amounts received by the Company’s stockholders. Furthermore, because the Company distributed the proceeds held in the Public Shares to the Company’s Public Stockholders in connection with the Closing, this may be viewed or interpreted as giving preference to the Company’s Public Stockholders over any potential creditors with respect to access to or distributions from the Company’s assets. Furthermore, the LCAP Board may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to the Company’s creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, and thereby exposing itself and the Company to claims of punitive damages, by paying Public Stockholders from the Trust Account prior to addressing the claims of creditors. The Company cannot assure you that claims will not be brought against it for these reasons.
Risks Related to the Committed Equity Facility
We cannot predict the actual number of shares we will sell under the CF Purchase Agreement to CF, or the actual gross proceeds resulting from those sales.
On May 17, 2022, we entered into the CF Purchase Agreement with CF, pursuant to which CF committed to purchase up to $1 billion in shares of Common Stock, subject to certain limitations and conditions set forth in the CF Purchase Agreement. Our shares of Common Stock that may be issued under the CF Purchase Agreement may be sold by us to CF at our discretion from time to time over the 36-month period commencing on the date the registration statement became effective.
We generally have the right to control the timing and amount of any sales of our shares of Common Stock to CF under the CF Purchase Agreement. Sales of our shares of Common Stock, if any, to CF under the CF Purchase Agreement will depend upon market conditions and other factors to be determined by us. We may ultimately decide to sell to CF all, some or none of the shares of Common Stock that may be available for us to sell to CF pursuant to the CF Purchase Agreement.
Because the purchase price per share to be paid by CF for the shares of Common Stock that we may elect to sell to CF under the CF Purchase Agreement, if any, will fluctuate based on the market prices of our shares of Common Stock at the time we elect to sell shares to CF pursuant to the CF Purchase Agreement, if any, it is not possible for us to predict, as of the date of this Form 10-Q and prior to any such sales, the number of shares of Common Stock that we will sell to CF under the CF Purchase Agreement, the purchase price per share that CF will pay for shares purchased from us under the CF Purchase Agreement, or the aggregate gross proceeds that we will receive from those purchases by CF under the CF Purchase Agreement.
Although the CF Purchase Agreement provides that we may, in our discretion, from time to time after the date of this filing and during the term of the CF Purchase Agreement, direct CF to purchase our shares of Common Stock from us in one or more purchases under the CF Purchase Agreement, for a maximum aggregate purchase price of up to $1,000,000,000, the CF Purchase Agreement is subject to a cap of 120,000,000 shares of Common Stock. Assuming all of the 120,000,000 shares remaining to be sold to CF were sold, per the terms of the CF Purchase Agreement, at a 2.0% discount to the last closing sale price of our shares of Common Stock as reported on NASDAQ on July 20, 2022, or $1.77 per share (inclusive of such discount), we would not receive aggregate gross proceeds from the sale of such shares to CF equal to CF’s $1,000,000,000 total aggregate purchase commitment under the CF Purchase Agreement.
75
However, because the market prices of our shares of Common Stock may fluctuate from time to time and, as a result, the actual purchase prices to be paid by CF for our shares of Common Stock that we direct it to purchase under the CF Purchase Agreement, if any, also may fluctuate because they will be based on such fluctuating market prices of our shares of Common Stock, it is possible that we would need to issue and sell more than 120,000,000 shares of Common Stock to CF under the CF Purchase Agreement in order to receive aggregate gross proceeds equal to CF’s $1,000,000,000 total aggregate purchase commitment under the CF Purchase Agreement.
The number of our shares of Common Stock ultimately offered for sale by CF is dependent upon the number of shares of Common Stock, if any, we ultimately elect to sell to CF under the CF Purchase Agreement.
Investors who buy shares at different times will likely pay different prices.
Pursuant to the CF Purchase Agreement, we will have discretion, subject to market demand, to vary the timing, prices, and numbers of shares sold to CF. If and when we do elect to sell our shares of Common Stock to CF pursuant to the CF Purchase Agreement, after CF has acquired such shares, CF may resell all, some or none of such shares at any time or from time to time in its discretion and at different prices. As a result, investors who purchase shares from CF at different times will likely pay different prices for those shares, and so may experience different levels of dilution and in some cases substantial dilution and different outcomes in their investment results. Investors may experience a decline in the value of the shares they purchase from CF as a result of future sales made by us to CF at prices lower than the prices such investors paid for their shares. In addition, if we sell a substantial number of shares to CF under the CF Purchase Agreement, or if investors expect that we will do so, the actual sales of shares or the mere existence of our arrangement with CF may make it more difficult for us to sell equity or equity-related securities in the future at a time and at a price that we might otherwise wish to effect such sales.
