Verint Systems (VRNT) 10-K2020 FY Annual report

The aggregate market value of common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant, based on the closing price for the registrant’s common stock on the NASDAQ Global Select Market on the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter (July 31, 2019) was approximately $3,659,354,000.

There were 64,125,209 shares of the registrant’s common stock outstanding on March 13, 2020.

In a world of massive information growth, our solutions empower organizations with crucial, actionable insights and enable decision makers to anticipate, respond, and take action. Today, over 10,000 organizations in more than 180 countries, including over 85 percent of the Fortune 100, use Verint’s Actionable Intelligence solutions, deployed in the cloud and on premises, to make more informed, timely, and effective decisions.

Our Actionable Intelligence leadership is powered by innovative, enterprise-class software built with artificial intelligence, analytics, automation, and deep domain expertise established by working closely with some of the most sophisticated and forward-thinking organizations in the world. We believe we have one of the industry’s strongest research and development (“R&D”) teams focused on actionable intelligence consisting of approximately one-third of our approximately 6,500 professionals. Our innovative solutions are backed-up by a strong IP portfolio with over 1,000 patents and patent applications worldwide across areas including data capture, artificial intelligence, machine learning, unstructured data analytics, predictive analytics and automation.

Headquartered in Melville, New York, we support our customers around the globe directly and with an extensive network of selling and support partners.

We were incorporated in Delaware in February 1994 and completed our initial public offering (“IPO”) in May 2002. Since our formation, we have consistently expanded our portfolio of Actionable Intelligence solutions, extended our market leadership, and scaled the business through a focus on innovation via organic development and acquisitions.

Verint’s Actionable Intelligence strategy is focused on two use cases and the Company has two operating segments: Customer Engagement and Cyber Intelligence. Our two operating segments are described in greater detail below and in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” under Item 7 of this report. See also Note 17 to our consolidated financial statements, “Segment, Geographic, and Significant Customer Information,” included under Item 8 of this report for additional information and financial data about each of our operating segments and geographic regions.

Through our website at www.verint.com, we make available our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and Current Reports on Form 8-K, as well as amendments to those reports, filed or furnished by us pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act, free of charge, as soon as reasonably practicable after we file such materials with, or furnish such materials to, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Our website address set forth above is not intended to be an active link, and information on our website is not incorporated in, and should not be construed to be a part of, this report.

We focus on two Actionable Intelligence use cases: Actionable Intelligence for a Smarter Enterprise and Actionable Intelligence for a Safer World. Our customers across both use cases are looking for innovative solutions that incorporate the most advanced technologies to empower them with actionable insights, critical to achieving their strategic objectives. Our strategy is to combine the latest artificial intelligence, analytics, and automation technology with deep domain expertise unique to each of our markets. We have invested more than $1 billion in R&D over the last decade in our highly innovative Actionable Intelligence platform, which provides a foundation for our solution portfolio across both use cases. This platform is comprised of three key pillars:

Our strategy is to continue to grow our business across both Actionable Intelligence use cases, today as one company and in the future as two, leveraging our investment in our Actionable Intelligence platform and continuing to invest in artificial intelligence and analytics to drive automation and to create technology differentiation. We will also continue to expand our broad portfolios through innovative technology, combined with further developing our domain expertise in both Customer Engagement and Cyber Intelligence. We believe that the combination of a strong technology platform and deep knowledge of our customers has been, and will continue to be, key to our leadership in our markets.

Organizations have cited effective customer engagement as key to creating a sustainable competitive advantage and as critical to their future success. Balancing their strategic objectives for improved customer experience with increased operational efficiency is the foundation of new customer engagement initiatives.

For most organizations, customer engagement has become a responsibility shared across many parts of the enterprise, from contact centers to customer care groups to digital marketing to customer experience leaders. As a market leader, we deliver holistic customer engagement solutions that address requirements across contact centers, back-office and branch operations, self-service, ecommerce, customer experience, marketing, IT, and compliance.

Verint is a leader in cloud, analytics, and automation solutions with one of the broadest portfolios available, including offerings for Workforce Engagement, Self-Service, Experience Management, and Enterprise Recording for Fraud and Compliance. We

leverage the latest in artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced analytics technology to unlock the potential of automation and intelligence to deliver real business impact across the enterprise.

We have more than 10,000 customers and a large partner network globally, helping us drive ongoing innovation in our award-winning offerings. Independent industry experts, such as Forrester, Gartner, and Ventana Research, have all recognized Verint as a leader in customer engagement. We focus on developing customers for life and have been recognized as a CRM service leader for 12 consecutive years. Verint has also been named a winner on the 2020 CRM Watchlist, which recognizes companies that have had the greatest impact in the world of customer-facing technology in the prior year.

Many organizations are finding it challenging to deliver on the promise of consistent exceptional customer experience balanced with greater operational efficiency. Faced with higher customer expectations and the need for market differentiation, organizations view customer engagement and elevating the customer experience as essential to their future success. Organizations understand that the cost of addressing these objectives through an expansion of their workforce is unsustainable. As a result, they are instead looking for new customer engagement technologies like the ones we offer to help them achieve these goals. More specifically, we believe the following trends are driving growth in our market:

Our strategy was designed working closely with our direct and indirect customers, which include more than 85 percent of the Fortune 100, as well as with our large global partner network. This strategy, as outlined below, is intended to enable organizations to simplify, modernize, and automate their customer engagement operations and turn customer engagement into a sustainable competitive advantage, while reducing complexity and costs in customer operations.

Customer engagement is a shared responsibility across the entire organization. To support the needs of our customers, we offer a broad portfolio across a wide spectrum of customer engagement functions, including contact centers, back-office and branch operations, self-service, ecommerce, customer experience, marketing, IT, and compliance. Our offerings span multiple industries, such as financial services, healthcare, outsourcing, public sector, telecommunications and include the following categories: Workforce Engagement, Self-Service, Experience Management, and Enterprise Recording for Fraud and Compliance.

Our Workforce Engagement offerings enable organizations to empower their teams to engage more effectively with customers in the contact center, branch, and back-office. Through improved forecasting and scheduling, knowledge sharing, quality assurance and process management, these solutions create new opportunities to improve the customer experience, reduce costs and drive revenue. Our Workforce Engagement solutions include:

Our Self-Service offerings enable organizations to improve customer experiences and reduce costs by delivering automated help to their customers that is faster and requires less effort. Leveraging the same intelligence that empowers employees, self-service AI enables customers to succeed at helping themselves, and creates a modern, conversational experience that is consistent across voice and digital channels. Our self-service offering includes:

Our Experience Management (XM) offerings enable organizations to improve customer experiences and reduce costs by effectively listening, analyzing, and acting on customer intelligence to drive desired customer and business outcomes. Successful organizations are deploying Verint XM solutions to understand every moment, every interaction, and every conversation between a representative and a consumer. Our Experience Management offering includes:

Our Fraud and Compliance offerings enable organizations to capture omni-channel interaction data and leverage automation and analytics to help ensure compliance and minimize fraud. Our Enterprise Recording for Fraud and Compliance offering includes:

Verint is a leading global provider of data mining software that empower governments and enterprise organizations with Actionable Intelligence to identify, neutralize, and prevent terror, crime and cyber threats. Our innovative data mining software is built with sophisticated analytics, advanced artificial intelligence and deep domain expertise to help security organizations capture and analyze data from a wide range of sources and turn that data into actionable insights. Verint has been empowering security organizations for over two decades and our market leading data mining solutions have been deployed by more than 1,000 customers across more than 100 countries.

We believe that the following trends are driving demand for security and intelligence data mining software:

We believe we are well-positioned to address these market trends. Verint’s growth strategy is to expand our portfolio to address market trends and to offer our solutions directly and through partners to our growing installed base and to new customers globally.

Key elements of our growth strategy include:

Our broad portfolio of data mining software comprises four solution categories: Network Intelligence, Fusion Intelligence, Cyber Security and Situational Intelligence.

Verint offers its broad portfolio of data mining software to government and enterprise customers, directly and through partners.

Below are examples of the challenges security organizations around the world are using Verint’s data mining software to address:

We offer a range of customer services, including implementation and training, consulting and managed services, and maintenance and support, to help our direct and indirect customers maximize their return on investment in our solutions.

Our solutions are implemented by our service organizations, authorized partners, resellers, or by end customers themselves. Our implementation services include project management, system installation, and commissioning, including integrating our solutions with our customers’ environments and third-party solutions. Our training programs are designed to enable end customers to use our solutions effectively and to maximize the value of our solutions. Our Customer Engagement solutions business includes training programs designed to certify our partners to sell, install, and support our solutions. Customer and partner training is provided at the customer site, at our training centers around the world, and/or remotely online.

Our management consulting capabilities include business strategy, process excellence, performance management, intelligence methodologies, and project and program management, and are designed to help end customers maximize the value of our solutions in their own environments.

We offer a range of managed services designed to help end customers effectively run their operations, and maximize business and intelligence insights. These managed services are recurring in nature and can be delivered in conjunction with Verint’s technology or on a standalone basis and help to deepen our trusted partner relationships with our customers.

We sell our solutions through our direct sales teams and indirect channels, including distributors, systems integrators, value-added resellers (“VARs”), and OEM partners. Approximately half of our overall sales are made through partners, distributors, resellers, and system integrators.

Each of our solutions is sold by trained, dedicated, regionally-organized direct and indirect sales teams.

For the year ended January 31, 2020, approximately one third of our business was generated from contracts with various governments around the world, including local, regional, and national government agencies. Due to the unique nature of the terms and conditions associated with government contracts generally, our government contracts may be subject to renegotiation or termination at the election of the government customer or partner. Some of our customer engagements require us to have security credentials or to participate in projects through an approved legal entity.

As is typical for many software and technology companies, our business is subject to seasonal and cyclical factors. In most years, our revenue and operating income are typically highest in the fourth quarter and lowest in the first quarter (prior to the impact of unusual or nonrecurring items). Moreover, revenue and operating income in the first quarter of a new year may be lower than in the fourth quarter of the preceding year, in some years, potentially by a significant margin. In addition, we generally receive a higher volume of orders in the last month of a quarter, with orders concentrated in the later part of that month. We believe that these seasonal and cyclical factors primarily reflect customer spending patterns and budget cycles, as well as the impact of compensation incentive plans for our sales personnel. While seasonal and cyclical factors such as these are common in the software and technology industry, this pattern should not be considered a reliable indicator of our future revenue or financial performance. Many other factors, including general economic conditions, also have an impact on our business and financial results. See “Risk Factors” under Item 1A of this report for a more detailed discussion of factors which may affect our business and financial results.

We continue to enhance the features and performance of our existing solutions and to introduce new solutions through extensive R&D activities. In addition to the development of new solutions and the addition of capabilities to existing solutions, our R&D activities include quality assurance and advanced technical support for our customer services organization. In certain instances, primarily in our Cyber Intelligence segment, we may tailor our products to meet the particular requirements of our customers or partners. R&D is performed primarily in the United States, Israel, the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands, Hungary, and Indonesia for our Customer Engagement segment; and in Israel, Germany, Brazil, Cyprus, Taiwan, the Netherlands, Romania, and Bulgaria for our Cyber Intelligence segment.

To support our research and development efforts, we make significant investments in R&D every year. We allocate our R&D resources in response to market research and customer demand for additional features and solutions. Our development strategy involves rolling out initial releases of our products and adding features over time. We incorporate product feedback received from our customers into our product development process. While the majority of our products are developed internally, in some

As of January 31, 2020, we employed approximately 6,500 professionals, including certain contractors, with approximately 37%, 26%, 24%, and 13% of our employees and contractors located in the Americas, EMEA (excluding Israel), Israel, and APAC, respectively.

We consider our relationship with our employees to be good and a critical factor in our success. Our employees in the United States are not covered by any collective bargaining agreements. In some cases, our employees outside the United States are automatically subject to certain protections negotiated by organized labor in those countries directly with the government or trade unions, or are automatically entitled to severance or other benefits mandated under local laws. For example, while we are not a party to any collective bargaining or other agreement with any labor organization in Israel, certain provisions of the collective bargaining agreements between the Histadrut (General Federation of Laborers in Israel) and the Coordinating Bureau of Economic Organizations (including the Manufacturers’ Association of Israel) are applicable to our Israeli employees by virtue of expansion orders of the Israeli Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor.

Our success depends to a significant degree on the legal protection of our software and other proprietary technology. We rely on a combination of patent, trade secret, copyright, and trademark laws, and confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements with employees and third parties to establish and protect our proprietary rights.

As of January 31, 2020, we had more than 1,000 patents and patent applications worldwide across areas including data capture, artificial intelligence, machine learning, unstructured data analytics, predictive analytics, and automation. We regularly review new areas of technology related to our businesses to determine whether they can and should be patented.

Our customer and partner license agreements prohibit the unauthorized use, copying, and disclosure of our software technology and contain customer restrictions and confidentiality terms. These agreements generally warrant that the software and proprietary hardware will materially comply with written documentation and assert that we own or have sufficient rights in the software we distribute and have not violated the intellectual property rights of others. We generally license our products in a format that does not permit users to change the software code.

We use various trademarks and service marks to protect the marks used in our business. We also claim common law protections for other marks we use in our business.

We face strong competition in all of our markets, and we expect that competition will persist and intensify.

In our Customer Engagement segment, our competitors include Aspect Software, Inc., Genesys Telecommunications, Medallia Inc., NICE Systems Ltd., Nuance Communications, Inc., Pegasystems Inc., divisions of larger companies, including Microsoft Corporation, Oracle Corporation, SAP, and Salesforce.com, Inc., as well as many smaller companies, which can vary across regions. In our Cyber Intelligence segment, our competitors include BAE Systems plc, Elbit Systems Ltd., FireEye, Inc., Genetec Inc., IBM Corporation, JSI Telecom, Palantir Technologies, Inc., and Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Co., KG, as well as a number of smaller companies and divisions of larger companies that compete with us in certain regions or only with respect to portions of our product portfolio.

In each of our operating segments, we believe that we compete principally on the basis of:

We and our subsidiaries are subject to applicable export control regulations in countries from which we export goods and services. These controls may apply by virtue of the country in which the products are located or by virtue of the origin of the content contained in the products. If the controls of a particular country apply, the level of control generally depends on the nature of the goods and services in question. For example, our Cyber Intelligence solutions tend to be more highly controlled than our Customer Engagement solutions. Where controls apply, the export of our products generally requires an export license or authorization or that the transaction qualify for a license exception or the equivalent, and may also be subject to corresponding reporting requirements.

Many of the factors that affect our business and operations involve risks and uncertainties. The factors described below are risks that could materially harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations. These are not all the risks we face and other factors currently considered immaterial or unknown to us may have a material adverse impact on our future operations.

 

 

 

The ultimate impact that the COVID-19 pandemic will have on our business and financial results is currently unknown. We are currently conducting business with substantial modifications to employee travel, employee work locations, virtualization or cancellation of customer and employee events, and remote sales, implementation, and support activities, among other modifications. These decisions may delay or reduce sales and harm productivity and collaboration. We have observed other companies and governments making similar alteration to their normal business operations, including restrictions imposed by our customers on our ability to access their sites for implementations and support, and in general, the markets are experiencing a significant level of uncertainty at the current time. The pandemic could have an adverse impact on demand for our customers’ products and services, which in turn, could negatively impact the willingness of our customers to enter into or renew contracts with us. The pandemic has impacted our ability to complete certain implementations, negatively impacting our ability to recognize revenue, and could also negatively impact the payment of accounts receivable and collections. We may take further actions that alter our business operations as the situation evolves. As a result, the ultimate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the effects of the operational alterations we have made in response on our business, financial condition, liquidity and financial results cannot be predicted at this time.

 

Because price and related terms are key considerations for many of our customers, we may have to accept less-favorable

payment terms, lower the prices of our products and services, and/or reduce our cost structure, including reducing headcount or investment in R&D, in order to remain competitive. If we are forced to take these kinds of actions to remain competitive in the short-term, such actions may adversely impact our ability to execute and compete in the long-term.

A key element of our long-term strategy is to continue to invest in and grow our business and operations, both organically and through acquisitions. Investments in, among other things, new markets, new products, solutions, and technologies, R&D, infrastructure and systems, geographic expansion, and headcount are critical components for achieving this strategy.  In particular, we believe that we must continue to dedicate a significant amount of resources to our research and development efforts to maintain our competitive position. However, such investments and efforts present challenges and risks and may not be successful (financially or otherwise), especially in new areas or new markets in which we have little or no experience, and even if successful, may negatively impact our profitability in the short-term.  To be successful in such efforts, we must be able to properly allocate limited investment dollars and other resources, prioritize among opportunities, projects, and implementations, balance the extent and timing of investments with the associated impact on profitability, balance our focus between new areas or new markets and the operation and servicing of our legacy businesses and customers, capture efficiencies and economies of scale, and compete in the new areas or new markets, or with the new solutions, in which we have invested.

Our success also depends on our ability to execute on other growth initiatives we are pursuing. For example, in our Customer Engagement segment, in addition to the other factors described in this section, our revenue and profitability objectives are highly dependent on our ability to continue to expand our cloud business and cloud operations, including keeping pace with the market transition to cloud-based software, making new cloud sales, enhancing our cloud sales processes and execution, and managing the conversion of our maintenance base. In our Cyber Intelligence segment, in addition to the other factors described in this section, our profitability objectives are highly dependent on our ability to continue to shift our product mix towards software and away from professional services and hardware resales and to continue to progress towards a more productized software offering.

Our success also depends on our ability to effectively and efficiently enhance our existing operations. Our existing infrastructure, systems, security, processes, and personnel may not be adequate for our current or future needs. System upgrades or new implementations can be complex, time-consuming, and expensive and we cannot assure you that we will not experience problems during or following such implementations, including among others, potential disruptions in our operations or financial reporting.

If we are unable to properly manage our investments, execute on growth initiatives, and enhance our existing operations and infrastructure, our results of operations and market share may be materially adversely affected.

Acquisitions and investments are an important part of our growth strategy. Acquisitions and investments present significant challenges and risks to a buyer, including with respect to the transaction process, the integration of the acquired company or assets, and the post-closing operation of the acquired company or assets. If we are unable to successfully address these challenges and risks, we may experience both a loss on the investment and damage to our existing business, operations, financial results, and valuation.

The potential challenges and risks associated with acquisitions and investments include, among others:

Acquisitions and/or investments may also result in potentially dilutive issuances of equity securities, the incurrence of debt and contingent liabilities, the expenditure of available cash, and amortization expenses or write-downs related to intangible assets such as goodwill, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our operating results or financial condition. Investments in immature businesses with unproven track records and technologies have an especially high degree of risk, with the possibility that we may lose our entire investment or incur unexpected liabilities. Transactions that are not immediately accretive to earnings may make it more difficult for us to maintain satisfactory profitability levels or compliance with the maximum leverage ratio covenant under the revolving credit facility under our senior credit agreement (the “2017 Credit Agreement”). Large or costly acquisitions or investments may also diminish our capital resources and liquidity or limit our ability to engage in additional transactions for a period of time.

The foregoing risks may be magnified as the cost, size, or complexity of an acquisition or acquired company increases, where the acquired company’s products, market, or business are materially different from ours, or where more than one transaction or integration is occurring simultaneously or within a concentrated period of time. There can be no assurance that we will be successful in making additional acquisitions in the future or in integrating or executing on our business plan for existing or future acquisitions.

 

We offer our customers a broad solution portfolio with the flexibility to purchase a single point solution, which can be expanded over time, or a larger more comprehensive system. Regardless of the size of a customer’s purchase, many of our solutions are sophisticated and may represent a significant investment for our customers. As a result, our sales cycles can range in duration from as little as a few weeks to more than a year. Our larger sales typically require a minimum of a few months to consummate. As the length or complexity of a sales process increases, so does the risk of successfully closing the sale. Larger sales are often made by competitive bid, which also increases the time and uncertainty associated with such opportunities. Customers may also require education on the value and functionality of our solutions as part of the sales process, further extending the time frame and uncertainty of the process. 

Longer sales cycles, competitive bid processes, and the need to educate customers means that:

The extended time frame and uncertainty associated with many of our sales opportunities also makes it difficult for us to accurately forecast our revenues (and attendant budgeting and guidance decisions) and increases the volatility of our operating results from period to period. Our ability to forecast and the volatility of our operating results is also impacted by the fact that pricing, margins, and other deal terms may vary substantially from transaction to transaction, especially across business lines. The terms of our transactions, including with respect to license model (e.g., perpetual license versus subscription), also impact the timing of our ability to recognize revenue. We recognize SaaS revenue over the term of the SaaS subscription, so as our SaaS revenue continues to grow and becomes a more significant component of our overall revenue, we expect a greater amount of our revenue to be recognized over longer periods, in some cases several years, as compared to the way revenue is recognized for perpetual licenses. This change in the pattern of recognition also means that increases or decreases in SaaS subscription activity impact the amount of revenue recognized in both current and future periods. Because transaction-specific factors are difficult to predict in advance, this also complicates the forecasting of revenue and creates challenges in managing our cloud transition and revenue mix. As our cloud transition continues and accelerates, our subscription renewal rates will become more important to our financial results generally, and if customers choose not to renew, or to reduce, their subscriptions, our business and financial results will suffer.

The deferral or loss of one or more significant orders or a delay in a large implementation can also materially adversely affect our operating results, especially in a given quarter. Larger transactions also increase the risk that our revenue and profitability become concentrated in a given period or over time. As with other software-focused companies, a large amount of our quarterly business tends to come in the last few weeks, or even the last few days, of each quarter. This trend has also complicated the process of accurately predicting revenue and other operating results, particularly on a quarterly basis. Finally, our business is subject to seasonal factors that may also cause our results to fluctuate from quarter to quarter.

 

Approximately half of our sales are made through partners, distributors, resellers, and systems integrators. To remain successful, we must maintain our existing relationships as well as identify and establish new relationships with such third parties. We must often compete with other suppliers for these relationships and our competitors often seek to establish exclusive relationships with these sales channels or to become a preferred partner for them. Our ability to establish and maintain these relationships is based on, among other things, factors that are similar to those on which we compete for end customers, including features, functionality, ease of use, installation and maintenance, and price. Even if we are able to secure such relationships on terms we find acceptable, there is no assurance that we will be able to realize the benefits we anticipate. Some of our channel partners may also compete with us or have affiliates that compete with us, or may also partner with our competitors or offer our products and those of our competitors as alternatives when presenting proposals to end

customers. Our ability to achieve our revenue goals and growth depends to a significant extent on maintaining, enabling, and adding to these sales channels, and if we are unable to do so, our business and ability to grow could be materially adversely affected.

 

 

Although we generally use standard parts and components in our products, we do rely on non-affiliated suppliers and OEM partners for certain non-standard products or components which may be critical to our products, including both hardware and software, and on manufacturers of assemblies that are incorporated into our products. We also purchase technology, license intellectual property rights, and oversee third-party development and localization of certain products or components, in some cases, by or from companies that may compete with us or work with our competitors. While we endeavor to use larger, more established suppliers, manufacturers, and partners wherever possible, in some cases, these providers may be smaller, less established companies, particularly in the case of new or unique technologies that we have not developed internally. 

If any of these suppliers, manufacturers, or partners experience financial, operational, manufacturing, or quality assurance difficulties, cease production or sale, or there is any other disruption in our supply, including as a result of the acquisition of a supplier or partner by a competitor, we will be required to locate alternative sources of supply or manufacturing, to internally develop the applicable technologies, to redesign our products, and/or to remove certain features from our products, any of which would be likely to increase expenses, create delivery delays, and negatively impact our sales.  Although we endeavor to establish contractual protections with key providers, including source code escrows (where needed), warranties, and indemnities, we may not be successful in obtaining adequate protections, these agreements may be short-term in duration, and the counterparties may be unwilling or unable to stand behind such protections. Moreover, these types of contractual protections offer limited practical benefits to us in the event our relationship with a key provider is interrupted.

We also rely on third parties to provide certain services to us or to our customers, including hosting partners and providers of other cloud-based services. We make contractual commitments to customers on the basis of these relationships and, in some cases, also entrust these providers with both our own sensitive data as well as the sensitive data of our customers (which may include sensitive end customer data). If these third-party providers do not perform as expected or encounter service disruptions, cyber-attacks, data breaches, or other difficulties, we or our customers may be materially and adversely affected, including, among other things, by facing increased costs, potential liability to customers, end customers, or other third parties, regulatory issues, and reputational harm. If it is necessary to migrate these services to other providers as a result of poor performance, security issues or considerations, or other financial or operational factors, it could result in service disruptions to our customers and significant time, expense, or exposure to us, any of which could materially adversely affect our business.

 

 

We have significant operations and business outside the United States, including sales, research and development, manufacturing, customer services and support, and administrative services. The countries in which we have our most significant foreign operations include Israel, the United Kingdom, India, Cyprus, Indonesia, Australia, Brazil and the Netherlands. We also generate significant revenue from more than a dozen foreign countries, and smaller amounts of revenue from many more, including a number of emerging markets. We intend to continue to grow our business internationally.

Our foreign operations are, and any future foreign growth will be, subject to a variety of risks, many of which are beyond our control, including risks associated with:

Any or all of these factors could materially adversely affect our business or results of operations.

 

 

We have significant operations in Israel, including R&D, manufacturing, sales, and support. Conflicts and political, economic, and/or military conditions in Israel and the Middle East region have affected and may in the future affect our operations in Israel. Violence within Israel or the outbreak of violent conflicts between Israel and its neighbors, including the Palestinians or Iran, may impede our ability to manufacture, sell, and support our products or engage in R&D, or otherwise adversely affect our business or operations. Many of our employees in Israel are required to perform annual compulsory military service and are subject to being called to active duty at any time. Hostilities involving Israel may also result in the interruption or curtailment of trade between Israel and its trading partners or a significant downturn in the economic or financial condition of Israel and could materially adversely affect our results of operations.

 

Restrictive laws, policies, or practices in certain countries directed toward Israel, Israeli goods, or companies having operations in Israel may also limit our ability to sell some of our products in certain countries.

 

We receive grants from the IIA for the financing of a portion of our research and development expenditures in Israel. The availability in any given year of these IIA grants depends on IIA approval of the projects and related budgets that we submit to the IIA each year. The Israeli law under which these IIA grants are made limits our ability to manufacture products, or transfer technologies, developed using these grants outside of Israel. This may limit our ability to engage in certain outsourcing or business combination transactions involving these products or require us to pay significant royalties or fees to the IIA in order to obtain any IIA consent that may be required in connection with such transactions.

Israeli tax requirements may also place practical limitations on our ability to sell or engage in other transactions involving our Israeli companies or assets, to restructure our Israeli business, or to access funds in Israel.

We may experience negative publicity, reputational harm, or other adverse impacts on our business as a result of offering certain types of Cyber Intelligence solutions or if we sell such solutions to countries or customers that are considered disfavored by the media or political or social rights organizations, even where such activities or transactions are permissible under applicable law. The risk of these adverse impacts may also result in lost business opportunities that impact our results of operations.

 

Some of our subsidiaries maintain security clearances domestically and abroad in connection with the development, marketing, sale, and/or support of our Cyber Intelligence solutions. These clearances are reviewed from time to time by these countries and could be deactivated, including for political reasons unrelated to the merits of our solutions, such as the list of countries we do business with or the fact that our local entity is controlled by or affiliated with an entity based in another country. If we lose our security clearances in a particular country, we may be unable to sell our Cyber Intelligence solutions for secure projects in that country and might also experience greater challenges in selling such solutions even for non-secure projects in that country.  Even if we are able to obtain and maintain applicable security clearances, government customers may decline to purchase our Cyber Intelligence solutions if they were not developed or manufactured in that country or if they were developed or manufactured in other countries that are considered disfavored by such country. 

We provide products and services, directly and indirectly, to a variety of government entities, both domestically and internationally. Risks associated with licensing and selling products and services to government entities include more extended sales and collection cycles, varying governmental budgeting processes, adherence to complex procurement regulations, and other government-specific contractual requirements, including possible renegotiation or termination at the election of the government customer. We may be subject to audits and investigations relating to our government contracts and any violations could result in various civil and criminal penalties and administrative sanctions, including termination of contracts, payment of fines, and suspension or debarment from future government business, as well as harm to our reputation and financial results.

 

Our business and operations are subject to a variety of regulatory requirements in the United States and abroad, including, among other things, with respect to trade compliance, anti-corruption, information security, data privacy and protection, tax, labor, government contracts, and cyber intelligence. Compliance with these regulatory requirements may be onerous, time-consuming, and expensive, especially where these requirements are inconsistent from jurisdiction to jurisdiction or where the jurisdictional reach of certain requirements is not clearly defined or seeks to reach across national borders. Regulatory requirements in one jurisdiction may make it difficult or impossible to do business in another jurisdiction. We may also be unsuccessful in obtaining permits, licenses, or other authorizations required to operate our business, such as for the marketing or sale or import or export of our products and services. 

While we endeavor to implement policies, procedures, and systems designed to achieve compliance with these regulatory requirements, we cannot assure you that these policies, procedures, or systems will be adequate or that we or our personnel will not violate these policies and procedures or applicable laws and regulations. Violations of these laws or regulations may harm our reputation and deter government agencies and other existing or potential customers or partners from purchasing our solutions. Furthermore, non-compliance with applicable laws or regulations could result in fines, damages, criminal sanctions against us, our officers, or our employees, restrictions on the conduct of our business, and damage to our reputation.

 

Regulatory requirements, such as laws requiring telecommunications providers to facilitate the monitoring of communications by law enforcement or governing the purchase and use of security solutions like ours, may also influence market demand for many of our products and/or customer requirements for specific functionality and performance or technical standards. The domestic and international regulatory environment is subject to constant change, often based on factors beyond our control or anticipation, including political climate, budgets, and current events, which could reduce demand for our products or require us to change or redesign products to maintain compliance or competitiveness.

 

 

Some of our products are used by customers to compile and analyze highly sensitive or confidential information and data, including information or data used in intelligence gathering or law enforcement activities as well as personally identifiable information. While our customers’ use of our products does not provide us access to the customer’s sensitive or confidential information or data (or the information or data our customers may collect), we or our partners may receive or come into contact with such information or data, including personally identifiable information, when we are asked to perform services or support functions for our customers. We or our partners may also receive or come into contact with such information or data in connection with our SaaS or other hosted or managed services offerings. Customers are also increasingly focused on the security of our products and services and we continuously work to address these concerns, including through the use of encryption, access rights, and other customary security features, which vary based on the solution in question and customer requirements. We expect to receive, come into contact with, or become custodian of an increasing amount of customer data (including end customer data) as our cloud business and cloud operations expand, increasing our exposure if we or one of our hosting partners experiences an issue relating to the security or the proper handling of that information. We have implemented policies and procedures, and use information technology systems, to help ensure the proper handling of such information and data, including background screening of certain services personnel, non-disclosure agreements with employees and partners, access rules, and controls on our information technology systems. We also evaluate the information security of potential partners and vendors as part of our selection process and attempt to negotiate adequate protections from such third parties in our contracts. However, these policies, procedures, systems, and measures are designed to mitigate the risks associated with handling or processing sensitive data and cannot safeguard against all risks at all times. The improper handling of sensitive data, or even the perception of such mishandling (whether or not valid), or other security lapses or breaches affecting us, our partners, or our products or services, could reduce demand for our products or services or otherwise expose us to financial or reputational harm or legal liability.

 

Our solutions may contain defects or may develop operational problems. This risk is amplified for our more sophisticated solutions. New products and new product versions, service models such as hosting, SaaS, and managed services, and the incorporation of third-party products or services into our solutions, also give rise to the risk of defects, errors, or vulnerabilities. These defects, errors, or vulnerabilities may relate to the operation or the security of our products or services, including third party components or services such as hosting. If we do not discover and remedy such defects, errors, vulnerabilities, or other operational or security problems until after a product has been released to customers or partners, we may incur significant costs to correct such problems and/or become liable for substantial damages for product liability claims or other liabilities.

Our solutions, including our cloud offerings, may be vulnerable to cyber-attacks even if they do not contain defects. If there is a successful cyber-attack on one of our products or services, even absent a defect or error, it may also result in questions regarding the integrity of our products or services generally, which could cause adverse publicity and impair their market acceptance and could have a material adverse effect on our results or financial condition.

 

We rely extensively on information technology systems to operate and manage our business and to process, maintain, and safeguard information, including information belonging to our customers, partners, and personnel. This information may be processed and maintained on our internal information technology systems or on systems hosted by third-party service providers. These systems, whether internal or external, may be subject to breaches, failures, or disruptions as a result of, among other things, cyber-attacks, computer viruses, physical security breaches, natural disasters, accidents, power disruptions, telecommunications failures, new system implementations, or acts of terrorism or war. We have experienced cyber-attacks in the past and expect to continue to experience them in the future, potentially with greater frequency.  While we are continually working to maintain secure and reliable systems, our security, redundancy, and business continuity efforts may be ineffective or inadequate. We must continuously improve our design and coordination of security controls across our business groups and geographies. Despite our efforts, it is possible that our security systems, controls, and other procedures that we follow or those employed by our third-party service providers, may not prevent breaches, failures, or disruptions. Such breaches, failures, or disruptions have in the past and could in the future subject us to the loss, compromise, destruction, or disclosure of sensitive or confidential information, including personally identifiable information, or intellectual property, either of our own information or IP or that of our customers (including end customers) or other third parties that may have been in our custody or in the custody of our third-party service providers, financial costs or losses from remedial actions, litigation, regulatory issues, liabilities to customers or other third parties, damage to our reputation, delays in our ability to process orders, delays in our ability to provide products and services to customers, including SaaS or other hosted or managed services offerings, R&D or production downtimes, or delays or errors in financial reporting. Information system breaches or failures at one of our partners, including hosting providers or those who support other cloud-based offerings, may also result in similar adverse consequences. Any of the foregoing could harm our competitive position, result in a loss of customer confidence, and materially and adversely affect our results of operations or financial condition.

 

While much of our intellectual property is protected by patents or patent applications, we have not and cannot protect all of our intellectual property with patents or other registrations. There can be no assurance that patents we have applied for will be issued on the basis of our patent applications or that, if such patents are issued, they will be, or that our existing patents are, sufficiently broad enough to protect our technologies, products, or services. Our intellectual property rights may not be successfully asserted in the future or may be invalidated, designed around, or challenged.

 

In order to safeguard our unpatented proprietary know-how, source code, trade secrets, and technology, we rely primarily upon trade secret protection and non-disclosure provisions in agreements with employees and other third parties having access to our confidential information. There can be no assurance that these measures will adequately protect us from improper disclosure or misappropriation of our proprietary information.

 

Preventing unauthorized use or infringement of our intellectual property rights is difficult even in jurisdictions with well-established legal protections for intellectual property such as the United States. It may be even more difficult to protect our intellectual property in other jurisdictions where legal protections for intellectual property rights are less established.  If we are unable to adequately protect our intellectual property against unauthorized third-party use or infringement, our competitive position could be adversely affected.

 

 

The technology industry is characterized by frequent allegations of intellectual property infringement. In the past, third parties have asserted that certain of our products or other IP have infringed on their intellectual property rights and similar claims may be made in the future. Any allegation of infringement against us could be time consuming and expensive to defend or resolve, result in substantial diversion of management resources, cause product shipment delays, or force us to enter into royalty or license agreements. If patent holders or other holders of intellectual property initiate legal proceedings against us, either with respect to our own intellectual property or intellectual property we license from third parties, we may be forced into protracted

and costly litigation, regardless of the merits of these claims. We may not be successful in defending such litigation, in part due to the complex technical issues and inherent uncertainties in intellectual property litigation, and may not be able to procure any required royalty or license agreements on terms acceptable to us, or at all. Competitors and other companies could adopt trademarks that are similar to ours or try to prevent us from using our trademarks, consequently impeding our ability to build brand identity and possibly leading to customer confusion. Third parties may also assert infringement claims against our customers or partners. Subject to certain limitations, we generally indemnify our customers and partners with respect to infringement by our products on the proprietary rights of third parties, which, in some cases, may not be limited to a specified maximum amount and for which we may not have sufficient insurance coverage or adequate indemnification in the case of intellectual property licensed from a third party. If any of these claims succeed, we may be forced to pay damages, be required to obtain licenses for the products our customers or partners use or sell, or incur significant expenses in developing non-infringing alternatives. If we cannot obtain necessary licenses on commercially reasonable terms, our customers may be forced to stop using or, in the case of resellers and other partners, stop selling our products.

 

 

Some of our products contain free or open source software (together, “open source software”) and we anticipate making use of open source software in the future. Open source software is generally covered by license agreements that permit the user to use, copy, modify, and distribute the software without cost, provided that the users and modifiers abide by certain licensing requirements. The original developers of the open source software generally provide no warranties on such software or protections in the event the open source software infringes a third party’s intellectual property rights. Although we endeavor to monitor the use of open source software in our product development, we cannot assure you that past, present, or future products, including products inherited in acquisitions, will not contain open source software elements that impose unfavorable licensing restrictions or other requirements on our products, including the need to seek licenses from third parties, to re-engineer affected products, to discontinue sales of affected products, or to release all or portions of the source code of affected products.  Any of these developments could materially adversely affect our business.

 

 

 

At March 15, 2020, we had total outstanding indebtedness of approximately $868.3 million under our 2017 Credit Agreement and our 1.50% convertible senior notes due 2021 (the “Notes”). In addition, we have the ability to borrow additional amounts under our 2017 Credit Agreement, including the revolving credit facility, for a variety of purposes, including, among others, acquisitions and stock repurchases. Our leverage position may, among other things:

 

In addition, because our indebtedness under our 2017 Credit Agreement bears interest at a variable rate, we are exposed to risk from fluctuations in interest rates. Interest rates on loans under the 2017 Credit Agreement are periodically reset, at our option, at either a Eurodollar Rate or an ABR rate (each as defined in the 2017 Credit Agreement), plus in each case a margin. The Financial Conduct Authority of the United Kingdom plans to phase out LIBOR by the end of 2021, and we are considering the impact that the planned phase out would have on this facility. The Alternative Reference Rates Committee has proposed the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”) as its recommended alternative to LIBOR. However, it is currently uncertain what, if any, alternative reference interest rates, including SOFR, or other reforms will be enacted in response to the planned phase out, and we cannot assure you that an alternative to LIBOR (on which the Eurodollar Rate is based) that we find acceptable will be available to us.

 

The revolving credit facility under our 2017 Credit Agreement contains a financial covenant that requires us to satisfy a maximum consolidated leverage ratio test. Our ability to comply with the leverage ratio covenant is dependent upon our ability to continue to generate sufficient earnings each quarter, or in the alternative, to reduce expenses and/or reduce the level of our outstanding debt, and we cannot assure that we will be successful in any or all of these regards.

 

Our 2017 Credit Agreement also includes a number of restrictive covenants which limit our ability to, among other things:

These covenants could limit our ability to plan for or react to market conditions, to meet our capital needs, or to otherwise engage in transactions that might be considered beneficial to us.

 

If certain events of default occur under our 2017 Credit Agreement, our lenders could declare all amounts outstanding to be immediately due and payable. An acceleration of indebtedness under our 2017 Credit Agreement may also result in an event of default under the indenture governing the Notes. Additionally, if a change of control as defined in our 2017 Credit Agreement were to occur, the lenders under our credit facilities would have the right to require us to repay all of our outstanding obligations under the facilities.

If a fundamental change as defined in the indenture governing the Notes were to occur, the holders may require us to purchase for cash all or any portion of their Notes at 100% of the principal amount of the Notes, plus accrued and unpaid interest. Additionally, in the event the conditional conversion feature of the Notes is triggered, holders of the Notes will be entitled to convert their Notes during specified periods of time at their option. If one or more holders elect to convert their Notes, we may be required to settle all or a portion of our conversion obligation in cash, which could adversely affect our liquidity.

 

If any of the events described in the foregoing paragraphs were to occur, in order to satisfy our obligations we may be forced to seek an amendment of and/or waiver under our debt agreements, raise additional capital through securities offerings, asset sales, or other transactions, or seek to refinance or restructure our debt. In such a case, there can be no assurance that we will be able to consummate such a transaction on reasonable terms or at all.

 

We consider other financing and refinancing options from time to time, however, we cannot assure you that such options will be available to us on reasonable terms or at all. If one or more rating agencies were to downgrade our credit ratings, that could also impede our ability to refinance our existing debt or secure new debt, increase our future cost of borrowing, and create third-party concerns about our financial condition or results of operations.

On December 22, 2017 the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“2017 Tax Act”) was enacted in the United States. The 2017 Tax Act included significant changes to corporate taxation in the United States including a mandatory one-time tax on accumulated earnings of foreign subsidiaries. As a result, all deferred foreign earnings not previously subject to U.S. income tax have now been taxed and we therefore do not expect to incur any significant additional U.S. taxes related to such amounts. However, certain unremitted earnings may be subject to foreign withholding tax upon repatriation to the United States.

If the cash generated by our domestic operations, plus certain foreign cash which we would repatriate and for which we have accrued the related withholding tax, is not sufficient to fund our domestic operations, our broader corporate initiatives such as acquisitions, and other strategic opportunities, and to service our outstanding indebtedness, we may need to raise additional funds through public or private debt or equity financings, or we may need to obtain new credit facilities to the extent we choose not to repatriate additional overseas cash. Such additional financing may not be available on terms favorable to us, or at all, and any new equity financings or offerings would dilute our current stockholders’ ownership. Furthermore, lenders may not agree to extend us new, additional or continuing credit. If adequate funds are not available, or are not available on acceptable terms, we may be forced to repatriate foreign cash and incur a significant tax cost (in addition to amounts previously accrued) or we may not be able to take advantage of strategic opportunities, develop new products, respond to competitive pressures, repurchase outstanding stock or repay our outstanding indebtedness. In any such case, our business, operating results or financial condition could be adversely impacted.

As a result of the February 2013 acquisition of our former parent company, CTI (the “CTI Merger”), CTI’s liabilities, including contingent liabilities, have been consolidated into our financial statements. If CTI’s liabilities are greater than represented, if the contingent liabilities we have assumed become fixed, or if there are obligations of CTI of which we were not aware at the time of completion of the CTI Merger, we may have exposure for those obligations and our business or financial condition could be materially and adversely affected. Adjustments to the CTI consolidated group’s tax liability for periods prior to the CTI Merger could also affect the net operating losses (“NOLs”) allocated to Verint as a result of the CTI Merger and cause us to incur additional tax liability in future periods. In addition, adjustments to the historical CTI consolidated group’s tax liability for periods prior to Verint’s IPO could affect the NOLs allocated to Verint in the IPO and cause us to incur additional tax liability in future periods.

We are entitled to certain indemnification rights from the successor to CTI’s business operations (Mavenir Inc.) under the agreements entered into in connection with the distribution by CTI to its shareholders of substantially all of its assets other than its interest in us (the “Comverse Share Distribution”) prior to the CTI Merger. However, there is no assurance that Mavenir will be willing and able to provide such indemnification if needed. If we become responsible for liabilities not covered by indemnification or substantially in excess of amounts covered by indemnification, or if Mavenir becomes unwilling or unable to stand behind such protections, our financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

In addition, on December 22, 2017, the 2017 Tax Act was enacted in the United States. The 2017 Tax Act significantly revised the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Internal Revenue Code”), and it includes fundamental changes to taxation of U.S. multinational corporations. Compliance with the 2017 Tax Act requires significant complex computations not previously required by U.S. tax law.

The key provisions of the 2017 Tax Act, which may significantly impact our current and future effective tax rates, include new limitations on the tax deductions for interest expense and executive compensation, elimination of the alternative minimum tax (“AMT”) and the ability to refund unused AMT credits over a four-year period, and new rules related to uses and limitations of

NOL carryforwards. New international provisions add a new category of deemed income from our foreign operations, eliminate U.S. tax on foreign dividends (subject to certain restrictions), and add a minimum tax on certain payments made to foreign related parties.

We prepare our Consolidated Financial Statements in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”). These principles are subject to interpretation by the SEC and other organizations that develop and interpret accounting principles. New accounting principles arise regularly, implementation of which can have a significant effect on and may increase the volatility of our reported operating results and may even retroactively affect previously reported operating results. In addition, the implementation of new accounting principles may require significant changes to our customer and vendor contracts, business processes, accounting systems, and internal controls over financial reporting. The costs and effects of these changes could adversely impact our operating results, and difficulties in implementing new accounting principles could cause us to fail to meet our financial reporting obligations.

 

Our system of internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of consolidated financial statements for external reporting purposes in accordance with GAAP. Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect every misstatement. An evaluation of effectiveness is subject to the risk that the controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, because the degree of compliance with policies or procedures decreases over time, or because of unanticipated circumstances or other factors. As a result, although our management has concluded that our internal controls are effective as of January 31, 2020, we cannot assure you that our internal controls will prevent or detect every misstatement, that material weaknesses or other deficiencies will not occur or be identified in the future, that this or future financial reports will not contain material misstatements or omissions, that future restatements will not be required, or that we will be able to timely comply with our reporting obligations in the future.

 

Because we have historically acquired a significant number of companies, goodwill and other intangible assets have represented a substantial portion of our assets. Goodwill and other intangible assets totaled approximately $1.7 billion, or approximately 55% of our total assets, as of January 31, 2020. We test our goodwill for impairment at least annually, or more frequently if an event occurs indicating the potential for impairment, and we assess on an as-needed basis whether there have been impairments in our other intangible assets. We make assumptions and estimates in this assessment which are complex and often subjective. These assumptions and estimates can be affected by a variety of factors, including external factors such as industry and economic trends, and internal factors such as changes in our business strategy or our internal forecasts. To the extent that the factors described above change, we could be required to record additional non-cash impairment charges in the future, which could negatively affect our financial condition and results of operations.

 

We earn revenue, pay expenses, own assets, and incur liabilities in countries using currencies other than the U.S. dollar, including the Israeli shekel, euro, British pound sterling, Singapore dollar, Brazilian real, and Australia dollar, among others. Because our consolidated financial statements are presented in U.S. dollars, we must translate revenue, expenses, assets, and liabilities of entities using non-U.S. dollar functional currencies into U.S. dollars using currency exchange rates in effect during or at the end of each reporting period, meaning that we are exposed to the impact of changes in currency exchange rates. In addition, our net income is impacted by the revaluation and settlement of monetary assets and liabilities denominated in currencies other than an entity’s functional currency, gains or losses on which are recorded within other income (expense), net. We attempt to mitigate a portion of these risks through foreign currency hedging, based on our judgment of the appropriate trade-offs among risk, opportunity and expense. However, our hedging activities are limited in scope and duration and may not be effective at reducing the U.S. dollar cost of our global operations.

The prices of our common stock and the Notes have been, and may continue to be, volatile. Those prices could be affected by any of the risk factors discussed in this Item. In addition, other factors that could impact the prices of our common stock and/or the Notes include:

A significant drop in the price of our common stock or the Notes could also expose us to the risk of securities class action lawsuits, which could result in substantial costs and divert management’s attention and resources, which could adversely affect our business.

From time to time, activist investors may take a position in our stock. These activist investors may disagree with decisions we have made or may believe that alternative strategies or personnel, either at a management level or at a board level, would produce higher returns. Such activists may or may not be aligned with the views of our other stockholders, may be focused on short-term outcomes, or may be focused on building their reputation in the market. These activists may not have a full understanding of our business and markets and the alternative personnel they may propose may also not have the qualifications or experience necessary to lead the company.

Responding to advances or actions by activist investors may be costly and time-consuming, may disrupt our operations, and may divert the attention of our Board of Directors, management team, and employees from running our business and maximizing performance. Such activist activities could also interfere with our ability to execute our strategic plan, disrupt the functioning of our Board of Directors, or negatively impact our ability to attract and retain qualified executive leadership or board members, who may be unwilling to serve with activist personnel. Uncertainty as to the impact of activist activities may also affect the market price and volatility of our common stock.

On December 4, 2019, we announced plans to separate into two independent publicly traded companies by means of a proposed Spin-Off of our Cyber Intelligence Solutions business. In the Spin-Off, we will distribute shares of a company holding our Cyber Intelligence Solutions business to our stockholders.

The Spin-Off, which is currently expected to be completed shortly after the end of our fiscal year ending January 31, 2021, is subject to certain conditions, including final approval by our Board of Directors, as well as other conditions such as completion of all necessary filings under the U.S. securities laws; receipt by our Board of Directors of one or more opinions from an independent valuation firm confirming the solvency and financial viability of each of our Cyber Intelligence Solutions business and Customer Engagement Solutions business immediately after the completion of the distribution in a form acceptable to us;

receipt of an opinion regarding the qualification of the distribution as a transaction that is generally tax-free for U.S. federal income tax purposes under Section 355 of the Internal Revenue Code to our stockholders; the absence of any legal impediments prohibiting the distribution; and the satisfaction or waiver of certain conditions. The failure to satisfy all of the required conditions could delay the completion of the Spin-Off for a significant period of time or prevent it from occurring at all.

Unanticipated developments, including changes in the competitive conditions of our markets, possible delays in obtaining various tax opinions or rulings, negotiating challenges, the uncertainty of the financial markets, changes in the law, and challenges in executing the separation of the two businesses, could delay or prevent the completion of the Spin-Off, or cause the Spin-Off to occur on terms or conditions that are different or less favorable than expected. Any changes to the Spin-Off or delay in completing the Spin-Off could cause us not to realize some or all of the expected benefits, or realize them on a different timeline than expected. Further, our Board of Directors could decide, either because of a failure of conditions or because of market or other factors, to abandon the Spin-Off. No assurance can be given as to whether and when the Spin-Off will occur.

Executing the Spin-Off will require significant time and attention from our senior management and employees, which could adversely affect our business, financial results, and results of operations, as a result of distraction due to the project or insufficient bandwidth or resources. We may also experience increased difficulties in attracting, retaining, and motivating employees during the pendency of the Spin-Off and following its completion, which could harm our business.

We have incurred expenses in connection with the Spin-Off, and expect that the process of completing the Spin-Off will be time-consuming and involve significant additional costs and expenses, which may not yield a discernible benefit if the Spin-Off is not completed. In addition, if the Spin-Off is not completed, we will still be required to pay certain costs and expenses incurred in connection therewith, such as legal, accounting, and other professional fees.

Any of the above factors could cause the Spin-Off (or the failure to execute the Spin-Off) to have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations and the price of our common stock.

We may not realize the anticipated strategic, financial, operational, or other benefits from the Spin-Off. We cannot predict with certainty when the benefits expected from the Spin-Off will occur or the extent to which they will be achieved. If the Spin-Off is completed, our operational and financial profile will change and we will face new risks. As independent, publicly traded companies, our Cyber Intelligence Solutions business and Customer Engagement Solutions business will each be smaller, less-diversified companies and may be more vulnerable to changing market conditions. There is no assurance that following the Spin-Off each separate company will be successful. The announcement and/or completion of the Spin-Off may cause uncertainty for or disruptions with our customers, partners, suppliers, and employees, which may negatively impact these relationships or our operations.

The announcement and/or completion of the Spin-Off may cause some investors to sell shares of the Company or of one or both of the resulting companies creating greater volatility in the trading of the shares of such companies and potentially causing their market prices to decline. We expect the trading price of our common stock immediately following the ex-dividend date for the Spin-Off to be significantly lower than immediately preceding the ex-dividend date, as the trading price of our common stock will no longer reflect the value of our Cyber Intelligence Solutions business. Further, there can be no assurance that the combined value of the shares of the two resulting companies will be equal to or greater than what the value of our common stock would have been had the proposed Spin-Off not occurred.

Apax will own approximately 5% of our common stock assuming completion of the Series A convertible preferred stock investment and between 11.5% and 15% of our common stock assuming the completion of the Series B convertible preferred stock investment, in each case on an as-converted basis. Additionally, we have agreed to increase the size of our board of directors, giving Apax the right to designate one director at the closing of the Series A convertible preferred stock investment and the right to mutually select with us a second independent director following the closing of the Series B convertible preferred stock investment. Circumstances may occur in which the interests of Apax could conflict with the interests of our other stockholders. For example, the existence of Apax as a significant stockholder and Apax’s board appointment rights may have the effect of limiting the ability of our other stockholders to approve transactions that they may deem to be in the best interests of the Company.

The investment agreement relating to the Apax investment (the “Investment Agreement”) contains a number of closing conditions and, if these conditions are not satisfied or waived (to the extent permitted by law), all or a portion of the Apax investment may not be completed. The conditions, in respect of the purchase of $200 million of our Series A convertible preferred stock, include no temporary or permanent judgment of a governmental authority restraining, enjoining or prohibiting the investment having been issued, required government authorizations having been obtained (or applicable waiting periods having expired), the representations and warranties of the parties in the Investment Agreement being true and correct (in some instances, in all material respects) and no “Material Adverse Effect” (as defined in the Investment Agreement) having occurred. The conditions, in respect of the purchase of up to $200 million of our Series B convertible preferred stock, include each of the conditions in respect of the Series A convertible preferred stock as well as receipt by our Board of Directors of an opinion regarding the qualification of the Spin-Off distribution as a transaction that is generally tax-free for U.S. federal income tax purposes under Section 355 of the Internal Revenue Code, the Spin-Off having been consummated and the respective enterprise values of the Customer Engagement Solutions and Cyber Intelligence Solutions businesses being within a collar specified in the Investment Agreement. The conditions to either of the purchases may not be satisfied and, accordingly, all or a portion of the Apax investment may not be completed. If that were to occur, we may not realize the anticipated benefits of the Apax investment.

We believe that our leased and owned facilities are in good operating condition and are adequate for our current requirements, although changes in our business may require us to acquire additional facilities or modify existing facilities. We believe that alternative locations are available on commercially reasonable terms in all areas where we currently do business.

As a result of this ruling (which excluded claims related to Verint stock options from the case), one of the original plaintiffs in the case, Ms. Deutsch, was replaced by a new representative plaintiff, Mr. David Vaaknin. CTI appealed portions of the District Court’s ruling to the Israeli Supreme Court. On August 8, 2017, the Israeli Supreme Court partially allowed CTI’s appeal and ordered the case to be returned to the District Court to determine whether a cause of action exists under New York law based on the parties’ expert opinions.

Following a second unsuccessful round of mediation in mid to late 2018, the proceedings resumed. The plaintiffs have filed a motion to amend the class certification motion and CTI has filed a corresponding motion to dismiss and a response. These motions are now before the court following a third unsuccessful round of mediation in mid-2019.

From time to time we or our subsidiaries may be involved in legal proceedings and/or litigation arising in the ordinary course of our business. While the outcome of these matters cannot be predicted with certainty, we do not believe that the outcome of any current claims will have a material effect on our consolidated financial position, results of operations, or cash flows.

Our common stock trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “VRNT”.

We have not declared or paid any cash dividends on our equity securities and have no current plans to pay any dividends on our equity securities, except as may be required by the terms of any preferred equity securities we may issue. We intend to retain our earnings to finance the development of our business, repay debt, and for other corporate purposes. Any future determination as to the payment of dividends on our common stock will be made by our board of directors at its discretion, subject to the limitations contained in our 2017 Credit Agreement and the terms of any preferred equity securities we may issue, and will depend upon our earnings, financial condition, capital requirements, and other relevant factors.

For equity compensation plan information, please refer to Item 12 in Part III of this Annual Report.

The following table compares the cumulative total stockholder return on our common stock with the cumulative total return on the NASDAQ Composite Index and the NASDAQ Computer & Data Processing Services Index, assuming an investment of $100 on January 31, 2015 through January 31, 2020, and the reinvestment of any dividends. The comparisons in the graph below are based upon the closing sale prices on NASDAQ for our common stock from January 31, 2015 through January 31, 2020. This data is not indicative of, nor intended to forecast, future performance of our common stock.

None.

On December 4, 2019, we announced that our board of directors had authorized a new share repurchase program whereby we may repurchase up to $300 million of common stock over the period ending on February 1, 2021.

Share repurchase activity under this program during the three months ended January 31, 2020 was as follows:

From time to time, we have purchased treasury stock from directors, officers, and other employees to facilitate income tax withholding and payment requirements upon vesting of equity awards during Company-imposed trading blackout or lockup periods. There was no such activity during the three months ended January 31, 2020.

The following selected consolidated financial data has been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements. The data below should be read in conjunction with “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” under Item 7 and our consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included under Item 8 of this report.

Our historical results should not be viewed as indicative of results expected for any future period.

During the five-year period ended January 31, 2020, we acquired a number of businesses, the operating results of which have been included in our consolidated financial statements since their respective acquisition dates. Further details regarding our business combinations for the three years ended January 31, 2020 appear in Note 5, “Business Combinations and Divestitures” to our consolidated financial statements included under Item 8 of this report.

In addition to business combinations, our consolidated operating results and consolidated financial condition during the five-year period ended January 31, 2020 included the following other notable transactions and items:

The following management’s discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with “Business” under Item 1, “Selected Financial Data” under Item 6, and our consolidated financial statements and the related notes thereto included under Item 8 of this report. This discussion contains a number of forward-looking statements, all of which are based on our current expectations and all of which could be affected by uncertainties and risks. Our actual results may differ materially from the results contemplated in these forward-looking statements as a result of many factors including, but not limited to, those described in “Risk Factors” under Item 1A of this report.

We expect to incur significant costs in connection with the planned separation of our Cyber Intelligence Solutions business. The costs include developing stand-alone Cyber Intelligence Solutions information systems and related IT costs, third-party advisory, consulting, legal and professional services, as well as other items that are incremental and one-time in nature that are related to the planned Spin-Off. We capitalized $4.0 million of these costs and expensed $5.3 million for the year ended January 31, 2020. The expense portion is reflected in selling, general and administrative expenses.

During the fourth quarter ended January 31, 2020, concerns related to the spread of COVID-19 began to create global business disruptions as well as disruptions in our operations and to create potential negative impacts on our revenues and other financial results. COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020. The extent to which COVID-19 will impact our financial condition or results of operations is currently uncertain and depends on factors including the impact on our customers, partners, and vendors and on the operation of the global markets in general. Because an increasing portion of our business is based on a subscription model, the effect of COVID-19 on our results of operations may also not be fully reflected for some time.

We are currently conducting business with substantial modifications to employee travel, employee work locations, virtualization or cancellation of customer and employee events, and remote sales, implementation, and support activities, among other modifications. These decisions may delay or reduce sales and harm productivity and collaboration. We have observed other companies and governments making similar alteration to their normal business operations, including restrictions imposed by our customers on our ability to access their sites for implementations and support, and in general, the markets are experiencing a significant level of uncertainty at the current time. The pandemic could have an adverse impact on demand for our customers’ products and services, which in turn, could negatively impact the willingness of our customers to enter into or renew contracts with us. The pandemic has impacted our ability to complete certain implementations, negatively impacting our ability to recognize revenue, and could also negatively impact the payment of accounts receivable and collections. We may take further actions that alter our business operations as the situation evolves. As a result, the ultimate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the effects of the operational alterations we have made in response on our business, financial condition, liquidity, and financial results cannot be predicted at this time.

Verint is a global leader in Actionable Intelligence solutions. In a world of massive information growth, our solutions empower organizations with crucial, actionable insights and enable decision makers to anticipate, respond, and take action. Today, over 10,000 organizations in more than 180 countries, including over 85 percent of the Fortune 100, use Verint’s Actionable Intelligence solutions, deployed in the cloud and on premises, to make more informed, timely, and effective decisions.

Our Actionable Intelligence leadership is powered by innovative, enterprise-class software built with artificial intelligence, analytics, automation, and deep domain expertise established by working closely with some of the most sophisticated and forward-thinking organizations in the world. We believe we have one of the industry’s strongest R&D teams focused on actionable intelligence consisting of approximately one-third of our approximately 6,500 professionals. Our innovative solutions are backed-up by a strong IP portfolio with over 1,000 patents and patent applications worldwide across areas including data capture, artificial intelligence, machine learning, unstructured data analytics, predictive analytics, and automation.

Verint’s Actionable Intelligence strategy is focused on two use cases and the Company has two operating segments: Customer Engagement and Cyber Intelligence. For each of the years ended January 31, 2020, 2019, and 2018, our Customer Engagement segment represented approximately 65% of our total revenue, while for each of those same years, our Cyber Intelligence segment represented approximately 35% of our total revenue. Generally, we make business decisions by evaluating the risks and rewards of the opportunities available to us in the markets served by each of our segments. We view each operating segment differently and allocate capital, personnel, resources, and management attention accordingly. In reviewing each operating segment, we also review the performance of that segment by geography. Our marketing and sales strategies, expansion opportunities, and product offerings may differ materially within a particular segment geographically, as may our allocation of resources between segments. When making decisions regarding investments in our business, capital expenditures, or other decisions that may affect our profitability, we also consider the leverage ratio in our revolving credit facility. See “-Liquidity and Capital Resources” for more information.

We see the following business trends and factors which may impact our performance:

See Item 1, “Business”, of this report for more information on key trends that we believe are driving demand for our solutions and “Risk Factors” under Item 1A of this report for a more complete description of risks that may impact future revenue and profitability. As discussed above, the current COVID-19 pandemic is also a material factor that may negatively impact us and demand for our solutions.

An appreciation of our critical accounting policies is necessary to understand our financial results. The accounting policies outlined below are considered to be critical because they can materially affect our operating results and financial condition, as these policies may require us to make difficult and subjective judgments regarding uncertainties. The accuracy of these estimates and the likelihood of future changes depend on a range of possible outcomes and a number of underlying variables, many of which are beyond our control, and there can be no assurance that our estimates are accurate.

We derive and report our revenue in two categories: (a) product revenue, including licensing of software products and sale of hardware products (which include software that works together with the hardware to deliver the product’s essential functionality), and (b) service and support revenue, including revenue from installation services, initial and renewal support, project management, hosting services, bundled SaaS, optional managed services, product warranties, business advisory consulting and training services. We recognize revenue when control of the promised goods or services is transferred to our customers, in an amount that reflects the consideration that we expect to receive in exchange for those goods or services. We generate all of our revenue from contracts with customers.

Our contracts with customers often include promises to transfer multiple products and services to a customer. In contracts with multiple performance obligations, we identify each performance obligation and evaluate whether the performance obligations are distinct within the context of the contract at contract inception. Performance obligations that are not distinct at contract inception are combined. Contracts that include software customization may result in the combination of the customization services with the software license as one distinct performance obligation. The transaction price is generally in the form of a fixed fee at contract inception, and excludes taxes assessed by a governmental authority that are both imposed on and concurrent with a specific revenue-producing transaction, that are collected by us from a customer.

We allocate the transaction price to each distinct performance obligation based on the estimated standalone selling price (“SSP”) for each performance obligation. Judgment is required to determine the SSP for each distinct performance obligation. In instances where SSP is not directly observable, such as when we do not sell the product or service separately, we estimate the SSP of each performance obligation based on either a cost-plus-margin approach or an adjusted market assessment approach. We may have more than one SSP for individual products and services due to the stratification of those products and services by customers and circumstances. In these instances, we may use information such as the size of the customer and geographic region in determining the SSP.

We then look to how control transfers to the customer in order to determine the timing of revenue recognition. Software license revenue is typically recognized when the software is delivered and/or made available for download as this is the point the user of the software can direct the use of, and obtain substantially all of the remaining benefits from the functional intellectual property. We do not recognize software revenue related to the renewal of software licenses earlier than the beginning of the renewal period. In contracts that include customer acceptance, we recognize revenue when we have delivered the software and received customer acceptance. We recognize support revenue, which includes software updates on a when-and-if-available basis, telephone support, and bug fixes or patches, over the term of the customer support agreement, which is typically one year. Revenue related to professional services and customer education services is typically recognized as the services are performed.

Some of our customer contracts require significant customization of the software to meet the particular requirements specified by each customer. The contract pricing is stated as a fixed amount and generally results in the transfer of control of the applicable performance obligation over time. We recognize revenue based on the proportion of labor hours expended to the total hours expected to complete the performance obligation. The determination of the total labor hours expected to complete the performance obligation on fixed fee contracts involves significant judgment. We incorporate revisions to hour and cost estimates when the causal facts become known. We measure our estimate of completion on fixed-price contracts, which in turn

determines the amount of revenue we recognize, based primarily on actual hours incurred to date and our estimate of remaining hours necessary to complete the contract.

Our products are generally not sold with a right of return and credits and incentives granted have been minimal in both amount and frequency. Shipping and handling activities that are billed to customers and occur after control over a product has transferred to a customer are accounted for as fulfillment costs and are included in cost of revenue. Historically, these expenses have not been material.

We allocate the purchase price of acquired companies to the tangible and intangible assets acquired, including in-process research and development assets, and liabilities assumed, based upon their estimated fair values at the acquisition date. These fair values are typically estimated with assistance from independent valuation specialists. The purchase price allocation process requires us to make significant estimates and assumptions, especially at the acquisition date with respect to intangible assets, contractual support obligations assumed, contingent consideration arrangements, and pre-acquisition contingencies.

Although we believe the assumptions and estimates we have made in the past have been reasonable and appropriate, they are based in part on historical experience and information obtained from the management of the acquired companies and are inherently uncertain.

Examples of critical estimates in valuing certain of the intangible assets we have acquired or may acquire in the future include but are not limited to:

In connection with the purchase price allocations for applicable acquisitions, we estimate the fair value of the contractual support obligations we are assuming from the acquired business. The estimated fair value of the support obligations is determined utilizing a cost build-up approach, which determines fair value by estimating the costs related to fulfilling the obligations plus a reasonable profit margin. The estimated costs to fulfill the support obligations are based on the historical direct costs related to providing the support services. The sum of these costs and operating profit represents an approximation of the amount that we would be required to pay a third party to assume the support obligations.

We test goodwill for impairment at the reporting unit level, which can be an operating segment or one level below an operating segment, on an annual basis as of November 1, or more frequently if changes in facts and circumstances indicate that impairment in the value of goodwill may exist. As of January 31, 2020, our reporting units are Customer Engagement, Cyber Intelligence (excluding situational intelligence solutions), and Situational Intelligence, which is a component of our Cyber Intelligence operating segment.

For reporting units where we decide to perform a qualitative assessment, we assess and make judgments regarding a variety of factors which potentially impact the fair value of a reporting unit, including general economic conditions, industry and market-

specific conditions, customer behavior, cost factors, our financial performance and trends, our strategies and business plans, capital requirements, management and personnel issues, and our stock price, among others. We then consider the totality of these and other factors, placing more weight on the events and circumstances that are judged to most affect a reporting unit’s fair value or the carrying amount of its net assets, to reach a qualitative conclusion regarding whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit exceeds its carrying amount.

For reporting units where we perform quantitative impairment testing, we utilize one or more of three primary approaches to assess fair value: (a) an income-based approach, using projected discounted cash flows, (b) a market-based approach, using valuation multiples of comparable companies, and (c) a transaction-based approach, using valuation multiples for recent acquisitions of similar businesses made in the marketplace.

Our estimate of fair value of each reporting unit is based on a number of subjective factors, including: (a) appropriate consideration of valuation approaches (income approach, comparable public company approach, and comparable transaction approach), (b) estimates of future growth rates, (c) estimates of our future cost structure, (d) discount rates for our estimated cash flows, (e) selection of peer group companies for the comparable public company and the comparable transaction approaches, (f) required levels of working capital, (g) assumed terminal value, and (h) time horizon of cash flow forecasts.

The determination of reporting units also requires judgment. We assess whether a reporting unit exists within a reportable segment by identifying the unit, determining whether the unit qualifies as a business under GAAP, and assessing the availability and regular review by segment management of discrete financial information for the unit.

We review intangible assets that have finite useful lives and other long-lived assets when an event occurs indicating the potential for impairment. If any indicators are present, we perform a recoverability test by comparing the sum of the estimated undiscounted future cash flows attributable to the assets in question to their carrying amounts. If the undiscounted cash flows used in the test for recoverability are less than the long-lived assets carrying amount, we determine the fair value of the long-lived asset and recognize an impairment loss if the carrying amount of the long-lived asset exceeds its fair value. The impairment loss recognized is the amount by which the carrying amount of the long-lived asset exceeds its fair value.

For all of our goodwill and other intangible asset impairment reviews, the assumptions and estimates used in the process are complex and often subjective. They can be affected by a variety of factors, including external factors such as industry and economic trends, and internal factors such as changes in our business strategy or our internal forecasts. Although we believe the assumptions, judgments, and estimates we have used in our assessments are reasonable and appropriate, a material change in any of our assumptions or external factors could lead to future goodwill or other intangible asset impairment charges.

Based upon our November 1, 2019 quantitative goodwill impairment review of each reporting unit, we concluded that the estimated fair values of our Customer Engagement, Cyber Intelligence, and Situational Intelligence reporting units significantly exceeded their carrying values. Our Customer Engagement, Cyber Intelligence, and Situational Intelligence reporting units carried goodwill of $1.3 billion, $136.0 million, and $22.2 million, respectively, at January 31, 2020.

We account for income taxes under the asset and liability method, which includes the recognition of deferred tax assets and liabilities for the expected future tax consequences of events that have been included in our consolidated financial statements. Under this approach, deferred taxes are recorded for the future tax consequences expected to occur when the reported amounts of assets and liabilities are recovered or paid. The provision for income taxes represents income taxes paid or payable for the current year plus deferred taxes. Deferred taxes result from differences between the financial statement and tax bases of our assets and liabilities, and are adjusted for changes in tax rates and tax laws when changes are enacted. The effects of future changes in income tax laws or rates are not anticipated.

We are subject to income taxes in the United States and numerous foreign jurisdictions. The calculation of our income tax provision involves the application of complex tax laws and requires significant judgment and estimates. On December 22, 2017, the 2017 Tax Act was enacted in the United States. The 2017 Tax Act significantly revised the Internal Revenue Code and it included fundamental changes to taxation of U.S. multinational corporations. Compliance with the 2017 Tax Act requires significant complex computations not previously required by U.S. tax law.

We evaluate the realizability of our deferred tax assets for each jurisdiction in which we operate at each reporting date, and we establish a valuation allowance when it is more likely than not that all or a portion of our deferred tax assets will not be realized. The ultimate realization of deferred tax assets is dependent upon the generation of future taxable income of the same character and in the same jurisdiction. We consider all available positive and negative evidence in making this assessment,

including, but not limited to, the scheduled reversal of deferred tax liabilities, projected future taxable income, and tax planning strategies. In circumstances where there is sufficient negative evidence indicating that our deferred tax assets are not more likely than not realizable, we establish a valuation allowance.

We use a two-step approach to recognizing and measuring uncertain tax positions. The first step is to evaluate tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return by assessing whether they are more likely than not sustainable, based solely on their technical merits, upon examination, and including resolution of any related appeals or litigation process. The second step is to measure the associated tax benefit of each position as the largest amount that we believe is more likely than not realizable. Differences between the amount of tax benefits taken or expected to be taken in our income tax returns and the amount of tax benefits recognized in our financial statements represent our unrecognized income tax benefits, which we either record as a liability or as a reduction of deferred tax assets. Our policy is to include interest (expense and/or income) and penalties related to unrecognized income tax benefits as a component of the provision for income taxes.

We recognize the cost of employee services received in exchange for awards of equity instruments based on the grant-date fair value of the award.

During the three-year period ended January 31, 2020, restricted stock units were our predominant stock-based payment award. The fair value of these awards is equivalent to the market value of our common stock on the grant date.

We periodically award restricted stock units to executive officers and certain employees that vest upon the achievement of specified performance goals or market conditions. The recognition of the compensation costs of the performance-based awards with performance goals requires an assessment of the probability that the specified performance criteria will be achieved. At each reporting date, we update our assessment of the probability that the specified performance criteria will be achieved and adjust our estimate of the fair value of the award, if necessary. For the performance-based awards with market conditions, the condition is incorporated into the grant date fair value valuation of the award and compensation costs are recognized even if the market condition is not satisfied.

Changes in assumptions can materially affect the estimate of fair value of stock-based compensation and, consequently, the related expense recognized. The assumptions we use in calculating the fair value of stock-based payment awards represent our best estimates, which involve inherent uncertainties and the application of judgment. As a result, if factors change and we use different assumptions, our stock-based compensation expense could be materially different in the future.

We derive and report our revenue in two categories: (a) product revenue, including licensing of software products, unbundled SaaS, and sale of hardware products (which include software that works together with the hardware to deliver the product’s essential functionality), and (b) service and support revenue, including revenue from installation services, initial and renewal support, project management, hosting services, cloud deployments, bundled SaaS, optional managed services, product warranties, and business advisory consulting and training services. 

We exclude certain costs of both product revenue and service and support revenue, including shared support costs, stock-based compensation, and asset impairment charges, among others, when calculating our operating segment gross margins.

For the year ended January 31, 2019, our effective income tax rate was lower than the U.S. federal statutory income tax rate of 21.0% due to net reduction in valuation allowances of $24.1 million, the mix and levels of income and losses among taxing jurisdictions, and changes in unrecognized income tax benefits. The net reduction in valuation allowances primarily related to reductions in U.S. valuation allowances as a result of deferred tax liabilities recorded in connection with business combinations, and the utilization of significant NOLs, which reduced our deferred tax assets. As a result, we ended the year in a net federal deferred tax liability position in the U.S. The deferred income tax liabilities recorded in connection with business combinations were primarily attributable to acquired intangible assets to the extent the amortization will not be deductible for

income tax purposes. Under accounting guidelines, because the amortization of the intangible assets in future periods provides a source of taxable income, we expect to realize a portion of our existing deferred income tax assets. As such, we reduced the valuation allowance recorded on our deferred income tax assets to the extent of the deferred income tax liabilities recorded. Because the valuation allowance related to existing Verint deferred income tax assets, the impact of the release was reflected as a discrete income tax benefit and not as a component of the business combination accounting.

In accordance with the provisions of SAB No. 118, as of January 31, 2018 we considered amounts related to the 2017 Tax Act to be reasonably estimated. During the year ended January 31, 2019, we refined and completed the accounting for the 2017 Tax Act as we obtained, prepared, and analyzed additional information and as additional legislative, regulatory, and accounting guidance and interpretations became available, resulting in no adjustment under SAB No. 118.

We have historically expanded our business in part by investing in strategic growth initiatives, including acquisitions of products, technologies, and businesses. We may finance such acquisitions using cash, debt, stock, or a combination of the foregoing, however, we have used cash as consideration for substantially all of our historical business acquisitions, including

approximately $74 million and $90 million of net cash expended for business acquisitions during the years ended January 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively.

We continually examine our options with respect to terms and sources of existing and future short-term and long-term capital resources to enhance our operating results and to ensure that we retain financial flexibility, and may from time to time elect to raise capital through the issuance of additional equity or the incurrence of additional debt.

A considerable portion of our operating income is earned outside the United States. Cash, cash equivalents, short-term investments, and restricted cash, cash equivalents, and bank time deposits (excluding any long-term portions) held by our subsidiaries outside of the United States were $426.6 million and $399.4 million as of January 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively, and are generally used to fund the subsidiaries’ operating requirements and to invest in growth initiatives, including business acquisitions. These subsidiaries also held long-term restricted cash and cash equivalents, and restricted bank time deposits of $26.3 million and $23.1 million at January 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively.

We currently intend to continue to indefinitely reinvest a portion of the earnings of our foreign subsidiaries, which, as a result of the 2017 Tax Act, may now be repatriated without incurring additional U.S. federal income taxes. 

Should other circumstances arise whereby we require more capital in the United States than is generated by our domestic operations, or should we otherwise consider it in our best interests, we could repatriate future earnings from foreign jurisdictions, which could result in higher effective tax rates. As noted above, we currently intend to indefinitely reinvest a portion of the earnings of our foreign subsidiaries to finance foreign activities. Except to the extent of the U.S. tax provided on earnings of our foreign subsidiaries as of January 31, 2020, and withholding taxes of $15.0 million accrued as of January 31, 2020, with respect to certain identified cash that may be repatriated to the U.S., we have not provided tax on the outside basis difference of foreign subsidiaries nor have we provided for any additional withholding or other tax that may be applicable should a future distribution be made from any unremitted earnings of foreign subsidiaries. Due to complexities in the laws of the foreign jurisdictions and the assumptions that would have to be made, it is not practicable to estimate the total amount of income and withholding taxes that would have to be provided on such earnings.

As noted above, after cash utilization required for working capital, capital expenditures, required debt service, and in connection with the Apax investment described above, dividends on the convertible preferred stock, we expect that our primary usage of cash will be for business combinations and the completion of our current stock repurchase program (including the repayment of any borrowings under our revolving credit facility used to fund the stock repurchase program). We will consider using any excess cash for additional share repurchases (subject to the terms of our 2017 Credit Agreement and convertible preferred stock to be issued in connection with the Apax investment) or to repay outstanding indebtedness.

Our cash flow from operating activities can fluctuate from period to period due to several factors, including the timing of our billings and collections, the timing and amounts of interest, income tax and other payments, and our operating results.

For the year ended January 31, 2020, our financing activities used $111.3 million of net cash, the most significant portions of which were $113.7 million of payments to repurchase treasury stock, $24.5 million for the financing portion of payments under contingent consideration arrangements related to prior business combinations, payments of $6.0 million related to deferred purchase price of a prior period business combination, $6.5 million for repayments of borrowings and other financing obligations, and $5.5 million of distributions and dividends to the noncontrolling shareholders of two of our subsidiaries. The     cash used by these financing activities was partially offset by $45.0 million of proceeds from borrowings under our revolving credit facility used to fund our stock repurchase program.

For the year ended January 31, 2019, our financing activities used $21.9 million of net cash, the most significant portions of which were $10.7 million for the financing portion of payments under contingent consideration arrangements related to prior business combinations, $6.0 million for repayments of borrowings and other financing obligations, dividend payments of $4.4

million to the noncontrolling interest holders in our joint venture, which serves as a systems integrator for certain Asian markets, and $0.2 million paid for costs related to the 2017 Credit Agreement.

Based on past performance and current expectations, we believe that our cash, cash equivalents, short-term investments and cash generated from operations will be sufficient to meet anticipated operating costs, required payments of principal and interest, in connection with the Apax investment described above, dividends on the convertible preferred stock, working capital needs, ordinary course capital expenditures, research and development spending, and other commitments for at least the next 12 months. Currently, we have no plans to pay any cash dividends on our common stock, which are subject to certain restrictions under our 2017 Credit Agreement.

Our liquidity could be negatively impacted by a decrease in demand for our products and service and support, including the impact of changes in customer buying behavior due to circumstances over which we have no control. If we determine to make additional business acquisitions or otherwise require additional funds, we may need to raise additional capital, which could involve the issuance of additional equity or debt securities or increase our borrowings under our credit facility.

On March 29, 2016, we announced that our board of directors had authorized a common stock repurchase program of up to $150 million over two years following the date of announcement. This program expired on March 29, 2018. We made a total of $46.9 million in repurchases and we did not acquire any shares of treasury stock during the year ended January 31, 2019 under the program.

On June 18, 2014, we issued $400.0 million in aggregate principal amount of 1.50% convertible senior notes due June 1, 2021 (“Notes”), unless earlier converted by the holders pursuant to their terms. Net proceeds from the Notes after underwriting discounts were $391.9 million. The Notes pay interest in cash semiannually in arrears at a rate of 1.50% per annum.

The Notes were issued concurrently with our public issuance of 5,750,000 shares of common stock, the majority of the combined net proceeds of which were used to partially repay certain indebtedness under a prior credit agreement.

The Notes are unsecured and rank senior in right of payment to our indebtedness that is expressly subordinated in right of payment to the Notes; equal in right of payment to our indebtedness that is not so subordinated; effectively subordinated in right of payment to any of our secured indebtedness to the extent of the value of the assets securing such indebtedness; and structurally subordinated to indebtedness and other liabilities of our subsidiaries.

The Notes are convertible into, at our election, cash, shares of common stock, or a combination of both, subject to satisfaction of specified conditions and during specified periods, as described below. If converted, we currently intend to pay cash in respect of the principal amount of the Notes. We currently expect to refinance the Notes at or prior to maturity with new convertible notes or other debt.

The Notes have a conversion rate of 15.5129 shares of common stock per $1,000 principal amount of Notes, which represents an effective conversion price of approximately $64.46 per share of common stock and would result in the issuance of approximately 6,205,000 shares if all of the Notes were converted. The conversion rate has not changed since issuance of the Notes, although throughout the term of the Notes, the conversion rate may be adjusted upon the occurrence of certain events.

Holders may surrender their Notes for conversion at any time prior to the close of business on the business day immediately preceding December 1, 2020, only under the following circumstances:

On or after December 1, 2020 until the close of business on the second scheduled trading day immediately preceding the maturity date, holders may surrender their Notes for conversion regardless of whether any of the foregoing conditions have been satisfied. Holders of the Notes may require us to purchase for cash all or any portion of their Notes upon the occurrence of a “fundamental change” at a price equal to 100% of the principal amount of the Notes being purchased, plus accrued and unpaid interest.

As of January 31, 2020, the Notes were not convertible.

Concurrently with the issuance of the Notes, we entered into convertible note hedge transactions (the “Note Hedges”) and sold warrants (the “Warrants”). The combination of the Note Hedges and the Warrants serves to increase the effective initial conversion price for the Notes to $75.00 per share. The Note Hedges and Warrants are each separate instruments from the Notes.

Pursuant to the Note Hedges, we purchased call options on our common stock, under which we have the right to acquire from the counterparties up to approximately 6,205,000 shares of our common stock, subject to customary anti-dilution adjustments, at a price of $64.46, which equals the initial conversion price of the Notes. Our exercise rights under the Note Hedges generally trigger upon conversion of the Notes and the Note Hedges terminate upon maturity of the Notes, or the first day the Notes are no longer outstanding. The Note Hedges may be settled in cash, shares of our common stock, or a combination thereof, at our option, and are intended to reduce our exposure to potential dilution upon conversion of the Notes. We paid $60.8 million for the Note Hedges, which was recorded as a reduction to additional paid-in capital. As of January 31, 2020, we had not purchased any shares of our common stock under the Note Hedges.

We sold the Warrants to several counterparties. The Warrants provide the counterparties rights to acquire from us up to approximately 6,205,000 shares of our common stock at a price of $75.00 per share. The Warrants expire incrementally on a series of expiration dates beginning in August 2021. At expiration, if the market price per share of our common stock exceeds the strike price of the Warrants, we will be obligated to issue shares of our common stock having a value equal to such excess. The Warrants could have a dilutive effect on net income per share to the extent that the market value of our common stock exceeds the strike price of the Warrants. Proceeds from the sale of the Warrants were $45.2 million and were recorded as additional paid-in capital. As of January 31, 2020, no Warrants had been exercised and all Warrants remained outstanding.

The maturity dates of the 2017 Term Loan and 2017 Revolving Credit Facility will be accelerated to March 1, 2021, if on such date any Notes remain outstanding.

The 2017 Term Loan was subject to an original issuance discount of approximately $0.5 million. This discount is being amortized as interest expense over the term of the 2017 Term Loan using the effective interest method.

The 2017 Credit Agreement contains certain customary affirmative and negative covenants for credit facilities of this type. The 2017 Credit Agreement also contains a financial covenant that, solely with respect to the 2017 Revolving Credit Facility, requires us to maintain a Leverage Ratio of no greater than 4.50 to 1. At January 31, 2020, our Leverage Ratio was approximately 2.2 to 1. The limitations imposed by the covenants are subject to certain exceptions as detailed in the 2017 Credit Agreement.

The 2017 Credit Agreement provides for events of default with corresponding grace periods that we believe are customary for credit facilities of this type. Upon an event of default, all of our obligations owed under the 2017 Credit Agreement may be declared immediately due and payable, and the lenders’ commitments to make loans under the 2017 Credit Agreement may be terminated.

The long-term debt obligations reflected above include projected interest payments of $86.7 million over the term of our outstanding debt as of January 31, 2020, assuming interest rates consistent with those in effect for our 2017 Term Loan as of January 31, 2020.

Operating lease obligations reflected above exclude future sublease income from certain space we have subleased to third parties. As of January 31, 2020, total expected future sublease income was $3.7 million and will range from $0.6 million to $0.9 million on an annual basis through February 2025.

We entered into leases for infrastructure equipment that qualify as finance leases during the years ended January 31, 2020 and 2019.

Our purchase obligations are associated with agreements for purchases of goods or services generally including agreements that are enforceable and legally binding and that specify all significant terms, including fixed or minimum quantities to be purchased; fixed, minimum, or variable price provisions; and the approximate timing of the transactions. Agreements to purchase goods or services that have cancellation provisions with no penalties are excluded from these purchase obligations.

Our consolidated balance sheet at January 31, 2020 included $22.4 million of non-current tax reserves, net of related benefits (including interest and penalties of $2.9 million) for uncertain tax positions. However, these amounts are not included in the table above because we are unable to reasonably estimate the timing of payments for these obligations. We do not expect to make any significant payments for these uncertain tax positions within the next 12 months.

In connection with certain of our business combinations, we have agreed to make contingent cash payments to the former owners of the acquired companies based upon achievement of performance targets following the acquisition dates.

For the year ended January 31, 2020, we made $33.1 million of payments under contingent consideration arrangements. As of January 31, 2020, potential future cash payments under contingent consideration arrangements, including consideration earned in completed performance periods which is still to be paid, total $136.9 million, the estimated fair value of which was $42.9

million, including $22.9 million reported in accrued expenses and other current liabilities, and $20.0 million reported in other liabilities. The performance periods associated with these potential payments extend through January 2022.

Market risk represents the risk of loss that may impact our financial condition due to adverse changes in financial market prices and rates. We are exposed to market risk related to changes in interest rates and foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations. To manage the volatility relating to interest rate and foreign currency risks, we periodically enter into derivative instruments including foreign currency forward exchange contracts and interest rate swap agreements. It is our policy to use derivative instruments only to the extent considered necessary to meet our risk management objectives. We use derivative instruments solely to reduce the financial impact of these risks and do not use derivative instruments for speculative purposes.

In June 2014, we issued $400.0 million in aggregate principal amount of 1.50% convertible senior notes due June 1, 2021. Holders may convert the Notes prior to maturity upon the occurrence of certain conditions. Upon conversion, we would be required to pay the holders, at our election, cash, shares of common stock, or a combination of both. Concurrent with the issuance of the Notes, we entered into the Note Hedges and sold the Warrants. These separate transactions were completed to reduce our exposure to potential dilution upon conversion of the Notes.

 

The Notes have a fixed annual interest rate of 1.50% and therefore do not have interest rate risk exposure. However, the fair values of the Notes are subject to interest rate risk, market risk, and other factors due to the convertible feature. The fair values of the Notes are also affected by our common stock price. Generally, the fair values of Notes will increase as interest rates fall and/or our common stock price increases, and decrease as interest rates rise and/or our common stock price decreases. Changes in the fair values of the Notes do not impact our financial position, cash flows, or results of operations due to the fixed nature of the debt obligations. We do not carry the Notes at fair value on our consolidated balance sheet, but we report the fair value of the Notes for disclosure purposes.

On June 29, 2017, we entered into the 2017 Credit Agreement with certain lenders and terminated our prior credit agreement. The 2017 Credit Agreement provides for $725.0 million of senior secured credit facilities, comprised of the $425.0 million 2017 Term Loan maturing on June 29, 2024 and the $300.0 million 2017 Revolving Credit Facility maturing on June 29, 2022, subject to increase and reduction from time to time according to the terms of the 2017 Credit Agreement.

Interest rates on loans under the 2017 Credit Agreement are periodically reset, at our option, at either a Eurodollar Rate or an ABR rate (each as defined in the 2017 Credit Agreement), plus in each case a margin. The margin for the 2017 Term loan is fixed at 2.00% for Eurodollar loans, and 1.00% for ABR loans. For loans under the Revolving Credit Facility, the margin is determined by reference to our Consolidated Total Debt to Consolidated EBITDA (each as defined in the 2017 Credit Agreement) leverage ratio. As of January 31, 2020, we have $414.4 million of outstanding term loan borrowings and $45.0 million of outstanding borrowings under the revolving credit facility. As of January 31, 2020, the interest rate on our term loan borrowings was 3.85%, and the interest rate on our revolving credit facility borrowings was 3.41%.

Because the interest rates applicable to borrowings under the 2017 Credit Agreement are variable, we are exposed to market risk from changes in the underlying index rates, which affect our cost of borrowing. To partially mitigate risks associated with the variable interest rates on the term loan borrowings under the prior credit agreement, in February 2016, we executed a pay-fixed, receive-variable interest rate swap agreement with a multinational financial institution under which we paid interest at a fixed rate of 4.143% and received variable interest of three-month LIBOR (subject to a minimum of 0.75%), plus a spread of

2.75%, on a notional amount of $200.0 million (the “2016 Swap”). Although the prior credit agreement was terminated on June 29, 2017, the 2016 Swap remained in effect until September 6, 2019, and served as an economic hedge to partially mitigate the risk of higher borrowing costs under the 2017 Credit Agreement resulting from increases in market interest rates. Settlements with the counterparty under the 2016 Swap occurred quarterly and the 2016 Swap matured on September 6, 2019.

 

Excluding the impact of the interest swap agreement, upon our borrowings as of January 31, 2020, for each 1.00% increase in the applicable LIBOR rate, our annual interest expense would increase by approximately $4.6 million.

We invest in cash, cash equivalents, bank time deposits, and marketable debt securities. Market interest rate changes increase or decrease the interest income we generate from these interest-bearing assets. Our cash, cash equivalents, and bank time deposits are primarily maintained at high credit-quality financial institutions around the world, and our marketable debt security investments are restricted to highly rated corporate debt securities. We have not invested in marketable debt securities with remaining maturities in excess of twelve months or in marketable equity securities during the three-year period ended January 31, 2020.

The primary objective of our investment activities is the preservation of principal while maximizing investment income and minimizing risk. We have investment guidelines relative to diversification and maturities designed to maintain safety and liquidity.

To provide a meaningful assessment of the interest rate risk associated with our investment portfolio, we performed a sensitivity analysis to determine the impact a change in interest rates would have on the value of the investment portfolio assuming, during the year ending January 31, 2020, average short-term interest rates increase or decrease by 50 basis points relative to average rates realized during the year ended January 31, 2019. Such a change would cause our projected interest income from cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and cash equivalents, bank time deposits, and short-term investments to increase or decrease by approximately $2.3 million, assuming a similar level of investments in the year ending January 31, 2021 as in the year ended January 31, 2020.

Due to the short-term nature of our cash and cash equivalents, time deposits, money market accounts, and marketable debt securities, their carrying values approximate their market values and are not generally subject to price risk due to fluctuations in interest rates.

The functional currency for most of our foreign subsidiaries is the applicable local currency, although we have several subsidiaries with functional currencies that differ from their local currency, of which the most notable exceptions are our subsidiaries in Israel, whose functional currencies are the U.S. dollar. We are exposed to foreign exchange rate fluctuations as we convert the financial statements of our foreign subsidiaries into U.S. dollars for consolidated reporting purposes. If there are changes in foreign currency exchange rates, the conversion of the foreign subsidiaries’ financial statements into U.S. dollars results in an unrealized gain or loss which is recorded as a component of accumulated other comprehensive loss within stockholders’ equity.

For the year ended January 31, 2020, a significant portion of our operating expenses, primarily labor expenses, were denominated in the local currencies where our foreign operations are located, primarily Israel, the United Kingdom, Germany, Singapore, and Australia. We also generate some portion of our revenue in foreign currencies, mainly the euro, British pound sterling, Singapore dollar, and Australian dollar. As a result, our consolidated U.S. dollar operating results are subject to potential material adverse impact from fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and the other currencies in which we transact.

In addition, we have certain monetary assets and liabilities that are denominated in currencies other than the respective entity’s functional currency. Changes in the functional currency value of these assets and liabilities result in gains or losses which are reported within other income (expense), net in our consolidated statement of operations. We recorded net foreign currency losses of $0.1 million and $5.5 million for the years ended January 31, 2020, and 2019, respectively, and gains of $6.8 million, for the year ended January 31, 2018.

From time to time, we enter into foreign currency forward contracts in an effort to reduce the volatility of cash flows primarily related to forecasted payroll and payroll-related expenses denominated in Israeli shekels. These contracts are generally limited to durations of approximately 12 months or less. We have also periodically entered into foreign currency forward contracts to manage exposures resulting from forecasted customer collections denominated in currencies other than the respective entity’s functional currency and exposures from cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments and accounts payable denominated in currencies other than the applicable functional currency.

During the years ended January 31, 2020 and 2019, we recorded $0.6 million and $1.9 million of net gains on foreign currency forward contracts not designated as hedges for accounting purposes. For the year ended January 31, 2018, net losses on foreign currency forward contracts not designated as hedges for accounting purposes were $2.5 million. We had $0.7 million of net unrealized gains on outstanding foreign currency forward contracts as of January 31, 2020, with notional amounts totaling $89.0 million. We had $0.7 million of net unrealized losses on outstanding foreign currency forward contracts as of January 31, 2019, with notional amounts totaling $123.0 million.

A sensitivity analysis was performed on all of our foreign exchange derivatives as of January 31, 2020. This sensitivity analysis was based on a modeling technique that measures the hypothetical market value resulting from a 10% shift in the value of exchange rates relative to the U.S. dollar, and assumes no changes in interest rates. A 10% increase in the relative value of the U.S. dollar would decrease the estimated fair value of our foreign exchange derivatives by approximately $2.8 million. Conversely, a 10% decrease in the relative value of the U.S. dollar would increase the estimated the fair value of these financial instruments by approximately $3.4 million.

The counterparties to our foreign currency forward contracts are multinational commercial banks. While we believe the risk of counterparty nonperformance is not material, past disruptions in the global financial markets have impacted some of the financial institutions with which we do business. A sustained decline in the financial stability of financial institutions as a result

of disruption in the financial markets could affect our ability to secure creditworthy counterparties for our foreign currency hedging programs.

To the Board of Directors and Stockholders of Verint Systems Inc.

Melville, New York

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Verint Systems Inc. and subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of January 31, 2020 and 2019, the related consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive income (loss), stockholders’ equity, and cash flows, for each of the three years in the period ended January 31, 2020, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of January 31, 2020 and 2019, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended January 31, 2020, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

The critical audit matter communicated below is a matter arising from the current-period audit of the financial statements that was communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that (1) relates to accounts or disclosures that are material to the financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matter below, providing a separate opinion on the critical audit matter or on the accounts or disclosures to which it relates.

Our audit procedures related to the estimates of future labor hours and labor hours at completion included the following, among others:

/s/ DELOITTE & TOUCHE LLP

New York, New York

March 31, 2020