KinderCare Learning Companies (KLC) S-1/AIPO registration (amended)

As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 9, 2022

Registration No. 333-260337

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

AMENDMENT NO. 2

TO

FORM S-1

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER

THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

KinderCare Learning Companies, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

650 NE Holladay, Suite 1400

Portland, OR 97232

(503) 872-1300

(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant’s principal executive offices)

Tom Wyatt

Chief Executive Officer

650 NE Holladay, Suite 1400

Portland, OR 97232

(503) 872-1300

(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)

Copies to:

Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public: As soon as practicable after this Registration Statement becomes effective.

If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933 check the following box.  ☐

If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, please check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  ☐

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  ☐

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act.  ☐

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 this Registration Statement shall become effective on such date as the Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.

The information in this prospectus is not complete and may be changed. We may not sell these securities until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities and it is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.

Subject to Completion, dated                 , 2022

PROSPECTUS

                 Shares

KinderCare Learning Companies, Inc.

Common Stock

This is an initial public offering of shares of common stock of KinderCare Learning Companies, Inc. We are offering              shares of our common stock.

Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for our common stock. The initial public offering price is expected to be between $             and $             per share. We intend to apply to list our common stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “KLC.”

The underwriters have an option for a period of 30 days after the date of this prospectus, to purchase from us from time to time, in whole or in part, up to an aggregate of              shares of our common stock.

Following this offering, investment funds affiliated with or advised by affiliates of Partners Group Holding AG will continue to own a controlling interest in our common stock, owning     % of our common stock. As a result, we expect to be a “controlled company” within the meaning of the corporate governance standards of the New York Stock Exchange.

We intend to use the net proceeds from this offering to (i) repay $                 of our outstanding First Lien Notes, repay $                 of the loans outstanding under our Second Lien Facility and then repay $                 of the loans outstanding under our First Lien Term Loan Facility, (ii) redeem $                 of the shares of common stock received by members of management from vested Class B Units of KC Parent, LLC in connection with the Reorganization and (iii) pay fees and expenses in connection with this offering. We intend to use the remainder, if any, of the net proceeds to us from this offering for general corporate purposes. See “Use of Proceeds.”

Investing in our common stock involves risk. See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 22 to read about factors you should consider before buying shares of our common stock.

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) nor any other regulatory body has approved or disapproved of these securities or passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

Delivery of the shares of our common stock will be made on or about                 , 2022.

Prospectus dated                 , 2022.

KINDERCARE LEARNING COMPANIES TM Confidence for Life.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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ABOUT THIS PROSPECTUS

You should rely only on the information included elsewhere in this prospectus and any free writing prospectus prepared by or on behalf of us that we have referred to you. Neither we nor the underwriters have authorized anyone to provide you with additional information or information different from that included elsewhere in this prospectus or in any free writing prospectus prepared by or on behalf of us that we have referred to you. If anyone provides you with additional, different or inconsistent information, you should not rely on it. Offers to sell, and solicitations of offers to buy, shares of our common stock are being made only in jurisdictions where offers and sales are permitted.

No action is being taken in any jurisdiction outside the United States to permit a public offering of common stock or possession or distribution of this prospectus in that jurisdiction. Persons who come into possession of this prospectus in jurisdictions outside the United States are required to inform themselves about and to observe any restriction as to this offering and the distribution of this prospectus applicable to those jurisdictions.

MARKET AND INDUSTRY DATA

This prospectus includes estimates regarding market and industry data that we prepared based on our management’s knowledge and experience in the markets in which we operate, together with information obtained from various sources, including publicly available information, industry reports and publications, surveys, our clients, suppliers, trade and business organizations and other contacts in the markets in which we operate. Management estimates are derived from publicly available information released by independent industry analysts and third-party sources, as well as data from our internal research, and are based on assumptions made by us upon reviewing such data and our knowledge of such industry and markets which we believe to be reasonable. In addition, certain of the sources were published before the novel coronavirus (“COVID-19”) pandemic and therefore do not reflect any impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In presenting this information, we have made certain assumptions that we believe to be reasonable based on such data and other similar sources and on our knowledge of, and our experience to date in, the markets for the products we distribute. Market share data is subject to change and may be limited by the availability of raw data, the voluntary nature of the data gathering process and other limitations inherent in any statistical survey of market share. In addition, client preferences are subject to change. Accordingly, you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such market share data.

BASIS OF PRESENTATION

The Company reports on a 52- or 53-week fiscal year comprised of 13- or 14-week quarters, with the fiscal year ending on the Saturday closest to December 31. The fiscal years ended January 1, 2022 and December 28, 2019 are 52-week fiscal years with 13-week fourth quarters. The fiscal year ended January 2, 2021 is a 53-week fiscal year with a 14-week fourth quarter. References in this prospectus to “fiscal 2021” refer to the fiscal year ended January 1, 2022, “fiscal 2020” refer to the fiscal year ended January 2, 2021 and “fiscal 2019” refer to the fiscal year ended December 28, 2019.

As used in this prospectus, unless the context otherwise requires, references to:

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MANAGEMENT ESTIMATES

Unless otherwise indicated, information in this prospectus concerning economic conditions, our industry, our markets and our competitive position is based on a variety of sources, including information from independent

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industry analysts and publications, as well as our own estimates and research. This information involves a number of assumptions and limitations, and you are cautioned not to give undue weight to such estimates.

CERTAIN TRADEMARKS

This prospectus includes trademarks and service marks owned by us, including Champions, Early Foundations, KinderCare, KinderCare Education and Rainbow. This prospectus also contains trademarks, trade names and service marks of other companies, which are the property of their respective owners. Solely for convenience, trademarks, trade names and service marks referred to in this prospectus may appear without the ^®, ^™ or SM symbols, but such references are not intended to indicate, in any way, that we will not assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, our rights or the right of the applicable licensor to these trademarks, trade names and service marks. We do not intend our use or display of other parties’ trademarks, trade names or service marks to imply, and such use or display should not be construed to imply, a relationship with, or endorsement or sponsorship of us by, these other parties.

NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

Certain financial measures presented in this prospectus are not recognized under GAAP. EBIT, EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, and Adjusted net income (loss) (collectively referred to as the “non-GAAP financial measures”) are not presentations made in accordance with GAAP, and should not be considered as an alternative to net income or loss, income or loss from operations, or any other performance measure in accordance with GAAP, or as an alternative to cash provided by operating activities as a measure of our liquidity. EBIT is defined as net income (loss) adjusted for net interest expense and income tax expense (benefit). EBITDA is defined as EBIT adjusted for depreciation and amortization. Adjusted EBITDA is defined as EBITDA adjusted for COVID-19 related costs, equity-based compensation, management and advisory fee expenses, acquisition-related costs and other costs because these charges do not relate to the core operations of our business. Adjusted net income (loss) is defined as net income (loss) before income tax adjusted for amortization of intangible assets, COVID-19 related costs, equity-based compensations, management and advisory fee expenses, acquisitions-related costs and other costs.

We present EBIT, EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted net income (loss) because we consider them to be important supplemental measures of our performance and believe they are useful to securities analysts, investors and other interested parties. Specifically, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted net income (loss) allow for an assessment of our operating performance without the effect of charges that do not relate to the core operations of our business. We believe Adjusted EBITDA is helpful to investors in highlighting trends in our core operating performance compared to other measures, which can differ significantly depending on long-term strategic decisions regarding capital structure, the tax jurisdictions in which companies operate and capital investments.

We believe the use of Adjusted net income (loss) provides investors with consistency in the evaluation of the Company as it provides a meaningful comparison of past, present and future operating results, as well as a more useful financial comparison to our peers. We believe this supplemental measure can be used to assess the financial performance of our business without regard to certain costs that are not representative of our continuing operations.

EBIT, EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted net income (loss) have limitations as analytical tools and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP. Some of these limitations are:

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RISK FACTORS

You should carefully consider the risks described below, together with all of the other information included in this prospectus, including our consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus, before making an investment decision. Our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected by any of these risks or uncertainties. In that case, the trading price of our common stock could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment. Furthermore, the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business operations and financial results and on the world economy as a whole may heighten the risks described below.

Risks Related to our Business

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly disrupted our business, financial condition and results of operations and will continue to adversely impact our business.

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly disrupted our operations. We expect to continue to be impacted as the situation remains dynamic and subject to rapid and potentially material changes. As of January 1, 2022, we operated 1,500 early childhood education centers with a licensed capacity of more than 197,000 children. We also provide before- and after-school educational services for preschool and school-age children in connection with elementary schools. As of January 1, 2022, we offered these services through nearly 650 sites in 25 states and the District of Columbia. While we are focused on the re-enrollment and re-ramping of our centers and sites and continuing the phased re-opening of our centers and sites that remain temporarily closed, the continued or additional disruptions to our business and potential adverse impacts to our business, financial condition and results of operations resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic include, but are not limited to:

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These factors could place limitations on our ability to operate effectively and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. As the situation continues to evolve and more information and guidance becomes available, we may adjust our current plans, policies and procedures to address the rapidly changing variables related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic could continue to have a negative impact on our results of operations, the size and duration of which we are currently unable to predict and the volatile conditions stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as reactions to any resurgences of COVID-19, could also precipitate or aggravate the other risk factors that we identify in this section. Additional impacts may arise of which we are currently not aware, the nature and extent of which will depend on future developments which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted.

Changes in the demand for childcare and workplace solutions, which may be negatively affected by demographic trends and economic conditions, including unemployment rates, may affect our operating results.

Most of our families are dual-income families or working single parents who require ECE, and we are dependent on this demographic segment to maintain and grow center revenues. As a result, changes in demographic trends, including the number of dual-income or working single parent families in the workforce, inflation, personal disposable income and birth rates may impact the demand for our services. In addition, our strategy also depends on employers recognizing the value in providing employees with childcare, workforce education and other workplace solutions as an employee benefit. The number of employers that view such services as cost effective or beneficial to their workforces may not continue to grow at the levels we anticipate or may diminish. Further, a deterioration of general economic conditions, including rising unemployment, may adversely impact the demand for our services due to the tendency of out-of-work parents to diminish or discontinue utilization of our services. Such changes could materially and adversely affect our business and operating results.

Demand may be adversely affected by general economic conditions or changes in workforce demographics and work-place environments as a result of COVID-19. Uncertainty or a deterioration in economic conditions could

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also lead to reduced demand for our services. In addition, a reduction in the size of an employer’s workforce could negatively impact the demand for our services and result in reduced enrollment or failure of our employer clients to renew their contracts. A deterioration of general economic conditions or changes in workforce demographics may adversely impact the need for our services because out-of-work parents may decrease or discontinue the use of childcare services, or be unwilling to pay tuition for high-quality services. Additionally, we may not be able to increase the price for our services at a rate consistent with increases in our operating costs. If demand for our services were to decrease, it could disrupt our operations and have a material adverse effect on our business and operating results.

A permanent shift in workforce demographics and office environments may result in decreased demand for center-based or site-based childcare and have an adverse effect on our results of operations.

During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, a substantial portion of the workforce, including parents of children we serve at our centers and sites, transitioned from working in traditional office environments to working in “virtual” or “home” offices. While we expect that many employees will return to traditional office environments once the likelihood of exposure to COVID-19 is significantly reduced, some employers may continue to encourage their employees to maintain a remote or work from home presence or may permanently move all or a portion of their workforce to work remotely. While working parents continue to need childcare regardless of their work location, there are no assurances that parents who work from home will continue to use our centers or sites, or will not require other part-time childcare arrangements that accommodate different working arrangements. Additionally, we believe that as a result of COVID-19, more women have temporarily stepped back from the workforce and that traditional dual-career households may have temporarily decreased. A shift in workplace demographics where employees work from home on a part- or full-time basis, or a sustained decrease in the number of women or dual-career households in the workforce, may reduce demand for center-based or site-based childcare or specific center or site locations as well as other service offerings. We may be unable to successfully meet changed client and parent demands and needs, which may have a material adverse effect on our business or results of operations.

Our business depends largely on our ability to hire and retain qualified teachers and maintain strong employee engagement.

The provision of childcare services is personnel-intensive. Our business depends on our ability to attract, train, and retain the appropriate mix of qualified employees and on effectively implementing and maintaining strong employee engagement, cultivating an atmosphere of trust, and effectively communicating the value proposition of working for us. The childcare industry traditionally has experienced high turnover rates. In addition, state laws require our teachers and other staff members to meet certain educational and other minimum requirements, and we often require that teachers and staff at our centers and sites have additional qualifications. We are also required by state laws to maintain certain prescribed minimum adult-to-child ratios. If we are unable to hire and retain qualified teachers at a center or site, we could be required to reduce enrollment or be prevented from accepting additional enrollment in order to comply with such mandated ratios. In certain markets, we may experience difficulty in attracting, hiring and retaining qualified teachers due to tight labor pools, health concerns and changes in the work environment which may require us to offer increased salaries, enhanced benefits and institute initiatives to maintain strong employee engagement that could result in increased costs. Difficulties in attracting, hiring and retaining qualified personnel may also affect our ability to meet growth objectives in certain geographies and to take advantage of additional enrollment opportunities at our childcare and early education centers and our sites in these markets, which could negatively impact our business. From time to time we may be subject to employee organizing efforts. If some of our employees attempt to unionize, the terms of any collective bargaining agreement may be significantly different from our current compensation arrangements and working conditions. Additionally, responding to such organization attempts could distract our management from performing their various business and operation functions and result in legal or other professional fees. Labor union representation of a material number of our employees could impact our business, financial condition or results of operations as a result of additional labor costs, payroll and benefit expenses, new rules and practices, or work stoppages.

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We depend on key management and key employees to manage our business.

Our success depends on the efforts, abilities and continued services of our executive officers and other key employees. We believe future success will depend upon our ability to continue to attract, motivate and retain highly-skilled managerial, sales and marketing, regional and childcare and early education center and site director personnel. Failure to retain our leadership team and attract and retain other important personnel could lead to disruptions in management and operations, which could affect our business and operating results.

Because our success depends substantially on the value of our brands and reputation as a provider of choice, adverse publicity could impact the demand for our services.

Our reputation and brand are critical to our business. Adverse publicity concerning reported incidents or allegations of inappropriate, illegal or harmful acts to a child at any childcare center or site, or through a third-party provider, whether or not directly relating to or involving us, could result in decreased enrollment at our childcare centers or sites, termination of existing corporate relationships, inability to attract new corporate relationships, or increased insurance costs, all of which could adversely affect our operations. Brand value and our reputation can be severely damaged even by isolated incidents, particularly if the incidents receive considerable negative publicity or result in substantial litigation. These incidents may arise from events that are beyond our ability to control, such as instances of abuse or actions taken (or not taken) by one or more center or site managers or teachers relating to the health, safety or welfare of children in our care. In addition, from time to time, clients and others make claims and take legal action against us. Whether or not claims have merit, they may adversely affect our reputation and the demand for our services. Such demand could also diminish significantly if any such incidents or other matters erode general confidence in us or our services, which would likely result in lower revenues and could materially and adversely affect our business and operating results. Any reputational damage could have a material adverse effect on our brand value and our business, which, in turn, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our continued profitability depends on our ability to offset our increased costs, such as labor and related costs, through increases in tuition rates.

Hiring and retaining key employees and qualified personnel, including teachers, is critical to our business. Labor costs constitute our largest expense. Because we are primarily a service business, inflationary factors and regulatory changes that contribute to wage and benefits cost increases result in significant increases in the costs of running our business. While inflation has been relatively low in recent years, it began to increase in the second half of 2021. Factors including global supply chain disruptions have resulted in shortages in labor, materials and services. Such shortages have resulted in cost increases, particularly for labor, and could continue to increase. Additionally from time to time, including following the 2020 U.S. presidential election, legislative proposals are made or discussed to increase the federal minimum wage in the United States as well as the minimum wage in a number of states and municipalities. We expect to pay employees at rates above the minimum wage, and increases in the statutory minimum wage rates could result in a corresponding increase in the wages and benefits we pay to our employees. Additionally, legislative proposals are also made or discussed to reform entitlement programs, such as health insurance and paid leave programs. If any of these proposals are successful resulting in an increase in the federal minimum wage, such an increase could result in an increase in the wages and benefits we pay. Additionally, competition for teachers in certain markets, and costs associated with rehiring and retaining previously furloughed employees, and costs of retraining teachers could result in significant increases in the cost of running our business. Our success depends on our ability to continue to pass along these costs to our families and to meet our changing labor needs while controlling costs. In the event that we cannot increase the price for our services to cover these higher wage and benefit costs without reducing family demand for our services, our margins could be adversely affected, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations as well as our growth.

Our ability to find affordable real estate and renew existing leases on terms acceptable to us may affect our operating results.

Our ability to effectively obtain real estate leases to open new centers depends on the availability of and our ability to identify cost-effective property that meets our criteria for site convenience, demographics, square

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footage, lease economics, licensing regulations and other factors. We also must be able to cost effectively negotiate or renew our existing center leases at attractive rental rates. If we cannot renew leases for an appropriate term, it may affect enrollment should parents become concerned with the length of time a center will remain open in a particular location. In addition, in certain markets, we may seek to downsize, consolidate, reposition or close some of our locations, which in some cases requires a modification to an existing center lease. Failure to secure adequate new locations or successfully modify existing leases, or failure to effectively manage rent cost, could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Changes in our relationships with employer sponsors or failure to anticipate and respond to changing client (parents or client employees) preferences and expectations may affect our operating results.

Our contracts with employers for full-service center-based and site-based childcare generally have terms of 10 to 15 years, though some have terms as long as 30 years, with varying terms and renewal and termination options. We have a history of consistent contract renewals, but we may not experience similar renewal rates in the future. Employer sponsors have historically reduced their expenditures for benefits related to family services during economic downturns. The termination or non-renewal of a significant number of contracts or the termination of a multiple-site or multiple-service client relationship could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. Additionally, our continued success depends on our ability to convert and retain new and existing clients and our ability to develop new consumer-oriented strategies or services to accommodate changing client, learner, or parent expectations and preferences around service delivery. Our future success depends on our ability to continue to meet the evolving needs and expectations of our clients, including enhancing our existing services. Failure to meet these needs may result in client loss and reduced demand and could have a material impact on our financial results.

Our operating results are subject to seasonal fluctuations.

Our revenue and results of operations fluctuate with the seasonal demands for childcare and the other services we provide. Revenue in our childcare centers and sites typically declines during the third quarter due to decreased enrollments over the summer months. We may be unable to adjust our expenses on a short-term basis to minimize the effect of these fluctuations in revenue. Our quarterly results of operations may also fluctuate based upon the number and timing of childcare center and site openings and/or closings, the timing of new client service launches, acquisitions, the performance of new and existing childcare and early education centers and sites, the contractual arrangements under which childcare centers and sites are operated, the change in the mix of such contractual arrangements, competitive factors and general economic conditions. The inability of existing childcare centers or sites to maintain their current enrollment levels and profitability, and the failure of newly opened childcare centers or sites to contribute to profitability could result in additional fluctuations in our future operating results on a quarterly or annual basis.

Governmental universal childcare benefit programs could reduce the demand for our services.

Federal, state or local childcare and early education benefit programs relying primarily on subsidies in the form of tuition assistance or tax credits could provide us with opportunities for expansion in new or existing markets. However, a federal, state or local universal benefit such as preschool, if offered primarily or exclusively through public schools or nonprofit entities, could reduce the demand for services at our existing centers or sites and negatively impact the financial and operational model for our remaining programs. Some states and smaller political subdivisions already offer preschool through programs in which we may or may not participate. If these programs were to significantly expand or our participation is reduced, it could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. President Biden has proposed publicly funded universal preschool for all three- and four-year-olds in partnerships with the states. The initial legislative drafts of the President’s proposal for a new federally funded preschool program allow private, for-profit entities to be eligible for participation, but do not mandate such participation. It is unclear how the proposed legislation will progress in the current political and fiscal climate, or how the states would implement the programs. Public programs have

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the ability to either expand or shrink our ability to serve additional children. The amount of public funding, the rates paid for early education programs, our eligibility to be a provider and the terms and conditions of the programs can have either a positive or negative effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our revenue and profitability may be affected if there are changes in the spending policies or budget priorities for government funding of childcare and education.

A significant portion of our revenue and a portion of reimbursement of center operating expenses are derived from various federal, state and local government programs, including Governmental Stimulus. For example, some of the government programs from which our revenue is derived include programs that provide funding for full or partial subsidies of tuition at our centers, a food program that provides meals for low income families and universal pre-K programs that provide for free pre-kindergarten programs for children ages three and four. When the federal government funds such programs, it directs funds to state and local governments for specified purposes, which purposes may include the programs listed above. When the federal government directs funds to state and local governments, the appropriations processes are often slow and can be unpredictable. Some programs, such as the food program, also require our centers to maintain eligibility in order to receive such funding. Programs such as the food program also provide that losing eligibility for the program in one state could also result in losing eligibility in states across the country. Factors such as budget cuts, curtailments, delays, changes in leadership, shifts in priorities, changes in eligibility or general reductions in funding could reduce or delay the funding for government programs.

Our business may be adversely affected by changes in government programs, resulting from changes in legislation, both at the federal and state levels, changes in the state procurement process, changes in government leadership, emergence of other priorities and changes in the condition of the local, state or U.S. economy. Moreover, future reductions in government funding and the state and local tax bases could create an unfavorable environment, leading to budget shortfalls resulting in a decrease in funding for the relevant government programs. Any decreased funding may harm our recurring and new business materially if our clients are not able to find and obtain alternative sources of funding.

We have identified a material weakness in our internal controls over financial reporting and if our remediation of the material weakness is not effective, or if we fail to develop and maintain an effective system of disclosure controls and internal controls over financial reporting, our ability to produce timely and accurate financial statements or comply with applicable laws and regulations could be impaired.

In connection with the preparation of our audited consolidated financial statements for fiscal 2020, we identified a material weakness in our internal controls over financial reporting. A “material weakness” is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. A “significant deficiency” is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting that is less severe than a material weakness, yet important enough to merit attention by those responsible for oversight of our financial reporting. We did not design or maintain an effective control environment as we lacked sufficient oversight of activities related to our internal control over financial reporting due to a lack of an appropriate level of experience and training commensurate with public company requirements.

This material weakness was driven by (i) our technology access related environment and lacking a control process over authentication, provisioning, modification, and segregation of duties in user access to prevent or detect unauthorized access to the affected IT systems, (ii) lacking change management controls to ensure that segregation of duties over changes to the affected IT systems was appropriately maintained to prevent the execution of inappropriate or direct changes, and (iii) lack of governance over IT general controls, including oversight of third-party service organizations. These IT deficiencies, when aggregated, could impact effective segregation of duties as well as the effectiveness of IT-dependent controls that could result in misstatements

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potentially impacting all financial statement accounts and disclosures that would not be prevented or detected. Accordingly, our management has determined these deficiencies in the aggregate constitute a material weakness.

None of the control deficiencies described above resulted in a material misstatement to our annual consolidated financial statements. However, the material weakness described above could result in a misstatement of one or more account balances or disclosures that would result in a material misstatement to the annual or interim consolidated financial statements that would not be prevented or detected, and, accordingly, we determined that these control deficiencies constitute a material weakness.

To address our material weakness, we have added personnel and engaged an external advisor to assist with evaluating and documenting the design and operating effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting and assisting with the remediation of deficiencies, including implementing new controls and processes. We intend to continue to take steps to remediate the material weakness described above through hiring additional personnel with public company experience, and further evolving our accounting and business processes related to internal controls over financial reporting. We will not be able to fully remediate this material weakness until these steps have been completed and have been operating effectively for a sufficient period of time.

Furthermore, we cannot assure you that the measures we have taken to date, and actions we may take in the future, will be sufficient to remediate the control deficiencies that led to our material weakness in our internal controls over financial reporting or that they will prevent or avoid potential future material weaknesses. Our current controls and any new controls that we develop may become inadequate because of changes in conditions in our business. Further, weaknesses in our disclosure controls and internal controls over financial reporting may be discovered in the future. Any failure to develop or maintain effective controls or any difficulties encountered in their implementation or improvement could harm our operating results or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations and may result in a restatement of our annual or interim financial statements.

Neither our management nor our independent registered public accounting firm has performed an evaluation of our internal controls over financial reporting in accordance with the SEC rules because no such evaluation has been required. Our independent registered public accounting firm is not required to formally attest to the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting until the filing of our second Annual Report on Form 10-K following this offering. At such time, our independent registered public accounting firm may issue a report that is adverse in the event it is not satisfied with the level at which our internal controls over financial reporting is documented, designed or operating. Any failure to implement and maintain effective internal controls over financial reporting also could adversely affect the results of periodic management evaluations and annual independent registered public accounting firm attestation reports regarding the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting that we will eventually be required to include in our periodic reports that are filed with the SEC. Ineffective disclosure controls and procedures and internal controls over financial reporting could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial and other information, which would likely have a negative effect on the trading price of our common stock. In addition, if we are unable to continue to meet these requirements, we may not be able to remain listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Risks Related to our Capital Structure, Indebtedness and Capital Requirements

We may face risks related to our indebtedness.

Our indebtedness and lease obligations could adversely affect our ability to raise additional capital to fund our operations, limit our flexibility in operating our business, expose us to interest rate risk to the extent of our variable rate debt and prevent us from meeting our obligations under the debt instruments. We had $1.4 billion in debt outstanding as of January 1, 2022. We also had $48.2 million available for borrowing under our Credit Facilities, after giving effect to outstanding letters of credit of $66.8 million. As a result, an increase in interest rates could result in a substantial increase in interest expense. In fiscal 2021, our total interest expense was $96.6 million.

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Our indebtedness and lease obligations could have important consequences to us, including:

The occurrence of any one of these events could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to satisfy our obligations under our indebtedness. In addition, we may incur additional indebtedness in the future, subject to the terms of our Credit Facilities, which could magnify the risks that we currently face.

The terms of our Credit Facilities impose operating and financial restrictions on us that may impair our ability to respond to changing barriers and economic conditions.

The agreements governing our Credit Facilities contain a number of restrictive covenants imposing significant operating and financial restrictions on us, including restrictions that may limit our ability to:

A breach of any of these covenants could result in an event of default under our Credit Facilities and/or other agreements containing cross-default provisions, which could result in our lenders accelerating our debt by declaring amounts outstanding under our debt instruments, including accrued interest, to be immediately due and payable. If we are unable to pay those amounts, the lenders under our Credit Facilities could proceed against the collateral granted to them to the extent such collateral secures such indebtedness. We may not be able to generate sufficient cash to service our indebtedness or satisfy our obligations upon an event of default, and may not be able to refinance any of our indebtedness on commercially reasonable terms or at all.

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In addition, our variable rate indebtedness may use LIBOR as a benchmark for establishing the interest rate applicable to the indebtedness. LIBOR is the subject of recent national, international and other regulatory guidance and proposals for reform. On November 30, 2020, ICE Benchmark Administration (“IBA”), the administrator of LIBOR, announced plans to consult on ceasing publication of U.S. dollar LIBOR on December 31, 2021 for the one-week and two-month U.S. dollar LIBOR tenors, and on June 30, 2023 for all other U.S. dollar LIBOR tenors. The U.S. Federal Reserve concurrently issued a statement advising banks to stop new U.S. dollar issuances by the end of 2021. Such announcements indicate that the continuation of LIBOR on the current basis will not be guaranteed. The Alternative Reference Rates Committee has proposed the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”), as its recommended alternative to LIBOR, and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York began publishing SOFR rates in April 2018. SOFR is intended to be a broad measure of the cost of borrowing cash overnight collateralized by U.S. Treasury securities. It is unknown whether SOFR or any potential alternative reference rate will attain market acceptance as replacements for LIBOR and, as such, the potential effect on our results from operations is unknown.

We may require additional capital to meet our financial obligations and support business growth, and this capital may not be available on acceptable terms or at all.

Based on our current plans and market conditions, we believe that cash flows generated from our operations and borrowing capacity under our Credit Facilities will be sufficient to satisfy our anticipated cash requirements in the ordinary course of business for the foreseeable future. However, we intend to continue to make significant investments to support our business growth and may require additional funds to respond to business challenges. Accordingly, we may need to engage in equity or debt financings in addition to our Credit Facilities to secure additional funds. If we raise additional funds through future issuances of equity or convertible debt securities, our existing stockholders could suffer significant dilution, and any new equity securities we issue could have rights, preferences and privileges superior to those of holders of our common stock. Any debt financing we secure in the future could include restrictive covenants relating to our capital raising activities and other financial and operational matters, which may make it more difficult for us to obtain additional capital and to pursue business opportunities, including potential acquisitions. We may not be able to obtain additional financing on terms favorable to us, if at all. If we are unable to obtain adequate financing or financing on terms satisfactory to us when we require it, our ability to continue to support our business growth and to respond to business challenges could be significantly impaired, and our business may be harmed.

The growth of our business may be adversely affected if we do not implement our growth strategies and initiatives successfully or if we are unable to manage our growth or operations effectively.

We have expanded and are continuing to expand our operations, suite of services and client relationships, which has placed, and will continue to place, significant demands on our management and our operational, IT and financial infrastructure. Additionally, our ability to grow in the future will depend upon a number of factors, including the ability to develop and expand new and existing client relationships, to continue to provide and expand the high-quality services we offer, to hire and train qualified personnel, to expand and grow in existing and future markets, to develop and operationalize new service offerings, and to sustain our operations, growth and efficiencies. Achieving and sustaining growth requires the successful execution of our growth strategies, which may require the implementation of enhancements to client-facing, operational and financial systems, expanded sales and marketing capacity, continuous updates to technology and improvements to processes and systems, and additional or new organizational resources. Given these challenges, we may be unable to manage our expanding operations effectively, or to maintain our growth, which could have a material adverse effect on our business or results of operations.

Acquisitions present many risks and may disrupt our operations. We also may not realize the financial and strategic goals that were contemplated at the time of the transaction.

Acquisitions are an integral part of our growth strategy and we have made, and intend to continue to make, acquisitions to add centers or sites, clients or expand into new markets, which may potentially include markets outside of the United States. We may also consider new service offerings and complementary companies,

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products, or technologies, and from time to time may enter into other strategic transactions, such as investments and joint ventures. Acquisitions involve numerous risks, including potential difficulties in the integration of acquired operations, such as bringing new centers or sites through the re-licensing or accreditation processes, becoming subject to additional regulatory requirements, successfully implementing our curriculum programs, integration of systems and technology, diversion of management’s attention and resources in connection with an acquisition and its integration, loss of key employees or key service contract arrangements of the acquired operations, and failure of acquired operations to effectively and timely adopt our internal control processes and other policies. Additionally, the acquisition of new service offerings or emerging services may present operational and integration challenges, particularly with respect to companies that have significant or complex operations or that provide services where we do not have significant prior experience. With any acquisition, the financial and strategic goals that were contemplated at the time of the transaction may not be realized due to increased costs, undisclosed liabilities not covered by insurance or by the terms of the acquisition, write-offs or impairment charges relating to goodwill and other intangible assets, and other unexpected integration costs. We also may not have success in identifying, executing and integrating acquisitions in the future. The occurrence of any of these risks could have an impact on our business, results of operations, financial condition or cash flows, particularly in the event of a larger acquisition or concurrent acquisitions.

Significant competition in our industry could adversely affect our results of operations.

We compete for enrollment in our early education centers and sites in a highly-fragmented market, including residential-based childcare operated out of the caregiver’s home and other center-based childcare that may include work-site childcare centers, full- and part-time childcare centers and preschools, private and public elementary schools and church-affiliated, government-subsidized and other not-for-profit providers and schools. In addition, alternatives to organized childcare, such as relatives and nannies caring for children, can represent lower cost options to our services. We are often at a price disadvantage with alternative providers, who operate with little or no rental expense, little or no curriculum expense and who may not be compelled to comply with the same health, safety, insurance and operational regulations. We believe that our ability to compete successfully depends on a number of factors, including qualifications of teachers, quality of care, quality of curriculum, center accreditation, site convenience and tuition pricing. Our inability to remain competitive could cause decreased enrollment, reduced tuition revenues and/or increased expenses relative to net revenue, which may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We are a holding company with no operations of our own, and we depend on our subsidiaries for cash.

We are a holding company and do not have any material assets or operations other than ownership of equity interests of our subsidiaries. Our operations are conducted almost entirely through our subsidiaries, and our ability to generate cash to meet our obligations or to pay dividends, if any, is highly dependent on the earnings of, and receipt of funds from, our subsidiaries through dividends or intercompany loans. The ability of our subsidiaries to generate sufficient cash flow from operations to allow us and them to make scheduled payments on our debt obligations will depend on their future financial performance, which will be affected by a range of economic, competitive and business factors, many of which are outside of our control.

Risks Related to Intellectual Property, Information Technology and Data Privacy and Security

If we are unable to adequately protect our intellectual property rights, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

Our success depends in large part on our ability to protect our intellectual property rights, including those rights in our brands and our ability to build and maintain brand loyalty. Our company’s brands (including name, logo, domain name, and trademark rights thereto), and our curriculum (including copyrights therein) are valuable assets that serve to differentiate us from our competitors. We currently rely on a combination of trademark, patent, copyright, trade secrets and unfair competition laws, as well as confidentiality and license agreements and

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other contractual provisions, to establish and protect our intellectual property rights. These laws are subject to change at any time and certain agreements may not be fully enforceable, which could restrict our ability to protect our intellectual property rights, including our brands and curriculum. Such means also may afford only limited protection of our intellectual property rights and we cannot assure you that the steps taken by us to protect our intellectual property rights will be adequate to: (i) prevent or deter infringement, misappropriation or other violation of our trademarks, copyrights or other intellectual property rights by others; (ii) prevent others from independently developing services similar to, or duplicative of, ours; or (iii) permit us to gain or maintain a competitive advantage.

We generally seek or apply for similar statutory protections as and if we deem appropriate, based on then-current facts and circumstances. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to secure additional intellectual property rights as we expand our services and geographic scope and there can be no assurance that any of our existing intellectual property rights will not be challenged, invalidated, circumvented or rendered unenforceable. If we fail to obtain additional intellectual property rights or our existing intellectual property rights are rendered invalid or unenforceable, or narrowed in scope, the coverage of such intellectual property rights afforded our brands and services could be impaired. Such impairment could impede our ability to market our services, negatively affect our competitive position and harm our business and operating results.

The unauthorized use, infringement, misappropriation or other violation of our intellectual property could damage our brand identity and the goodwill we have created for our company, which could cause our sales to decline. We cannot guarantee that the operation of our business does not, and will not in the future, infringe, misappropriate or violate the rights of third parties, and from time to time we may be subject to claims of infringement, misappropriation or other violation of intellectual property rights and related litigation. Litigation may also be necessary to protect or enforce our intellectual property rights, or to defend against third-party claims. Any such litigation, regardless of merit, is inherently uncertain and can be time-consuming and result in substantial costs and diversion of our resources, causing a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. If we cannot protect our intellectual property rights, our brand identity and the goodwill we created for our company may diminish, causing our sales to decline. If we are found to infringe, misappropriate or violate the rights of a third-party, we may be forced to stop offering, or to rebrand or redesign, certain products or services, to pay damages or royalties, and to enter into licensing agreements, which may not be available on commercially reasonable terms, or at all.

Intellectual property protection in jurisdictions outside of the United States may not be available to the same extent as in the United States and filing, prosecuting and defending our intellectual property in all countries throughout the world may be prohibitively expensive. The lack of adequate legal protections of intellectual property or failure of legal remedies for related actions in jurisdictions outside of the United States could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, including materially and adversely affecting our identity in the United States and cause our sales to decline.

We rely significantly on the use of information technology, as well as those of our third-party service providers. Any significant failure, inadequacy, interruption or data security incident of our information technology systems, or those of our third-party service providers, could disrupt our business operations, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and/or cash flows.

We rely extensively on various information technology systems, including data centers, hardware and software and applications to manage many aspects of our business and the success of our operations depends upon the secure transmission of confidential and personal information over public networks, including the use of cashless payments. In particular, we are heavily dependent upon our mobile application and website platform as a means of growing user engagement and perception of our brand. Our mobile application is hosted by a third-party and supported by another outside development firm. In addition, kindercare.com, our website platform, is hosted on an Infrastructure-as-a-Service solution provided to us by a third-party’s cloud platform. Any compromises,

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shutdowns, failures or interruption of our mobile application, website hosting platform, payment processing application, or any of our computer and information technology systems, incidents or failures experienced by our third-party service providers including any of our computer and information technology systems managed thereby, could intentionally or inadvertently lead to delays in our business operations or harm our ability to serve our clients and families through these channels, which could adversely affect our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and/or cash flows.

Our information technology systems may be subject to damage or interruption from telecommunications problems, data corruption, software errors, fire, flood, global pandemics and natural disasters, power outages, systems disruptions, system conversions, and/or human error. Our existing safety systems, data backup, access protection, user management and information technology emergency planning may not be sufficient to prevent data loss or long-term network outages. In addition, we may have to upgrade our existing information technology systems or choose to incorporate new technology systems from time to time in order for such systems to support the increasing needs of our expanding business. Costs and potential problems and interruptions associated with the implementation of new or upgraded systems and technology or with maintenance or adequate support of existing systems could disrupt or reduce the efficiency of our operations.

In addition, as part of our normal business activities, we collect and store certain confidential information, including personal information with respect to clients and employees, as well as information related to intellectual property, and the success of our business depends on the secure transmission of confidential and personal data over public networks, including the use of cashless payments. We may share some of this information with third-party service providers who assist us with certain aspects of our business. Any failure on the part of us or our third-party service providers to maintain the security of this confidential data and personal information, including via the penetration of our network security (or those of our third-party service providers) and the misappropriation of confidential and personal information, could result in business disruption, damage to our reputation, financial obligations to third parties, fines, penalties, regulatory proceedings and private litigation, any or all of which could result in the Company incurring potentially substantial costs. Such events could also result in the deterioration of confidence in the Company by employees and clients and cause other competitive disadvantages.

Security incidents compromising the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of our confidential or personal information and our and our third-party service providers’ information technology systems could result from cyber-attacks, computer malware, viruses, social engineering (including spear phishing and ransomware attacks), credential stuffing, supply chain attacks, efforts by individuals or groups of hackers and sophisticated organizations, including state-sponsored organizations, errors or malfeasance of our personnel, and security vulnerabilities in the software or systems on which we and our third-party service providers rely. The techniques used by criminals to obtain unauthorized access to systems or sensitive data change frequently, are constantly evolving and often are not recognized until after being launched against a target, and accordingly, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or implement adequate preventative measures and there may be a significant delay between the initiation of an attack on our information technology systems and our recognition of the attack. Thus, a disruption, cyberattack or other security breach of our information technology systems or infrastructure, or those of our third-party service providers, may go undetected for an extended period and could result in the theft, transfer, unauthorized access to, disclosure, modification, misuse, loss or destruction of our employee, representative, client, vendor, consumer and/or other third-party data, including sensitive or confidential data, personal information and/or intellectual property. While we have taken measures designed to protect the security of the confidential and personal information under our control, we cannot assure you that any security measures that we or our third-party service providers have implemented will be effective against current or future security threats.

Additionally, new or changing risk profiles related to data security could require that we expend significant additional resources to enhance our information security systems. Several recent, highly publicized data security breaches at other companies have heightened consumer awareness of this issue and may embolden individuals or

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groups to target our systems or those of third parties with which we do business. In addition, our information systems are a target of cyberattacks, although the incidents that we have experienced to date have not had a material effect. If we suffer a material loss or disclosure of personal or confidential information as a result of a breach of our information technology systems, including those of our third-party service providers, we may suffer reputational, competitive and/or business harm, incur significant costs and be subject to government investigations, litigation, fines and/or damages, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and/or cash flows. Moreover, while we maintain cyber insurance that may help provide coverage for these types of incidents, we cannot assure you that our insurance will be adequate to cover costs and liabilities related to these incidents.

Any failure on the part of us or third parties with which we do business to maintain the security of our personal, sensitive, or confidential data, including via the penetration of our network and the misappropriation of confidential and personal information, as well as a failure to promptly remedy any security incidents events should they occur, could compromise our systems, and the information stored in our systems could be accessed, publicly disclosed, lost, stolen, or damaged. Any such circumstance could adversely affect our ability to attract and maintain clients, cause us to suffer negative publicity, and subject us to legal claims and liabilities or regulatory penalties or cause us to suffer competitive disadvantages, and thus have a material and adverse impact on us. Investigations into a data breach, including how it occurred, its consequences and our responses, by state and federal agencies could, among other adverse outcomes, lead to fines, other monetary relief and/or injunctive relief that could materially increase our data security costs, adversely impact how we operate our information systems and collect and use client information, and put us at a competitive disadvantage with other retailers. For example, as discussed below, the California Consumer Privacy Act (the “CCPA”) creates a private right of action for certain data breaches. Further, defending a suit, regardless of its merit, could be costly, divert management attention and harm our reputation. The successful assertion of one or more large claims against us could adversely affect our reputation, business, financial condition, revenues, results of operations or cash flows. Furthermore, payment card networks with payment cards impacted by a data breach may pursue claims against us, either directly or through our acquiring banks. Finally, any material disruption or slowdown of our systems or those of our third-party service providers and business partners, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our collection, use, storage, disclosure, transfer and other processing of personal information could give rise to significant costs and liabilities, including as a result of governmental regulation, uncertain or inconsistent interpretation and enforcement of legal requirements or differing views of personal privacy rights, which may have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations.

As part of our normal business activities, we collect, use, store, process, and transmit personal information with respect to our clients and their families and our team members. We share some of this personal information with vendors who assist us with certain aspects of our business. A variety of federal and state laws, regulations industry self-regulatory principles, industry standards or codes of conduct, and regulatory guidance, relating to privacy, data protection, marketing and advertising, and consumer protection apply to the collection, use, retention, protection, disclosure, transfer and other processing of certain types of data. These requirements of such laws, regulations, industry self-regulatory principles, industry standards or codes of conduct, and regulatory guidance may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent from one jurisdiction to another or may conflict with other rules or our practices. As a result, our practices may not have complied in the past, or may not comply in the future, with all such laws, regulations, standards, requirements and obligations. Any failure, or perceived failure, by us to comply with our posted privacy policies or with any federal or state privacy or consumer protection-related laws, regulations, industry self-regulatory principles, industry standards or codes of conduct, regulatory guidance, or orders to which we may be subject or other legal obligations relating to privacy or consumer protection could adversely affect our reputation, brand and business, and may result in claims, fines, penalties, proceedings or actions against us by governmental entities, clients, suppliers or others or other liabilities or may require us to change our operations and/or cease using certain data.

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In addition, various federal and state legislative and regulatory bodies, or self-regulatory organizations, may expand current laws or regulations, enact new laws or regulations or issue revised rules or guidance regarding privacy, data protection, consumer protection, and advertising, and as the regulatory environment related to information security, data collection and use, and privacy becomes increasingly rigorous, with new and changing requirements applicable to our business. For example, the CCPA, which came into effect in 2020, increases privacy rights for California consumers and imposes obligations on companies that process their personal information. Among other things, the CCPA gives California consumers expanded rights related to their personal information, including the right to access and delete their personal information and receive detailed information about how their personal information is used and shared. The CCPA also provides California consumers the right to opt-out of certain sales of personal information and may restrict the use of cookies and similar technologies for advertising purposes. The CCPA prohibits discrimination against individuals who exercise their privacy rights, and provides for civil penalties for violations enforceable by the California Attorney General as well as a private right of action for certain data breaches that result in the loss of personal information. This private right of action is expected to increase the likelihood of, and risks associated with, data breach litigation. Many of the CCPA’s requirements as applied to personal information of a business’s personnel and related individuals are subject to a moratorium set to expire on January 1, 2023. The expiration of the moratorium may increase our compliance costs and our exposure to public and regulatory scrutiny, costly litigation, fines and penalties. Additionally, in November 2020, California passed the California Privacy Rights Act (the “CPRA”), which expands the CCPA significantly, including by expanding California consumers’ rights with respect to certain personal information and creating a new state agency to oversee implementation and enforcement efforts, potentially resulting in further uncertainty and requiring us to incur additional costs and expenses in an effort to comply. Many of the CPRA’s provisions will become effective on January 1, 2023. The costs of compliance with, and the other burdens imposed by, these and other laws or regulatory actions may increase our operational costs, and/or result in interruptions or delays in the availability of systems.

Moreover, in March 2021, the Governor of Virginia signed into law the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (the “VCDPA”). The VCDPA creates consumer rights, similar to the CCPA, but also imposes security and assessment requirements for businesses. In addition, in July 2021, Colorado enacted the Colorado Privacy Act (“COCPA”), becoming the third comprehensive consumer privacy law to be passed in the United States (after the CCPA and VCDPA). The COCPA closely resembles the VCDPA, and both will be enforced by the respective states’ Attorney General and district attorneys, although the two differ in many ways. Once they become enforceable in 2023, we must comply with each if our operations fall within the scope of these newly enacted comprehensive mandates, which may increase our compliance costs and potential liability. Similar laws have been proposed in other states and at the federal level, reflecting a trend toward more stringent privacy legislation in the United States. This legislation may add additional complexity, variation in requirements, restrictions and potential legal risk, require additional investment in resources to compliance programs, could impact strategies and availability of previously useful data, and could result in increased compliance costs and/or changes in business practices and policies.

Our communications with our clients are subject to certain laws and regulations, including the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing (“CAN-SPAM”) Act of 2003, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (the “TCPA”), and the Telemarketing Sales Rule and analogous state laws, that could expose us to significant damages awards, fines and other penalties that could materially impact our business. For example, the TCPA imposes various consumer consent requirements and other restrictions in connection with certain telemarketing activity and other communication with consumers by phone, fax or text message. The CAN-SPAM Act and the Telemarketing Sales Rule and analogous state laws also impose various restrictions on marketing conducted use of email, telephone, fax or text message. As laws and regulations, including FTC enforcement, rapidly evolve to govern the use of these communications and marketing platforms, the failure by us, our employees or third parties acting at our direction to abide by applicable laws and regulations could adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations or subject us to fines or other penalties.

We are also subject to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA, which applies to operators of commercial websites and online services directed to U.S. children under the age of 13 that collect personal information from children, and to operators of general audience websites with actual knowledge that they are

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collecting information from U.S. children under the age of 13. We collect certain personal information about children from their parents or guardians. COPPA is subject to interpretation by courts and other governmental authorities, including the FTC, and the FTC is authorized to promulgate, and has promulgated, revisions to regulations implementing provisions of COPPA, and provides non-binding interpretive guidance regarding COPPA that changes periodically with little or no public notice. Although we strive to ensure that our business and mobile application are compliant with applicable COPPA provisions, these provisions may be modified, interpreted, or applied in new manners that we may be unable to anticipate or prepare for appropriately, and we may incur substantial costs or expenses in attempting to modify our systems, platform, applications, or other technology to address changes in COPPA or interpretations thereof. If we fail to accurately anticipate the application, interpretation or legislative expansion of COPPA we could be subject to governmental enforcement actions, litigation, fines and penalties or adverse publicity and we could be in breach of our clients contracts and our clients could lose trust in us, which could harm our reputation and business.

Further, some laws may require us to notify governmental authorities and/or affected individuals of data breaches involving certain personal information or other unauthorized or inadvertent access to or disclosure of such information. We may need to notify governmental authorities and affected individuals with respect to such incidents. For example, laws in all 50 U.S. states may require businesses to provide notice to consumers whose personal information has been disclosed as a result of a data breach. These laws are not consistent, and compliance in the event of a widespread data breach may be difficult and costly. We also may be contractually required to notify consumers or other counterparties of a security breach. Regardless of our contractual protections, any actual or perceived security breach or breach of our contractual obligations could harm our reputation and brand, expose us to potential liability or require us to expend significant resources on data security and in responding to any such actual or perceived breach.

In addition to government regulation, privacy advocates and industry groups have proposed, and may propose in the future, self-regulatory standards. These and other industry standards may legally or contractually apply to us, or we may elect to comply with such standards. If we fail to comply with these contractual obligations or standards, we may face substantial liability or fines.

We make public statements about our use and disclosure of personal information through our privacy policies that are posted on our websites. The publication of our privacy policies and other statements that provide promises and assurances about data privacy and security can subject us to potential government or legal action if they are found to be deceptive, unfair or misrepresentative of our actual practices.

In addition, the FTC expects a company’s data security measures to be reasonable and appropriate in light of the sensitivity and volume of consumer information it holds, the size and complexity of its business, and the cost of available tools to improve security and reduce vulnerabilities. Our failure to take any steps perceived by the FTC as appropriate to protect clients’ personal information may result in claims by the FTC that we have engaged in unfair or deceptive acts or practices in violation of Section 5(a) of the FTC Act. State consumer protection laws provide similar causes of action for unfair or deceptive practices for alleged privacy, data protection and data security violations.

Further, we are subject to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (“PCI-DSS”), a security standard applicable to companies that collect, store or transmit certain data regarding credit and debit cards, holders and transactions. We rely on vendors to handle PCI-DSS matters and to ensure PCI-DSS compliance. Despite our compliance efforts, we may become subject to claims that we have violated the PCI-DSS based on past, present, and future business practices. Our actual or perceived failure to comply with the PCI-DSS can subject us to fines, termination of banking relationships, and increased transaction fees. In addition, there is no guarantee that PCI-DSS compliance will prevent illegal or improper use of our payment systems or the theft, loss or misuse of payment card data or transaction information.

Each privacy, security, and data protection law and regulation, and any changes or new laws or regulations, could impose significant limitations, require changes to our business, or restrict our use or storage of personal information,

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which may increase our compliance expenses and make our business more costly or less efficient to conduct and failure to comply with such laws and regulations could result in significant penalties and damages, each of which could materially and adversely affect our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations.

Use and storage of paper records increases risk of loss, destruction and could increase human error with respect to documentation.

We continue to rely on the use paper records, which are initially stored onsite at our centers. Paper records are more susceptible to human error both in terms of accurately capturing client information, as well as with respect to misplacing or losing the same. There is no duplicate or backup copy of the paper records and in the event of a flood, fire, theft, or other adverse event, the records, and all relevant client information or information about our clients’ families could be lost or destroyed. Paper records do not allow for a number of the benefits of electronic records systems, including features designed to improve privacy, security, accuracy and accessibility of such records. This may create more risk for us to the extent it could lead to breaches of client privacy.

We are subject to payment-related risks that may result in higher operating costs or the inability to process payments, either of which could harm our brand, reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations.

We accept payments using a variety of methods, including check, credit card, debit card and direct debit from a client’s bank account. For existing and future payment options that we offer to our clients, we may become subject to additional regulations and compliance requirements (including obligations to implement enhanced authentication processes that could result in significant costs and reduce the ease of use of our payment options), as well as fraud. For certain payment methods, including credit and debit cards, we pay interchange and other fees, which may increase over time and raise our operating costs and lower profitability. We rely on independent service providers to provide certain payment processing services, including the processing of credit cards, debit cards and electronic checks. If these independent service providers become unwilling or unable to provide these services to us or if the cost of using these providers increases, our business could be harmed. We also are subject to payment card association operating rules, including data security rules, certification requirements and rules governing electronic funds transfers, which could change or be reinterpreted to make it difficult or impossible for us to comply. In particular, we must comply with the PCI-DSS, a set of requirements designed to ensure that all companies that process, store or transmit payment card information maintain a secure environment to protect cardholder data. If we fail to comply with any of these rules or requirements, or if our data security systems are breached or compromised, we may be liable for card-issuing banks’ costs, subject to fines and higher transaction fees, and lose our ability to accept credit and debit card payments from our clients, process electronic funds transfers or facilitate other types of online payments and our brand, reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

Certain estimates of market opportunity and forecasts of market growth included in this prospectus may prove to be inaccurate.

This prospectus includes our internal estimates of the addressable market for our solutions. Market opportunity estimates and growth forecasts, whether obtained from third-party sources or developed internally, are subject to significant uncertainty and are based on assumptions and estimates that may prove to be inaccurate. This is especially so at the present time due to the uncertain and rapidly changing projections of the severity, magnitude and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic. The estimates and forecasts in this prospectus relating to the size and expected growth of our target market, market demand and adoption, capacity to address this demand and pricing may also prove to be inaccurate. In particular, our estimates regarding our current and projected market opportunity are difficult to predict. The addressable market we estimate may not materialize for many years, if ever, even if the markets in which we compete meet the size estimates and growth forecasted in this prospectus, our business could fail to grow at similar rates, if at all.

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Risks Related to our Common Stock and this Offering

There is no existing market for our common stock and we do not know if one will develop to provide you with adequate liquidity. If our stock price fluctuates after this offering, you could lose a significant part of your investment.

Prior to this offering, there has not been a public market for our common stock. We cannot predict the extent to which investor interest in us will lead to the development of a trading market on the New York Stock Exchange, or otherwise or how active and liquid that market may come to be. If an active trading market does not develop, you may have difficulty selling any of the common stock that you buy.

Negotiations between us and the underwriters will determine the initial public offering price for our common stock, which may not be indicative of prices that will prevail in the open market following this offering. Consequently, you may not be able to sell our common stock at prices equal to or greater than the price you paid in this offering. The market price of our common stock may be influenced by many factors including:

As a result of these factors, investors in our common stock may not be able to resell their shares at or above the initial offering price. In addition, our stock price may be volatile. The stock market in general has experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of companies like us. Accordingly, these broad market fluctuations, as well as general economic, political and market conditions, such as recessions or interest rate changes, may significantly reduce the market price of the common stock, regardless of our operating performance. In the past, following periods of market volatility, stockholders have instituted securities class action litigation. If we were to become involved in securities litigation, it could result in substantial costs and divert resources and our management’s attention from other business concerns, regardless of the outcome of such litigation.

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Because PG owns a significant percentage of our common stock, it may control all major corporate decisions and its interests may conflict with your interests as an owner of our common stock and our interests.

We are controlled by PG, which, pro forma for the Reorganization, owns     % of our common stock and will own approximately     % after the consummation of this offering and the redemption of $                 of common stock as described in “Use of Proceeds.” Accordingly, PG currently controls the election of our directors and could exercise a controlling interest over our business, affairs and policies, including the appointment of our management and the entering into of business combinations or dispositions and other corporate transactions. The directors PG elects have the authority to incur additional debt, issue or repurchase stock, declare dividends and make other decisions that could be detrimental to stockholders. In addition, following the Reorganization and in connection with this offering, we will enter into the Stockholders Agreement with PG and certain of our other existing stockholders. Accordingly, following this offering, PG will have specified board representation rights, governance rights and other rights, including PG having the right to nominate designees to our board of directors on a sliding scale based on PG’s ownership of our common stock. See “Management—Composition of the Board of Directors after this Offering.” Even if PG were to own or control less than a majority of our total outstanding shares of common stock, it will be able to influence the outcome of corporate actions so long as it owns a significant portion of our total outstanding shares of common stock.

PG may have interests that are different from yours and may vote in a way with which you disagree and that may be adverse to your interests. In addition, PG’s concentration of ownership could have the effect of delaying or preventing a change in control or otherwise discouraging a potential acquirer from attempting to obtain control of us, which could cause the market price of our common stock to decline or prevent our stockholders from realizing a premium over the market price for their common stock.

Additionally, PG is in the business of making investments in companies and may from time to time acquire and hold interests in businesses that compete directly or indirectly with us or supply us with goods and services. PG may also pursue acquisition opportunities that may be complementary to our business and, as a result, those acquisition opportunities may not be available to us. Stockholders should consider that the interests of PG may differ from their interests in material respects.

We are a “controlled company” within the meaning of the rules and, as a result, will qualify for, and may rely on, exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements.

Following the consummation of this offering, PG will continue to control a majority of our outstanding common stock. As a result, we expect to be a “controlled company” within the meaning of the New York Stock Exchange corporate governance standards. A company of which more than 50% of the voting power is held by an individual, a group or another company is a “controlled company” within the meaning of the New York Stock Exchange rules and may elect not to comply with certain corporate governance requirements of the New York Stock Exchange, including:

Following this offering, while we do not intend to utilize the exemptions listed above, we may from time to time utilize one or more of these exemptions. If we do utilize the exemptions, our board of directors and those committees may have more directors who do not meet the New York Stock Exchange’s independence standards than they would if those standards were to apply. The independence standards are intended to ensure that

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directors who meet those standards are free of any conflicting interest that could influence their actions as directors. Accordingly, you will not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to all of the corporate governance requirements of the New York Stock Exchange.

Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the public market by our existing stockholders could cause our stock price to fall.

Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the public market or the perception that these sales might occur, could depress the market price of our common stock and could impair our ability to raise capital through the sale of additional equity securities. Substantially all of our existing stockholders are subject to lock-up agreements with the underwriters of this offering that restrict the stockholders’ ability to transfer shares of our common stock for 180 days from the date of this prospectus, subject to certain exceptions. The lock-up agreements limit the number of shares of common stock that may be sold immediately following the public offering. After this offering and the redemption of $             of common stock as described in “Use of Proceeds,” we will have                  outstanding shares of common stock based on the number of shares outstanding. Subject to limitations,                  shares will become eligible for sale upon expiration of the lock-up period, as calculated and described in more detail in the section entitled “Shares Eligible for Future Sale.” In addition, none of the shares issued or issuable upon exercise of options vested as of the expiration of the lock-up period will be eligible for sale at that time. Further, the representatives of the underwriters may, in their sole discretion, release all or some portion of the shares subject to the lock-up agreements at any time and for any reason. See “Shares Eligible for Future Sale” for more information. Sales of a substantial number of such shares upon expiration of the lock-up agreements, the perception that such sales may occur, or early release of these agreements, could have a material and adverse effect on the trading price of our common stock.

Moreover, after this offering, holders of     % of our outstanding common stock will have rights pursuant to the Stockholders Agreement, subject to certain conditions such as the 180-day lock-up arrangement described above, to require us to file registration statements for the public sale of their shares or to include their shares in registration statements that we may file for ourselves or other stockholders. Registration of these shares under the Securities Act, except for shares held by our affiliates as defined in Rule 144 under the Securities Act. Any sales of securities by these stockholders could have a material and adverse effect on the trading price of our common stock.

You will incur immediate dilution as a result of this offering.

If you purchase common stock in this offering, you will pay more for your shares than the amounts paid by existing stockholders for their shares. As a result, you will incur immediate dilution of $             per share, representing the difference between the assumed initial public offering price of $             per share (the midpoint of the estimated initial public offering price range set forth on the cover of this prospectus) and our as adjusted net tangible book value (deficit) per share after giving effect to this offering. Additionally, pursuant to our amended and restated bylaws, our board of directors has the authority, without action or vote of our stockholders, to issue all or any part of our authorized but unissued shares of common stock, including shares issuable upon the exercise of options, or shares of our authorized but unissued preferred stock. Issuances of common stock or voting preferred stock would reduce your influence over matters on which our stockholders vote and, in the case of issuances of preferred stock, would likely result in your interest in us being subject to the prior rights of holders of that preferred stock. See “Dilution.”

We may allocate the net proceeds from this offering in ways that you and other stockholders may not approve.

We intend to use the net proceeds from this offering, including any net proceeds from the underwriters’ exercise of the option to purchase additional shares from us, to (i) repay $                 of our outstanding First Lien Notes, repay $                 of the loans outstanding under our Second Lien Facility and then repay $                 of the loans outstanding under the First Lien Term Loan Facility, (ii) redeem $                 of the shares of common stock received by members of management from vested Class B Units of KC Parent,

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LLC in connection with the Reorganization and (iii) pay fees and expenses in connection with this offering. We intend to use the remainder, if any, of the net proceeds to us from this offering for general corporate purposes.

To the extent the net proceeds from this offering are used for general corporate purposes, our management will have broad discretion in the application of the net proceeds from this offering. Because of the number and variability of factors that will determine our use of the net proceeds from this offering, their ultimate use may vary substantially from their currently intended use. Our management might not apply our net proceeds in ways that ultimately increase the value of your investment, and the failure by our management to apply these funds effectively could harm our business. Pending their use, we may invest the net proceeds from this offering in short- and intermediate-term, interest-bearing obligations, investment-grade instruments, certificates of deposit or direct or guaranteed obligations of the U.S. government. These investments may not yield a favorable return to our stockholders. If we do not invest or apply the net proceeds from this offering in ways that enhance shareholder value, we may fail to achieve expected results, which could cause our stock price to decline.

We may change our dividend policy at any time.

Following this offering we intend to retain any future earnings and do not anticipate declaring or paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Our dividend policy may change at any time without notice. The declaration and amount of any future dividends is subject to the discretion of our board of directors in determining whether dividends are in the best interest of our stockholders based on our financial performance and other factors and are in compliance with all laws and agreements applicable to the declaration and payment of cash dividends by us. In addition, our ability to pay dividends on our common stock is currently limited by the covenants of our Credit Facilities and may be further restricted by the terms of any future debt or preferred securities. See “Dividend Policy.” Future dividends may also be affected by factors that our board of directors deems relevant, including our potential future capital requirements for investments, legal risks, changes in tax laws or corporate laws and contractual restrictions such as financial or operating covenants in our debt arrangements. As a result, we may not pay dividends at any rate or at all.

Some provisions of our charter documents and Delaware law may have anti-takeover effects that could discourage an acquisition of us by others, even if an acquisition would be beneficial to our stockholders, and may prevent attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management.

Provisions in our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our amended and restated bylaws, the DGCL and the Stockholders Agreement could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us or increase the cost of acquiring us, even if doing so would benefit our stockholders, including transactions in which stockholders might otherwise receive a premium for their shares. These provisions include:

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In addition, while we have opted out of Section 203 of the DGCL, our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation contains similar provisions providing that we may not engage in certain “business combinations” with any “interested stockholder” for a three-year period following the time that the shareholder became an interested stockholder, unless:

Generally, a “business combination” includes a merger, asset or stock sale or other transaction provided for or through us resulting in a financial benefit to the interested stockholder. Subject to certain exceptions, an “interested stockholder” is a person who owns 15% or more of our outstanding voting stock and the affiliates and associates of such person. For purposes of this provision, “voting stock” means any class or series of stock entitled to vote generally in the election of directors. Our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that PG, its affiliates and any of its direct or indirect designated transferees (other than in certain market transfers) and any group of which such persons are a party do not constitute “interested stockholders” for purposes of this provision.

Under certain circumstances, this provision will make it more difficult for a person who qualifies as an “interested stockholder” to effect certain business combinations with us for a three-year period. This provision may encourage companies interested in acquiring us to negotiate in advance with our board of directors in order to avoid the shareholder approval requirement if our board of directors approves either the business combination or the transaction that results in the shareholder becoming an interested stockholder. These provisions also may have the effect of preventing changes in our board of directors and may make it more difficult to accomplish transactions that our stockholders may otherwise deem to be in their best interests. See “Description of Capital Stock” and “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions—Stockholders Agreement.”

These anti-takeover defenses could discourage, delay or prevent a transaction involving a change in control. These provisions could also discourage proxy contests and make it more difficult for you and other stockholders to elect directors of your choosing and cause us to take corporate actions other than those you desire.

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Our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware or federal district courts of the United States will be the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of lawsuits, which could limit our stockholders’ abilities to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers or employees.

Our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws will become effective upon the consummation of this offering. Once effective, our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws will require, to the fullest extent permitted by law, that (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (ii) 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, (iii) any action asserting a claim against us arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL or the second amended and restated certificate of incorporation or the amended and restated bylaws, or (iv) any action asserting a claim against us governed by the internal affairs doctrine will have to be brought only in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware (or the federal district court for the District of Delaware or other state courts of the State of Delaware if the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware does not have jurisdiction). The second amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws will also require that the federal district courts of the United States of America will be the exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act. However, there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce such provision in our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws. Section 22 of the Securities Act provides that federal and state courts have concurrent jurisdiction over all lawsuits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. Therefore, to the extent the exclusive federal forum provision for causes of action arising under the Securities Act restricts the courts in which claims arising under the Securities Act may be brought, there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce such a provision, and investors cannot waive compliance with federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.

The enforceability of similar choice of forum provisions in other companies’ certificates of incorporation and bylaws has been challenged in legal proceedings, and it is possible that, in connection with any action, a court could find the choice of forum provisions contained in our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws to be inapplicable or unenforceable in such action. If a court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could harm our business, financial condition and operating results. Although we believe these provisions benefit us by providing increased consistency in the application of applicable law in the types of lawsuits to which they apply, the provisions may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers. These provisions would not apply to any suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts of the United States have exclusive jurisdiction.

Changes in laws and regulations could impact the way we conduct business.

Laws, regulations and licensing, and other requirements impacting education, childcare, and before- and after-school programs at the national, state and local levels frequently change, and the ultimate cost of compliance cannot be precisely estimated. Although these regulations and requirements vary greatly from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, government agencies and accreditation organizations generally review, among other things, the adequacy of buildings and equipment, minimum square footage, ratio of staff to children, educational qualifications and training of staff, record keeping, nutrition requirements, curriculum, employee screening, compliance with health and safety standards, including COVID-19 protocols, data privacy and security requirements, and program quality. Failure of a center, site or program to comply with applicable regulations and requirements could subject it to sanctions, which can include fines, corrective orders, being placed on probation, loss of accreditation or, in more serious cases, suspension or revocation of the license to operate, or ability to participate in federal, state and local subsidy programs, and could require significant expenditures to bring our centers, sites or programs into compliance or result in the closing of the center, site or program. Certain government agencies may publish or publicly report major and/or minor regulatory violations and we may suffer adverse publicity, which could result in loss of

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enrollment in a center, site, program or market. In addition, there may be unforeseen changes in regulations and licensing requirements, such as changes in the required ratio of child center staff personnel to enrolled children that could have an adverse impact on our operations.

Changes in tax laws or to any of the several factors upon which our tax rate is dependent could impact our future tax rates and net income and affect our profitability.

We are subject to income and other taxes and our future tax rates and operations may be adversely affected by a number of factors, including: changes in tax laws or the interpretation of such tax laws (including changes with retroactive effect) in the various jurisdictions in which we operate; changes in the estimated realization of our deferred tax assets and settlement of our deferred tax liabilities; changes in the jurisdictions in which profits are determined to be earned and taxed; adjustments to estimated taxes upon finalization of various tax returns;

increases in expenses that are not deductible for tax purposes, including impairment of goodwill in connection with acquisitions; changes in available tax credits; and the resolution of issues arising from tax audits with various tax authorities. For example, the Biden administration has proposed changes to federal income tax laws that would, among other things, increase the corporate tax rate, and impose a 15% minimum tax on corporate book income for certain taxpayers. Any such tax changes could materially increase the amount of taxes we would be required to pay, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Losses for which no tax benefits can be recorded could materially impact our tax rate and its volatility from one quarter to another. Any significant change in our jurisdictional earnings mix or in the tax laws in those jurisdictions could impact our future tax rates and net income in those periods and any increases in income tax rates or changes in income tax laws could have a material adverse impact on our financial results.

Our ability to use net operating losses, tax credits and other tax attributes to offset future taxable income or otherwise reduce future tax liabilities may be or become subject to limitations.

We have significant net operating losses (“NOLs”) and certain other tax attributes for U.S. federal and other income tax purposes. In general, under Sections 382 and 383 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), a corporation or corporate group that undergoes an “ownership change” is subject to limitations on its ability to utilize its NOLs to offset future taxable income and its ability to use certain tax credits to offset future tax liabilities. This offering, as well as future offerings or other changes in our stock ownership, could result in such an “ownership change.” In addition, under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, NOLs generated in taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017, may not be utilized to offset more than 80% of net taxable income for any particular tax period. Our NOLs and tax credits may also be impaired or otherwise limited under state or other tax laws. As a result, we may be required to pay federal, state and other income taxes in future years even if we have unused NOLs, tax credits or other tax attribute carryforwards. There is also a risk that due to regulatory changes or other unforeseen reasons our existing NOLs, tax credits and other tax attributes could expire or otherwise be unavailable to offset future tax liabilities. Furthermore, any NOLs, tax credits and other tax attributes would have value only to the extent we have net taxable income or other tax liabilities in the future against which such NOLs, tax credits or other tax attributes may be applied. For these reasons, we may not be able to realize a benefit from some or all of our existing or future NOLs, tax credits and other tax attributes.

General Risks

Our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected by various litigation and regulatory proceedings.

We are subject to litigation and regulatory proceedings in the normal course of business and could become subject to additional claims in the future. These proceedings have included, and in the future may include, matters involving personnel and employment issues, workers’ compensation, personal and property injury, disputes relating to acquisitions, governmental investigations and other proceedings and allegations of inappropriate, illegal or harmful acts to children at our childcare centers or sites or through a third-party provider. We are, have also from time to time been, and in the future may be, subject to claims and matters alleging

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negligence, inadequate supervision, illegal, inappropriate, abusive or neglectful behavior, health and safety, or other grounds for liability arising from injuries or other harm to the people we serve, primarily children. From time to time, federal, state and local legislations also lengthen statutes of limitation, potentially exposing us to potential proceedings for longer periods of time. Some historical and current legal proceedings and future legal proceedings may purport to be brought as class actions on behalf of similarly situated parties including with respect to employment-related matters. We cannot be certain of the ultimate outcomes of any such claims, and resolution of these types of matters against us may result in significant fines, judgments or settlements, which, if uninsured, or if the fines, judgments and settlements exceed insured levels, could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Inadequacy of our insurance coverage could have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We currently maintain insurance policies for workers’ compensation, general liability, automobile liability and other insurance coverage. These policies provide for a variety of coverage and are subject to various limitations, exclusions and deductibles. There can be no assurance that insurance, particularly coverage for abuse as well as other coverages, will continue to be readily available in the form or amounts we have been able to obtain in the past or that our insurance premiums will not materially increase in the future as a consequence of conditions in the insurance business or in the childcare industry. Although we believe we have adequate insurance coverage at this time, claims in excess of, or not included within, our coverage may be asserted. There can be no assurance of the long-term liquidity of our insurance carriers with regard to potential claims that may have significantly long statutes of limitations. We are also self-insured for medical, dental and vision benefits provided to our employees. We also provide our insurance carriers letters of credit under our Credit Facilities to support our self-insurance programs. While we believe we can adequately fund our self-insurance obligations, a significant increase in claims and/or costs could require us to arrange for financing for payment of those claims, which could have an adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

If securities or industry analysts do not publish or cease publishing research or reports about us, or if they issue unfavorable commentary about us or our industry or downgrade our common stock, the price of our common stock could decline.

The trading market for our common stock will depend in part on the research and reports that third-party securities analysts publish about us and our industry. One or more analysts could downgrade our common stock or issue other negative commentary about us or our industry. In addition, we may be unable or slow to attract research coverage. Alternatively, if one or more of these analysts cease coverage of us, we could lose visibility in the market. As a result of one or more of these factors, the trading price of our common stock could decline.

Becoming a public company will increase our compliance costs significantly and require the expansion and enhancement of a variety of financial and management control systems and infrastructure and the hiring of significant additional qualified personnel.

Prior to this offering, we have not been subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, or the other rules and regulations of the SEC, or any securities exchange relating to public companies. We are working with our legal, independent accounting and financial advisors to identify those areas in which changes should be made to our financial and management control systems to manage our growth and our obligations as a public company. These areas include financial planning and analysis, tax, corporate governance, accounting policies and procedures, internal controls, internal audit, disclosure controls and procedures and financial reporting and accounting systems. We have made, and will continue to make, significant changes in these and other areas. However, the expenses that will be required in order to adequately prepare for being a public company could be material. Compliance with the various reporting and other requirements applicable to public companies will also require considerable time and attention of management and will also require us to successfully hire and integrate a significant number of additional qualified personnel into our existing finance, legal, human resources and operations departments.

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We will be exposed to risks relating to evaluations of controls required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

We are in the process of evaluating our internal controls systems to allow management to report on, and our independent registered public accounting firm to audit, our internal controls over financial reporting. We will be performing the system and process evaluation and testing (and any necessary remediation) required to comply with the management certification and, if required, the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We will be required to comply with Section 404 in full (including an auditor attestation on management’s internal controls report) in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year following our first annual report required to be filed with the SEC (subject to any change in applicable SEC rules). Furthermore, upon completion of this process, we may identify control deficiencies of varying degrees of severity under applicable SEC and PCAOB rules and regulations that remain unremediated. As a public company, we will be required to report, among other things, control deficiencies that constitute a material weakness or changes in internal controls that, or that are reasonably likely to, materially affect internal controls over financial reporting.

In connection with the preparation of our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus, we identified a material weakness with our internal controls over financial reporting that resulted from lack of a control processes in user access, lack of change management controls, and lack of governance over general IT controls, including oversight of third-party service organizations. This deficiency did not result in any error or restatement of our financial statements. We have since enhanced the documentation of our risk assessment process and controls to identify and analyze risks of misstatement due to error or fraud, and implemented process and controls over our enhanced compliance communication and investigation policies.

To comply with the requirements of being a public company, we have undertaken various actions, and may need to take additional actions, such as implementing and enhancing our internal controls and procedures and hiring additional accounting or internal audit staff. Testing and maintaining internal controls can divert our management’s attention from other matters that are important to the operation of our business. Additionally, when evaluating our internal control over financial reporting, we may identify material weaknesses that we may not be able to remediate in time to meet the applicable deadline imposed upon us for compliance with the requirements of Section 404. If we identify any material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting or are unable to comply with the requirements of Section 404 in a timely manner or assert that our

internal control over financial reporting is effective, if we are required to make restatements of our financial statements, or if our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to express an opinion as to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy, completeness or reliability of our financial reports and the trading price of our common stock may be adversely affected, and we could become subject to sanctions or investigations by the New York Stock Exchange, the SEC or other regulatory authorities, which could require additional financial and management resources. In addition, if we fail to remedy any material weakness, our financial statements could be inaccurate and we could face restricted access to the capital markets.

If our estimates or judgments relating to our critical accounting policies are based on assumptions that change or prove to be incorrect, our results of operations could fall below our publicly announced guidance or the expectations of securities analysts and investors, resulting in a decline in the market price of our common stock.

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in our financial statements and accompanying notes. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets, liabilities, equity, revenues and expenses that are not readily apparent from other sources. If our assumptions change or if actual circumstances differ from our assumptions, our results of operations may be adversely affected and could fall below our publicly announced guidance or the expectations of securities analysts and investors, resulting in a decline in the market price of our common stock.

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Natural disasters, geo-political events and other highly disruptive events could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The occurrence of one or more natural disasters, such as fires, hurricanes, tornados, tsunamis, floods and earthquakes, geo-political events, such as protests, civil unrest or terrorist or military activities disrupting transportation, communication or utility systems or other highly disruptive events, such as nuclear accidents, public health epidemics or pandemics (such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic), unusual weather conditions or cyberattacks, could adversely affect our operations and financial performance. Such events could result in physical damage to or destruction or disruption of one or more of our properties (including our corporate offices and locations) or properties used by third parties in connection with the supply of products or services to us, the lack of an adequate workforce in parts or all of our operations, supply chain disruptions, data, utility and communications disruptions, fewer clients visiting our locations, including due to quarantines or public health crises, the inability of our clients to reach or have transportation to our locations directly affected by such events and the inability to operate our business. In addition, these events could cause a temporary reduction in sales or the ability to run our business or could indirectly result in increases in the costs of our insurance if they result in significant loss of property or other insurable damage. The uncertain nature, magnitude, and duration of hostilities stemming from Russia’s recent military invasion of Ukraine, including the potential effects of sanctions and retaliatory cyber-attacks on the world economy and markets, have contributed to increased market volatility and uncertainty, and such geopolitical risks could have an adverse impact on macroeconomic factors. These factors could also cause consumer confidence and spending to decrease or result in increased volatility in the United States and global financial markets and economies. Any of these developments could have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Discovery of any environmental contamination may affect our operating results.

Although we have periodically conducted limited environmental investigations and remediation activities at some of our centers or sites, we have not undertaken an in-depth environmental review of each center or site and, accordingly, there may be environmental liabilities of which we are unaware. In addition, no assurances can be given that future laws or regulations will not impose any environmental liability, which could affect our business and operating results.

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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This prospectus contains forward-looking statements. You can generally identify forward-looking statements by our use of forward-looking terminology such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “seek,” “vision,” or “should,” or the negative thereof or other variations thereon or comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements include those we make regarding the following matters:

The preceding list is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all of our forward-looking statements. We have based these forward-looking statements on our current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections. While we believe these expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections are reasonable, such forward-looking statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control. These and other important factors, including those discussed in this prospectus under the headings “Prospectus Summary,” “Risk Factors,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Business,” may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Furthermore, the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business

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operations and financial results and on the world economy as a whole may heighten the risks and uncertainties that affect our forward-looking statements described above. Given these risks and uncertainties, you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements included elsewhere in this prospectus are not guarantees of future performance and our actual results of operations, financial condition and liquidity, and the development of the industry in which we operate, may differ materially from the forward-looking statements included elsewhere in this prospectus. In addition, even if our results of operations, financial condition and liquidity, and events in the industry in which we operate, are consistent with the forward-looking statements included elsewhere in this prospectus, they may not be predictive of results or developments in future periods.

Any forward-looking statement that we make in this prospectus speaks only as of the date of such statement. Except as required by law, we do not undertake any obligation to update or revise, or to publicly announce any update or revision to, any of the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date of this prospectus.

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USE OF PROCEEDS

We estimate that the net proceeds to us from our sale of shares in this offering will be approximately $                , based on the assumed initial public offering price of $                 per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, and after deducting underwriting discounts and estimated offering expenses. We intend to use the net proceeds from this offering, including any net proceeds from the underwriters’ exercise of the option to purchase additional shares, to (i) repay $                 of our outstanding First Lien Notes, repay $                 of the loans outstanding under our Second Lien Facility and then repay $                 of the loans outstanding under the First Lien Term Loan Facility, (ii) redeem $                 of the shares of common stock received by members of management from vested Class B Units of KC Parent, LLC in connection with the Reorganization and (iii) pay fees and expenses in connection with this offering. We intend to use the remainder, if any, of the net proceeds to us from this offering for general corporate purposes. If the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares in full, we estimate that the net proceeds will be approximately $                , after deducting underwriting discounts and estimated offering expenses.

As of January 1, 2022 we had (i) $                 aggregate principal amount of First Lien Notes outstanding, (ii) $                 of borrowings outstanding under our Second Lien Facility and (iii) $                 of borrowings outstanding under our First Lien Term Loan Facility. The First Lien Notes mature in February 2025, the Second Lien Facility matures in August 2025 and the First Lien Term Loan Facility matures in February 2025. We will repay our outstanding First Lien Notes at a price of 101%, plus accrued and unpaid interest. For additional information about our First Lien Notes, our Second Lien Facility and our First Lien Term Loan Facility, see “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources—Debt Facilities” and “Description of Certain Indebtedness.”

We will redeem $                 of common stock received by members of management from vested Class B Units of KC Parent, LLC at the initial public offering price of the shares of common stock offered hereby. We will redeem such shares of common stock pursuant to our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation.

Affiliates of Barclays Capital Inc., Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC are lenders under our First Lien Facilities and Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC will receive 5% or more of the net proceeds of this offering due to the repayment of borrowings thereunder. Therefore, Barclays Capital Inc., Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC are deemed to have a conflict of interest within the meaning of FINRA Rule 5121. Accordingly, this offering is being conducted in accordance with Rule 5121, which requires, among other things, that a “qualified independent underwriter” participate in the preparation of, and exercise the usual standards of “due diligence” with respect to, the registration statement and this prospectus. Jefferies LLC has agreed to act as a qualified independent underwriter for this offering and to undertake the legal responsibilities and liabilities of an underwriter under the Securities Act, including specifically those inherent in Section 11 thereof. Jefferies LLC will not receive any additional fees for serving as a qualified independent underwriter in connection with this offering. See “Underwriting (Conflicts of Interest).”

The expected use of net proceeds to us from this offering represents our intentions based upon our current plans and business conditions, and we may find it necessary or advisable to use the net proceeds to us for other purposes. Accordingly, we will have broad discretion in the application and specific allocations of the net proceeds to us from this offering. Pending their use, we intend to invest the net proceeds to us from this offering in a variety of capital preservation investments, including short- and intermediate-term investments, interest-bearing obligations, investment-grade instruments or securities, government securities, certificates of deposit and money market funds.

Each $1.00 increase (decrease) in the assumed initial public offering price of $                 per share, the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase (decrease) the net proceeds by approximately $                , assuming the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same, and after deducting underwriting discounts and estimated offering expenses. Each

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increase (decrease) of 1.0 million shares in the number of shares sold in this offering, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase (decrease) the net proceeds by approximately $                , assuming an initial public offering price of $                 per share, the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same, and after deducting underwriting discounts and estimated offering expenses. The information discussed above is illustrative only and will adjust based on the actual initial public offering price and other terms of this offering determined at pricing.

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DIVIDEND POLICY

As a public company we intend to retain any future earnings and do not anticipate declaring or paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Any determination to pay dividends in the future will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend upon our results of operations, cash requirements, financial condition, contractual restrictions, restrictions imposed by applicable laws and other factors that our board of directors may deem relevant. In addition, our ability to pay dividends on our common stock is currently limited by the covenants of our Credit Facilities and may be further restricted by the terms of any future debt or preferred securities. Our business is conducted through our subsidiaries. Dividends, distributions and other payments from, and cash generated by, our subsidiaries will be our principal sources of cash to repay indebtedness, fund operations and pay dividends. Accordingly, our ability to pay dividends to our stockholders is dependent on the earnings and distributions of funds from our subsidiaries. In addition, the covenants in the agreements governing our existing indebtedness, including the Credit Facilities, significantly restrict the ability of our subsidiaries to pay dividends or otherwise transfer assets to us. See “Description of Certain Indebtedness,” “Risk Factors—Risks Related to our Capital Structure, Indebtedness and Capital Requirements—We are a holding company with no operations of our own, and we depend on our subsidiaries for cash” and “Risk Factors—Risks Related to our Common Stock and this Offering—We may change our dividend policy at any time.”

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CAPITALIZATION

The following table sets forth our cash and cash equivalents and our consolidated capitalization as of January 1, 2022:

The information discussed below is illustrative only, and our cash and cash equivalents and capitalization following the consummation of this offering will adjust based on the actual initial public offering price and other terms of this offering determined at pricing. You should read the data set forth below in conjunction with “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” “Description of Capital Stock,” “Description of Certain Indebtedness” and the consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus.

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The number of shares of common stock to be outstanding after this offering excludes:

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DILUTION

If you purchase any of the shares of common stock offered by this prospectus, you will experience dilution to the extent of the difference between the offering price per share that you pay in this offering and our as adjusted net tangible book value (deficit) per share of our common stock immediately after this offering.

Net tangible book value (deficit) is total tangible assets less total liabilities, which is not included within stockholders’ equity. Tangible assets represent total assets excluding goodwill and other intangible assets. Net tangible book value (deficit) per share is determined by dividing our net tangible book value (deficit) by the aggregate number of shares of common stock outstanding.

Our net tangible book value (deficit) as of January 1, 2022, on a pro forma basis for the Reorganization, was $                     or $             per share of common stock. Our pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value (deficit) as of January 1, 2022 was $                    , or $             per share of common stock.

After giving further effect to our sale of shares of common stock in this offering at an assumed initial public offering price of $             per share, the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, our pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value as of January 1, 2022 would have been $                    , or $             per share. This represents an immediate increase in as adjusted net tangible book value of $             per share to our existing stockholders and an immediate dilution of $             per share to new investors purchasing shares of common stock in this offering. Dilution in pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value (deficit) represents the difference between the price per share paid by investors in this offering and our net tangible book value per share of immediately after the offering.

The following table illustrates this dilution on a per share basis:

Each $1.00 increase (decrease) in the assumed initial offering price of $             per share, the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase (decrease) our pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value by $                    , or $             per share, and the dilution per common share to new investors in this offering by $             per share, assuming the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same, and after deducting underwriting discounts and estimated offering expenses payable by us. An increase of 1.0 million shares in the number of shares of common stock offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase the pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share by $             and decrease the dilution per share to new investors by $            , assuming no change in the assumed initial public offering price and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and estimated offering expenses payable by us. A decrease of 1.0 million shares in the number of shares of common stock offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would decrease the pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share by $             and increase the dilution per share to new investors by $            , assuming no change in the assumed initial public offering price and after deducting underwriting discounts and estimated offering expenses payable by us.

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If the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares in full, the pro forma as adjusted net tangible book deficit per share of our common stock after giving effect to this offering would be $                 per share, and the dilution in net tangible book value per share to investors in this offering would be $                 per share.

The following table summarizes, as of January 1, 2022, on a pro forma as adjusted basis, the number of shares of common stock purchased or to be purchased from us, the total consideration paid or to be paid to us and the average price per share paid by existing stockholders or to be paid by new investors purchasing shares of common stock in this offering at an assumed initial public offering price of $                 per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, before deducting the underwriting discounts and estimated offering expenses payable by us.

Each $1.00 increase (decrease) in the assumed initial public offering price of $                 per share, the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase (decrease) total consideration paid by new investors by $                     and total consideration paid by all stockholders and average price per share paid by all stockholders by $                     and $                 per share, respectively, assuming the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same, and after deducting underwriting discounts and estimated offering expenses payable by us. An increase (decrease) of 1.0 million shares in the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase (decrease) total consideration paid by new investors by $                     and total consideration paid by all stockholders and average price per share paid by all stockholders by $                     and $                 per share, respectively, assuming the assumed initial public offering price remains the same, and after deducting underwriting discounts and estimated offering expenses.

Except as otherwise indicated, the above discussion and tables assume the underwriters do not exercise their option to purchase additional shares in this offering. If the underwriters fully exercise their option to purchase                  additional shares of our common stock in this offering, the as adjusted net tangible book value per share would be $                 per share and the dilution to new investors in this offering would be $                 per share.

The number of shares of common stock to be outstanding after this offering excludes:

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To the extent any options are granted and exercised in the future, there may be additional economic dilution to new investors.

In addition, we may choose to raise additional capital due to market conditions or strategic considerations, even if we believe we have sufficient funds for our current or future operating plans. To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities, the issuance of these securities could result in further dilution to our stockholders.

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MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS

OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with, and is qualified in its entirety by reference to, our audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto for the fiscal years ended January 1, 2022, January 2, 2021, and December 28, 2019. Some of the information included in this discussion and analysis or set forth elsewhere in this prospectus, including information with respect to our plans and strategy for our business, includes forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. You should review the “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” and “Risk Factors” sections of this prospectus for a discussion of important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results described in or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in the following discussion and analysis.

Our Company

We are the largest private provider of high-quality ECE in the United States by center capacity. We are a mission driven organization, rooted in a commitment to providing all children with the very best start in life. We serve children ranging from six weeks to 12 years of age across our market leading footprint of 1,500 early childhood education centers with capacity of more than 197,000 children and nearly 650 before- and after-school sites located in 40 states and the District of Columbia as of January 1, 2022. We believe families choose us because of our differentiated, inclusive approach and our commitment to delivering every child a high-quality educational experience in a nurturing and engaging environment. We operate all of our centers under the KinderCare platform and utilize a consistent curriculum and operational approach across our network.

We offer a differentiated value proposition to the children, families, schools, and employers we serve, driven by our market-leading scale and commitment to quality, access, and inclusion. We leverage our extensive network of community-based centers, employer-sponsored programs, and before- and after-school sites, to meet parents where they are, which is an important factor in the context of evolving work styles as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. We utilize our proprietary curriculum with the goal of generating superior outcomes for children of all abilities and backgrounds. We use third-party assessment tools that consistently show children in our centers outperform their peers in other programs in readiness for kindergarten. We voluntarily seek accreditation at all of our centers and onsite programs, demonstrating our commitment to best practices for our sector. Our commitment to transparent, third-party validation of the quality and impact of our offerings is a critical factor for parents when selecting a center for their children. Our culture promotes high levels of employee engagement, which leads to better financial performance of our centers. Our expertise helping families access public subsidies for childcare is a core competency and drives greater levels of diversity and access in our centers.

Our operating strategy is designed to deliver a high-quality experience for every child and family we serve across all of our centers and sites. This self-reinforcing strategy is anchored in four pillars:

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COVID-19 Impact Update

In March 2020, government-mandated closures of childcare centers, intended to curb the spread of COVID-19, significantly reduced enrollment across our industry. During the final two weeks of the first quarter of 2020, we temporarily closed 1,074 centers and 547 before- and after-school sites. A temporarily closed center or site is a center or site that has ceased operations as of the end of the reporting period, but management intends on recommencing operations at some point in the future. We kept more than 420 centers open to provide childcare to first responders, critical healthcare providers, and families working in essential services. We undertook several actions to manage costs and improve liquidity, including curtailing all non-critical business spend, furloughing employees, temporarily reducing the salaries of the executive team, and negotiating rent and benefit holidays or deferrals where possible.

During the second half of 2020, we reopened 1,021 centers and approximately 320 before- and after-school sites. As centers reopened, we brought many employees off furlough and reinstated salaries. We implemented enhanced health and safety protocols at all of our centers and sites to safely welcome children back. We proactively communicated with families to articulate our approach to safely reopening our centers and our commitment to supporting them and their children throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since reopening our centers, enrollment has increased significantly. For the three months ended January 1, 2022, our same center occupancy increased to 64%, which represents 89% of our occupancy prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, well above the industry average of 80% of pre-COVID-19 occupancy levels. While many of the children who returned to our centers were previously enrolled in a KinderCare center, we believe other children transferred from centers that had closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Fortune, approximately 16,000 centers closed between December 2019 and March 2021.

The CARES Act, signed into law on March 27, 2020, provided $3.5 billion in stimulus funding for childcare assistance. During fiscal 2021, we recognized $59.5 million in incremental revenue and $160.8 million for reimbursement of center operating expenses from Governmental Stimulus as compared to $119.2 million in incremental revenue and $60.9 million for reimbursement of center operating expenses from Governmental Stimulus during fiscal 2020. Of the incremental revenue recognized, we estimate that $45.3 million for fiscal 2021 and $111.1 million for fiscal 2020 related to Governmental Stimulus with the remainder related to tuition reimbursement adjustments. We believe that we will continue to receive these types of incremental revenue and reimbursement of center operating expenses for the foreseeable future. Bills passed by U.S. Congress subsequent to the CARES Act have approved $49 billion in incremental stimulus funding for ECE providers. The federal government passed additional legislation during fiscal 2020, such as the employer payroll tax deferral and employee retention credit, both of which we implemented.

Factors Affecting Results of Operations

The following factors, among others described herein, have been important to our business and we expect them to impact our results of operations and financial condition in future periods:

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Key Performance Metrics

Total centers and sites

We measure and track the number of centers and sites because as our number of centers and sites grow, it highlights our geographic expansion and potential growth in revenue. We believe this information is useful to investors as an indicator of revenue growth and operational expansion and can be used to measure and track our performance over time. We define number of centers and sites as the number of centers and sites at the beginning of the period plus openings, acquisitions, and reopenings for the period minus any closures, permanent or temporary, for the period. We evaluate local economic indicators, client demographics, and competition to assess the potential for new center and site additions. We also look for opportunities to negotiate favorable terms on new and existing lease agreements whenever possible. In evaluating strategic closures, we closely monitor several factors including enrollment levels, local economic indicators, client demographics, leases with near-term end dates, multiple-year negative performance, as well as competition, and the opportunity to transition families to our nearby centers and sites.

As of January 1, 2022, we had 1,500 early childhood education centers open with a licensed capacity of 197,208 children as compared to 1,460 early childhood education centers as of January 2, 2021, with a licensed capacity of 192,044 children. Total centers increased by 40 primarily due to opening 37 centers, reopening five temporarily closed centers, and acquiring 12 centers, partially offset by the permanent closure of 14 centers. A temporarily closed center, sometimes referred to as a “temporary closure,” is a center that has ceased operations as of the end of the reporting period, but management intends on recommencing operations at some point in the future. A permanently closed center is a center that has ceased operations as of the end of the reporting period and management does not intend on reopening the center. Total before- and after-school sites increased by 226 during fiscal 2021 as compared to the number of before- and after-school sites as of January 2, 2021 primarily due to opening 137 new sites and reopening 143 temporarily closed sites, partially offset by 41 permanent and 13 temporary site closures.

As of January 2, 2021, we had 1,460 early childhood education centers open with a licensed capacity of 192,044 children as compared to 1,500 early childhood education centers as of December 28, 2019, with a licensed capacity of 196,993 children. Total centers decreased by 40 primarily due to temporary closures of 20 centers as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and permanent closures of 33 centers, partially offset by opening 11 new centers and acquiring two centers. Total before- and after-school sites decreased by 148 during fiscal 2020 as compared to the number of before- and after-school sites as of December 28, 2019 due to temporary closures of approximately 200 sites due to the COVID-19 pandemic partially offset by new sites opened and operating during fiscal 2020.

Average weekly early childhood education center full-time enrollments (“Average weekly ECE FTEs”)

Average weekly ECE FTEs is a measure of the number of full-time children enrolled and charged tuition weekly in our centers. We calculate Average weekly ECE FTEs based on weighted averages; for example, an enrolled full-time child equates to one Average weekly ECE FTE, while a child enrolled for three full days equates to 0.6 Average weekly ECE FTE. This metric is used by management and we believe is useful to investors as it is the key driver of how much revenue is generated and variable costs incurred in our operations.

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Average weekly ECE FTEs increased by 30,647, or 33.9%, for fiscal 2021 as compared to fiscal 2020 primarily due to increased enrollment at centers that had been impacted by temporary closures and reduced enrollment in the prior year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Average weekly ECE FTEs decreased by 45,569, or 33.5%, for fiscal 2020 as compared to fiscal 2019 primarily due to the temporary closures of centers and the reduction of enrollment at reopened centers due to the COVID-19 pandemic and permanently closed centers.

Early childhood education same center occupancy (“ECE same center occupancy”)

ECE same center occupancy is a measure of the utilization of center license capacity. We define same center to be centers that have been operated by us for at least 12 months (“same centers”), or in other words, centers that are starting their second year of operation. Excluded from same centers are any temporarily or permanently closed centers at the end of the reporting period and any new centers that have not yet met the same center criteria. We determine which centers are included in the same center calculation at the beginning of each reporting period. For fiscal 2019 results, centers we acquired due to the acquisition of Rainbow in fiscal 2018 are excluded from the same center definition. We calculate ECE same center occupancy as the average weekly ECE same center full-time enrollment divided by the total of the ECE same centers’ licensed capacity during the period. Licensed capacity is determined by regulatory and operational parameters. This metric is used by management and we believe is useful to investors as it measures the utilization of our centers’ capacity in generating revenue.

ECE same center occupancy increased by 15.5% for fiscal 2021 as compared to fiscal 2020 primarily due to increased enrollment at centers that had been impacted by temporary closures and reduced enrollment in the prior year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

ECE same center occupancy decreased by 23.3% for fiscal 2020 as compared to fiscal 2019 primarily due to the temporary closures of centers and the reduction of enrollment at essential centers (those which stayed open during the COVID-19 pandemic) as well as a result of reduced capacity due to the COVID-19 pandemic at essential and reopened centers.

Description of Certain Components of Financial Data

Revenue

Our revenue results primarily from tuition charged for providing early childhood education and care services at our centers and sites. Tuition rates are reviewed for potential adjustment once per year and increases often coincide with the fall back-to-school period. We routinely collect tuition payments in advance on either a weekly or monthly basis. The majority of tuition is paid by individual families and may be partially subsidized by amounts received from government subsidy programs or employer sponsors. In addition, we have received revenue from Governmental Stimulus. This subsidy and stimulus revenue was $667.1 million, $602.0 million, and $599.8 million during the fiscal years ended January 1, 2022, January 2, 2021, and December 28, 2019, respectively.

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In addition to tuition rates, our Learning Adventures supplemental enrichment programs, annual registration fees, and summer programs are additional sources of revenue. We charge an annual registration fee commencing at the time of enrollment and annually thereafter. Management fees for management services are received from some employer-sponsored centers and are included in revenue. We provide discounts for employees, families with multiple enrollments, referral sources, promotional marketing, and organizations with which we partner, such as our employer-sponsored centers and programs. Revenue is comprised of gross revenue less discounts.

Cost of services (excluding depreciation and impairment)

Our cost of services includes the direct costs related to the operation of our centers and excludes depreciation and impairment. Cost of services consists primarily of personnel costs, rent, food, costs of operating and maintaining facilities, taxes and licenses, marketing, transportation, classroom and office supplies, and insurance. Offsetting certain center operating expenses are reimbursements from federal, state, and local agencies. Personnel costs are the largest component of cost of services. Our time management and scheduling methods enable us to adjust staffing levels for peak and reduced attendance periods, allowing us to manage labor efficiency without adversely impacting the quality of services within our centers. Regulations for state, local, and accreditation agencies require specific teacher-to-student ratios; therefore, our staffing requirements depend on the number of children in attendance, the ages of the children, and the programs in which they are enrolled. Personnel costs include our self-insurance obligation for employee medical coverage that fluctuates based on the cost of medical care, the demographics of our employees, and the extent of participation in the plans. Our large, nationwide base affords us the opportunity to leverage the costs of our system-wide programs and services.

Depreciation and amortization

Our depreciation and amortization includes depreciation relating to centers and sites, field management, and corporate facilities as well as amortization related to finite-lived intangibles, such as client relationships, accreditations, proprietary curricula, trade names and trademarks, covenants not-to-compete, and software.

Selling, general, and administrative expenses

Selling, general, and administrative expenses include costs, primarily personnel related, associated with field management, corporate oversight, and support of our centers.

Impairment losses

Our impairment losses relate to property and equipment, operating right-of-use assets, and finite-lived intangible assets.

Interest expense, net

Interest expense, net includes long-term debt interest, gain or loss on interest rate derivatives, amortization of debt issuance costs, and financing lease interest.

Other income, net

Other income, net includes sub-lease income, miscellaneous insurance proceeds, and contract settlement amounts.

Income tax expense (benefit)

We account for income taxes under the asset and liability method. Under this method, deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the expected future consequences of temporary differences between the carrying

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amounts of assets and liabilities for financial reporting purposes and the amounts used for income tax purposes. If we determine that, on a more likely than not basis, sufficient future taxable income would not be achieved in order to realize the deferred tax assets, we would be required to establish a full valuation allowance or increase any partial valuation allowance, which would require a charge to income tax expense for the period in which the determination was made. The ability to realize deferred tax assets depends on the ability to generate sufficient taxable income within the carryforward periods provided for in the tax law for each applicable tax jurisdiction. In assessing the need for a valuation allowance, we consider all available evidence, both positive and negative, and tax planning strategies which could be employed, if necessary, to utilize deferred tax assets. It can be difficult to conclude a valuation allowance is not required when there is significant objective and verifiable negative evidence, such as cumulative losses in recent years. We utilize a trailing twelve quarters of actual results as the primary measure of cumulative losses in recent years.

We record uncertain tax positions on the basis of a two-step process in which we first determine whether it is more likely than not that the tax position will be sustained on the basis of the technical merits of the position, and second, for those tax positions that meet the more-likely-than-not recognition threshold, we recognize the largest amount of tax benefit that is more than 50% likely to be realized upon ultimate settlement with the relevant taxing authority. Uncertain tax positions and the related interest and penalties are recognized in other long-term liabilities and income tax expense.

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Results of Operations

We operate as a single reportable segment to reflect the way our chief operating decision maker (“CODM”) reviews and assesses the performance of the business. Our accounting policies are described in Note 1 to our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus. The period-to-period comparisons below of financial results are not necessarily indicative of future results. The following table sets forth our results of operations including as a percentage of revenue for the periods presented (in thousands, except where otherwise noted):

Comparison of the Fiscal Years Ended January 1, 2022 and January 2, 2021

Revenue