MediaAlpha (MAX) POS AMProspectus update (post-effective amendment)

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

Post-Effective Amendment No. 1

to

Form S-3 on

Form S-1

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER

MediaAlpha, Inc.

Jeffrey B. Coyne, Esq.

MediaAlpha, Inc.

700 South Flower Street, Suite 640

Los Angeles, California 90017

C. Daniel Haaren, Esq.

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP

825 Eighth Avenue

New York, New York 10019

The registrant hereby amends this registration statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this registration statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or until the registration statement shall become effective on such date as the Securities and Exchange Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The registrant previously filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission a registration statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-261027) (as amended, the “Registration Statement”) to register shares of the registrant’s Class A common stock for resale by the selling stockholders named therein. The Registration Statement was declared effective by the SEC on November 23, 2021. This Post-Effective Amendment No. 1 to Form S-3 on Form S-1 is being filed to convert the registration statement on Form S-3 into a registration statement on Form S-1 and to update the prospectus contained in the Registration Statement. All applicable registration fees were paid by the registrant in connection with the initial filing of the Registration Statement.

In addition, this Post-Effective Amendment No. 1 to Form S-3 on Form S-1 terminates the registration of the resale of 584,386 shares of Class A common stock previously registered under the Registration Statement.

This prospectus covers the offer and resale by the selling stockholders (as defined herein), from time to time in one or more offerings, of up to 34,351,485 shares of Class A common stock of MediaAlpha, Inc. (“Class A common stock”) held by such selling stockholders at prices and on terms that will be determined at the time of any such offerings. The 34,351,485 shares of Class A common stock offered hereby includes 17,385,493 shares of Class A common stock which are issuable upon exchange of Class B-1 Units of QL Holdings LLC (“Class B-1 units”), together with a corresponding share of Class B common stock of the Company (“Class B common stock”), held by the selling stockholders.

This prospectus provides you with a general description of the shares of Class A common stock and the manner in which they may be sold by the selling stockholders. If necessary, the specific manner in which these shares of Class A common stock may be offered and sold will be described in one or more supplements to this prospectus. Any prospectus supplement may also add, update or change information contained in this prospectus. You should carefully read this prospectus, and any applicable prospectus supplement, before you invest in the shares of Class A common stock registered hereunder.

MediaAlpha, Inc.’s Class A common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the symbol “MAX.” On March 16, 2023, the last reported sale price of MediaAlpha, Inc.’s Class A common stock on the New York Stock Exchange was $14.12 per share.

Table of Contents

Glossary

As used in this prospectus:

About this prospectus

This prospectus is part of a registration statement that MediaAlpha, Inc. filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) utilizing a “shelf” registration process. As used in this prospectus, unless the context otherwise indicates, any reference to “MediaAlpha,” “our Company,” the “Company,” “we,” “us,” and “our” refers to MediaAlpha, Inc., the issuer of the shares offered hereby, together with its consolidated subsidiaries. QL Holdings LLC is the predecessor to MediaAlpha. When we refer to the “selling stockholders” in this prospectus, we refer to the selling stockholders named in this prospectus or in any supplement to this prospectus or certain transferees, assignees, pledgees, donees or other successors-in-interest that received shares of Class A common stock from the selling stockholders. Capitalized terms used in this prospectus and not otherwise defined herein have the meanings given such terms in MediaAlpha’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, which is incorporated by reference into this prospectus.

Under this shelf registration process, the selling stockholders may from time to time offer and sell up to 34,351,485 shares of Class A common stock in one or more offerings or resales as described in this prospectus. This prospectus provides you with only a general description of the shares of Class A common stock that are registered hereunder. This prospectus does not contain all of the information set forth in the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, as permitted by the rules and regulations of the SEC. For additional information regarding us, the selling stockholders and the offered shares of Class A common stock, please refer to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part.

Neither we nor the selling stockholders take any responsibility for, nor can provide any assurance as to, the reliability of, any information that others may give you. Neither we nor the selling stockholders have authorized any other person to provide you with information different from the information contained or incorporated by reference in this prospectus and any applicable prospectus supplement. Neither we, the selling stockholders nor any underwriter, dealer or agent will make an offer to sell the shares of Class A common stock in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted. You should assume that the information in this prospectus and any applicable prospectus supplement is accurate only as of the dates on their covers and that any information incorporated by reference is accurate only as of the date of the document incorporated by reference, unless we indicate otherwise. Our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may have changed since those dates.

Cautionary statement regarding forward-looking statements

Certain statements made in this prospectus and the documents incorporated herein by reference and in other written or oral statements made by us or on our behalf are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements reflect our current views with respect to, among other things, future events and our financial performance. These statements are often, but not always, made through the use of words or phrases such as “may,” “should,” “could,” “predict,” “potential,” “believe,” “will likely result,” “expect,” “continue,” “will,” “anticipate,” “seek,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “projection,” “would,” and “outlook,” or the negative version of those words or other comparable words or phrases of a future or forward-looking nature. These forward-looking statements are not historical facts, and are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about our industry, management’s beliefs and certain assumptions made by management, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and beyond our control. Accordingly, we caution you that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, assumptions and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable as of the date made, actual results may prove to be materially different from the results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.

There are or will be important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those indicated in these forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the following:

The foregoing factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read together with the other cautionary statements included in this prospectus. If one or more events related to these or other risks or uncertainties materialize, or if our underlying assumptions prove to be incorrect, actual results may differ materially from what we anticipate. Many of the important factors that will determine these results are beyond our ability to control or predict. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and, except as otherwise required by law, we do not undertake any obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict which will arise. In addition, we cannot assess the impact of each factor on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements.

Prospectus summary

MediaAlpha, Inc. was incorporated as a Delaware corporation on July 9, 2020 in contemplation of our IPO. Following a series of reorganization transactions, we serve as the ultimate holding company, by and through our wholly owned subsidiary Guilford Holdings, Inc., of QLH and its subsidiaries. QLH was formed on March 7, 2014 as a Delaware limited liability company.

Our mission is to help insurance carriers and distributors target and acquire customers more efficiently and at greater scale through technology and data science. Our technology platform brings leading insurance carriers and high-intent consumers together through a real-time, programmatic, transparent, and results-driven ecosystem. We believe we are the largest online customer acquisition platform in our core verticals of property & casualty (“P&C”) insurance, health insurance, and life insurance, supporting $696 million in Transaction Value across our platform from these verticals during the year ended December 31, 2022.

We believe in the disruptive power of transparency. Traditionally, insurance customer acquisition platforms operated in a black box. We recognized that consumers may be valued differently by one insurer versus another; therefore, insurers should be able to determine pricing granularly based on the value that a particular customer segment is expected to bring to their business. As a result, we developed a technology platform that powers an ecosystem where buyers and sellers can transact with full transparency, control, and confidence.

We have multi-faceted relationships with top-tier insurance carriers and distributors. A buyer or a demand partner within our ecosystem is generally an insurance carrier or distributor seeking to reach high-intent insurance consumers. A seller or a supply partner is typically an insurance carrier looking to maximize the value of non-converting or low LTV consumers, or an insurance-focused research or other financial destination looking to monetize the high-intent shoppers on their websites. Our model’s versatility allows for the same insurance carrier or distributor to be both a demand and supply partner, which deepens the partner’s relationship with us. In fact, it is this supply partnership that presents insurance carriers with a highly differentiated monetization opportunity, enabling them to capture revenue from website visitors who either do not qualify for a policy or otherwise may be more valuable as a potential referral to another carrier.

We believe our technology is a key differentiator and a powerful driver of our performance. We maintain deep, custom integrations with partners representing the majority of our Transaction Value, which enable automated, data-driven processes that optimize these partners’ customer acquisition spend and revenue. Through our platform, our insurance carrier partners can target and price across over 35 separate consumer attributes to manage customized acquisition strategies. Our platform’s granular price management tools and robust data science capabilities enable our insurance partners to target consumers based on a precise calculation of the expected lifetime value of the consumer to that partner and to make real-time, automated customer acquisition decisions.

We built our business model to align the interests of all parties participating on our platform. We generate revenue by earning a fee for each Consumer Referral sold on our platform. Our revenue is generally not contingent on the sale of an insurance product to the consumer.

Our executive offices are located at 700 South Flower Street, Suite 640, Los Angeles, California 90017. Our telephone number is (213) 316-6256.

We are a “controlled company” under the NYSE rules. Under these rules, a “controlled company” may elect not to comply with certain corporate governance requirements, including the requirement to have a board that is composed of a majority of independent directors. We intend to take advantage of certain of these exemptions for so long as we continue to qualify as a “controlled company.” These exemptions do not modify the independence requirements for our audit committee, and we intend to comply with the applicable requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and rules with respect to our audit committee within the applicable time frame.

Overview

As of February 28, 2023, there were 44,258,656 shares of our Class A common stock outstanding. These shares represent 100% of the economic rights of the holders of all classes of our capital stock and a 70.1% indirect economic interest in QL Holdings LLC.

IPO Reorganization Transactions

MediaAlpha, Inc. was formed for purposes of the IPO and had, prior to the consummation of the IPO, engaged only in activities in contemplation of the IPO. Historically, our business has been operated through QL Holdings LLC, together with its subsidiaries, all of the equity ownership interests of which were directly or indirectly held by White Mountains (through its wholly owned subsidiary Intermediate Holdco), Insignia, the Senior Executives and the Legacy Profits Interest Holders prior to the completion of the IPO.

MediaAlpha, Inc. is a holding company and its sole material asset is all of the shares of its wholly owned subsidiary, Intermediate Holdco, which in turn owns all of the Class A-1 units of QL Holdings LLC, deferred tax assets and liabilities primarily related to Intermediate Holdco’s historical net operating loss carryforwards attributable to periods prior to the IPO, and an indemnity from White Mountains with respect to any pre-IPO liabilities of Intermediate Holdco.

Organizational structure

The diagram below shows our organizational structure as of February 28, 2023.

As of February 28, 2023, White Mountains and our other Class A common stockholders indirectly own 26.8% and 34.6%, respectively, of the economic interests in QL Holdings LLC through MediaAlpha, Inc. and Intermediate Holdco. Insignia directly owns 13.9% of the economic interests in QL Holdings LLC, and the Senior Executives directly or indirectly own 19.6% of the economic interests in QL Holdings LLC.

Holding company structure

Our only business is acting as the sole stockholder of Intermediate Holdco and, through Intermediate Holdco, acting as sole managing member of QL Holdings LLC. We operate and control all of our businesses and affairs through Intermediate Holdco and QL Holdings LLC (and its subsidiaries). In connection with the IPO reorganization, QL Holdings LLC’s limited liability company agreement was amended and restated to, among other things, establish two classes of equity: Class A-1 units indirectly held by us and Class B-1 units held only by persons or entities we permit which, immediately following the IPO, included Insignia and the Senior Executives. The financial results of Intermediate Holdco and QL Holdings LLC are consolidated in our financial statements.

Our organizational structure allows the Senior Executives and Insignia to retain their equity ownership (either directly or indirectly) in QL Holdings LLC, an entity that is classified as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes, in the form of Class B-1 units. The investors who participate in any future offering of our Class A common stock (including this offering) will, by contrast, hold equity in MediaAlpha, Inc., a Delaware corporation that is a domestic corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Additionally, because the Senior Executives and Insignia may

exchange their Class B-1 units of QL Holdings LLC (together with the corresponding shares of our Class B common stock) for shares of our Class A common stock (or, at our election, cash of an equivalent value), our structure provides the Senior Executives and Insignia with potential liquidity that holders of non-publicly traded limited liability companies are not typically afforded.

Risk factors

Investing in our Class A common stock involves risk. You are urged to carefully read and consider the risk factors described in Item 1A of Part I of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, which is incorporated by reference in this prospectus. Before making an investment decision, you should carefully consider these risks as well as other information contained or incorporated by reference in this prospectus and the applicable supplement to this prospectus, if any. The risks and uncertainties described are not the only ones facing us. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also impair our business operations and financial results and the value of our Class A common stock.

Use of proceeds

We will not receive any of the proceeds from the sale of Class A common stock by the selling stockholders.

Dividend policy

We do not anticipate declaring or paying any cash dividends on our Class A common stock in the foreseeable future. Any future determination to declare and pay cash dividends, if any, will be made at the discretion of our Board of Directors and will depend on a variety of factors, including applicable laws, our financial condition, results of operations, contractual restrictions, capital requirements, business prospects, general business or financial market conditions, and other factors our Board of Directors may deem relevant. In addition, our credit agreement with the lenders that are party thereto and JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., as administrative agent contains covenants that restrict QuoteLab, LLC’s and, in turn, our ability to pay cash dividends, subject to certain exceptions. Investors should not purchase our Class A common stock with the expectation of receiving cash dividends.

Our Class B common stock is not entitled to any dividend payments.

Management

The following table sets forth information as of the date hereof regarding individuals who serve as our executive officers:

Our Board of Directors consists of nine members. The following table sets forth information as of the date hereof regarding individuals who serve as members of our Board of Directors:

Other Directorships

Ms. Arasu previously served on the board of directors of one other publicly reporting company, NIC Inc., from May 2015 to April 2021. Ms. Vrabeck has served on the board of directors of one other publicly reporting company, UTA Acquisition Corp., since July 2021, and previously served on the board of directors of one other publicly reporting company, GameStop, Inc., from July 2012 to June 2021. No other director of the Company currently serves, or during the past five years has served, on the board of directors of any other publicly reporting company or investment company.

Ensuring the Board is composed of directors who possess a wide variety of relevant skills, professional experience and backgrounds, bring diverse viewpoints and perspectives, and effectively represent the long-term interests of shareholders is a top priority of the Board and the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee.

Director Independence

Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation

Executive Compensation

Overview

This Compensation Discussion and Analysis describes our executive compensation philosophy, process, objectives and the elements of our compensation program for our “named executive officers” (“NEOs”) for fiscal 2022, and provides the context for understanding and evaluating the compensation information contained in the tables and related disclosures that follow. For fiscal 2022, our NEOs consisted of (a) our principal executive officer, (b) our principal financial officer, and (c) the three other most highly compensated individuals who were serving as executive officers at the end of fiscal 2022, as listed in the table below.

Compensation Philosophy and Objectives

Our executive compensation program is designed to (i) attract, retain and motivate top-level talent who possess the skills and leadership necessary to grow our business, (ii) provide compensation packages that are competitive with market practice and drive and reward the achievement of our business objectives; (iii) closely align the interests of our NEOs with those of our stockholders by linking pay to performance to produce sustainable, long-term value growth for our stockholders and (iv) utilize a balance of short-term and long-term incentives that serve as meaningful inputs to value creation and reward outperformance.

At the core of our compensation philosophy, we aim to provide a compensation package to each of our NEOs that emphasizes pay-for-performance, and that is both externally competitive to the market and internally equitable within our organization. We believe that a performance-based culture is critical to our growth and success, and our compensation program is designed to foster these core beliefs.

Our executive compensation program design includes a mix of three key compensation elements—(i) base salary, (ii) short-term cash incentive awards and (iii) long-term equity incentive awards. In determining the amount of each compensation element awarded to our NEOs, our Compensation Committee looks at each NEO’s overall compensation package, as well as the amount of each compensation element for the NEO, to determine whether such amounts and the overall mix of elements for the NEO’s role further the principles and objectives of our executive compensation program.

Consistent with our pay-for-performance philosophy, and to ensure our NEOs’ interests are closely aligned with those of our stockholders, a substantial portion of our NEOs’ compensation is awarded in the form of variable, “at-risk” short-term and long-term incentive awards. Specifically:

The short-term incentive awards are earned based on the achievement of rigorous financial top-line and profitability performance goals set by the Compensation Committee in the first quarter of each year. The long-term incentives are granted in the form of equity incentive awards, the realized value of which bears a direct relationship to our stock price.

The Compensation Committee periodically reviews and analyzes market trends and adjusts the design and operation of our executive compensation program from time to time as it deems necessary and appropriate. While the

Compensation Committee considers a multitude of factors in its deliberations, it places no formal weighting on any one factor. As we continue to transition from a newly public company to a more mature public company, the Compensation Committee will evaluate our executive compensation program to ensure that it continues to align with our compensation philosophy and objectives and helps to drive the future growth of the Company.

Fiscal 2022 Business Performance

Fiscal 2022 was a challenging year for our business, as property and casualty (P&C) insurance carriers experienced worsening underwriting profitability concerns due to historically high levels of inflation in automobile claims costs, leading them to reduce their customer acquisition spending on our platform as they sought regulatory approval to increase their premium rates. As a result, our revenue from the P&C insurance vertical declined 46% year over year to $224.4 million, and our total revenue declined by 29% year over year to $459.1 million. This revenue decline drove a net loss for fiscal 2022 of $(72.4) million (compared with a net loss of $(8.5) million for fiscal 2021), and our Adjusted EBITDA declined by 61% year over year to $22.9 million. Despite the challenging business conditions in our primary markets, we had some positive highlights during the year, including:

Executive Compensation Practices

Our executive compensation program incorporates the following corporate governance best practices, which are designed to protect the interests of our stockholders and are consistent with high standards of risk management. As we continue to transition from a newly public company to a more mature public company, we will continue to evaluate our compensation program relative to our market peers.

Executive Compensation Process

The Compensation Committee establishes our overall compensation philosophy and objectives, and is responsible for establishing, overseeing and evaluating our executive compensation program. The Compensation Committee is comprised entirely of independent directors and operates under a written charter adopted and reviewed annually by our Board. The Compensation Committee reviews and assesses whether our executive compensation program aligns with our compensation philosophy and objectives, and approves the specific compensation of our NEOs, typically during the first quarter of our fiscal year. The Compensation Committee has not delegated any of its authority with respect to the compensation of our executive officers.

The Compensation Committee consults with members of our management team, including our CEO and our people operations, finance and legal professionals, when making compensation decisions. Our CEO works closely with the Compensation Committee and provides the Compensation Committee with performance assessments and compensation recommendations for each NEO other than himself, based on each NEO’s level of performance and corporate performance, retention risk and taking into consideration market practices. While the Compensation Committee considers our CEO’s recommendations, the Compensation Committee ultimately uses its own business judgment and experience in approving individual compensation elements and the amount of each element for our NEOs.

Pursuant to its charter, the Compensation Committee has the authority to engage its own legal counsel and other advisors, including compensation consultants, to assist in carrying out its responsibilities. The Compensation Committee is directly responsible for the appointment, compensation and oversight of the work of any such advisor and has sole authority to approve all such advisors’ fees and other retention terms.

Pursuant to this authority, for fiscal 2022, the Compensation Committee engaged Compensia, Inc. (“Compensia”) to provide independent advice on matters relating to our executive compensation program, including information regarding competitive market practices, assessments and trends and advice relating to the design and structure of our executive compensation program. Compensia also updates the Compensation Committee on corporate governance and regulatory issues and developments. A representative of Compensia attends meetings of the Compensation Committee as requested. The Compensation Committee may replace its compensation consultant or hire additional advisors at any time. Compensia has not provided any other services to us and has received no compensation other than with respect to the services described below.

The Compensation Committee has evaluated Compensia’s independence by considering the requirements adopted by the NYSE and the SEC, and has determined that its relationship with Compensia does not raise any conflict of interest.

In October 2022, the Compensation Committee engaged ClearBridge Compensation Group, LLC (“ClearBridge”) to replace Compensia as its compensation consultant to advise the Compensation Committee with respect to our executive compensation program for 2023. In connection with such decision, the Compensation Committee evaluated ClearBridge’s independence by considering the requirements adopted by the NYSE and the SEC, and has determined that its relationship with ClearBridge does not raise any conflict of interest.

For purposes of comparing our executive compensation program against the competitive market, the Compensation Committee reviews and considers the compensation levels and practices of a specified group of peer companies. For 2022, the Compensation Committee, with the assistance of Compensia, reviewed and updated our compensation peer group to account for acquisitions of certain peer companies and changes in the market capitalization and/or revenue levels of certain peer companies.

The companies in this compensation peer group were selected on the basis of their similarity to us in terms of industry and financial characteristics, as determined using the following criteria:

As a result, the Compensation Committee approved a revised compensation peer group for purposes of understanding the competitive market for executive talent to help inform the Compensation Committee's fiscal 2022 compensation decisions:

When determining recommendations for our NEOs’ fiscal 2022 compensation levels, the Compensation Committee reviewed base salary, target annual incentive compensation opportunity, target total cash compensation (i.e., base salary plus target incentive opportunity), annual long-term incentive, and total direct compensation values for our NEOs and those of similarly situated executives of our compensation peer group. Compensia provided data at the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles of the peer group for such compensation, which our Compensation Committee used as a reference. In addition, in connection with its assessment of annual long-term incentives to be granted to our NEOs, the Compensation Committee reviewed the overall retentive value of our NEOs’ existing unvested equity incentive awards. The Compensation Committee considers such data relevant to, but not determinative of, its consideration of overall executive compensation matters. The Compensation Committee does not benchmark any compensation element to a specific percentile, and the Compensation Committee instead establishes our NEOs’ compensation at levels it deems appropriate after considering other factors, including the Compensation Committee's assessment of each of our NEOs’ performance and contributions, our short-term and long-term objectives, retention considerations, prevailing market conditions, and the recommendations provided by our CEO with respect to the compensation of our other executive officers. The Compensation Committee believes that it is appropriate for the compensation levels for our Co-Founders to be at the same level given the criticality of both roles to the future success of the Company.

Analysis of Fiscal 2022 Compensation

Our executive compensation program is comprised of the following primary components:

We believe that a competitive base salary is a necessary element of our executive compensation program in order to attract and retain top performing senior executives, including our NEOs. Base salaries provide a fixed source of compensation to our NEOs, allowing them a modest degree of certainty relative to the significant portion of their compensation that is based on performance or dependent on our stock price. Base salaries for our NEOs are also intended to be competitive with those received by other individuals in similar positions at the companies with which we compete for talent, as well as equitable internally across our executive team.

The Compensation Committee reviews the base salaries of our NEOs annually and makes adjustments to base salaries as it determines to be necessary or appropriate. To the extent base salaries are adjusted, the amount of any such adjustment would reflect a review of competitive market data, consideration of relative levels of pay internally, individual performance of the executive, and any other circumstances that the Compensation Committee determines are relevant.

We use incentive bonus programs to motivate our NEOs to achieve our short-term financial and operational objectives while making progress towards our longer-term growth and other key goals and initiatives. These incentive bonuses are generally tied to the achievement of rigorous top-line and/or profitability goals, as those are the key metrics that the Compensation Committee believes will ultimately drive the creation of long-term shareholder value. Consistent with our executive compensation philosophy, these incentive bonus awards are intended to offer market competitive incentive opportunities to our NEOs. In the first quarter of 2022, the Compensation Committee undertook a process, in consultation with Compensia, to develop a new incentive compensation plan for our NEOs for 2022. As part of this effort, the Compensation Committee reviewed incentive compensation plan structures and practices among the peer companies, as well as among publicly-traded technology companies generally, and discussed how different plan structures would align with the Company's compensation philosophy and strategic goals.

As a result of this process, the Compensation Committee developed and approved an incentive plan structure for the NEOs, which is tied to achievement of rigorous financial goals approved by the Compensation Committee at the beginning of the year. For fiscal 2022, each NEO had a specified target bonus opportunity under such plan equal to a specified percentage of his or her annual base salary. Payouts under such plan (calculated as a percentage of the target payout) are determined by the Compensation Committee in the first quarter of the following year, following completion of the audit of the Company’s financial statements for the completed fiscal year.

In March 2022, the Compensation Committee conducted an assessment of the target bonus opportunities of our CEO and our other NEOs, in consultation with Compensia, and reviewed market data, relative levels of responsibility

across the Company, tenure, and other relevant factors. Based on such assessment, the Compensation Committee established the following target cash incentives for such NEOs for fiscal 2022:

The financial performance measures for each NEO, and their relative weighting, are selected by the Compensation Committee each year based on our corporate goals for that year and the Board’s priorities. The Compensation Committee generally seeks to balance top-line and profitability measures, so as to reward overall performance and not overemphasize any single area of focus. Management provides recommendations to the Compensation Committee with respect to the financial performance measures and their relative weighting, but the Compensation Committee makes all final determinations with respect to the performance measures and relative weightings. In the first quarter of 2022, the Compensation Committee determined that the incentive bonus plan for the NEOs for 2022 would be based on achievement of two financial measures: Transaction Value and Adjusted EBITDA, with 50% of each NEO's target bonus tied to each such financial measure. The Compensation Committee believes that these financial measures are among the most important measures of management’s performance in achieving the Board's goals of profitable growth, which it views as among the most important drivers of stockholder value.

For fiscal 2022, the Compensation Committee conditioned payment of the target incentives tied to each financial measure on achievement of the level for such measure set forth in our 2022 annual operating plan, and set minimum and maximum levels for each such measure, corresponding to achievement of 80% and 120%, respectively, of the target level for such measure. Achievement of the minimum level for a measure would result in a payout of 50% of the target incentive amount tied to that financial measure, and achievement of the maximum level for such measure would result in a payout of 150% of the target incentive for such measure. The plan provides that payouts are prorated on a straight-line basis in the event of achievement between the minimum and target levels, or between the target and maximum levels, for the applicable financial measure. The minimum, target and maximum levels for each financial measure for fiscal 2022 are set forth below:

Following the finalization of the Company’s financial results for fiscal 2022, the Compensation Committee reviewed the Company’s Transaction Value and Adjusted EBITDA performance for fiscal 2022, and the resulting payouts for each financial measure under the incentive bonus plan for fiscal 2022, as set forth below:

As a result, we did not achieve the target level for either of the financial measures established under the incentive program for 2022, and therefore, no incentive bonuses were earned by our NEOs for 2022. In addition, based on such results all of the PRSUs granted to our CEO and CTO in lieu of their participation in our 2022 incentive bonus plan were forfeited.

We provide long-term incentive compensation to our NEOs through equity-based awards made under our 2020 Omnibus Incentive Plan, typically restricted stock and/or restricted stock units (“RSUs”), which generally vest over multiple years. The Compensation Committee believes that this policy further aligns the interests of the NEOs with those of our stockholders and incentivizes the NEOs to drive sustained, long-term financial performance, while at the same time helping to foster continued retention of our NEOs in a competitive talent market. The Compensation Committee typically grants these equity-based awards to the NEOs in the first quarter of each year, and calculates the number of awards to be granted based on the trailing three-month volume-weighted average closing price of our Class A common stock.

In October 2020, in connection with our IPO, the Board (prior to the creation of the Compensation Committee) approved RSU awards to our CEO and CTO, which awards vest quarterly over a period of three years following the grant date. Accordingly, in early 2021, when the Compensation Committee was considering the compensation of such NEOs for fiscal 2021, the Compensation Committee determined that it was appropriate to not make annual equity awards to such NEOs for fiscal 2021.

During 2021, the Compensation Committee approved RSU awards to certain NEOs as part of such NEOs’ new-hire compensation packages, as set forth below. In May 2021, the Compensation Committee approved a new-hire RSU award to Mr. Coyne with a grant date value of $1,318,000 (prorated to his start date based on a March 1 grant cycle), vesting over a four-year period. In July 2021, the Compensation Committee approved a new-hire RSU award to Ms. Cunningham with a grant date value of $1,000,000 (prorated to her start date based on a March 1 grant cycle), vesting over a four-year period. In November 2021, the Compensation Committee approved a new-hire RSU award to Mr. Thompson with a grant date value of $2,500,000, vesting over a four-year period, and an additional RSU award with a grant date value of $2,750,000, vesting over a two-year period, to partially compensate for vesting of equity awards that Mr. Thompson forfeited by leaving his previous employer.

In March 2022, the Compensation Committee, in consultation with Compensia, reviewed the Company's long-term incentive (“LTI”) compensation program for our NEOs. As part of this effort, the Compensation Committee reviewed LTI compensation plan structures and practices among the peer companies, as well as among publicly-traded technology companies generally, and discussed how different LTI plan structures would align with the Company's compensation philosophy and strategic goals. Such review included the types of awards granted, the use of time-based and performance-based vesting, different performance-based vesting structures, and the grant date values of the awards. The Compensation Committee discussed different potential LTI award structures and determined that, due to factors including the volatility of the Company's share price due in part to the limited trading market for the Company's shares, the Company would continue to grant RSUs for 2022. In addition, the Compensation Committee considered whether to make all or a portion of the 2022 awards subject to performance-based vesting provisions, and determined that, due to factors including the uncertainty regarding the timing of a recovery on the P&C insurance market and the difficulty of setting credible long-term performance goals tied to financial performance or total shareholder return, and recognizing that time-based RSUs still align with long-term shareholder interests in both up

and down markets, it was best to continue to grant RSUs with time-based vesting for 2022. The Compensation Committee will continue to revisit this issue in the future.

The Compensation Committee then reviewed the target annual equity award values of our CEO and our other NEOs, taking into consideration a competitive market analysis performed by Compensia, which included a review of the market data of the compensation peer group for our executive officer positions, as well as broader technology company survey data and an evaluation of the market positioning of the target annual equity award values for each position compared with those of comparable positions at the peer companies. The Compensation Committee also considered the current value of the unvested equity held by each NEO and whether such unvested awards provide appropriate level of retention value for such NEO. Based on this review, the Compensation Committee approved the following time-based RSU awards to the NEOs for 2022:

Amendments to Employment Agreements

On March 22, 2022, the Compensation Committee approved amendments to the Amended and Restated Employment Agreements between the Company and its subsidiary, QuoteLab, LLC and each of Messrs. Yi and Nonko. These amendments amend the annual cash incentive bonus provisions of the Employment Agreements to provide that, commencing with bonuses for fiscal 2022, any cash incentive bonuses payable to such executive shall be paid in shares of the Company’s Class A common stock.

Such amendments will be effectuated by issuing to each such executive, concurrent with the Compensation Committee’s approval of the annual cash incentive bonus program for the Company’s other executives for such year, performance-based RSUs with vesting provisions and targets that mirror the terms of the annual cash incentive bonus program approved by the Compensation Committee for the other executives. The number of RSUs granted would be determined by dividing 150% of the target amount of the executive’s annual cash incentive by the weighted average closing price of the Company’s Class A common stock for the three-month period preceding the grant date.

Following the completion of such year, the Compensation Committee will determine the achievement of the performance measures and the resulting value earned, and will determine the number of RSUs to be vested by dividing the value earned by the weighted average closing price of the Company’s Class A common stock for the preceding three-month period. Any unvested RSUs will be forfeited.

Generally Available Benefit Programs

Our NEOs are entitled to participate in the various benefit programs we offer to all of our employees, including a medical plan, dental plan, vision plan, life insurance plan, long-term and short-term disability plans. In addition, our NEOs other than Messrs. Nonko and Yi are eligible to participate in our 401(k) plan for employees. For fiscal 2022, each of Ms. Cunningham and Messrs. Coyne and Thompson received an employer matching contribution of $8,300, $12,783, and $10,250, respectively, pursuant to the 401(k) plan.

Perquisites and Other Personal Benefits

Currently, we do not view perquisites or other personal benefits as a significant component of our executive compensation program. Accordingly, we only provide perquisites or other personal benefits to our NEOs in limited circumstances, such as where we believe it is appropriate to assist an individual in the performance of his duties, to make our executive team more efficient and effective or for recruitment or retention purposes. All future practices with respect to perquisites or other benefits for our NEOs are subject to review and approval by the Compensation Committee.

Clawback of Performance-Based Awards

Our short-term cash incentive plan and our 2020 Omnibus Incentive Plan allow us to recover certain cash incentive bonuses or performance-based equity awards in the event of certain acts of misconduct by award recipients. Such misconduct generally relates to contributing to or failing to take reasonable steps to prevent an accounting restatement due to material noncompliance with financial reporting requirements.

On October 26, 2022, the SEC adopted final rules (the “Final Rules”) implementing the clawback provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (the “Dodd-Frank Act”). Among other things, the Final Rules require the NYSE to establish listing standards that require listed companies to develop and implement policies providing for the recovery of “erroneously awarded” incentive-based compensation received by current or former executive officers where such compensation is based on erroneously reported financial information and an accounting restatement is required (a “clawback policy”), and require listed companies to provide certain disclosures regarding their clawback policies and how they are being implemented. On February 22, 2023, the NYSE filed proposed listing standards with the SEC to address this requirement, which will become effective no later than November 28, 2023. The Compensation Committee intends to develop and adopt a clawback policy for the Company that complies with the final rules adopted by the NYSE, within the timeframe required by the NYSE.

Tax and Accounting Considerations

In general, Section 162(m) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the “Code”) denies a publicly held corporation a deduction for U.S. federal income tax purposes for compensation paid to any covered employee in excess of $1,000,000 per year. Under Section 162(m) of the Code, the term “covered employee” generally means the chief executive officer, chief financial officer and each NEO whose compensation is required to be reported for the relevant fiscal year. In December 2020, the IRS released final regulations under Section 162(m) of the Code, which among other things, extended the coverage of Section 162(m) of the Code to include compensation paid by a partnership for services performed for it by a covered employee of a corporation that is a partner in the partnership. Our Compensation Committee retains authority to make payments or grant awards under the Omnibus Incentive Plan or otherwise that are not fully deductible if, in its sole discretion, such payments are necessary to achieve our compensation objectives and to protect stockholder interests.

The Compensation Committee takes accounting considerations into account in designing compensation plans and arrangements for our NEOs and other employees. Chief among these is the Financial Accounting Standard Board’s Accounting Standards Codification Topic 718 (FASB ASC Topic 718), the standard which governs the accounting treatment of stock-based compensation awards.

We follow FASB ASC Topic 718 for our stock-based compensation awards. FASB ASC Topic 718 requires us to measure the compensation expense for all share-based payment awards made to our employees and non-employee members of our Board, including RSUs and performance-vesting RSUs (“PSUs”), based on the grant date “fair value” of these awards. This calculation is performed for accounting purposes and reported in the executive compensation tables below, even though the recipient may never realize any value from such awards. For performance units, stock-based compensation expense recognized may be adjusted over the performance period based on interim estimates of performance against pre-set objectives.

Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation

Venmal (Raji) Arasu, Anthony Broglio, Christopher Delehanty, Lara Sweet and Kathy Vrabeck served on our Compensation Committee during 2022. None of the members of our Compensation Committee has at any time been an officer or employee of the Company. Anthony Broglio and Christopher Delehanty were appointed to our Board by

Compensation Risk Assessment

In consultation with management and Compensia, our Compensation Committee has assessed our compensation plans, policies and practices for our NEOs and concluded that they do not create risks that are reasonably likely to have a material adverse effect on our company. This risk assessment included, among other things, a review of our cash and equity incentive-based compensation plans to ensure that they are aligned with our company performance goals and overall target total direct compensation to ensure an appropriate balance between fixed and variable pay components. Our Compensation Committee conducts this assessment annually.

Compensation Committee Report

The Compensation Committee has reviewed and discussed the Compensation Discussion and Analysis with management. Based on the review and discussions, the Compensation Committee recommended to the Board that the Compensation Discussion and Analysis be included in this prospectus and the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022.

Executive Compensation Tables

The following table sets forth the total compensation awarded to, or earned by or paid to, each of our NEOs for fiscal years 2020, 2021 and 2022.

Grants of Plan-Based Awards in Fiscal 2022

Outstanding Equity Awards at 2022 Fiscal Year End

The following table sets forth information regarding outstanding equity compensation awards held as of December 31, 2022 by our NEOs. The Company has not granted any option awards, and accordingly certain columns have been omitted.

Stock Vested in Fiscal 2022

The following table sets forth certain information for each NEO regarding the vesting of stock awards during the year ended December 31, 2022, including the aggregate value realized upon such exercise or vesting. The Company has not granted any option awards, and accordingly certain columns have been omitted from the table.

Potential Payments Upon Termination or Change of Control

Termination Following Change of Control

The table below sets forth information regarding the estimated payments and benefits that each NEO would have received in the hypothetical event that such NEO’s employment had been terminated by us without cause, or such NEO had resigned for “good reason,” as of December 31, 2022, upon a change of control of the Company occurring on that date. Due to the number of factors that affect the nature and amount of any benefits provided upon the events discussed above, any actual amounts paid or distributed could be different. Factors that could affect these amounts include the timing during the year of any such event and our stock price.

Other Qualifying Terminations

The table below sets forth information regarding the estimated payments and benefits that each NEO would have received in the hypothetical event that such NEO’s employment had been terminated by us without cause, or such NEO had resigned for “good reason,” as of December 31, 2022, in the absence of a change in control of the Company. Due to the number of factors that affect the nature and amount of any benefits provided upon the events discussed above, any actual amounts paid or distributed could be different. Factors that could affect these amounts include the timing during the year of any such event and our stock price.

Employment and Severance Compensation Agreements

Under the employment agreements, upon a termination of employment for any reason, the executive will be entitled to any earned but unpaid amounts, including base salary through the date of termination; an annual bonus for any fiscal year preceding the fiscal year in which termination occurs, payable on the date bonuses are paid to our other senior executives; any unreimbursed business expenses incurred through the date of termination; any accrued but unused vacation time; and any other amounts or benefits required to be paid or provided either by law or under any employer plan or program (collectively, the “Accrued Obligations”).

If the executive’s employment is terminated by us without “cause” or by the executive for “good reason” (as such terms are defined in the executive’s employment agreement and described below), the executive will additionally be entitled to the following, subject to his delivery of a release of claims in favor of the Company and its affiliates and his

material compliance with certain noncompetition, nonsolicitation and other restrictive covenants set forth in his amended employment agreement:

Such base salary and prorated bonus would be paid over the severance period, except in the event of a change of control, in which event they would be paid in a lump sum. The executive will also be eligible to receive such severance if, within three months preceding or 12 months following, a change of control (as defined in the Omnibus Incentive Plan) (the “Change of Control Protection Period”), the executive’s employment is terminated due to the expiration and non-renewal by us of the term of his amended employment agreement. In addition, if during the Change of Control Protection Period, the executive’s employment is terminated by us without cause, by him for good reason, or due to the expiration and non-renewal by us of the term of his employment agreement, the executive will be entitled to full vesting of the time-based equity awards he then holds.

Under the executive’s employment agreement, “cause” generally means the executive’s:

Under the executive’s employment agreement, “good reason” generally means the occurrence of any of the following events without the consent of the executive, unless such events are fully corrected by the employer within 30 days following written notice, and provided that the executive gives written notice of his resignation within 30 days after his actual knowledge of the event and the executive actually terminates his employment within 30 days following the expiration of the employer’s cure period:

In November 2021, the Company and QuoteLab, LLC entered into an employment agreement with Mr. Thompson, providing for an initial base salary of $450,000 per year; an initial target annual bonus opportunity of $275,000 per year; an initial RSU award with a grant date value of $2,500,000, vesting over a four-year period; an additional RSU award with a grant date value of $2,750,000 (the “Make-Whole Award”), vesting over a two-year period, to partially compensate for vesting of equity awards that Mr. Thompson forfeited by leaving his previous employer; and severance payable to Mr. Thompson under certain circumstances. The employment agreement provides that his annual base salary rate would be reviewed annually, and may be increased but not decreased.

In addition, under his employment agreement, Mr. Thompson is eligible (subject to his delivery of a release of claims in favor of the Company and its affiliates, as well as his material compliance with certain noncompetition, nonsolicitation and other restrictive covenants set forth in his employment agreement) to receive the following severance if his employment was terminated by us without “cause” or by him for “good reason” (as such terms are defined in his employment agreement, substantially similar to the definitions of such terms in Messrs. Yi and Nonko’s employment agreements):

If, within three months preceding or 12 months following, a change of control (as defined in the Omnibus Incentive Plan), Mr. Thompson’s employment is terminated (x) by us without “cause,” (y) by him for “good reason,” or (z) due to the expiration and non-renewal by us of the term of his employment agreement, his severance would instead equal 18 months’ base salary; up to 18 months of employer contributions to the premium cost for COBRA coverage; a prorated portion of his annual bonus for the year of termination (subject to a six-month minimum); and full vesting of the time-based equity awards he then holds. Such base salary and prorated bonus would be paid in a lump sum upon the change of control.

Severance Compensation Agreements

In June 2022, the Company and QuoteLab, LLC entered into severance compensation agreements with Ms. Cunningham and Mr. Coyne, which provide for severance payable to such NEO under certain circumstances. Under such agreements, the NEO is eligible (subject to delivery of a release of claims in favor of the Company and its affiliates, as well as the NEO’s material compliance with certain noncompetition, nonsolicitation and other restrictive covenants set forth in the agreement) to receive the following severance if such NEO’s employment was terminated by us without “cause” or by the NEO for “good reason” (as such terms are defined in the respective severance compensation agreement):

If, within three months preceding or 12 months following, a change of control (as defined in the Omnibus Incentive Plan), such NEO’s employment was terminated (x) by us without “cause,” or (y) by the NEO for “good reason,” the NEO’s severance would instead equal 18 months’ base salary; up to 18 months of employer contributions to the premium cost for COBRA coverage; a prorated portion of the NEO’s annual bonus for the year of termination (subject to a six-month minimum); and full vesting of the time-based equity awards then held. Such base salary and prorated bonus would be paid in a lump sum upon the change of control.

CEO Pay Ratio Disclosure

As required by Section 953(b) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and Item 402(u) of Regulation S-K, below is (i) the 2021 annual total compensation of our CEO, Mr. Yi; (ii) the 2022 annual total compensation of our median employee; (iii) the ratio of the annual total compensation of our CEO to that of our median employee, and (iv) the methodology we used to calculate our CEO pay ratio:

Given the different methodologies that various public companies will use to determine an estimate of their pay ratios, the estimated ratio reported above should not be used as a basis for comparison between companies.

Methodology

Our CEO pay ratio is a reasonable estimate calculated in a manner consistent with SEC rules. Our methodology and process are explained below:

Pay-versus-Performance Table

The following table provides information for the years 2022, 2021 and 2020 with respect to the compensation of our principal executive officer (“PEO”), which is our CEO, the average compensation of our other NEOs, and the performance measures set forth in the table.

Pay-versus-Performance Comparative Disclosure

The following reflect the relationships between (i) compensation actually paid (“CAP” in the graphics below) to our PEO, and the average compensation actually paid to our non-PEO NEOs, to our net income, Adjusted EBITDA, Transaction Value, and the Company’s cumulative TSR for the years 2020 through 2022, and (ii) the Company’s cumulative TSR and our peer group TSR for the same period.

Pay-versus-Performance Tabular List

The following table lists our most important performance measures used by us to link compensation actually paid to our NEOs to company performance for fiscal year 2022, 2021 and 2020. The performance measures included in the table are not necessarily ranked by relative importance.

Adjusted EBITDA

Transaction Value

Non-GAAP Financial Measure

This prospectus contains information regarding the Company’s Adjusted EBITDA, which is a non-GAAP financial measure. We define “Adjusted EBITDA” as net income excluding interest expense, income tax benefit (expense), depreciation expense on property and equipment, amortization of intangible assets, as well as equity-based compensation expense and certain other adjustments as listed in the table below. We monitor and present Adjusted EBITDA because it is a key measure used by our management to understand and evaluate our operating performance, to establish budgets and to develop operational goals for managing our business. We believe that Adjusted EBITDA helps identify underlying trends in our business that could otherwise be masked by the effect of the expenses that we exclude in the calculations of Adjusted EBITDA. Accordingly, we believe that Adjusted EBITDA provides useful information to investors and others in understanding and evaluating our operating results, enhancing

the overall understanding of our past performance and future prospects. In addition, presenting Adjusted EBITDA provides investors with a metric to evaluate the capital efficiency of our business.

Adjusted EBITDA is not presented in accordance with GAAP and should not be considered in isolation of, or as an alternative to, measures presented in accordance with GAAP. There are a number of limitations related to the use of Adjusted EBITDA rather than net income, which is the most directly comparable financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP. These limitations include the fact that Adjusted EBITDA excludes interest expense on debt, income tax benefit (expense), equity-based compensation expense, depreciation and amortization, and certain other adjustments that we consider useful information to investors and others in understanding and evaluating our operating results. In addition, other companies may use other measures to evaluate their performance, including different definitions of “Adjusted EBITDA,” which could reduce the usefulness of our Adjusted EBITDA as a tool for comparison.

The following table reconciles Adjusted EBITDA with net income (loss), the most directly comparable financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP, for the year ended December 31, 2022:

Director Compensation for Fiscal Year 2022

The following table summarizes the compensation earned by, or awarded or paid to, those directors who, for the year ended December 31, 2022, were compensated for their service as directors. None of the other directors (i.e., those not listed in the table) earned, were awarded or were paid any compensation from us for the year ended December 31, 2022, for their service as directors.

Under the Company’s director compensation policy, each non-employee director is entitled to:

Annual equity awards will be granted to each director as of the date of each annual stockholder meeting, prospectively for the year of service following the annual stockholder meeting, and will vest on the earlier of (x) the one-year anniversary of the grant date and (y) the following year’s annual stockholder meeting, subject to continued service. Any non-employee director who joins our Board of Directors mid-year will receive prorated annual cash retainers during the director’s first year of service.

In addition, our director compensation policy provides for annual retainers for the chairperson of our Board of Directors, lead independent director (if applicable), committee chairs and committee members, in the following amounts:

Members of our Board of Directors who are representatives of White Mountains and Insignia have each agreed, subject to annual confirmation and provided that the Company remains a controlled company, to waive fees that would have been due to them under our director compensation policy in respect of their services on our Board of Directors and committees.

Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management

The following table sets forth information with respect to the beneficial ownership of our capital stock, as of February 28, 2023, by:

The number of shares beneficially owned by each stockholder is determined under rules of the SEC and includes voting or investment power with respect to securities. Under these rules, beneficial ownership includes any shares as to which the individual or entity has sole or shared voting power or investment power. In computing the number of shares beneficially owned by an individual or entity and the percentage ownership of that person, shares of common stock subject to options, warrants or other rights held by such person that are currently exercisable or will become exercisable within 60 days are considered outstanding, although these shares are not considered outstanding for purposes of computing the percentage ownership of any other person.

We have based our calculation of the percentage of beneficial ownership on 44,258,656 shares of our Class A common stock and 18,895,493 shares of our Class B common stock outstanding as of February 28, 2023.

To our knowledge, each of the stockholders listed has sole voting and investment power with respect to the shares beneficially owned by the stockholder unless noted otherwise, subject to community property laws where applicable. Unless otherwise set forth in the footnotes to the table, the address for each listed stockholder is c/o MediaAlpha, Inc., 700 South Flower Street, Suite 640, Los Angeles, California 90017.

Selling stockholders

This prospectus covers the offering for resale from time to time, in one or more offerings, of up to 34,351,485 shares of our Class A common stock by the selling stockholders named herein. In this section, references to “we,” “our,” “ours” and “us” refer only to MediaAlpha, Inc. and not to any of its direct or indirect subsidiaries or affiliates except as expressly provided.

The number of shares beneficially owned by each stockholder is determined under rules of the SEC and includes voting or investment power with respect to our Class A common stock and Class B common stock. Under these rules, beneficial ownership includes any shares as to which the individual or entity has sole or shared voting power or investment power. In computing the number of shares beneficially owned by an individual or entity and the percentage ownership of that person, shares of common stock subject to options, warrants or other rights held by such person that are currently exercisable or will become exercisable within 60 days are considered outstanding, although these shares are not considered outstanding for purposes of computing the percentage ownership of any other person.

The selling stockholders are not making any representation that any shares of Class A common stock covered by this prospectus will be offered for sale. Because each selling stockholder may dispose of all, none or some portion of the shares of Class A common stock covered by this prospectus, no estimate can be given as to the number of shares that will be beneficially owned by a selling stockholder upon termination of this offering. In addition, the selling stockholders may have sold, transferred or otherwise disposed of their shares of Class A common stock in transactions exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act after the date on which the information in the table is presented. For purposes of the table below, however, we have assumed that after termination of this offering, none of the shares of Class A common stock registered for resale under this prospectus will be beneficially owned by the selling stockholders, and we have further assumed that the selling stockholders will not acquire beneficial ownership of any additional shares of Class A common stock during this offering.

The following summaries do not purport to be complete and are subject, and qualified in entirety by reference, to the applicable documents incorporated by reference herein. We urge you to read these documents because they, and not the following summaries, outline the material relationships with the selling stockholders.

Fourth amended and restated limited liability company agreement of QL Holdings LLC

We operate our business through QL Holdings LLC, together with its subsidiaries. The operations of QL Holdings LLC, and the rights and obligations of its members, are governed by the fourth amended and restated limited liability company agreement of QL Holdings LLC. Through our wholly owned subsidiary, Intermediate Holdco, we serve as sole managing member of QL Holdings LLC. The following is a description of the material terms of the fourth amended and restated limited liability company agreement.

Through our wholly owned subsidiary, Intermediate Holdco, we serve as sole managing member of QL Holdings LLC. As such, we control its business and affairs and are responsible for the management of its business. No other members of QL Holdings LLC, in their capacity as such, have any authority or right to control the management of QL Holdings LLC or to bind it in connection with any matter.

QL Holdings LLC has two classes of outstanding equity: Class A-1 units, which may only be issued to our wholly owned subsidiary, Intermediate Holdco, as sole managing member, and Class B-1 units. We refer to these Class A-1 units and Class B-1 units of QL Holdings LLC, collectively, as QL units. Insignia and the Senior Executives hold Class B-1 Units. The Class A-1 units and Class B-1 units entitle their holders to equivalent economic rights, meaning an equal share in the profits and losses of, and distributions from, QL Holdings LLC. Holders of Class B-1 units have no voting rights as it pertains to QL Holdings LLC, except for the right to approve certain amendments to the fourth amended and restated limited liability company agreement.

Net profits and losses of QL Holdings LLC generally will be allocated, and distributions will be made, to its members pro rata in accordance with the number of QL units (Class A-1 or Class B-1, as the case may be) they hold.

Subject to the availability of net cash flow at the QL Holdings LLC level and to applicable legal and contractual restrictions, we intend to cause QL Holdings LLC to distribute to Intermediate Holdco cash payments (and, if applicable, cause Intermediate Holdco to declare and pay a dividend to us in the same amount) for the purposes of funding tax obligations in respect of any net taxable income that is allocated to us as a member of QL Holdings LLC, to fund dividends, if any, declared by us and to make any payments due under the tax receivables agreement, as described below. QL Holdings LLC will be required to make pro rata distributions to each other member of QL Holdings LLC, as and when QL Holdings LLC makes any distribution to Intermediate Holdco. Regardless of whether QL Holdings LLC makes distributions to its members in any given year, the determination to pay dividends, if any, to holders of our Class A common stock will be made by our Board of Directors. We do not, however, expect to declare or pay any cash or other dividends in the foreseeable future on our Class A common stock, as we intend to reinvest any cash flow generated by operations in our business. Class B common stock is not entitled to any dividend payments.

Whenever we issue one share of Class A common stock for cash, the net proceeds will be promptly contributed to Intermediate Holdco and then in turn to QL Holdings LLC, in exchange for one Class A-1 unit of QL Holdings LLC. Alternatively, from time to time, we may, at our election, transfer the net proceeds of the issuance of shares of Class A common stock to a holder of Class B-1 units of QL Holdings LLC in exchange for their Class B-1 unit and a share of our Class B common stock in order to satisfy our obligations under the exchange agreement (in lieu of issuing a share of Class A common stock to such exchanging Class B-1 unitholder). However, the Class B-1 unitholders cannot require us to pay cash for their Class B-1 units under the exchange agreement. In the event we elect to pay cash for a Class B-1 unit, QL Holdings LLC will cancel such exchanged Class B-1 unit and issue to Intermediate Holdco one Class A-1 unit. If we issue other classes or series of equity securities, we will contribute to Intermediate Holdco, and then in turn to QL Holdings LLC, the net proceeds we receive in connection with such issuance, and QL Holdings LLC will issue to Intermediate Holdco an equal number of equity securities with designations, preferences and other rights and terms that are substantially the same as our newly issued equity securities. Conversely, if we repurchase any shares of Class A common stock (or equity securities of other classes or series) for cash, QL Holdings LLC will, immediately prior to our repurchase, redeem an equal number of Class A-1 units (or its equity securities of the corresponding classes or series), upon the same terms and for the same price, as the shares of our Class A common stock (or our equity securities of such other classes or series) that are repurchased. Common units and shares of our common stock will be subject to equivalent stock splits, dividends and reclassifications.

We do not conduct any business other than the management and ownership of QL Holdings LLC through our wholly owned subsidiary, Intermediate Holdco, or own any other material assets (other than on a temporary basis), although we may take such actions and own such assets as are necessary to comply with applicable law, including compliance with our responsibilities as a public company under the U.S. federal securities laws, and may incur indebtedness and take other actions if we determine that doing so is in our best interest.

Class A-1 units may be issued only to our wholly owned subsidiary, Intermediate Holdco, as sole managing member of QL Holdings LLC. Class B-1 units may be issued only to persons or entities we permit, which immediately following the completion of the IPO, included Insignia and the Senior Executives. Such issuances shall be made in exchange for cash or other consideration. Class B-1 units may not be transferred as Class B-1 units except to certain permitted transferees and in accordance with the restrictions on transfer set forth in the fourth amended and restated limited liability company agreement of QL Holdings LLC. Any such transfer must be accompanied by the transfer of an equal number of shares of our Class B common stock.

The fourth amended and restated limited liability company agreement of QL Holdings LLC contains provisions limiting the liability of QL Holdings LLC’s members (including Intermediate Holdco, our wholly owned subsidiary), officers and their respective affiliates to QL Holdings LLC or any of its members. Moreover, the fourth amended and restated limited liability company agreement contains broad indemnification provisions for QL Holdings LLC’s members (including Intermediate Holdco, our wholly owned subsidiary), officers and their respective affiliates. Because QL Holdings LLC is a limited liability company, these provisions are not subject to the limitations on exculpation and indemnification contained in the DGCL with respect to the indemnification that may be provided by a Delaware corporation to its directors and officers.

Each share of our Class A common stock or our Class B common stock will entitle its holder to one vote.

QL Holdings LLC unitholders, including us (indirectly through Intermediate Holdco), generally incur U.S. federal, state and local income taxes on their allocable shares of any net taxable income of QL Holdings LLC. The fourth amended and restated limited liability company agreement of QL Holdings LLC provides for pro rata cash distributions to its members to cover (i) our U.S. federal, state and local tax obligations in respect of our allocable share of QL Holdings LLC’s taxable income and (ii) our obligations under the tax receivables agreement. In addition, the fourth amended and restated limited liability company agreement of QL Holdings LLC also provides for (in certain cases) tax distributions for a fiscal quarter to its other members in respect of their pre-exchange allocable share of QL Holdings LLC’s taxable income for such fiscal quarter relating to Class B-1 Units (if any) transferred to us by them (pursuant to the exchange agreement) before the applicable tax distribution date.

QL Holdings LLC intends that an election under Section 754 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), will be effective for 2020 and future taxable years. We expect that, as a result of this election, our purchase (through Intermediate Holdco) of Class B-1 units of QL Holdings LLC in connection with the IPO, as well as any post-IPO exchanges of Class B-1 units of QL Holdings LLC (including in connection with this offering), together with an equal number of shares of our Class B common stock, for shares of our Class A common stock (or, at our election, cash of an equivalent value), will increase our share of the tax basis of the tangible and intangible assets of QL Holdings LLC, which will increase the tax depreciation and amortization deductions available to us and could create other tax benefits. This existing and increased tax basis may also decrease gain (or increase loss) on future dispositions of certain assets to the extent tax basis is allocated to those assets.

Any such deductions or other tax benefits (including additional tax benefits created as a result of payments under the tax receivables agreement itself) could reduce the amount of cash taxes that we would otherwise be required to pay in the future. We will be required to pay 85% of such cash tax reduction, if any, to the tax receivables agreement’s counterparties. To the extent that we are unable to make payments under the tax receivables agreement for any reason, such payments will be deferred and will accrue interest until paid. See “-Tax receivables agreement.”

Exchange Agreement

Immediately prior to the completion of the IPO, we entered into an exchange agreement with Insignia and the Senior Executives, each of which hold Class B-1 units. Pursuant to and subject to the terms of the exchange agreement and the fourth amended and restated limited liability company agreement of QL Holdings LLC, holders of Class B-1 units, from time to time, may exchange one Class B-1 unit, together with the corresponding share of our Class B common stock, for one share of our Class A common stock (or, at our election, cash of an equivalent value).

Exchanges pursuant to the exchange agreement may be completed, unless otherwise directed by the holder of Class B-1 units, at the election of QL Holdings LLC, by us, Intermediate Holdco, or QL Holdings LLC. If Intermediate Holdco completes such exchange, we will contribute Class A common stock to Intermediate Holdco prior to the exchange. If QL Holdings completes such exchange, we will contribute Class A common stock to Intermediate Holdco and then in turn to QL Holdings LLC prior to the exchange. The amount of Class A common stock issued or conveyed will be subject to customary conversion rate adjustments for stock splits, stock dividends and reclassifications and other similar transactions.

Holders will not have the right to exchange Class B-1 units if we determine that such exchange would be prohibited by applicable law or regulation or would violate other agreements to which we may be subject or would pose a material risk that QL Holdings LLC would be treated as a “publicly traded partnership” for U.S. federal income tax purposes. If the IRS were to contend successfully that QL Holdings LLC should be treated as a “publicly traded partnership” for U.S. federal income tax purposes, QL Holdings LLC would be treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes and thus would be subject to entity-level tax on its taxable income.

A holder that exchanges Class B-1 units will also be required to deliver an equal number of shares of our Class B common stock. In connection with each exchange, QL Holdings LLC will cancel the delivered Class B-1 units and (unless, at our election, cash of an equivalent value is delivered in lieu of Class A common stock) issue Class A-1 units to Intermediate Holdco on a one-for-one basis. Thus, as holders exchange their Class B-1 units for Class A common stock or cash, our indirect interest in QL Holdings LLC will increase.

We and the exchanging holder will each generally bear our own expenses in connection with an exchange, except that, subject to a limited exception, we are required to pay any transfer taxes, stamp taxes or duties or other similar taxes in connection with such an exchange.

As of February 28, 2023, we have reserved for issuance 18,895,493 shares of our Class A common stock for potential exchange in the future for Class B-1 units, which is the aggregate number of shares of Class B common stock outstanding as of that date.

Tax receivables agreement

In connection with the IPO, we entered into the tax receivables agreement with Insignia, the Senior Executives, and White Mountains related to the tax basis step-up of the assets of QL Holdings LLC and certain net operating losses of Intermediate Holdco. The agreement requires us to pay Insignia and the Senior Executives 85% of the cash savings, if any, in U.S. federal, state and local income tax we realize (or are deemed to realize) as a result of (i) any increases in tax basis following our purchase (through Intermediate Holdco) of Class B-1 units of QL Holdings LLC from certain unitholders (including the Selling Class B-1 Unit Holders) in connection with the IPO, as well as any post-IPO exchanges (including in connection with this offering) described above, (ii) the Pre-IPO Leveraged Distribution and other actual or deemed distributions by QL Holdings LLC to its members that result in tax basis adjustments to the assets of QL Holdings LLC, and (iii) certain other tax benefits attributable to payments under the tax receivables agreement itself.

The tax receivables agreement also requires us to pay White Mountains 85% of the amount of the cash savings, if any, in U.S. federal, state and local income tax that we realize (or are deemed to realize) as a result of the utilization of the net operating losses of Intermediate Holdco attributable to periods prior to the IPO and the deduction of any imputed interest attributable to our payment obligations under the tax receivables agreement. We currently estimate that the amount of any such net operating losses is immaterial.

The obligations under the tax receivables agreement are our obligations and not obligations of QL Holdings LLC. We will benefit from the remaining 15% of any realized (or deemed to be realized) cash tax savings. For purposes of the tax receivables agreement, cash savings in income tax will be computed by comparing our actual income tax liability with our hypothetical liability had we not been able to use the tax benefits subject to the applicable tax receivables agreement. The tax receivables agreement will remain in effect until all such tax benefits have been used or expired, unless the agreement is terminated early, as described below.

The actual increase in tax basis, as well as the amount and timing of any payments under the tax receivables agreement, will vary depending on a number of factors, including:

We are required under the tax receivables agreement to pay 85% of the cash tax savings, described above, if any, as they are realized (or are deemed to be realized). Except in certain circumstances, if in a given taxable year we do not have taxable income before taking into account any tax benefits subject to the tax receivables agreement, we will not be required to make payments under the tax receivables agreement for that taxable year because no tax savings will have been realized (or are deemed to be realized).

The payments that we make under the tax receivables agreement could be substantial. Assuming no material changes in relevant tax law and based on our current operating plan and other assumptions, including our estimate of the tax basis of our assets as of December 31, 2022, if all of the Class B-1 units of QL Holdings LLC were acquired by us in taxable transactions on December 31, 2022 for a price of $9.95 (which is the last reported sale price of our Class A common stock as of December 30, 2022 on the NYSE, the closing share price of the day before the Class B-1 units of QL Holdings LLC are assumed to be acquired, in accordance with the terms of the tax receivables agreement) per Class B-1 unit of QL Holdings LLC, we estimate that the amount that we would be required to pay under the tax receivables agreement would have been approximately $157 million. The actual amount we will be required to pay under the tax receivables agreement may be materially greater than this hypothetical amount, as potential future payments will vary depending on a number of factors, including those listed above. There may be a material negative effect on our liquidity if, as a result of timing discrepancies or otherwise, the payments under the tax receivables agreement exceed the actual cash tax benefits that we realize in respect of the tax attributes subject to the tax receivables agreement or distributions to us by QL Holdings LLC are not sufficient to permit us to make payments under the tax receivables agreement after it has paid taxes. Payments under the tax receivables agreement are not conditioned on Insignia’s, the Senior Executives’, or White Mountains’ continued ownership of any of our equity.

Payments under the tax receivables agreement are generally due within a specified period of time following the filing of our tax return for the taxable year with respect to which the payment obligation arises, but interest on such payments will begin to accrue at a rate of LIBOR plus 100 basis points from the due date (without extensions) of such tax return. Late payments will generally accrue interest at a rate of LIBOR plus 500 basis points.

The tax receivables agreement provides that upon certain changes of control, or if, at any time, we elect an early termination of the tax receivables agreement or are in material breach of our obligations under the tax receivables agreement, we would be required to make immediate payments to the tax receivables agreement’s counterparties equal to the present value of the anticipated future tax benefits. Such payment would be based on certain valuation assumptions and deemed events set forth in the tax receivables agreement, including the assumptions that we have sufficient taxable income to fully use such tax benefits. The benefits would be payable even though, in certain circumstances, no Class B-1 units of QL Holdings LLC have actually been exchanged and no net operating losses are actually used at the time of the accelerated payments. Accordingly, payments under the tax receivables agreement may be made years in advance of the actual realization, if any, of the anticipated tax benefits and may be significantly greater than the benefits we eventually realize.

Although we are not aware of any issue that would cause the IRS or other relevant tax authorities to challenge potential tax basis increases or other tax benefits covered by the tax receivables agreement, were the IRS to successfully challenge the tax basis increases, we would not be reimbursed for any payments previously made under the tax receivables agreement, but future payments under the tax receivables agreement, if any, would be netted against any unreimbursed payments to reflect the result of any such successful challenge by the IRS. As a result, we could make payments under the tax receivables agreement in excess of the actual cash tax savings we ultimately realize. We might not determine whether we have effectively made such excess cash payments for a number of years following the time of such payments.

Registration rights agreement

In connection with the IPO, we entered into a registration rights agreement with certain of our pre-IPO existing investors, including White Mountains, Insignia, and the Senior Executives, to register for sale under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (“Securities Act”), shares of our Class A common stock, including those delivered in exchange for Class B-1 units of QL Holdings LLC in the circumstances described above. Subject to certain conditions and limitations, this agreement provides White Mountains, Insignia, and the Senior Executives with certain registration rights as described below. As of February 28, 2023, 36,088,096 shares of Class A common stock, including shares reserved for potential exchanges of Class B-1 units, are entitled to these registration rights.

Each of Insignia and the Founders (treating the Founders, collectively, as a single stockholder for this purpose) have the right to demand that we file up to two registration statements on Form S-1 and White Mountains has the right to demand that we file up to three registration statements on Form S-1. These registration rights are subject to specified conditions and limitations, including limitations on the number of shares included in any such registration under specified circumstances. Upon such a request, we will be required to use reasonable best efforts to effect the registration within 60 days.

At any time after we become eligible to file a registration statement on Form S-3, White Mountains, Insignia, and the Senior Executives will be entitled to have their shares of Class A common stock registered by us on a Form S-3 registration statement at our expense. These shelf registration rights are subject to specified conditions and limitations.

If we propose to register any shares of our equity securities under the Securities Act either for our own account or for the account of any other person, then White Mountains, Insignia, and the Senior Executives will be entitled to notice of the registration and will be entitled to include their shares of Class A common stock in the registration statement. These piggyback registration rights are subject to specified conditions and limitations, including the right of the underwriters, if any, to limit the number of shares included in any such registration under specified circumstances.

We will pay all expenses relating to any demand, piggyback, or shelf registration, other than underwriting discounts and commissions and any transfer taxes, subject to specified conditions and limitations. The registration rights agreement includes customary indemnification provisions, including indemnification of the participating holders of shares of Class A common stock and their directors, officers, and employees by us for any losses, claims, damages, or liabilities in respect thereof and expenses to which such holders may become subject under the Securities Act, state law, or otherwise.

The registration rights granted under the registration rights agreement will terminate upon the date the holders of shares that are a party thereto no longer hold any such shares that are entitled to registration rights.

Stockholders’ agreement

In connection with the IPO, we entered into a stockholders’ agreement with White Mountains, Insignia, and the Founders. The stockholders’ agreement, as further described below, contains provisions related to the composition of our board of directors, the committees of our board of directors, and our corporate governance. Under the stockholders’ agreement, White Mountains, Insignia and the Founders are entitled to nominate a majority of the members of our board of directors.

Under the stockholders’ agreement, White Mountains, Insignia, and the Founders are entitled to nominate a majority of the members of our board of directors. Specifically, for so long as each of White Mountains, Insignia, and the Founders (treating the Founders, collectively, as a single stockholder for this purpose) owns at least 12.5% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock as of the closing of this offering, such stockholder will be entitled to nominate two directors to serve on our Board of Directors. When such stockholder owns less than 12.5% but at least 5% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock as of the closing of this offering, such stockholder will be entitled to nominate one director. White Mountains, Insignia, and the Founders have agreed in the stockholders’ agreement to vote for each other’s board nominees.

Under the stockholders’ agreement and subject to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our amended and restated bylaws, and applicable law, for so long as White Mountains, Insignia, and the Founders collectively own at least a majority of the issued and outstanding shares of our Class A common stock and Class B

common stock, combined, the actions listed below cannot be taken by us or any of our subsidiaries without the written consent of a the holders of at least a majority of the issued and outstanding shares of common stock held by such stockholders. The actions include:

The stockholders’ agreement provides that each of White Mountains, Insignia, and the Founders and their respective affiliates will not have any duty to refrain from (1) engaging, directly or indirectly, in the same or similar business activities or lines of business as us, including those business activities or lines of business deemed to be competing with us, or (2) doing business with any of our clients, customers, or vendors. In the event that White Mountains, Insignia, or the Founders or any of their respective affiliates acquires knowledge of a potential business opportunity which may be a corporate opportunity of us, they will have no duty to communicate or offer such corporate opportunity to us.

In addition, the stockholders’ agreement prohibits certain business combination transactions in which our Class A common stock is exchanged for consideration unless each holder of shares of Class A common stock or Class B common stock is allowed to participate equally in the transaction as if the Class B common stock, together with an equivalent number of Class B units, had been exchanged for shares of Class A common stock pursuant to the exchange agreement immediately prior to the transaction.

Description of capital stock

Unless indicated differently in a prospectus, this section describes the terms of our Class A common stock that may be offered and sold by the selling stockholders under this prospectus. The following description is only a summary and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws, copies of which are filed as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, as well as the applicable provisions of the Delaware General Corporate Law (the “DGCL”). We encourage you to read the amended and restated certificate of incorporation, amended and restated bylaws and the applicable provisions of the DGCL, as well as our stockholders agreement, exchange agreement and registration rights agreement entered into in connection with our initial public offering of our Class A common stock, each of which are filed as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, for additional information. Any accompanying prospectus supplement may add, update or change the terms and conditions of the shares of Class A common stock as described in this prospectus.

Our authorized capital stock consists of 1,000,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.01 per share, 100,000,000 shares of Class B common stock, par value $0.01 per share and 50,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.01 per share.

Voting rights

The holders of Class A common stock are entitled to one vote per share on all matters to be voted upon by the stockholders. The holders of our Class A common stock and Class B common stock will vote together as a single class on all matters (including the election of directors) submitted to a vote of stockholders, unless otherwise required by law. The DGCL would require holders of our Class A common stock and Class B common stock to vote separately as a single class in the following circumstances:

Dividend rights

Subject to preferences that may be applicable to any outstanding preferred stock, the holders of Class A common stock are entitled to receive ratably such dividends, if any, as may be declared from time to time by our Board of Directors out of funds legally available therefor.

Rights upon liquidation

In the event of liquidation, dissolution or winding up of our Company, the holders of Class A common stock are entitled to share ratably in all assets remaining after payment of liabilities, subject to prior distribution rights of preferred stock, if any, then outstanding.

Other rights

The holders of our Class A common stock have no preemptive or conversion rights or other subscription rights. There are no redemption or sinking fund provisions applicable to the Class A common stock. The rights, preferences and privileges of holders of our common stock will be subject to those of the holders of any shares of our preferred stock we may issue in the future.

Shares of our Class B common stock are issuable only in connection with the corresponding issuance of an equal number of Class B-1 units of QL Holdings LLC. When a Class B-1 unit is issued by QLH, we will issue the holder of such Class B-1 unit one share of our Class B common stock.

Exchange rights

Each share of our Class B common stock will be redeemed and cancelled by us if the holder exchanges one Class B-1 unit of QL Holdings LLC, together with the corresponding share of Class B common stock, for one share of Class A common stock (or, at our election, cash of an equivalent value) pursuant to the terms of the exchange agreement.

Voting rights

The holders of Class B common stock are entitled to one vote for each share on all matters voted upon by our stockholders. The holders of our Class A common stock and Class B common stock will vote together as a single class on all matters (including the election of directors) submitted to a vote of stockholders, unless otherwise required by law. Delaware law would require holders of our Class A common stock and Class B common stock to vote separately as a single class in the following circumstances:

Dividend rights

The holders of our Class B common stock will not participate in any cash dividends declared by our Board of Directors.

Rights upon liquidation

The holders of our Class B common stock will not be entitled to receive any of our assets in the event of any dissolution, liquidation or winding up of our affairs, whether voluntary or involuntary.

Other rights

In the event of our merger or consolidation with or into another company in connection with which shares of Class A common stock and Class B common stock (together with the corresponding Class B-1 units of QL Holdings LLC) are converted into, or become exchangeable for, shares of stock, other securities or property (including cash), each holder of our Class B common stock will be entitled to receive for each share of Class B common stock the same number of shares of stock as is received by holders of our Class A common stock for each share of Class A common stock, and will not be entitled, for each share of Class B common stock, to receive other securities or property (including cash). No shares of Class B common stock will have preemptive rights to purchase additional shares of Class B common stock.

Under the terms of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our Board of Directors has the authority to issue shares of preferred stock in one or more series and to fix the rights, preferences, privileges and restrictions thereof, including dividend rights, dividend rates, conversion rights, voting rights, terms of redemption, redemption prices, liquidation preferences and the number of shares constituting any series or the designation of such series, without further vote or action by the stockholders.

The issuance of preferred stock may have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control of MediaAlpha, Inc. without further action by the stockholders and may adversely affect the voting and other rights of the holders of Class A common stock. At present, we have no plans to issue any preferred stock.

Some provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, amended and restated bylaws and stockholders’ agreement could make the following more difficult:

These provisions, as well as our ability to issue “blank check” preferred stock, are designed to discourage coercive takeover practices and inadequate takeover bids. These provisions are also designed to encourage persons seeking to acquire control of us to first negotiate with our Board of Directors. We believe that the benefits of increased protection give us the potential ability to negotiate with the proponent of an unfriendly or unsolicited proposal to acquire or restructure us, and that the benefits of this increased protection outweigh the disadvantages of discouraging those proposals, because negotiation of those proposals could result in an improvement of their terms.

Classified board of directors; election and removal of directors; vacancies

Our Board of Directors consists of nine directors, excluding any directors elected by holders of any preferred stock pursuant to provisions applicable in the case of defaults and subject to applicable laws and stock exchange regulations. The exact number of directors is fixed from time to time by resolution of the board. In accordance with our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws, our Board of Directors is divided into three staggered classes of directors, as nearly equal in number as possible. At each annual meeting of our stockholders, our stockholders elect a class of directors for a three-year term to succeed the directors of the same class whose terms are then expiring. As a result, a portion of our Board of Directors will be elected each year. There is no limit on the number of terms a director may serve on our Board of Directors. The division of our Board of Directors into three classes with staggered three-year terms may have the effect of discouraging, delaying or preventing a transaction involving a change in control.

Pursuant to the stockholders’ agreement we entered into with White Mountains, Insignia, and the Founders in connection with our IPO, for so long as each of White Mountains, Insignia, and the Founders (treating the Founders as a single stockholder for this purpose) owns at least 12.5% of the issued and outstanding shares of common stock as of the closing of our IPO, such stockholder will be entitled to nominate two directors to serve on our Board of Directors. When such stockholder owns less than 12.5% but at least 5% of the issued and outstanding shares of common stock as of the closing of our IPO, such stockholder will be entitled to nominate one director. White Mountains, Insignia, and the Founders have agreed in the stockholders’ agreement to vote for each other’s board nominees.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws provide that (a) prior to the date on which White Mountains, Insignia, and the Founders cease to collectively own at least a majority in voting power of all shares entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, directors may be removed with or without cause upon the affirmative vote of holders of at least a majority of the voting power of all the then outstanding shares of stock entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, and (b) on and after the date on which White Mountains, Insignia, and the Founders cease to collectively own at least a majority in voting power of all outstanding shares entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, directors may be removed only for cause and only upon the affirmative vote of holders of at least 75% of the voting power of all the then outstanding shares of stock entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, voting together as a single class.

In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that any newly-created directorship on the Board of Directors that results from an increase in the number of directors and any vacancy occurring on the Board of Directors shall be filled only by a majority of the directors then in office, although less than a quorum, or by a sole remaining director.

Approvals of White Mountains, Insignia, and the Founders

No cumulative voting

The DGCL provides that stockholders are not entitled to the right to cumulate votes in the election of directors unless our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides otherwise. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation does not authorize cumulative voting.

Limits on stockholder action by written consent

The DGCL permits stockholder action by written consent unless otherwise provided by our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation permits stockholder action by written consent, but precludes stockholder action by written consent after the date on which White Mountains, Insignia, and the Founders cease to collectively own at least a majority in voting power of all shares entitled to vote generally in the election of our directors.

Special stockholder meetings

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws provide that special meetings of stockholders may be called only by or at the direction of the Board of Directors, the chairman of the Board of Directors, the chief executive officer or, so long as White Mountains, Insignia, and the Founders collectively own at least a majority in voting power of shares of our common stock, any such stockholder, subject to certain limitations. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws specifically deny any power of any other person to call a special meeting.

Amendment of amended and restated certificate of incorporation

The affirmative vote of holders of at least a majority of the voting power of our outstanding shares of stock is generally required to amend provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. However, if White Mountains, Insignia, and the Founders cease to collectively own at least a majority of all of the outstanding shares of our capital stock entitled to vote, the affirmative vote of holders of at least 75% of the voting power of our outstanding shares of stock will generally be required to amend certain provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation.

Amendment of amended and restated bylaws

Our amended and restated bylaws may generally be altered, amended or repealed, and new bylaws may be adopted, by the affirmative vote of a majority of directors present at any regular or special meeting of the Board of Directors called for that purpose or by the affirmative vote of holders of at least a majority of the voting power of our outstanding shares of voting stock. However, if White Mountains, Insignia, and the Founders cease to collectively own at least a majority of all of the outstanding shares of our capital stock entitled to vote, the affirmative vote of holders of at least 75% of the voting power of our outstanding shares of stock will generally be required to alter, amend or repeal any provision of our amended and restated bylaws, or adopt new bylaws.

Limitations on stockholder actions

Our amended and restated bylaws also impose some procedural requirements on stockholders who wish to:

Under these procedural requirements, in order to bring a proposal before a meeting of stockholders, a stockholder must deliver timely notice of a proposal pertaining to a proper subject for presentation at the meeting to our corporate secretary along with the following:

To be timely, a stockholder must generally deliver notice:

In order to submit a nomination for our Board of Directors, a stockholder must also submit any information with respect to the nominee that we would be required to be included in a proxy statement, as well as certain other information. If a stockholder fails to follow the required procedures, the stockholder’s proposal or nominee will be ineligible and will not be voted on by our stockholders. These provisions may deter, delay or discourage a potential acquirer from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect the acquirer’s own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to influence or obtain control of the Company.

Our authorized but unissued shares of common stock and preferred stock are available for future issuance without stockholder approval. These additional shares may be utilized for a variety of corporate purposes, including future public offerings to raise additional capital, corporate acquisitions and employee benefit plans. The existence of authorized but unissued shares of common stock and preferred stock could render more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of a majority of our common stock by means of a proxy context, tender offer, merger, or otherwise.

We elected in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation not to be subject to Section 203 of the DGCL, an anti-takeover law. In general, Section 203 prohibits a publicly held Delaware corporation from engaging in a business combination, such as a merger, with a person or group owning 15% or more of the corporation’s voting stock for a period of three years following the date the person became an interested stockholder, unless (with certain exceptions) the business combination or the transaction in which the person became an interested stockholder is approved in a prescribed manner. Accordingly, we will not be subject to any anti-takeover effects of Section 203. Nevertheless, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation contains provisions that have the same effect as Section 203, except that they will provide that each of White Mountains, Insignia, and the Founders and their respective affiliates and transferees will not be deemed to be “interested stockholders,” regardless of the percentage of our voting stock owned by them, and accordingly will not be subject to such restrictions.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that no director will be personally liable to us or our stockholders for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary duty as a director, except as required by applicable law, as in effect from time to time. Currently, Delaware law requires that liability be imposed for the following:

As a result, neither we nor our stockholders have the right, through stockholders’ derivative suits on our behalf, to recover monetary damages against a director for breach of fiduciary duty as a director, including breaches resulting from grossly negligent behavior, except in the situations described above.

Our amended and restated bylaws provide that, to the fullest extent permitted by law, we will indemnify any officer or director of our company against all damages, claims and liabilities arising out of the fact that the person is or was our director or officer, or served any other enterprise at our request as a director, officer, employee, agent or fiduciary. We will reimburse the expenses, including attorneys’ fees, incurred by a person indemnified by this provision when we receive an undertaking to repay such amounts if it is ultimately determined that the person is not entitled to be indemnified by us. Amending these provisions will not reduce our indemnification obligations relating to actions taken before an amendment.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and stockholders’ agreement provide that each of White Mountains, Insignia, and the Founders and their respective affiliates do not have any duty to refrain from (1) engaging, directly or indirectly, in the same or similar business activities or lines of business as us, including those business activities or lines of business deemed to be competing with us, or (2) doing business with any of our clients, customers or vendors. In the event that White Mountains, Insignia or the Founders or any of their respective affiliates acquires knowledge of a potential business opportunity which may be a corporate opportunity for us, they will have no duty to communicate or offer such corporate opportunity to us. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and stockholders’ agreement also provide that, to the fullest extent permitted by law, none of such stockholders or their respective affiliates will be liable to us, for breach of any fiduciary duty or otherwise, by reason of the fact that any such stockholder or any of its affiliates directs such corporate opportunity to another person, or otherwise does not communicate information regarding such corporate opportunity to us, and we will waive and renounce any claim that such business opportunity constituted a corporate opportunity that should have been presented to us.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation requires, to the fullest extent permitted by law, that derivative actions brought on our behalf, any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors, officers or other employees to us or our stockholders and other similar actions, may be brought only in specified courts in the State of Delaware. In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the federal district courts of the United States are the exclusive forum for resolving any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act but that the forum selection provision does not apply to claims brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Exchange Act. Although we believe this provision will benefit us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law in the types of lawsuits to which it applies, a court may determine that this provision is unenforceable, and to the extent it is enforceable, the provision may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers.

Our amended and restated bylaws require, except to the extent prohibited by the DGCL, that in all derivative actions brought on our behalf, actions against directors, officers and employees for breach of a fiduciary duty and other similar actions, the initiating party will reimburse us and any officer, director or other employee for all fees, costs and expenses incurred in connection with such action if such initiating party does not substantially achieve the full remedy

sought. While application of this standard will necessarily need to take into account the particular facts, circumstances and equities of any particular claim, we would expect a claiming party to be required to prevail on the merits on substantially all of the claims asserted in the complaint and, as a result, receive substantially the full remedy that it was seeking (including, if applicable, any equitable remedy) in order to avoid responsibility for reimbursing such fees, costs and expenses. Although we believe this provision will benefit us by discouraging meritless lawsuits against us and our directors, officers and employees, the provision may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits that could benefit us.

The transfer agent and registrar for the common stock is Computershare Trust Company, N.A.

Our Class A common stock is listed on the NYSE under the symbol “MAX.”

Material U.S. federal income and estate tax considerations for non-U.S. holders of Class A common stock

The following discussion is a summary of the material U.S. federal income tax consequences to Non-U.S. Holders (as defined below) of the purchase, ownership and disposition of our Class A common stock sold pursuant to this offering, but does not purport to be a complete analysis of all potential tax effects. The effects of other U.S. federal tax laws, such as estate and gift tax laws, and any applicable state, local or non-U.S. tax laws are not discussed. This discussion is based on the Code, Treasury Regulations promulgated thereunder, judicial decisions, and published rulings and administrative pronouncements of the IRS, in each case in effect as of the date hereof. These authorities may change or be subject to differing interpretations. Any such change or differing interpretation may be applied retroactively in a manner that could adversely affect a Non-U.S. Holder of our Class A common stock. We have not sought and will not seek any rulings from the IRS regarding the matters discussed below. We cannot assure that the IRS or a court will not take a contrary position to that discussed below regarding the tax consequences of the purchase, ownership and disposition of our Class A common stock.

This discussion is limited to Non-U.S. Holders that hold our Class A common stock as a “capital asset” within the meaning of Section 1221 of the Code (generally, property held for investment). This discussion does not address all U.S. federal income tax consequences relevant to a Non-U.S. Holder’s particular circumstances, including the impact of the Medicare contribution tax on net investment income. In addition, it does not address consequences relevant to Non-U.S. Holders subject to special rules, including, without limitation:

If an entity or arrangement treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes holds our Class A common stock, the tax treatment of a partner in the partnership will depend on the status of the partner, the activities of the partnership and certain determinations made at the partner level. Accordingly, partnerships holding our Class A common stock and the partners in such partnerships should consult their tax advisors regarding the U.S. federal income tax consequences to them.

For purposes of this discussion, a “Non-U.S. Holder” is any beneficial owner of our Class A common stock that is neither a “U.S. person” nor an entity treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes. A U.S. person is any person that, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, is or is treated as any of the following:

Subject to the discussion below on effectively connected income and FATCA withholding, dividends paid to a Non-U.S. Holder of our Class A common stock will be subject to U.S. federal withholding tax at a rate of 30% of the gross amount of the dividends (or such lower rate specified by an applicable income tax treaty, provided the Non-U.S. Holder furnishes a valid IRS Form W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E (or other applicable documentation) certifying qualification for the lower treaty rate). A Non-U.S. Holder that does not timely furnish the required documentation, but that qualifies for a reduced treaty rate, may obtain a refund of any excess amounts withheld by timely filing an appropriate claim for refund with the IRS. Non-U.S. Holders should consult their tax advisors regarding their entitlement to benefits under any applicable income tax treaty.

If dividends paid to a Non-U.S. Holder are effectively connected with the Non-U.S. Holder’s conduct of a trade or business within the United States (and, if required by an applicable income tax treaty, the Non-U.S. Holder maintains a permanent establishment or fixed base in the United States to which such dividends are attributable), the Non-U.S. Holder will be exempt from the U.S. federal withholding tax described above. To claim the exemption, the Non-U.S. Holder must furnish to the applicable withholding agent a valid IRS Form W-8ECI, certifying that the dividends are effectively connected with the Non-U.S. Holder’s conduct of a trade or business within the United States.

Any such effectively connected dividends will be subject to U.S. federal income tax on a net income basis at the regular graduated rates applicable to U.S. Holders. A Non-U.S. Holder that is a corporation also may be subject to a branch profits tax at a rate of 30% (or such lower rate specified by an applicable income tax treaty) on such effectively connected dividends, as adjusted for certain items. Non-U.S. Holders should consult their tax advisors regarding any applicable tax treaties that may provide for different rules.

Subject to the discussion below regarding backup withholding and FATCA withholding, in general, a Non-U.S. Holder will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on any gain realized upon the sale or other taxable disposition of our Class A common stock unless:

Gain described in the first bullet point above generally will be subject to U.S. federal income tax on a net income basis at the regular graduated rates applicable to U.S. Holders. A Non-U.S. Holder that is a corporation also may be subject to a branch profits tax at a rate of 30% (or such lower rate specified by an applicable income tax treaty) on such effectively connected gain, as adjusted for certain items.

Gain described in the second bullet point above will be subject to U.S. federal income tax at a rate of 30% (or such lower rate specified by an applicable income tax treaty), which may be offset by U.S. source capital losses of the Non-U.S. Holder (even though the individual is not considered a resident of the United States), provided the Non-U.S. Holder has timely filed U.S. federal income tax returns with respect to such losses.

With respect to the third bullet point above, we believe we currently are not, and do not anticipate becoming, a USRPHC. Because the determination of whether we are a USRPHC depends, however, on the fair market value of our USRPIs relative to the fair market value of our non-U.S. real property interests and our other business assets, there can be no assurance we currently are not a USRPHC or will not become one in the future. Even if we are or were to become a USRPHC, gain arising from the sale or other taxable disposition by a Non-U.S. Holder of our Class A common stock will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax if our Class A common stock is “regularly traded,” as defined by applicable Treasury Regulations, on an established securities market during the calendar year in which the disposition occurs, and such Non-U.S. Holder owned, actually and constructively, 5% or less of our outstanding Class A common stock throughout the shorter of the five-year period ending on the date of the sale or other taxable disposition or the Non-U.S. Holder’s holding period. If we are a USRPHC and the foregoing exception does not apply to a disposition of our Class A common stock by a Non-U.S. Holder, such Non-U.S. Holder generally will be taxed on its net gain derived from the disposition at the regular U.S. federal income tax rates applicable to U.S. Holders. No assurance can be provided that our Class A common stock will continue to be regularly traded on an established securities market for purposes of the rules described above.

Non-U.S. Holders should consult their tax advisors regarding potentially applicable income tax treaties that may provide for different rules.

Payments of dividends on our Class A common stock will not be subject to backup withholding, provided the applicable withholding agent does not have actual knowledge or reason to know the holder is a U.S. person (as defined in the Code) and the holder either certifies its non-U.S. status, such as by furnishing a valid IRS Form W-8BEN, W-8BEN-E or W-8ECI (or other applicable or successor form), or otherwise establishes an exemption. However, information returns are required to be filed with the IRS in connection with any dividends on our Class A common stock paid to the Non-U.S. Holder, regardless of whether any tax was actually withheld. In addition, proceeds of the sale or other taxable disposition of our Class A common stock within the United States or conducted through certain U.S.-related brokers generally will not be subject to backup withholding or information reporting if the applicable withholding agent receives the certification described above and does not have actual knowledge or reason to know that such holder is a U.S. person, or the holder otherwise establishes an exemption. Proceeds of a disposition of our Class A common stock conducted through a non-U.S. office of a non-U.S. broker generally will not be subject to backup withholding or information reporting. However, for information reporting purposes, dispositions effected through a non-U.S. office of a broker with substantial U.S. ownership or operations generally will be treated in a manner similar to dispositions effected through a U.S. office of a broker. Non-U.S. Holders should consult their own tax advisors regarding the application of the information reporting and backup withholding rules to them.

Copies of information returns that are filed with the IRS may also be made available under the provisions of an applicable treaty or agreement to the tax authorities of the country in which the Non-U.S. Holder resides or is established.

Backup withholding is not an additional tax. Any amounts withheld under the backup withholding rules may be allowed as a refund or a credit against a Non-U.S. Holder’s U.S. federal income tax liability, if any, provided the required information is timely furnished to the IRS.

Withholding taxes may be imposed under Sections 1471 to 1474 of the Code and the U.S. Treasury Regulations and other administrative guidance issued thereunder, such Sections commonly referred to as the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA, on certain types of payments made to non-U.S. financial institutions and certain other non-U.S. entities. Specifically, a 30% withholding tax may be imposed on dividends on, or (subject to the proposed Treasury Regulations discussed below) gross proceeds from the sale or other disposition of, our Class A common stock paid to a “foreign financial institution” or a “non-financial foreign entity” (each as defined in the Code), unless (1) the foreign financial institution undertakes certain diligence and reporting obligations, (2) the non-financial foreign entity either certifies it does not have any direct or indirect “substantial United States owners” (as defined in the Code) or furnishes identifying information regarding each substantial United States owner, or (3) the foreign financial institution or non-financial foreign entity otherwise qualifies for an exemption from these rules. If the payee is a foreign financial institution and is subject to the diligence and reporting requirements in (1) above, it must enter into an agreement with the U.S. Department of the Treasury requiring, among other things, that it undertake to identify accounts held by certain “specified United States persons” or “United States-owned foreign entities” (each as defined in the Code), annually report certain information about such accounts, and withhold 30% on certain payments to non-compliant foreign financial institutions and certain other account holders. Foreign financial institutions located in jurisdictions that have an intergovernmental agreement with the United States governing FATCA may be subject to different rules.

Under the applicable Treasury Regulations and administrative guidance, withholding under FATCA generally applies to payments of dividends on our Class A common stock. Although withholding under FATCA would have applied also to payments of gross proceeds from the sale or other disposition of stock on or after January 1, 2019, recently proposed Treasury Regulations eliminate FATCA withholding on payments of gross proceeds entirely. Taxpayers generally may rely on these proposed Treasury Regulations until final Treasury Regulations are issued.

Prospective investors should consult their tax advisors regarding the potential application of withholding under FATCA to their investment in our Class A common stock.

Plan of distribution

As of the date of this prospectus, we have not been advised by the selling stockholders as to any plan of distribution. The selling stockholders, or their pledgees, donees (including charitable organizations), transferees or other successors-in-interest, may from time to time, sell any or all of the shares of Class A common stock offered by this prospectus either directly by such person, or through underwriters, dealers or agents or on any exchange on which the shares of Class A common stock may from time to time be traded, in the over-the-counter market, or in independently negotiated transactions or otherwise. The selling stockholders may use any one or more of the following methods when selling shares of our Class A common stock:

The selling stockholders may also sell shares of common stock under Rule 144 under the Securities Act, if available, or otherwise as permitted pursuant to applicable law, rather than under this prospectus.

The selling stockholders may distribute the shares of Class A common stock covered by this prospectus from time to time in one or more transactions: (i) at a fixed price or prices, which may be changed from time to time; (ii) at market prices prevailing at the time of sale; (iii) at prices related to the prevailing market prices; or (iv) at negotiated prices.

Broker-dealers engaged by the selling stockholders may arrange for other broker-dealers to participate in sales. Broker-dealers may receive commissions or discounts from the selling stockholders (or, if any broker-dealer acts as agent for the purchaser of the shares of Class A common stock under this prospectus, from the purchaser) in amounts to be negotiated, but, except as set forth in a supplement to the prospectus, in the case of any agency transaction not in excess of a customary brokerage commission in compliance with Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Rule 2121 (“Rule 2121”), and, in the case of a principal transaction a markup or markdown in compliance with Rule 2121.

In connection with sales of the shares of Class A common stock under this prospectus or interests therein, the selling stockholders may enter into hedging transactions with broker-dealers or other financial institutions, which may in turn engage in short sales of the shares of Class A common stock in the course of hedging the positions they assume. The selling stockholders may also sell the shares of Class A common stock short and deliver them to close their short positions, or loan or pledge the shares of Class A common stock to broker-dealers that in turn may sell them. The selling stockholders may also enter into option or other transactions with broker-dealers or other financial institutions or the creation of one or more derivative securities that require the delivery to such broker-dealer or other financial institution of shares of Class A common stock offered by this prospectus, which shares such broker-dealer or other

financial institution may resell pursuant to this prospectus (as supplemented or amended to reflect such transaction). Notwithstanding the foregoing, the selling stockholders have been advised that they may not deliver the shares of Class A common stock registered on the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part to cover short sales of the shares of Class A common stock made prior to the date the registration statement has been declared effective by the SEC.

The selling stockholders may from time to time pledge or grant a security interest in some or all of the shares of Class A common stock owned by them that are subject to this prospectus, and the pledgees or secured parties will, upon foreclosure in the event of default, be deemed to be selling stockholders. If and to the extent such foreclosure occurs, the number of securities under this prospectus on behalf of such selling stockholder will decrease by the number of securities subject to any such foreclosure. The selling stockholders may also transfer and donate the shares of Class A common stock in other circumstances in which case the transferees, donees, pledgees or other successors in interest will be the selling beneficial owners for purposes of this prospectus.

A selling stockholder that is an entity may elect to make an in-kind distribution of shares of Class A common stock to its members, general or limited partners, beneficiaries or stockholders pursuant to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part by delivering a prospectus.

The selling stockholders and any underwriters, dealers or agents that participate in distribution of the shares of Class A common stock may be deemed to be underwriters under the Securities Act, and any profit on sale of the shares of Class A common stock by them and any discounts, commissions or concessions received by any underwriter, dealer or agent may be deemed to be underwriting discounts and commissions under the Securities Act. We have agreed to indemnify the selling stockholders against certain liabilities, including certain liabilities under the Securities Act.

Legal matters

Certain legal matters in connection with the offered shares of Class A common stock will be passed upon for us by Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP. Certain legal matters in connection with the offered shares of Class A common stock may be passed on for any agents, dealers or underwriters by their counsel named in the applicable prospectus supplement.

Experts

The financial statements and management’s assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting (which is included in Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting) incorporated in this prospectus by reference to the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 have been so incorporated in reliance on the report of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, given on the authority of said firm as experts in auditing and accounting.

Where you can find more information

MediaAlpha, Inc. files annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. The SEC maintains an Internet site that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers, including MediaAlpha, Inc., that file electronically with the SEC at http://www.sec.gov. MediaAlpha, Inc.’s SEC filings are also available at our website: https://investors.mediaalpha.com. Except for documents filed with the SEC and incorporated by reference into this prospectus, no information contained in, or that can be accessed through, our website is to be considered part of this prospectus.

Certain documents incorporated by reference

The rules of the SEC allow us to incorporate by reference into this prospectus the information we file with the SEC. This means that we are disclosing important information to you by referring to other documents. The information incorporated by reference is considered to be part of this prospectus, except for any information superseded by information contained directly in this prospectus. We incorporate by reference the documents listed below (other than any portions thereof, which under the Exchange Act, and applicable SEC rules, are not deemed “filed” under the Exchange Act):

Any statement contained in a document incorporated by reference in this prospectus shall be deemed to be modified or superseded for purposes of this prospectus to the extent that a statement contained in this prospectus modifies or supersedes such statement. Any statement so modified or superseded shall not be deemed, except as so modified or superseded, to constitute a part of this prospectus.

You can obtain any of the filings incorporated by reference into this prospectus through us or from the SEC through the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov. We will provide without charge to each person, including any beneficial owner, to whom a copy of this prospectus is delivered, upon written or oral request of such person, a copy of any or all of the documents referred to above which have been incorporated by reference in this prospectus. You should direct requests for these documents to MediaAlpha, Inc., 700 South Flower Street, Suite 640, Los Angeles, California 90017; Attention: Corporate Secretary (telephone: (213) 316-6256). Exhibits to any documents incorporated by reference in this prospectus will not be sent, however, unless those exhibits have been specifically referenced in this prospectus.

34,351,485 shares

MediaAlpha, Inc.

Class A common stock

March 17, 2023

Part II

Information not required in prospectus

The following table sets forth the estimated expenses, other than the underwriting discounts and commissions, payable by MediaAlpha, Inc. (the “Registrant”) in connection with the sale of the shares of Class A common stock being registered.

Section 145 of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (the “DGCL”), provides that a corporation may indemnify directors and officers as well as other employees and individuals against expenses (including attorneys’ fees), judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by such person in connection with any threatened, pending or completed actions, suits or proceedings in which such person is made a party by reason of such person being or having been a director, officer, employee or agent to the registrant. The DGCL provides that Section 145 is not exclusive of other rights to which those seeking indemnification may be entitled under any bylaw, agreement, vote of stockholders or disinterested directors or otherwise. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides for indemnification by us of our directors and officers to the fullest extent permitted by the DGCL.

Section 102(b)(7) of the DGCL permits a corporation to provide in its certificate of incorporation that a director of the corporation shall not be personally liable to the corporation or its stockholders for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary duty as a director, except for liability (1) for any breach of the director’s duty of loyalty to the corporation or its stockholders, (2) for acts or omissions not in good faith or which involve intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of law, (3) for unlawful payments of dividends or unlawful stock repurchases or redemptions as provided in Section 174 of the DGCL or (4) for any transaction from which the director derived an improper personal benefit. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides for such limitation of liability.

We maintain standard policies of insurance under which coverage is provided (a) to our directors and officers against loss arising from claims made by reason of breach of duty or other wrongful act, and (b) to us with respect to payments which may be made by us to such officers and directors pursuant to the above indemnification provision or otherwise as a matter of law.

We have entered into customary indemnification agreements with our directors and officers. These agreements require us to indemnify these individuals to the fullest extent permitted under the DGCL against liabilities that may arise by reason of their service to us, and to advance expenses incurred as a result of any proceeding against them as to which they could be indemnified.

Not applicable.

Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the Registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions described under Item 14 above, or otherwise, the Registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the SEC such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the Registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the Registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the Registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that:

Signatures

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act, the Registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form S-1 and has duly caused this registration statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of Los Angeles, State of California, on March 17, 2023.

Signatures