TransUnion (TRU) 10-Q2024 Q1 Quarterly report

TransUnion

 

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).

 

As of March 31, 2024, there were 194.2 million shares of TransUnion common stock outstanding.

 

1. Significant Accounting and Reporting Policies

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements of TransUnion and subsidiaries have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) for interim financial statements and, in our opinion, include all adjustments of a normal recurring nature necessary for a fair statement of the interim periods presented. All significant intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated. As a result of displaying amounts in millions, rounding differences may exist in the financial statements and footnote tables. The interim results presented are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the full year ending December 31, 2024. The Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheet data for the year ended December 31, 2023 was derived from audited financial statements. Therefore, these unaudited consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with our audited financial statements and related notes included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on February 28, 2024.

During the quarter ended March 31, 2024, we have reorganized our operations to merge our Consumer Interactive operating segment with our U.S. Markets operating segment. This change aligns with our transformation plan for an integrated U.S. business with increased cross-selling activities and common enabling functions to achieve greater cost efficiencies.

In addition, we have changed the responsibility for certain international operations previously managed within the U.S. Markets segment to certain regions within the International segment.

As a result, we have two operating segments, U.S. Markets and International, which are consistent with our reportable segments, and reflect the structure of the Company’s internal organization, the method by which the Company’s resources are allocated and the manner in which the chief operating decision maker assesses the Company’s performance.

The reporting of certain revenue from the acquisition of Argus Information and Advisory Services, Inc. and Commerce Signals, Inc. (collectively, “Argus”), which was previously reported within our Financial Services vertical, is now reported in Emerging Verticals in the U.S. Markets operating segment. While this change does not impact our operating segments, it does impact our disaggregated revenue disclosures.

We have recast our historical financial information present in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q to reflect these changes and conform to our current operating structure.

Unless the context indicates otherwise, any reference in this report to the “Company,” “we,” “our,” “us,” and “its” refers to TransUnion and its consolidated subsidiaries, collectively.

For the periods presented, TransUnion does not have any material assets, liabilities, revenues, expenses or operations of any kind other than its ownership investment in TransUnion Intermediate Holdings, Inc.

Revision of Previously Issued Financial Statements

During 2023, the Company identified errors in the classification of certain costs between cost of services and selling, general and administrative in the Consolidated Statements of Operations. The errors resulted in an understatement of cost of services and an overstatement of selling, general and administrative in equal and offsetting amounts to previously issued quarterly and year-to-date financial statements in 2023, with no impact to total operating expenses, operating income or net income, and no impact on the Consolidated Balance Sheets, Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income, Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows or the Consolidated Statements of Stockholder’s Equity for any of those periods. The Company concluded that, while the expense classification errors were not material to any of its financial statements taken as a whole, it should revise the Consolidated Statements of Operations for the periods impacted. Accordingly, the Company has revised the previously issued Consolidated Statements of Operations for the three months ended March 31, 2023 to correct for the errors as reflected in this Form 10-Q. The Company will also correct previously reported financial information for this error in its future filings, as applicable. A summary of the corrections to the impacted financial statement line items to the Company’s previously issued Consolidated Statements of Income for each affected period is presented in Note 19, “Revision of Previously Issued Financial Statements.”

Principles of Consolidation

The consolidated financial statements of TransUnion include the accounts of TransUnion and all of its controlled subsidiaries. Investments in nonmarketable unconsolidated entities in which the Company is able to exercise significant influence are accounted for using the equity method. Investments in nonmarketable unconsolidated entities in which the Company is not able to exercise significant influence, our “Cost Method Investments,” are accounted for at our initial cost, minus any impairment, plus or minus changes resulting from observable price changes in orderly transactions for the identical or a similar investment of the same issuer.

Use of Estimates

The following is a roll-forward of the allowance for doubtful accounts for the periods presented:

Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

There are no recent accounting pronouncements that have been adopted by TransUnion in the first quarter of 2024.

Other current assets consisted of the following:

Goodwill is allocated to our reporting units, which are an operating segment or one level below an operating segment. We test goodwill for impairment on an annual basis in the fourth quarter and monitor throughout the year for impairment triggering events that indicate that the carrying value of one or more of our reporting units exceeds its fair value.

As discussed above in Note 1, “Significant Accounting and Reporting Policies,” we have reorganized certain operations of our business during the quarter ended March 31, 2024, which has resulted in changes to the expected cash flows for certain reporting units. As a result, we have reallocated all of the goodwill from the Consumer Interactive segment to the U.S. Markets segment and have also reallocated a portion of the goodwill from the U.S. Markets segment to certain reporting units in the International segment, including the United Kingdom reporting unit, using the relative fair value allocation approach as reflected in the tables below. We have assessed the recoverability of the goodwill of the impacted reporting units before and after the reallocation and have concluded there was no impairment to goodwill for any of the reporting units impacted by the reorganization.

Goodwill allocated to our reportable segments and changes in the carrying amount of goodwill during the three months ended March 31, 2024, consisted of the following:

Intangible assets are initially recorded at their acquisition cost, or fair value if acquired as part of a business combination, and amortized over their estimated useful lives. Intangible assets consisted of the following:

All amortizable intangible assets are amortized on a straight-line basis, which approximates the pattern of benefit, over their estimated useful lives.

Other assets consisted of the following:

Investments in affiliated companies represent our investment in non-consolidated domestic and foreign entities. These entities are in businesses similar to ours.

Other current liabilities consisted of the following:

The following table summarizes the changes in the accrued restructuring reserve during the three months ended March 31, 2024, which are included in other current liabilities on the Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Other liabilities consisted of the following:

Debt outstanding consisted of the following:

On June 15, 2010, we entered into a Senior Secured Credit Facility with various lenders. This facility has been amended several times and currently consists of the Senior Secured Term Loan B-7, Senior Secured Term Loan B-5, Senior Secured Term Loan A-4 (collectively, the “Senior Secured Term Loans”), and the Senior Secured Revolving Credit Facility.

On October 27, 2023, we executed Amendment No. 21 to the Senior Secured Credit Facility, pursuant to which we entered into Senior Secured Term Loan A-4 with an aggregate principal amount of $1.3 billion, the proceeds of which were used to repay Senior Secured Term Loan A-3 in full, repay $300.0 million of Senior Secured Term Loan B-6, and pay the related financing fees and expenses. In addition, we increased the borrowing capacity on the Senior Secured Revolving Credit Facility from $300.0 million to $600.0 million and extended the maturity date from December 10, 2024 to October 27, 2028.

On February 8, 2024, we executed Amendment No. 22 to the Senior Secured Credit Facility, pursuant to which we entered into Senior Secured Term Loan B-7 with an aggregate principal amount of $1.9 billion, the proceeds of which were used to repay Senior Secured Term Loan B-6 in full and pay the related financing fees and expenses. In connection with the refinancing, we incurred incremental deferred financing fees of $4.7 million that will be amortized over the new loan term. Senior Secured Term Loan B-7 is a syndicated debt instrument. As a result of the refinancing, we repaid $257.1 million of principal to lenders and received $264.1 million of proceeds from lenders.

We expensed $3.1 million of the unamortized original discount, deferred financing fees, and other related fees to other income and expense in the Consolidated Statements of Operations for the quarter ended March 31, 2024.

During the three months ended March 31, 2023, we expensed $1.1 million of our unamortized original issue discount and deferred financing fees to other income and expense in our Consolidated Statements of Operations due to the prepayment of $75.0 million of our Senior Secured Term Loan B-6, funded from our cash-on-hand. We did not make any debt prepayments during the three months ended March 31, 2024.

TransUnion also has the ability to request incremental loans on the same terms under the Senior Secured Credit Facility up to the sum of the greater of $1,000.0 million and 100% of Consolidated EBITDA, minus the amount of secured indebtedness and the amount incurred prior to the incremental loan, and may incur additional incremental loans so long as the senior secured net leverage ratio does not exceed 4.25-to-1, subject to certain additional conditions and commitments by existing or new lenders to fund any additional borrowings.

With certain exceptions, the Senior Secured Credit Facility obligations are secured by a first-priority security interest in substantially all of the assets of Trans Union LLC, including its investment in subsidiaries. The Senior Secured Credit Facility contains various restrictions and nonfinancial covenants, along with a senior secured net leverage ratio test. The nonfinancial covenants include restrictions on dividends, investments, dispositions, future borrowings and other specified payments, as well as additional reporting and disclosure requirements. The senior secured net leverage test must be met as a condition to incur additional indebtedness, make certain investments, and may be required to make certain restricted payments. The senior secured net leverage ratio must not exceed 5.5-to-1 at any such measurement date. Under the terms of the Senior Secured Credit Facility, TransUnion may make dividend payments up to the greater of $100 million or 10.0% of Consolidated EBITDA per year, or an unlimited amount provided that no default or event of default exists and so long as the total net leverage ratio does not exceed 4.75-to-1. As of March 31, 2024, we were in compliance with all debt covenants.

On November 16, 2022, we entered into interest rate swap agreements with various counterparties that effectively fix our variable interest rate exposure on a portion of our Senior Secured Term Loan or similar replacement debt. The swaps commenced on December 30, 2022, and expire on December 31, 2024, with a current aggregate notional amount of $1,295.0 million that amortizes each quarter. The swaps require us to pay fixed rates varying between 4.3380% and 4.3870% in exchange for receiving a variable rate that matches the variable rate on our loans. We have designated these swap agreements as cash flow hedges.

The change in the fair value of our hedging instruments, included in our assessment of hedge effectiveness, is recorded in other comprehensive income, and reclassified to interest expense when the corresponding hedged debt affects earnings.

The net change in the fair value of the swaps resulted in an unrealized gain of $11.1 million ($8.3 million, net of tax) and an unrealized loss of $47.4 million ($35.6 million, net of tax) for the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively, recorded in other comprehensive income. Interest income on the swaps was $31.1 million ($23.3 million, net of tax) and $22.6 million ($16.9 million, net of tax) for the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. We expect to recognize a gain of approximately $116.5 million as a reduction to interest expense due to our expectation that the variable rate that we receive will exceed the fixed rates of interest over the next twelve months.

Any determination to pay dividends in the future will be at the discretion of our Board and will depend on a number of factors, including our liquidity, results of operations, financial condition, contractual restrictions, restrictions imposed by applicable law and other factors our Board deems appropriate. We currently have capacity and intend to continue to pay a quarterly dividend, subject to approval by our Board.

For the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, 0.4 million and 0.3 million outstanding employee restricted stock units vested and became taxable to the employees, respectively. Employees satisfy their payroll tax withholding obligations in a net share settlement arrangement with the Company.

As of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, we had 100.0 million shares of preferred stock authorized, and no preferred stock issued or outstanding.

In certain circumstances we apply the revenue recognition guidance to a portfolio of contracts with similar characteristics. We use estimates and assumptions when accounting for a portfolio that reflect the size and composition of the portfolio of contracts.

Accounts receivable are shown separately on our balance sheet. Contract assets and liabilities result due to the timing of revenue recognition, billings and cash collections. Contract assets include our right to payment for goods and services already transferred to a customer when the right to payment is conditional on something other than the passage of time, for example, contracts pursuant to which we recognize revenue over time but do not have a contractual right to payment until we complete the contract. Contract assets are included in our other current assets and are not material as of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023.

As most of our contracts with customers have a duration of one year or less, our contract liabilities consist of deferred revenue that is primarily short-term in nature. Contract liabilities include current and long-term deferred revenue that is included in other current liabilities and other liabilities. We expect to recognize the December 31, 2023 current deferred revenue balance as revenue during 2024. The majority of our long-term deferred revenue, which is not material, is expected to be recognized in less than two years.

13. Earnings Per Share

As of March 31, 2024 and 2023, there were 0.8 million and 0.9 million anti-dilutive weighted stock-based awards outstanding, respectively. As of March 31, 2024 and 2023, there were approximately 0.2 million and 0.1 million, respectively, contingently-issuable performance-based stock awards outstanding that were excluded from the diluted earnings per share calculation, because the contingencies had not been met.

The following table summarizes financial instruments measured at fair value, on a recurring basis, as of March 31, 2024:

Level 2 instruments consist of foreign exchange-traded corporate bonds, interest rate swaps and notes receivable. Foreign exchange-traded corporate bonds are available-for-sale debt securities valued at their current quoted prices. These securities mature between 2027 and 2033. Unrealized gains and losses on available-for-sale debt securities, which are not material, are included in other comprehensive income. The interest rate swaps fair values are determined using the market standard methodology of discounting the future expected net cash receipts or payments that would occur if variable interest rates rise above or fall below the fixed rates of the swaps. The variable interest rates used in the calculations of projected receipts on the swaps are based on an expectation of future interest rates derived from observable market interest rate curves and volatilities. As discussed in Note 10, “Debt,” there are three tranches of interest rate swaps. In December 2022, we sold the non-core businesses of our VF acquisition. A portion of the consideration was in the form of a $72.0 million note receivable. The note receivable accrues interest semiannually at a per annum rate of 10.6% and is payable at maturity. The note matures on June 30, 2025, subject to an option of the note issuer to extend the maturity date for two successive terms of three months each, at an increased rate of interest at each extension. The note was initially recorded at fair value of $70.3 million using an income approach for fixed income securities, where contractual cash flows were discounted to present value at a risk-adjusted rate of return in a lattice model framework. The fair value of the note is determined each period by applying the same approach, considering changes to the risk-adjusted rate of return given observed changes to the interest rate environment, market pricing of credit risk, and issuer-specific credit risk.

16. Reportable Segments

As discussed in Note 1, “Significant Accounting and Reporting Policies,” during the quarter ended March 31, 2024, we reorganized our operations and now have two operating segments, U.S. Markets and International, and the Corporate unit, which provides support services to each of the segments. The Company’s operating segments, which are consistent with its reportable segments, reflect the structure of the Company’s internal organization, the method by which the Company’s resources are allocated and the manner by which the CODM assesses the Company’s performance. Our CODM uses the profit measure of Adjusted EBITDA, on both a consolidated and a segment basis, to allocate resources and assess performance of our segments. We use Adjusted EBITDA as our profit measure because it eliminates the impact of certain items that we do not consider indicative of operating performance, which is useful to compare operating results between periods. Our Board and executive management team also use Adjusted EBITDA as a compensation measure for both segment and corporate management under our incentive compensation plans. Adjusted EBITDA is also a measure frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties in their evaluation of the operating performance of companies similar to ours.

The segment financial information below has been recast to conform to our current operating structure as discussed in Note 1, “Significant Accounting and Reporting Policies” and Note 3, “Goodwill.” The accounting policies of the segments are the same as described in Note 1, “Significant Accounting and Reporting Policies” and Note 12, “Revenue.”

The following is a more detailed description of our reportable segments and the Corporate unit:

U.S. Markets

International

The International segment provides services similar to our U.S. Markets segment to businesses in select regions outside the United States. Depending on the maturity of the credit economy in each country, services may include credit reports, analytics and solutions services, and other value-added risk management services. In addition, we have insurance, business and automotive databases in select geographies. These services are offered to customers in a number of industries including financial services, insurance, automotive, collections, and communications, and are delivered through both direct and indirect channels. The International segment also provides consumer services similar to those offered by our Consumer Interactive vertical in our U.S. Markets segment that help consumers proactively manage their personal finances and take precautions against identity theft.

We report disaggregated revenue of our International segment for the following regions: Canada, Latin America, the United Kingdom, Africa, India, and Asia Pacific.

Corporate

Selected segment financial information and disaggregated revenue consisted of the following:

A reconciliation of Segment Adjusted EBITDA to income from continuing operations before income taxes for the periods presented is as follows:

We are routinely named as defendants in, or parties to, various legal actions and proceedings relating to our current or past business operations. These actions generally assert claims for violations of federal or state credit reporting, consumer protection or privacy laws, or common law claims related to the unfair treatment of consumers, and may include claims for substantial or indeterminate compensatory or punitive damages, or injunctive relief, and may seek business practice changes. We believe that most of these claims are either without merit or we have valid defenses to the claims, and we vigorously defend these matters or seek non-monetary or small monetary settlements, if possible. However, due to the uncertainties inherent in litigation, we cannot predict the outcome of each claim in each instance.

In the ordinary course of business, we also are subject to governmental and regulatory examinations, information-gathering requests, investigations and proceedings (both formal and informal), certain of which may result in adverse judgments, settlements, fines, penalties, injunctions or other relief. In connection with formal and informal investigations and inquiries by regulators, we sometimes receive civil investigative demands, requests, subpoenas and orders seeking documents, testimony, and other information in connection with various aspects of our activities.

In view of the inherent unpredictability of legal and regulatory matters, particularly where the damages sought are substantial or indeterminate or when the proceedings or investigations are in the early stages, we cannot determine with any degree of certainty the timing or ultimate resolution of legal and regulatory matters or the eventual loss, fines or penalties, if any, that may result from such matters. We establish reserves for legal and regulatory matters when those matters present loss contingencies that are both probable and can be reasonably estimated. However, for certain of the matters, we are not able to reasonably estimate our exposure because damages or penalties have not been specified and (i) the proceedings are in early stages, (ii) there is uncertainty as to the likelihood of a class being certified or the ultimate size of the class, (iii) there is uncertainty as to the outcome of similar matters pending against our competitors, (iv) there are significant factual issues to be resolved, and/or (v) there are legal issues of a first impression being presented. The actual costs of resolving legal and regulatory matters, however, may be substantially higher than the amounts reserved for those matters, and an adverse outcome in certain of these matters could have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial statements in particular quarterly or annual periods. We accrue amounts for certain legal and regulatory matters for which losses were considered to be probable of occurring based on our best estimate of the most likely outcome. It is reasonably possible actual losses could be significantly different from our current estimates. In addition, there are some matters for which it is reasonably possible that a loss will occur, however we cannot estimate a range of the potential losses for these matters.

To reduce our exposure to an unexpected significant monetary award resulting from an adverse judicial decision, we maintain insurance that we believe is appropriate and adequate based on our historical experience. We regularly advise our insurance carriers of the claims, threatened or pending, against us in legal and regulatory matters and generally receive a reservation of rights letter from the carriers when such claims exceed applicable deductibles. We are not aware of any significant monetary claim that has been asserted against us, except for the lawsuit filed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the “CFPB”) referenced below, that would not have some level of coverage by insurance after the relevant deductible, if any, is met.

As of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, we have accrued $105.2 million and $147.8 million, respectively, for legal and regulatory matters. These amounts were recorded in other accrued liabilities in the Consolidated Balance Sheets and the associated expenses were recorded in selling, general and administrative expenses in the Consolidated Statements of Operations. Legal fees incurred in connection with ongoing litigation are considered period costs and are expensed as incurred.

CFPB Matters

In June 2021, we received a Notice and Opportunity to Respond and Advise (“NORA”) letter from the CFPB, informing us that the CFPB’s Enforcement Division was considering whether to recommend that the CFPB take legal action against us and certain of our executive officers. The NORA letter alleged that we failed to comply with and timely implement a consent order issued by the CFPB in January 2017 (the “2017 Consent Order”), and further alleged additional violations related to Consumer Interactive’s marketing practices. On September 27, 2021, the Enforcement Division advised us that it had obtained authority to pursue an enforcement action. On April 12, 2022, after failed settlement negotiations with the CFPB related to the matter, the CFPB filed a lawsuit against us, Trans Union LLC, TransUnion Interactive, Inc. (collectively, the “TU Entities”) and the former President of Consumer Interactive, John Danaher, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois seeking restitution, civil money penalties, and injunctive relief, among other remedies, and alleging that the TU Entities violated the 2017 Consent Order, engaged in deceptive acts and practices in marketing the TransUnion Credit Monitoring product, failed to obtain signed written authorizations from consumers before debiting their bank accounts for the TransUnion Credit Monitoring product and diverted consumers from their free annual file disclosure into paid subscription products. The CFPB further alleges that Mr. Danaher violated the 2017 Consent Order and that we and Trans Union LLC provided substantial assistance to TransUnion Interactive, Inc. in violating the 2017 Consent Order and the law. We continue to believe that our marketing practices are lawful and appropriate and that we have been, and remain, in compliance with the 2017 Consent Order, and we will vigorously defend against allegations to the contrary in such proceedings. We continue to be in active litigation on this matter.

As of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, we have accrued $56.0 million in connection with this matter and there is a reasonable possibility that a loss in excess of the amount accrued may be incurred, and such an outcome could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. However, any possible loss or range of loss in excess of the amount accrued is not reasonably estimable at this time. In addition, we have and will continue to incur increased costs litigating this matter.

In March 2024, we received a NORA letter from the CFPB, informing us that the CFPB’s Enforcement Division is considering whether to recommend that the CFPB take legal action against us related to our dispute handling practices and procedures. The

NORA letter alleges that Trans Union LLC violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act’s requirements to conduct a reasonable reinvestigation of disputed information and follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy of the information in consumer reports, and the Consumer Financial Protection Act’s prohibition of unfair, deceptive, and abusive acts or practices. Should the CFPB commence an action against us, it may seek restitution, disgorgement, civil monetary penalties, injunctive relief or other corrective action. We cannot provide assurance that the CFPB will not ultimately commence a legal action against us in this matter, nor are we able to predict the likely outcome, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. As of March 31, 2024, we are not able to reasonably estimate our potential loss or range of loss related to this matter.

Argus Department of Justice Matter

We have cooperated with an investigation originating from the civil division of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia related to Argus’s use of certain data it collected under certain government contracts. We acquired Argus in connection with our acquisition of Verisk Financial Services (“VF”) in April 2022. This matter pertained to alleged conduct that commenced before we acquired Argus. We have cooperated with Verisk Analytics, Inc. (the “Seller”) to respond to the Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) investigation and, along with the Seller, finalized a $37.0 million settlement with the DOJ (the “Settlement”).

Under the stock purchase agreement Trans Union LLC entered into with the Seller pursuant to which we acquired VF, including Argus, the Seller agreed to indemnify us for certain losses with respect to this matter, including all losses directly resulting from any settlement agreement with the DOJ in connection with this matter, including civil money penalties, remediation costs and fees and expenses. During the three months ended March 31, 2024, the Settlement was paid in full to the DOJ and the indemnification receivable was collected.

The following tables set forth the changes in each component of accumulated other comprehensive loss, net of tax, as of March 31, 2024 and 2023:

The following discussion and analysis of TransUnion’s financial condition and results of operations is provided as a supplement to, and should be read in conjunction with, TransUnion’s audited consolidated financial statements, the accompanying notes, “Risk Factors,” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, as well as the unaudited consolidated financial statements and the related notes presented in Part I, Item 1, of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.

In addition to historical data, this discussion contains forward-looking statements about our business, operations and financial performance based on current expectations that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Our actual results may differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including but not limited to those discussed in “Cautionary Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements,” and Part II, Item 1A, “Risk Factors.”

References in this discussion and analysis to the “Company,” “we,”, “us,” and “our” refer to TransUnion and its direct and indirect subsidiaries, including TransUnion Intermediate Holdings, Inc., collectively.

Grounded in our heritage as a credit reporting agency, we have built robust and accurate databases of information for a large portion of the adult population in the markets we serve. We use our identity resolution methodology to link and match our expanding high-quality datasets. We use this enriched data and analytics, combined with our expertise, to continuously develop more insightful solutions for our customers, all while maintaining compliance with global laws and regulations. Because of our work, organizations can better understand consumers in order to make more informed decisions, and earn consumer trust through great, personalized experiences, and the proactive extension of the right opportunities, tools and offers. In turn, we believe consumers can be confident that their data identities will result in better offers and opportunities.

U.S. Markets

International

Corporate

Corporate provides support services for each of the segments, holds investments, and conducts enterprise functions. Certain costs incurred in Corporate that are not directly attributable to one or more of the segments remain in Corporate. These costs are typically enterprise-level costs and are primarily administrative in nature.

The following are certain key factors that affect, or have recently affected, our results of operations:

Our revenues and results of operations have been and can be significantly influenced by general macroeconomic conditions, including but not limited to, interest rates, inflation, housing demand, the availability of credit and capital, employment levels, and consumer confidence.

During the first three months of 2024, the U.S. economy and labor market remained resilient with solid GDP growth, low unemployment, and rising wages, despite the Federal Reserve maintaining higher interest rates in the face of subsiding but still elevated inflation. The relative macroeconomic strength of the U.S. was also reflected in broad strength in our emerging markets and improved indicators in the U.K. The U.K. is beginning to show signs of recovery driven by falling inflation leading to support levels of real income and a recovery in economic activity. Additionally, our International segment began to see a slight positive impact from foreign exchange rates. In the U.S., the impact of higher interest rates has slowed demand for consumer loans and auto loans, and has been more pronounced in the housing sector, where higher borrowing rates impact both home affordability, driving down purchase activity, and demand for mortgage loan refinancing. The impact of continued elevated interest rates on slowing aggregate demand is expected to result in a mild increase in unemployment levels over the next year, which is likely to reduce consumer credit activity. At the same time, a slowdown in economic activity and job growth could prompt the Federal Reserve to begin lowering interest rates, which could spur increased demand for rate-sensitive lending products, in particular mortgage loans. These dynamics impact the comparability of our results of operations, including our revenue and expense, between the periods presented below.

Effects of Inflation

Developments that Impact Comparability Between Periods

The following developments impact the comparability of our balance sheets, results of operations and cash flows between periods:

On November 12, 2023, our Board of Directors (“Board”) approved a transformation plan to optimize our operating model and continue to advance our technology. We expect to recognize one-time pre-tax expenses associated with this transformation plan of $355.0 to $375.0 million from the fourth quarter of 2023 through the end of 2025, with the majority of costs to be incurred by the end of 2024. All pre-tax expenses will be cash expenditures, other than approximately $15.0 to $20.0 million of non-cash, facility exit costs. In addition, we anticipate capital expenditures to increase to approximately 9% of revenue in 2024 and then return to approximately 8% of revenue for 2025 due to investment in our technology infrastructure in connection with this transformation plan. Upon completion of this plan, we expect to generate annual savings of $120.0 to $140.0 million and reduce our capital expenditures from 8% of revenue to 6%, based on 2023 revenue. The following summarizes initiatives under the transformation plan.

For the three months ended March 31, 2024, we incurred total expenses associated with the transformation plan of $24.4 million, comprised of restructuring expenses of $16.8 million for employee separation and $1.4 million for non-cash impairment charges associated with leased facilities, as well as $6.2 million of other business optimization expenses. Employee separation costs and non-cash impairment charges are included in Restructuring expenses in our Consolidated Statements of Operations. Since the inception of the operating model optimization program, we have incurred cumulative expenses of $102.0 million.

We have accrued liabilities for payment of employee separation costs of $48.6 million and $64.9 million as of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively. See Part I, Item 1, “Financial Information - Notes to Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements,” Note 8, “Restructuring.”

On February 8, 2024, we executed Amendment No. 22 to the Senior Secured Credit Facility, pursuant to which we entered into Senior Secured Term Loan B-7 with an aggregate principal amount of $1.9 billion, the proceeds of which were used to repay Senior Secured Term Loan B-6 in full and pay the related financing fees and expenses.

On October 27, 2023, we executed Amendment No. 21 to the Senior Secured Credit Facility, pursuant to which we entered into Senior Secured Term Loan A-4 with an aggregate principal amount of $1.3 billion, the proceeds of which were used to repay Senior Secured Term Loan A-3 in full, repay $300.0 million of Senior Secured Term Loan B-6, and pay the related financing fees and expenses. In addition, we increased the borrowing capacity on the Senior Secured Revolving Credit Facility from $300.0 million to $600.0 million and extended the maturity date from December 10, 2024 to October 27, 2028.

During 2023, we prepaid $250.0 million of our Senior Secured Term Loan B-6, funded from cash-on-hand. These transactions affect the comparability of interest expense between 2024 and 2023, as further discussed in “Results of Operations – Non-Operating Income and (Expense) – Interest Expense” below.

Revenue

We report revenue for our two reportable segments, U.S. Markets and International. Within the U.S. Markets segment, we report and disaggregate revenue by vertical, which consists of our Financial Services, Emerging and Consumer Interactive

verticals. Within the International segment, we disaggregate revenue by regions, which consists of Canada, Latin America, the United Kingdom, Africa, India, and Asia Pacific.

Costs of services include data acquisition and royalty fees, personnel costs related to our databases and software applications, consumer and call center support costs, hardware and software maintenance costs, telecommunication expenses and occupancy costs associated with the facilities where these functions are performed.

Selling, General and Administrative

Non-operating income and expense includes interest expense, interest income, earnings from equity-method investments, dividends from Cost Method Investments, fair-value adjustments of equity-method and Cost Method Investments, if any, expenses related to successful and unsuccessful business acquisitions, loan fees, debt refinancing expenses, certain acquisition-related gains and losses and other non-operating income and expenses.