:

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a filer, 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 of the Exchange Act.

 

 

You should rely only on the information contained in this prospectus. No one has been authorized to provide you with information that is different from that contained in this prospectus. This prospectus is dated as of the date set forth on the cover hereof. You should not assume that the information contained in this prospectus is accurate as of any date other than that date.

S-1

Neither we nor the Selling Securityholders have authorized anyone to provide you with any information or to make any representations other than those contained in this prospectus or any applicable prospectus supplement or any free writing prospectuses prepared by or on behalf of us or to which we have referred you. Neither we nor the Selling Securityholders take responsibility for, and can provide no assurance as to the reliability of, any other information that others may give you. Neither we nor the Selling Securityholders will make an offer to sell these securities in any jurisdiction where such offer or sale are not permitted. No dealer, salesperson or other person is authorized to give any information or to represent anything not contained in this prospectus, any applicable prospectus supplement or any related free writing prospectus. You should assume that the information appearing in this prospectus or any prospectus supplement is accurate as of the date on the front of those documents only, regardless of the time of delivery of this prospectus or any applicable prospectus supplement, or any sale of a security. Our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may have changed since those dates.

 

i

The Selling Securityholders and their permitted transferees may use this shelf registration statement to sell securities from time to time through any means described in the section titled “Plan of Distribution”. More specific terms of any securities that the Selling Securityholders and their permitted transferees offer and sell may be provided in a prospectus supplement that describes, among other things, the specific amounts and prices of the securities being offered and the terms of the offering.

We may also provide a prospectus supplement or post-effective amendment to the registration statement to add information to, or update or change information contained in, this prospectus. Any statement contained in this prospectus will be deemed to be modified or superseded for purposes of this prospectus to the extent that a statement contained in such prospectus supplement or post-effective amendment modifies or supersedes such statement. Any statement so modified will be deemed to constitute a part of this prospectus only as so modified, and any statement so superseded will be deemed not to constitute a part of this prospectus. You should read both this prospectus and any applicable prospectus supplement or post-effective amendment to the registration statement together with the additional information to which we refer you in the sections of this prospectus titled “Where You Can Find More Information”.

Unless the context indicates otherwise, references in this prospectus to “KORE,” “Company,” “we,” “us” or “our” refer to the business of KORE Group Holdings, Inc., and its subsidiaries following the closing of the Business Combination.

This prospectus contains summaries of certain provisions contained in some of the documents described herein, but reference is made to the actual documents for complete information. All of the summaries are qualified in their entirety by the actual documents. Copies of some of the documents referred to herein have been filed, will be filed or will be incorporated by reference as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, and you may obtain copies of those documents as described below under “Where You Can Find More Information”.

This prospectus includes estimates regarding market and industry data and forecasts and projections, which are based on publicly available information, industry publications and surveys, reports from government agencies, reports by market participants and research firms and other independent sources, as well as our own estimates, forecasts and projections based on our management’s knowledge of and experience in the market sectors in which we compete.

Certain monetary amounts, percentages and other figures included in this prospectus have been subject to rounding adjustments. Accordingly, figures shown as totals in certain tables or charts may not be the arithmetic aggregation of the figures that precede them, and figures expressed as percentages in the text may not total 100% or, as applicable, when aggregated may not be the arithmetic aggregation of the percentages that precede them.

This prospectus also contains trademarks, service marks, copyrights and trade names of other companies, which are the property of their respective owners. We do not intend our use or display of other companies’ trademarks, copyrights or trade names to imply a relationship with, or endorsement or sponsorship of us by any other companies. Solely for convenience, our trademarks and trade names referred to in this prospectus may appear without the or 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 and trade names.

 

ii

As used in this prospectus, unless as the context requires otherwise, as used herein, references to “KORE,” the “Company,” “we,” “us,” and “our,” and similar references refer collectively to KORE Group Holdings, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries.

Unless the context otherwise requires, references in this prospectus to:

COVID-19,

 

iii

 

iv

This prospectus contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements express our opinions, expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions, forecasts or projections regarding future events or future results and therefore are, or may be deemed to be, “forward-looking statements.” These forward-looking statements can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms “believes,” “estimates,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “seeks,” “projects,” “intends,” “plans,” “may,” “will” or “should” or, in each case, their negative or other variations or comparable terminology, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. These forward-looking statements include all matters that are not historical facts.

The forward-looking statements in this prospectus are only current expectations and predictions. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that we believe may affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the important factors discussed under the heading “Risk Factors”. The forward-looking statements in this prospectus are based upon information available to us as of the date of this prospectus, and while we believe such information forms a reasonable basis for such statements, such information may be limited or incomplete, and our statements should not be read to indicate that we have conducted an exhaustive inquiry into, or review of, all potentially available relevant information. These statements are inherently uncertain and investors are cautioned not to unduly rely upon these statements.

You should read this prospectus and the documents that we reference in this prospectus and have filed as exhibits to this prospectus with the understanding that our actual future results, levels of activity, performance and achievements may be materially different from what we expect. We qualify all of our forward-looking statements by these cautionary statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this prospectus. Except as required by applicable law, we do not plan to publicly update or revise any forward- looking statements contained in this prospectus.

Forward-looking statements in this prospectus may include, for example, statements about:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

v

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

vi

		December 31,
		2021				2020				2019
Revenue		$	248,217			$	213,760			$	169,152
Net loss			(24,453	)			(35,201	)			(23,443	)
Adjusted EBITDA			59,754				57,819				50,885

•

Connected Health : Remote patient monitoring and telemedicine enabled by connected medical devices, IoT device enabled clinical drug trials, mPERS connected emergency devices, connected medical equipment diagnostics, electronic visit verification.

•

Fleet Management : Stolen vehicle recovery location tracking, connected cameras for tracking vehicle driving conditions and driver behavior, connected route optimization, fuel consumption optimization, connected preventive maintenance, usage-based insurance, connected cars.

 

1

•

Asset Monitoring : Home/business security sensor and camera solutions, offender tracking through ankle bracelets, tank monitoring, supply chain inventory and asset tracking, fuel pipeline flow monitoring.

•

Communication Services : IoT and consumer service providers, carrier IoT business units, enterprise connectivity / failsafe, private networking-KORE may provide CEaaS for some of these customers.

•

Industrial IoT : Smart utilities / meters, smart cities / buildings, smart factories, field service automation, manufacturers of smart or connected products.

 

2

•

The 5G market may take longer to materialize than KORE expects or, if it does materialize rapidly, KORE may not be able to meet the development schedule and other customer demands.

•

KORE’s development and investments in new technologies, may not generate operating income or contribute to future results of operations that meet its expectations.

•

If KORE is unable to support customers with low latency and/or high throughput IoT use cases, its revenue growth and profitability will be harmed.

•

If KORE is unable to effectively manage its increasingly diverse and complex businesses and operations, its ability to generate growth and revenue from new or existing customers may be adversely affected.

•

The loss of KORE’s largest customers, particularly its single largest customer could significantly impact its revenue and profitability.

•

KORE’s products are highly technical and may contain undetected errors, product defects, security vulnerabilities, or software errors.

•

If there are interruptions or performance problems associated with the network infrastructure used to provide KORE’s services, customers may experience service outages, which may impact KORE’s reputation and future sales.

•

KORE’s inability to adapt to rapid technological change in its markets could impair its ability to remain competitive and adversely affect its results of operations.

•

The market for the products and services that KORE offers is rapidly evolving and highly competitive. KORE may be unable to compete effectively.

•

If KORE is unable to protect its intellectual property and proprietary rights, its competitive position and its business could be harmed.

•

Failure to maintain the security of KORE’s information and technology networks, including information relating to its customers and employees, could adversely affect KORE.

•

KORE’s internal and customer-facing systems, and systems of third parties they rely upon, may be subject to cybersecurity breaches, disruptions, or delays.

•

KORE is subject to evolving privacy laws that are subject to potentially differing interpretations in the United States as well as other jurisdictions that can adversely impact its business and require that it incur substantial costs.

•

KORE’s technology contains third-party open-source software components and failure to comply with the terms of the underlying open-source software licenses could restrict KORE’s ability to provide its platform.

•

KORE faces risks inherent in conducting business internationally, including compliance with international as well as U.S. laws and regulations that apply to its international operations.

•

KORE may be subject to legal proceedings and litigation, including intellectual property and privacy disputes, which are costly to defend and could materially harm its business, financial condition and results of operations.

•

KORE may be affected by fluctuations in currency exchange rates.

 

3

•

KORE’s management has identified internal control deficiencies that have resulted in material weaknesses in its internal control over financial reporting.

•

KORE’s future capital needs are uncertain, and KORE may need to raise additional funds in the future, but may not be able to raise such additional funds on acceptable terms or at all.

•

KORE has a history of losses and may not be able to achieve or sustain profitability in the future.

 

4

Growth of the 5G market and its emerging standards, including the newly defined 5G NR standard, is accelerating and we believe that we are at the forefront of this newly emerging standard. However, this market may take longer to materialize than we expect which could delay important commercial milestones. Even if the market does materialize at the rapid pace that we are expecting, we may have difficulties meeting aggressive timing expectations of our current customers and getting our target products to market on time to meet the demands of our target customers. We may have difficulties meeting the market and technical specifications and timelines. It is also possible that offerings developed by others will render our offerings and initiatives noncompetitive or obsolete. Additionally, our target customers have no guarantee that the configurations of their respective target products will be successful or that they can reach the appropriate target client base to provide a positive return on the research and development investments we are making in the 5G market. We are pursuing 5G opportunities in the United States and abroad. 5G markets outside of the United States will develop at different rates and we will encounter these challenges to varying degrees in different countries. Failure to manage challenges related to 5G markets and opportunities could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our growth depends in part on our ability to extend our technologies and products into new and expanded areas, including 5G. Our development and investments in these new technologies, may not generate operating income or contribute to future results of operations that meet our expectations.

4G-

5G-based

If we are unable to support customers with low latency and/or high throughput IoT use cases, our revenue growth and profitability will be harmed.

 

5

As wireless networks have evolved to support higher speeds, IoT devices have included more advanced capabilities such as video, real-time event logging, edge compute services (where computing is completed on or near the site of the sensor) and voice controls. As a result, customers have developed IoT applications that consume more network resources and require much lower network latency. In order to support these new customers and the increasing number of 5G use cases, we must continue to make significant investments in network capacity, infrastructure and edge virtualization solutions. The timely deployment of higher capacity infrastructure and edge virtualization to support high throughput, low latency IoT applications is critical to keeping and attracting key customers, the failure of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our products and solutions, including our software products, are highly technical and complex and, when deployed, may contain errors, defects, or security vulnerabilities including but not limited to vulnerabilities resulting from the use of third party hardware and software. We must develop our products quickly to keep pace with the rapidly changing market, and we have a history of frequently introducing new products. Products and services as sophisticated as ours could contain undetected errors or defects, especially when first introduced or when new models or versions are released. Such occurrences could result in damage to our reputation, lost revenue, diverted development resources, increased customer service and support costs, warranty claims, and litigation.

We warrant that our products will be free of defect for various periods of time, depending on the product. In addition, certain of our contracts include epidemic failure clauses. If invoked, these clauses may entitle the customer to return or obtain credits for products and inventory, or to cancel outstanding purchase orders even if the products themselves are not defective.

Errors, viruses, or bugs may be present in software or hardware that we acquire or license from third parties and incorporate into our products or in third party software or hardware that our customers use in conjunction with our products. Our customers’ proprietary software and network firewall protections may corrupt data from our products and create difficulties in implementing our solutions. Changes to third party software or hardware that our customers use in conjunction with our software could also render our applications inoperable. Any errors, defects, or security vulnerabilities in our products or any defects in, or compatibility issues with, any third-party hardware or software or customers’ network environments discovered after commercial release could result in loss of revenue or delay in revenue recognition, loss of customers, theft of trade secrets, data or intellectual property and increased service and warranty cost, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Undiscovered vulnerabilities in our products alone or in combination with third party hardware or software could expose them to hackers or other unscrupulous third parties who develop and deploy viruses, and other malicious software programs that could attack our products. Actual or perceived security vulnerabilities in our products could harm our reputation and lead some customers to return products, to reduce or delay future purchases, or use competitive products.

Our continued success depends, in part, on our ability to provide highly available services to our customers. The majority of our current and future customers expect to use our services 24 hours a day, seven days a week, without interruption or degradation of performance. Since a large majority of customer network traffic routes through hardware managed by us, any outage or performance problem that occurs within this infrastructure could impair the ability of our customers to transmit wireless data traffic to our destination servers, which could negatively impact the customers’ IoT devices or solutions. Potential outages and performance problems may occur due to a variety of factors, including hardware failure, equipment configuration changes, capacity constraints, human error and introduction of new functionality. Additionally, we depend on services from various third parties to support IoT networks and platforms. If a third party experiences a service outage, a product defect or bug, or performance degradation, such failures could interrupt customers’ ability to use our services, which could also negatively affect

 

6

their perception of our service reliability. Our services are hosted in our third party data centers and any outages in these centers from any source including catastrophic events such as terrorist attack, flood, power failure, earthquake, etc. can impact the availability of our services, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

A cybersecurity incident in our own systems or the systems of our third-party providers may compromise the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of our own internal data, the availability of our products and websites designed to support our customers, or our customer data. Computer hackers, ransom attacks, foreign governments, or cyber terrorists may attempt to or succeed in penetrating our network security and our website.

break-ins,

Despite our efforts to maintain the security and integrity of our systems, it is impossible to eliminate this risk. Because the techniques used by computer hackers who may attempt to penetrate and sabotage our network security or our website change frequently, they may take advantage of weaknesses in third-party technology or standards of which we are unaware or that we do not control and may not be recognized until long after they have been launched against a target. We may be unable to anticipate or counter these techniques. It is also possible that unauthorized access to customer data or confidential information may be obtained through inadequate use of security controls by customers, vendors, or business partners. Efforts to prevent hackers from disrupting our service or otherwise accessing our systems are expensive to develop, implement, and maintain. Such efforts require ongoing monitoring and updating as technologies change and efforts to overcome security measures become more sophisticated and may limit the functionality of, or otherwise adversely impact our service offering and systems. A cybersecurity incident affecting our systems may also result in theft of our intellectual property, proprietary data, or trade secrets, which would compromise our competitive position, reputation, and operating results. We also may be required to notify regulators about any actual or perceived personal data breach (including the EU Lead Data Protection Authority) as well as the individuals who are affected by the incident within strict time periods.

The systems we rely upon also remain vulnerable to damage or interruption from a number of other factors, including access to the internet, the failure of our network or software systems, or significant variability in visitor traffic on our product websites, earthquakes, floods, fires, power loss, telecommunication failures, computer viruses, human error, and similar events or disruptions. Some of our systems are not fully redundant, and our disaster recovery planning is not sufficient for all eventualities. Our systems are also subject to intentional acts of vandalism. Despite any precautions we may take, the occurrence of a natural disaster, a decision by any of our third-party hosting providers to close a facility we use without adequate notice for financial or other reasons, or other unanticipated problems at our hosting facilities could cause system interruptions and delays, and result in loss of critical data and lengthy interruptions in our services.

We rely on our information systems and those of third parties for activities such as processing customer orders, delivery of products, hosting and providing services and support to our customers, billing and tracking our customers, hosting and managing our customer data, and otherwise running our business. Any disruptions or unexpected incompatibilities in our information systems and those of the third parties upon whom we rely could have a significant impact on our business.

An increasing portion of our revenue comes from subscription solutions and other hosted services in which we store, retrieve, communicate, and manage data that is critical to our customers’ business systems. Disruption of our

 

7

systems that support these services and solutions could cause disruptions in our customers’ systems and in the businesses that rely on these systems. Any such disruptions could harm our reputation, create liabilities to our customers, hurt demand for our services and solutions, and adversely impact our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We license software, technologies, and intellectual property underlying some of our products and services from third parties. The third-party licenses we rely upon may not continue to be available to us on commercially reasonable terms, or at all, and the software and technologies may not be appropriately supported, maintained, or enhanced by the licensors, resulting in development delays. Some software licenses are subject to annual renewals at the discretion of the licensors. In some cases, if we were to breach a provision of these license agreements, the licensor could terminate the agreement immediately. The loss of licenses to, or inability to support, maintain, and enhance, any such third-party software or technology could result in increased costs, or delays in software releases or updates, until such issues have been resolved. This could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

re-engineer

re-engineering

We are dependent on information technology networks and systems, including the Internet, to process, transmit and store electronic information and, in the normal course of our business, we collect and retain certain information pertaining to our customers and employees. The protection of customer and employee data is critical to us. We devote significant resources to addressing security vulnerabilities in our products and information technology systems, however, the security measures put in place by us cannot provide absolute security, and our information technology infrastructure may be vulnerable to criminal cyber-attacks, ransomware attacks, or data security incidents due to employee or customer error, malfeasance, backdoors in third party software and hardware, or other vulnerabilities. Cybersecurity attacks are increasingly sophisticated, change frequently, and often go undetected until after an attack has been launched. We may fail to identify these new and complex methods of attack or fail to invest sufficient resources in security measures. We cannot be certain that advances in cyber-capabilities or other developments will not compromise or breach the technology protecting the networks that access our services.

As cyber-attacks become more sophisticated, the need to develop our infrastructure to secure our business and customer data can lead to increased cybersecurity protection costs. Such costs may include making organizational changes, deploying additional personnel and protection technologies, training employees, and engaging third party experts and consultants. These efforts come at the potential cost of revenue and human resources that could be utilized to continue to enhance our product offerings.

If a security breach occurs, our reputation, business, results of operations and financial condition could be harmed. We may also be subject to costly notification and remediation requirements if we, or a third party, determines that we have been the subject of a data breach involving personal information of individuals. Though it is difficult to determine what harm may directly result from any specific interruption or security breach, any failure or perceived failure to maintain performance, reliability, security and availability of systems or the actual or potential theft, loss, fraudulent use or misuse of our products or the personally identifiable data of a customer or employee, could result

 

8

non-U.S.

Our technology contains software modules licensed to us by third-party authors under “open source” licenses. Use and distribution of open-source software may entail greater risks than use of third-party commercial software, as open-source licensors generally do not provide support, warranties, indemnification, or other contractual protections regarding infringement claims or the quality of the code. In addition, the public availability of such software may make it easier for others to compromise our platform.

re-engineering

non-infringing

non-infringing

 

9

Our largest customer in the year ended December 31, 2021, was approximately 21% of our total revenue in that same period and while we maintain a good relationship with the customer at this moment, its potential loss could significantly impact our revenue and profitability. Our next largest customer in the year ended December 31, 2021, was approximately 3% of our total revenue in that same period and while its potential loss would not be as significant as the loss of the largest customer, it usually takes many years to win and grow customers to this level of revenue. The loss of one or several significant customers could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Customer churn is an important driver for our revenue and has been high in our history. While such customer churn has been trending directionally downwards in the last few years, it could increase because of a variety of factors, including a potential decrease in our levels of customer service or other performance failures, our inability or unwillingness to maintain competitive pricing, or our inability to keep up with the technological, operational or functional needs of our customers, a loss of key personnel or other factors which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

In the United States, the major carriers have announced intentions to phase out their 2G and 3G networks by the end of 2022. As of December 31, 2021, KORE estimates that it has approximately 1.5 million connections that operate on 2G and 3G networks in the United States. European carriers have also announced their intentions to begin 2G and 3G network shutdowns starting in 2025.

While KORE has strong relationships with many of the affected customers and expects to retain most of the connections which will not be retired upon the switch to 4G or 5G technologies, some of these connections may be lost as a result of competitive bidding processes. LTE rate plans are typically lower in price than legacy 2G and 3G rate plans. As a result, the phase out of 2G and 3G may result in lower revenue per unit and/or lower revenue to KORE. While the projected impact of this is incorporated in KORE’s projections, if the projected impact of this phase out is more significant than projected, including if KORE loses more connections than anticipated or if LTE rate plans are priced lower than currently expected, this transition could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

All of the markets in which we operate are characterized by rapid technological change, frequent introductions of new products, services and solutions and evolving customer demands. In addition, we are affected by changes in the many industries related to the products or services we offer, including Connectivity services and IoT Solutions offered to our Connected Health, Fleet Management, Communication Services, Asset management and industrial verticals. As the technologies used in each of these industries evolves, we will face new integration and competition challenges. For example, eSIM and eUICC standards may evolve and the Company will have to evolve its technology to such standards. If we are unable to adapt to rapid technological change, it could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations and our ability to remain competitive.

 

10

Additionally, the deployment of 5G network technology is subject to a variety of risks, including those related to equipment and spectrum availability, unexpected costs, and regulatory permitting requirements that could cause deployment delays or network performance issues. These issues could result in significant costs or reduce the anticipated benefits of the enhancements to our networks. If our services or solutions fail to gain acceptance in the marketplace, or if costs associated with the implementation and introduction of these services or solutions materially increase, our ability to retain and attract customers could be adversely affected.

30-days’

A part of our growth strategy is to sell additional new features and solutions to our existing customers. Our ability to sell new features to customers will depend in significant part on our ability to anticipate industry evolution, practices and standards and to continue to enhance existing solutions or introduce or acquire new solutions on a timely basis to keep pace with technological developments both within our industry and in related industries, and to remain compliant with any regulations mandated by federal agencies or state-mandated or foreign government regulations as they pertain to our customers. However, we may prove unsuccessful either in developing new features or in expanding the third-party software and products with which our solutions integrate. In addition, the success of any enhancement or new feature depends on several factors, including the timely completion, introduction and market acceptance of the enhancement or feature. Any new solutions we develop or acquire might not be introduced in a timely or cost-effective manner and might not achieve the broad market acceptance necessary to generate significant revenue. If any of our competitors implement new technologies before we are able to implement them or better anticipate the innovation and integration opportunities in related industries, those competitors may be able to provide more effective or cheaper solutions than ours.

Uncertainty about future economic conditions makes it difficult for us to forecast operating results and to make decisions about future investments. We are unable to predict the likely duration and severity of adverse economic conditions in the United States and other countries, but the longer the duration, the greater risks we face in operating our business. We cannot assure you that current economic conditions, worsening economic conditions or prolonged poor economic conditions will not have a significant adverse impact on the demand for our solutions, and consequently could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

The success of our business depends, in part, on the capacity, affordability, reliability and prevalence of wireless data networks provided by wireless telecommunications operators and on which our products and solutions operate. Currently, various wireless telecommunications operators, either individually or jointly with us, sell our products in connection with the sale of their wireless data services to their customers. Growth in demand for wireless data access may be limited if, for example, wireless telecommunications operators cease or materially curtail operations, fail to offer services that customers consider valuable at acceptable prices, change the terms of trade to us including offering us meaningful volume discounts without unduly high volume commitments, fail to maintain sufficient capacity to meet demand for wireless data access, delay the expansion of their wireless networks and services, fail to offer and maintain reliable wireless network services or fail to market their services effectively. Lack of demand for wireless data access could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

 

11

Regulatory compliance and reporting are driven by legislation and requirements, which are often subject to change, from regulatory authorities in nearly every jurisdiction globally. For example, in the United States, fleet operators can face numerous complex regulatory requirements, including mandatory Compliance, Safety and Accountability driver safety scoring, hours of service, compliance and fuel tax reporting. The reduction in regulation in certain markets may adversely impact demand for certain of our solutions, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Conversely, an increase in regulation could increase KORE’s cost of providing services, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We may not be able to identify suitable acquisition candidates which are good strategic fits at the right valuation, complete acquisitions or integrate acquisitions successfully, including our recent acquisitions of Business Mobility Partners Inc. and SIMON IoT LLC. In addition, acquisitions involve numerous risks, including difficulties in the integration of acquired operations and the diversion of management’s attention from other business concerns. In order to complete such strategic transactions, we may need to seek additional financing to fund these investments and acquisitions. Should we need to do so, we may not be able to secure such financing, or obtain such financing on favorable terms due to general market conditions or the volatile nature of the healthcare marketplace. Should we issue equity securities as consideration in any acquisition, such issuance may be dilutive to shareholders and the acquisition may not produce our desired results.

Even if we are successful in making an acquisition, the business that we acquire may not be successful or may require significantly greater resources and investments than we originally anticipated. We may expend extensive resources on an acquisition of a particular business that we are not able to successfully integrate into our operations, if at all, or where our expectations with respect to customer demands are not met.

Our ability to fully realize the anticipated benefits of both historical and future acquisitions will depend, to a large extent, on our ability to integrate the businesses we acquire. Integrating and coordinating aspects of the operations and personnel of acquisitions with ours involves complex operational and personnel-related challenges. This process is time-consuming and expensive, disrupts the businesses of both our business and the acquired business and may not result in the full benefits expected by us, including cost synergies expected to arise from operational efficiencies and overlapping general and administrative functions.

The potential difficulties, and resulting costs and delays, include:

 

 

 

 

 

 

12

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our future success and competitive position are dependent upon our proprietary technology. Despite our efforts to protect our intellectual property, unauthorized parties may attempt to copy or otherwise obtain our software or develop software with the same functionality or to obtain and use information that we regard as proprietary. Others may develop technologies that are similar or superior to our technology or duplicate our technology. In addition, effective copyright, patent, and trade secret protection may be unavailable, limited, or not applied for in certain countries. The steps taken by us to protect our technology might not prevent the misappropriation of such technology.

The value of our products relies substantially on our technical innovation in fields in which there are many current patent filings. Third parties may claim that we or our customers (some of whom are indemnified by us) are infringing their intellectual property rights. For example, individuals and groups may purchase intellectual property assets for the purpose of asserting claims of infringement and attempting to extract settlements from us or our customers. The number of these claims has increased in recent years. As new patents are issued or are brought to our attention by the holders of such patents, it may be necessary for us to secure a license from such patent holders, redesign our products, or withdraw products from the market. In addition, the legal costs and engineering time required to safeguard intellectual property or to defend against litigation could become a significant expense of operations. Any such litigation could require us to incur substantial costs and divert significant valuable resources, including the efforts of our technical and management personnel, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

13

We rely on a combination of intellectual property laws, trade secrets, confidentiality procedures and contractual provisions to protect our intellectual property and proprietary rights. Monitoring unauthorized use of our intellectual property is difficult and costly. The steps we have taken to protect our proprietary rights may not be adequate to prevent misappropriation of our intellectual property. We may not be able to detect unauthorized use of, or take appropriate steps to enforce, our intellectual property rights. Our competitors may also independently develop similar technology. In addition, the laws of many countries do not protect our proprietary rights to as great an extent as do the laws of the United States. Any failure by us to meaningfully protect our intellectual property could result in competitors offering products that incorporate our most technologically advanced features, which could seriously reduce demand for our products and solutions. In addition, we may in the future need to initiate infringement claims or litigation. Litigation, whether we are a plaintiff or a defendant, can be expensive, time consuming and may divert the efforts of our technical staff and managerial personnel, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations, whether or not such litigation results in a determination favorable to us.

non-practicing

re-develop

re-develop

re-develop

 

14

The market for the products and services that we offer is rapidly evolving and highly competitive. We expect competition to continue to increase and intensify, especially in the 5G market. Many of our competitors or potential competitors have significantly greater financial, technical, operational and marketing resources than we do. These competitors, for example, may be able to respond more rapidly or more effectively than we can to new or emerging technologies, changes in customer requirements, supplier-related developments, or a shift in the business landscape. They also may devote greater or more effective resources than we do to the development, manufacture, promotion, sale, and post-sale support of their respective products and services.

Many of our current and potential competitors have more extensive customer bases and broader customer, supplier and other industry relationships that they can leverage to establish competitive dealings with many of our current and potential customers. Some of these companies also have more established and larger customer support organizations than we do. In addition, these companies may adopt more aggressive pricing policies or offer more attractive terms to customers than they currently do, or than we are able to do. They may bundle their competitive products with broader product offerings and may introduce new products, services and enhancements. Current and potential competitors might merge or otherwise establish cooperative relationships among themselves or with third parties to enhance their products, services or market position. In addition, at any time any given customer or supplier of ours could elect to enter our then existing line of business and thereafter compete with us, whether directly or indirectly. As a result, it is possible that new competitors or new or otherwise enhanced relationships among existing competitors may emerge and rapidly acquire significant market share to the detriment of our business.

Our products compete with a variety of solutions, including other Subscription-based IoT platforms and solutions. Our current competitors include:

T-Mobile

For IoT Solutions and Analytics: device management services providers such as Velocitor and Futura, fleet management SaaS providers such as Fleetmatics and GPS Trakit, and analytics services providers such as Galooli and Intellisite.

We expect our competitors to continue to improve the features and performance of their current products and to introduce new products, services and technologies which, if successful, could reduce our sales and the market acceptance of our products, generate increased price competition and make our products obsolete. For our products to remain competitive, we must, among other things, continue to invest significant resources (financial, human and otherwise) in, among other things, research and development, sales and marketing, and customer support. We cannot be sure that we will have or will continue to have sufficient resources to make these investments or that we will be able to make the technological advances in the marketplace, meet changing customer requirements, achieve market acceptance and respond to our competitors’ products. If we are unable to compete effectively, it could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The market for IoT Connectivity and IoT Solutions is very competitive. Competition in the addressable markets is based primarily on the functionality and scalability of the underlying platforms, proprietary intellectual property, access to favorable terms of trade from cellular carriers and other vendors, the ability and willingness to offer competitive pricing to customers, customer service and responsiveness, the depth of customer relationships, product performance, the demonstrated ability to maintain compliance with laws such as HIPAA in certain industries, having the expertise required to resolve difficulties in installing, using and maintaining solutions, brand and reputation, and the financial resources of the vendor. We expect competition to be maintained at current levels and potentially even

 

15

Our success in the future depends in part on the continued contribution of our executive, technical, engineering, sales, marketing, operations and administrative personnel. Recruiting and retaining skilled personnel in the industries in which we operate, including engineers and other technical staff and skilled sales and marketing personnel, is highly competitive. In addition, in the event that we acquire another business or company, the success of any acquisition will depend in part on our retention and integration of key personnel from the acquired company or business.

Although we may enter into employment agreements with members of our senior management and other key personnel, these arrangements do not prevent any of our management or key personnel from leaving the Company. If we are not able to attract or retain qualified personnel in the future, or if we experience delays in hiring required personnel, particularly qualified technical and sales personnel, we may not be able to maintain and expand our business.

on-going

Our current reliance on a limited group of suppliers involves risks, including a potential inability to obtain an adequate supply of required products or components to meet customers’ IoT Solutions delivery requirements, a risk that we may accumulate excess inventories if we inaccurately forecast demand for our products, reduced control over pricing and delivery schedules, discontinuation of or increased prices for certain components, and economic conditions that may adversely impact the viability of our suppliers and contract manufacturers. Any disruption in our supply chain could reduce our revenue and adversely impact our financial results. Such a disruption could occur as a result of any number of events, including, but not limited to, increases in wages that drive up prices or labor stoppages, the imposition of regulations, quotas or embargoes on components, a scarcity of, or significant increase in the price of, required electronic components for our products, trade restrictions, tariffs or duties, fluctuations in currency exchange rates, transportation failures affecting the supply chain and shipment of materials and finished goods, third party interference in the integrity of the products sourced through the supply chain, the unavailability of raw materials, severe weather conditions, natural disasters, civil unrest, military conflicts, geopolitical developments, war or terrorism, including the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, regional or global pandemics like

 

16

COVID-19,

COVID-19

non-member

We currently rely on third parties to manufacture and warehouse the components of our solutions. If one of these third-party manufacturers were to experience delays, disruptions, capacity constraints or quality control problems in its manufacturing operations, product shipments to our customers could be delayed or rejected or our customers could consequently elect to cancel the underlying subscription. These disruptions would negatively impact our revenue, competitive position and reputation. Further, if we are unable to manage successfully our relationship with a manufacturer, the quality and availability of products used in our services and solutions may be harmed. None of our third-party manufacturers is obligated to supply us with a specific quantity of products, except as may be provided in a particular purchase order that we have submitted to, and that has been accepted by, such third-party manufacturer. Our third-party manufacturers could, under some circumstances, decline to accept new purchase orders from us or otherwise reduce their business with us. If a manufacturer stopped manufacturing our products for any reason or reduced manufacturing capacity, we may be unable to replace the lost manufacturing capacity on a timely and comparatively cost-effective basis, which would adversely impact our operations. In addition, we generally do not enter into long-term contracts with our manufacturers. As a result, we are subject to price increases due to availability, and subsequent price volatility, in the marketplace of the components and materials needed to manufacture our products. If a third-party manufacturer were to negatively change the product pricing and other terms under which it agrees to manufacture for us and we were unable to locate a suitable alternative manufacturer, our manufacturing costs could increase.

Because we outsource the manufacturing of the components of our solutions, the cost, quality and availability of third-party manufacturing operations is essential to the successful production and sale of our products. Our reliance on third-party manufacturers exposes us to a number of risks which are outside our control, including:

 

 

 

 

 

 

17

 

 

Although we promote ethical business practices and our operations personnel periodically monitor the operations of our manufacturers, we do not control the manufacturers or their labor and other legal compliance practices. If our current manufacturers, or any other third-party manufacturer which we may use in the future, violate U.S. or foreign laws or regulations, we may be subjected to extra duties, significant monetary penalties, adverse publicity, the seizure and forfeiture of products that we are attempting to import or the loss of our import privileges. The effects of these factors could render the conduct of our business in a particular country undesirable or impractical and could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

COVID-19

COVID-19,

COVID-19

COVID-19

COVID-19

 

18

We rely on intellectual property licensed from third parties to develop and offer our solutions. In addition, we may need to obtain future licenses from third parties to use intellectual property associated with our solutions. These licenses may not be available to us on acceptable terms, without significant price increases or at all. Any loss of the right to use any such intellectual property required for the development and maintenance of our solutions could result in delays in the provision of our solutions until equivalent technology is either developed by us, or, if available from others, is identified, obtained, and integrated, which could harm our business. Any errors or defects in third-party intellectual property could result in errors or a failure of our solutions, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our solutions integrate with third-party software and devices to allow our solutions to perform key functions. Errors, viruses or bugs may be present in third-party software that our customers use in conjunction with our solutions. Changes to third-party software that our customers use in conjunction with our solutions could also render our solutions inoperable. Customers may conclude that our software is the cause of these errors, bugs or viruses and terminate their subscriptions. The inability to easily integrate with, or any defects in, any third-party software could result in increased costs, or in delays in software releases or updates to our products until such issues have been resolved, which could adversely affect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and future prospects and could damage our reputation.

in-vehicle

The mobile carriers can and will discontinue radio frequency technologies as they become obsolete. If we are unable to design our solutions into new technologies such as 4G, 4G LTE and 5G or 5G NR, our future prospects and revenue could be limited.

Our brand, reputation, and ability to attract, retain, and serve our customers are dependent upon the reliable performance of our services and our customers’ ability to access our solutions at all times. Our customers rely on our solutions to make operating decisions related to their businesses, as well as to measure, store and analyze valuable data regarding their businesses. Our solutions are vulnerable to interruption and our data centers are vulnerable to damage or interruption from human error, intentional bad acts, computer viruses or hackers, earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, fires, war, terrorist attacks, power losses, hardware failures, systems failures,

 

19

telecommunications failures, and similar events, any of which could limit our customers’ ability to access our solutions. Prolonged delays or unforeseen difficulties in connection with adding capacity or upgrading our network architecture may cause our service quality to suffer. Any event that significantly disrupts our service or exposes our data to misuse could damage our reputation and harm our business, financial condition and results of operations, including reducing our revenue, causing us to issue credits to customers, subjecting us to potential liability, increasing our churn rates, or increasing our cost of acquiring new customers.

We may need to raise substantial additional capital in the future to fund our operations, develop and commercialize new products and solutions or acquire companies. If we require additional funds in the future, we may not be able to obtain those funds on acceptable terms, or at all. If we raise additional funds by issuing equity securities, our stockholders may experience dilution. Debt financing, if available, may involve covenants restricting our operations or our ability to incur additional debt. Any debt or additional equity financing that we raise may contain terms that are not favorable to us or our stockholders. In addition, restrictions in our existing debt agreements may limit the amount and/or type of indebtedness that we are able to incur.

If we do not have, or are not able to obtain, sufficient funds, we may have to delay development or commercialization of our products and solutions, liquidate some or all of our assets, or delay, reduce the scope of or eliminate some or all of our sales and marketing expansion programs. Any of these actions could harm our operating results.

We have a history of losses, and we may not achieve or maintain profitability in the future. We incurred net losses of $23.4 million in 2019, $35.2 million in 2020, and $24.5 million in 2021. As of December 31, 2021, we had an accumulated deficit of $138.2 million. We are not certain whether or when we will be able to achieve or sustain profitability in the future. We also expect our expenses to increase in future periods as we continue to invest in growth, which could negatively affect our future results of operations if our revenue does not increase. These investments may not result in increased revenue or profitable growth. Any failure to increase our revenue as we invest in our business, or to manage our costs, could prevent us from achieving or maintaining profitability or positive cash flow. We may also incur significant losses in the future for a number of reasons, including the other risks described in this prospectus, and unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications, delays, and other unknown events. If we are unable to successfully address these risks and challenges, our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects could be materially adversely affected.

 

20

We operate in many parts of the world that have experienced significant governmental corruption to some degree and, in certain circumstances, strict compliance with anti-bribery laws may conflict with local customs and practices. We may be subject to competitive disadvantages to the extent that our competitors are able to secure business, licenses, or other preferential treatment by making payments to government officials and others in positions of influence or through other methods that relevant law and regulations prohibit us from using. Our success depends, in part, on our ability to anticipate these risks and manage these difficulties.

Our failure to comply with Anti-Corruption Laws could result in significant fines and penalties, criminal sanctions against us, our officers or our employees, prohibitions on the conduct of our business, and damage to our reputation and could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Operations outside of the United States may be affected by changes in trade protection laws, policies and measures, and other regulatory requirements affecting trade and investment.

As a result of our international operations we are subject to foreign tax regulations. Such regulations may not be clear, not consistently applied and subject to sudden change, particularly with regard to international transfer pricing. Our earnings could be reduced by the uncertain and changing nature of such tax regulations.

Our software contains encryption technologies, certain types of which are subject to U.S. and foreign export control regulations and, in some foreign countries, restrictions on importation and/or use. Any failure on our part to comply with encryption or other applicable export control requirements could result in financial penalties or other sanctions under the U.S. or foreign export regulations, including restrictions on future export activities, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Regulatory restrictions could impair our access to technologies needed to improve our solutions and may also limit or reduce the demand for our solutions outside of the United States.

We are potentially exposed to adverse as well as beneficial movements in currency exchange rates. Although the majority of our sales are transacted in U.S. dollars, expenses may be paid in local currencies. An increase in the value of the dollar could increase the real cost to our customers of our products in those markets outside the U.S. where we sell in dollars, and a weakened dollar could increase the cost of local operating expenses, procurement of raw materials from sources outside the United States, and overseas capital expenditures. We also conduct certain investing and financing activities in local currencies. Our foreign exchange forward contracts reduce, but do not eliminate, the impact of currency exchange rate movements; therefore, changes in exchange rates could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

21

EU-U.S.

end-user

Our products and solutions enable us to collect, manage and store a wide range of data, such as data related to vehicle tracking and fleet management, including vehicle location and fuel usage, speed and mileage. Some of the data we collect or use in our business is subject to data privacy laws, which are complex and increase our cost of

 

22

doing business. The U.S. federal government and various state governments have adopted or proposed limitations on the collection, distribution and use of personal information. Many foreign jurisdictions, including the European Union and the United Kingdom, have adopted legislation (including directives or regulations) that increase or change the requirements governing data collection and storage in these jurisdictions. We market our products in over 50 countries, and accordingly, we are subject to many different, and potentially conflicting, privacy laws. If our privacy or data security measures fail to comply, or are perceived to fail to comply, with current or future laws and regulations, we may be subject to litigation, regulatory investigations or other liabilities.

Furthermore, there can be no assurance that our employees, contractors and agents will comply with the policies and procedures we establish regarding data privacy and data security, particularly as we expand our operations through organic growth and acquisitions. While our employees may violate our policies and procedures, the Company remains responsible for, and obligated to implement, policies and procedures and enter into contracts with service providers that require appropriate protection. Any violations could subject us to civil or criminal penalties, including substantial fines or prohibitions on our ability to offer our products in one or more countries, and could also materially damage our reputation, our brand, our international expansion efforts, our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The transmission of data over the Internet and cellular networks is a critical component of our SaaS business model. Additionally, as cloud computing continues to evolve, increased regulation by federal, state or foreign agencies becomes more likely, particularly in the areas of data privacy and data security. In addition, taxation of services provided over the Internet or other charges imposed by government agencies, or by private organizations for accessing the Internet, may be imposed. Any regulation imposing greater fees for Internet use or restricting information exchange over the Internet, could result in a decline in the use of the Internet and the viability of Internet-based services, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our solutions and products enable us to collect, manage and store a wide range of customer data. The United States and various state governments have adopted or proposed limitations on the collection, distribution and use of personal data, as well as requirements that must be followed if a breach of such personal data occurs. The European Union and the United Kingdom have adopted legislation (including directives, national laws and regulations) that increase or change the requirements governing data collection, use, storage and disclosure of personal data in these jurisdictions. The current European Union legislation related to data protection is the General Data Protection Regulation, which came into effect on May 25, 2018. We have updated and will continue to evaluate our group data protection and security policies, charters, and procedures to assist in maintaining data privacy and data security in line with international practices.

We may also be subject to costly notification and remediation requirements if we, or a third party, determines that we have been the subject of a data breach involving personal data of individuals. Data breach notification regulations vary among the countries where we conduct business, and also vary among the states of the United States, and any breach of personal data could be subject to any number of these requirements.

As noted above, we have sought to implement internationally recognized practices regarding data privacy and data security. If our privacy or data security measures fail to comply, or are perceived to fail to comply, with current or future laws and regulations, we may be subject to litigation, regulatory investigations or other liabilities. Moreover, if future laws and regulations limit our customers’ ability to use and share this data or our ability to store, process and share data with our customers over the Internet, demand for our solutions could decrease and our costs could increase. We might also have to limit the manner in which we collect data, the types of personal data that we collect, or the solutions we offer. Any of these risks would materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

There is currently significant uncertainty about the future relationship between the United States and various other countries, most significantly China, with respect to trade policies, treaties, tariffs and taxes. The current and former U.S. administrations have called for substantial changes to U.S. foreign trade policy with respect to China and other countries, including significant new and increased tariffs on goods imported into the United States. In 2018, the

 

23

Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (the “USTR”) enacted tariffs on imports into the U.S. from China, including communications equipment products and components manufactured and imported from China. The tariff became effective in September 2018, with an initial rate of 10% and was scheduled to increase from 10% to 25% on January 1, 2019. The scheduled increase was delayed until March 2, 2019, however trade negotiations between the U.S. and China continue and the scheduled increase has been further delayed indefinitely. Our business may also be affected by tariffs set by countries into which we sell our products, whether as a response to U.S. foreign trade policy or otherwise. In addition, changes in international trade agreements, regulations, restrictions and tariffs, including new tariffs, may increase our operating costs, reduce our margins and make it more difficult for us to compete in the U.S. and overseas markets, and our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely impacted.

In some cases, the U.S. government’s imposition of trade restrictions involving products sold by certain Chinese manufacturers has caused U.S. wireless carriers to divert business from international providers to the Company, and accordingly, the Company has invested resources in satisfying the needs of such customers. If the U.S. government were to remove or reduce such trade restrictions, it could cause such carriers to reduce their business with the Company and we may be unable to recoup or attain a return on such investments.

We are a public company, and as such (and particularly after we are no longer an “emerging growth company”), will incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses that KORE did not incur prior to the Business Combination. We are subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, and are required to comply with the applicable requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, as well as the rules and regulations subsequently implemented by the SEC and the listing standards of The New York Stock Exchange, including changes in corporate governance practices and the establishment and maintenance of effective disclosure and financial controls. Compliance with these rules and regulations can be burdensome. Our management and other personnel need to devote a substantial amount of time to these compliance initiatives. Moreover, these rules and regulations will increase our historical legal and financial compliance costs and will make some activities more time-consuming and costly. For example, we expect that these rules and regulations may make it more difficult and more expensive for us to attract and retain qualified members of our board of directors as compared to KORE prior to the Business Combination as well as significantly more expensive to provide the required insurance. In particular, we expect to incur significant expenses and devote substantial management effort toward ensuring compliance with the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which will increase when we are no longer an “emerging growth company.” We will need to hire additional accounting and financial staff, and engage outside consultants, all with appropriate public company experience and technical accounting knowledge and maintain an internal audit function, which will increase our operating expenses. Moreover, we could incur additional compensation costs in the event that we decide to pay cash compensation closer to that of other public companies, which would increase our general and administrative expenses and could materially and adversely affect our profitability. We are evaluating these rules and regulations, and cannot predict or estimate the amount of additional costs we may incur or the timing of such costs.

We were not required to thoroughly document and test our internal controls over financial reporting nor was our management required to certify the effectiveness of our internal controls and our auditors were not required to opine on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. We will cease to be an emerging growth company status and become subject to the SEC’s internal control over financial reporting management and auditor attestation requirements upon the earliest to occur of: (i) the last day of the fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of the date of the Closing; (ii) the last day of the first fiscal year in which our annual gross revenue exceed $1.07 billion; (iii) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in

 

24

non-affiliates

10-K

KORE has identified material weaknesses in its internal controls over financial reporting. If we fail to develop and maintain proper and effective internal controls over financial reporting, KORE’s ability to produce timely and accurate financial statements, comply with applicable laws and regulations, or access the capital markets could be impaired.

As a public company, KORE is actively evaluating its internal control over financial reporting in a manner that meets the standards of publicly traded companies required by Section 404(a) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, or Section 404. A material weakness is defined as a deficiency, or 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.

13a-15(f)

The process of designing and implementing effective internal control over financial reporting is a continuous effort that requires KORE to anticipate and react to changes in its business and the economic and regulatory environments and to expend significant resources to maintain internal controls over financial reporting that are adequate to satisfy our reporting obligations as a public company. The rules governing the standards that must be met for our management to assess our internal control over financial reporting are complex and require significant documentation, testing and possible remediation. Testing and maintaining our internal control over financial reporting may divert KORE management’s attention from other matters that are important to our business.

Our management, with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer and our Chief Financial Officer, evaluated, as of December 31, 2021, the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act). Disclosure controls and procedures are controls and other procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed or submitted under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported, within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and regulations. Disclosure controls and procedures include controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to management, including our Chief Executive Officer and our Chief Financial Officer, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

Based on the evaluation of our disclosure controls and procedures, our Chief Executive Officer and our Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective as of December 31, 2021, due to the material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting described below. In light of this fact, our management has performed additional analyses, reconciliations, and other post-closing procedures and has concluded that, notwithstanding the material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, the consolidated financial statements for the periods covered by and included in this registration statement fairly present, in all material respects, our financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the periods presented in conformity with U.S. GAAP.

 

25

Management determined that the Company continues to have material weaknesses in its internal control over financial reporting as follows:

 

 

 

 

 

We have begun the process of, and we are focused on, designing and implementing effective internal control measures to improve our internal control over financial reporting and remediate the material weaknesses. Our internal control remediation efforts include the following:

 

 

 

 

In addition to implementing and refining the above activities, we expect to engage in additional remediation activities in fiscal year 2022, including:

 

 

 

 

 

 

While we believe that these efforts will improve our internal control over entity level controls, financial reporting including inventory, procure to pay process and ITGCs, the design and implementation of our remediation is ongoing and will require validation and testing of the design and operating effectiveness of our internal controls over a sustained period of financial reporting cycles. The actions that we are taking are subject to ongoing senior management review. We will not be able to conclude whether the steps we are taking will fully remediate the material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting until we have completed our remediation efforts and subsequent evaluation of their effectiveness.

The effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures and our internal control over financial reporting is subject to various inherent limitations, including cost limitations, judgments used in decision making, assumptions about the likelihood of future events, the soundness of our systems, the possibility of human error, and the risk of fraud. Moreover, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions and the risk that the degree of compliance with policies or procedures may deteriorate over time. Because of these limitations, there can be no assurance that any system of disclosure controls and procedures or internal control over financial reporting will be successful in preventing all errors or fraud or in making all material information known in a timely manner to the appropriate levels of management.

 

26

While we are designing and implementing measures to remediate our existing material weaknesses, we cannot predict the success of such measures or the outcome of its assessment of these measures at this time. We can give no assurance that these measures will remediate any of the deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting or that additional material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting will not be identified in the future. Our current controls and any new controls that we develop may become inadequate because of changes in conditions in our business, personnel, information technology systems and applications, or other factors. Any failure to design or maintain effective internal controls over financial reporting or any difficulties encountered in our implementation or improvement could increase compliance costs, negatively impact share trading prices, or otherwise harm our operating results or cause loss of investor confidence or delisting and cause the market price of our shares to decline.

The trading price of our securities may fluctuate substantially and may be lower than the price at which you purchase such securities. This may be especially true for companies like ours with a small public float. The trading price of our securities may be volatile and subject to wide fluctuations due to a variety of factors, including:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These market and industry factors may materially reduce the market price of our common stock regardless of our operating performance.

“Lock-up

The Selling Securityholders are not restricted from selling any of their shares of our common stock, other than by applicable securities laws. As such, sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the public market could occur at any time.

 

27

As restrictions on resale end, the sale or possibility of sale of these shares could have the effect of increasing the volatility in our share price or the market price of our common stock could decline if the holders of currently restricted shares sell them or are perceived by the market as intending to sell them. In addition, we may issue additional shares of our common stock or other equity securities without the approval of investors, which would reduce investors’ proportionate ownership interests and may depress the market price of our common stock.

The market price of our securities may be volatile and, in the past, companies that have experienced volatility in the market price of their securities have been subject to securities class action litigation. We may be the target of this type of litigation in the future. Securities litigation against us could result in substantial costs and divert management’s attention from other business concerns, which could seriously harm our business.

Securities research analysts may establish and publish their own periodic projections for us. These projections may vary widely and may not accurately predict the results we actually achieve. Our share price may decline if its actual results do not match the projections of these securities research analysts. Similarly, if one or more of the analysts who write reports on or downgrades our stock or publishes inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, our share price could decline. If one or more of these analysts ceases coverage of us or fails to publish reports on us regularly, our securities price or trading volume could decline.

We currently intend to retain our future earnings, if any, to finance the further development and expansion of our business and do not intend to pay cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Any future determination to pay dividends will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on our financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements and future agreements and financing instruments, business prospects and such other factors as our board of directors deems relevant.

Since we are a holding company, we do not have any independent means of generating revenue other than through our subsidiaries. We intend to cause KORE Wireless to make distributions to us, in an amount at least sufficient to allow us to pay all applicable taxes and our corporate and other overhead expenses. Pursuant to the terms of the Credit Agreement, KORE Wireless is prohibited from declaring or making certain payments in respect of equity interests, subject to certain customary exceptions. We are therefore restricted from declaring or paying any dividend to our stockholders to the extent such dividend is not permitted under the Credit Agreement.

Our common stock are currently listed on NYSE. If NYSE delists our common stock from trading on its exchange for any reason, we and our stockholders could face significant material adverse consequences including:

 

 

 

 

 

28

All of the shares of common stock offered by the Selling Securityholders pursuant to this prospectus will be sold by them for their respective accounts. We will not receive any of the proceeds from these sales, except with respect to amounts received by us upon exercise of the warrants to the extent such warrants are exercised for cash. We intend to use any proceeds from the exercise of any warrants for cash for general corporate and working capital purposes.

The Selling Securityholders will pay any underwriting fees, discounts, selling commissions, stock transfer taxes and certain legal expenses incurred by such Selling Securityholders in disposing of their shares of common stock, and we will bear all other costs, fees and expenses incurred in effecting the registration of such securities covered by this prospectus, including, without limitation, all registration and filing fees, NYSE listing fees and fees and expenses of our counsel and our independent registered public accountants.

 

29

We have not paid any cash dividends on our common stock to date. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenue and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial condition. The payment of any cash dividends will be within the discretion of our board of directors. Our ability to declare dividends may be limited by the terms of financing or other agreements entered into by us or our subsidiaries from time to time.

 

30

No. 33-10786

No. 33-10786

On March 12, 2021, KORE entered into a definitive merger agreement with CTAC, a special purpose acquisition company affiliated with Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. On September 30, 2021, as contemplated by the Merger Agreement, (i) CTAC merged with and into LLC Merger Sub (the “Pubco Merger”), with LLC Merger Sub being the surviving entity of the Pubco Merger and Pubco as parent of the surviving entity, (ii) immediately prior to the First Merger (as defined below), Cerberus Telecom Acquisition Holdings, LLC (the “Sponsor”) contributed 100% of its equity interests in Corp Merger Sub to Pubco (the “Corp Merger Sub Contribution”), as a result of which Corp Merger Sub became a wholly owned subsidiary of Pubco, (iii) following the Corp Merger Sub Contribution, Corp Merger Sub merged with and into KORE (the “First Merger”), with KORE being the surviving corporation of the First Merger, and (iv) immediately following the First Merger and as part of the same overall transaction as the First Merger, KORE merged with and into LLC Merger Sub (the “Second Merger” and, together with the First Merger, being collectively referred to as the “Mergers” and, together with the other transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement, the “Transactions” and the closing (the “Closing”) of the Transactions, the “Business Combination”), with LLC Merger Sub being the surviving entity of the Second Merger and Pubco being the sole member of LLC Merger Sub. In connection with the Business Combination, Pubco changed its name to “KORE Group Holdings, Inc.

 

31

The unaudited pro forma combined statements of operations for the year ended December 31, 2021, combine the historical statements of operations of KORE and CTAC. The period is presented on a pro forma basis with the business combination and related transactions, summarized below, consummated on January 1, 2021, the beginning of the most recent annual period presented. The related transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement that are given pro forma effect include:

 

The unaudited pro forma combined financial information may not be useful in predicting the future financial condition and results of operations of KORE.

The unaudited pro forma combined financial information does not include an unaudited pro forma consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2021 as the business combination was consummated on September 30, 2021, and is reflected in KORE’s historical audited consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2021, filed with the SEC.

The historical financial information of KORE was derived from the audited financial statements of KORE for the year ended December 31, 2021. The historical financial information of CTAC was derived from the books and records of CTAC for the period from January 1, 2021 to September 29, 2021.

The business combination closed on September 30, 2021 and was accounted for as a reverse recapitalization, in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Under this method of accounting, KORE was determined to be the accounting acquirer, and CTAC was treated as the “acquired” company for financial reporting purposes. Accordingly, the business combination was treated as the equivalent of KORE issuing stock for the net assets of CTAC, accompanied by a recapitalization. The net assets of CTAC were stated at historical cost, with no goodwill or other intangible assets recorded. Operations prior to the business combination are those of KORE.

KORE was determined to be the accounting acquirer based on evaluation of the following facts and circumstances:

 

 

 

 

The aggregate consideration for the Business Combination is $624.7 million, payable in the form of shares of the KORE Common Stock and cash.

The following summarizes the purchase consideration:

 

 

 

32

The following summarizes the pro forma KORE Common Stock outstanding in thousands: *

 

 

The unaudited pro forma condensed combined statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2021 was prepared using, and should be read in conjunction with, KORE’s audited consolidated statements of operations for the year ended December 31, 2021 and the related notes, included elsewhere in this prospectus.

 

33

 

 

34

 

The business combination was accounted for as a reverse recapitalization in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Under this method of accounting, KORE was determined to be the accounting acquirer, and CTAC was treated as the “acquired” company for financial reporting purposes. Accordingly, the business combination was treated as the equivalent of KORE issuing stock for the net assets of CTAC, accompanied by a recapitalization. The net assets of CTAC were stated at historical cost, with no goodwill or other intangible assets recorded. Operations prior to the business combination are those of KORE.

The unaudited pro forma combined statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2021 gives pro forma effect to the business combination as if it was completed on January 1, 2021.

The historical financial information of KORE was derived from the audited financial statements of KORE for the year ended December 31, 2021. The historical financial information of CTAC was derived from the books and records of CTAC for the period from January 1, 2021 to September 29, 2021.

The unaudited pro forma combined statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2021 was prepared using, and should be read in conjunction with, the following:

 

Management has made significant estimates and assumptions in its determination of the pro forma adjustments. As the Unaudited Pro Forma Information has been prepared based on these preliminary estimates, the final amounts recorded may differ materially from the information presented.

The Unaudited Pro Forma Information does not give effect to any anticipated synergies, operating efficiencies, tax savings, or cost savings that may be associated with the business combination.

The pro forma adjustments reflecting the consummation of the business combination are based on certain currently available information and certain assumptions and methodologies that management believes are reasonable under the circumstances. The unaudited pro forma adjustments, which are described in the accompanying notes, may be revised as additional information becomes available and is evaluated. Therefore, it is likely that the actual adjustments will differ from the unaudited pro forma adjustments and it is possible the difference may be material. Management believes that its assumptions and methodologies provide a reasonable basis for presenting all of the significant effects of the business combination based on information available to management at this time and that the pro forma adjustments give appropriate effect to those assumptions and are properly applied in the Unaudited Pro Forma Information.

 

Upon consummation of the business combination, KORE performed a comprehensive review of the two entities’ accounting policies. As a result of the review, management did not identify differences between the accounting policies of the two entities which, when conformed, would have a material impact on the financial statements of the KORE.

 

The Unaudited Pro Forma Information has been prepared to illustrate the effect of the business combination and has been prepared for informational purposes only.

S-X

No. 33-10786

No. 33-10786

 

35

The pro forma basic and diluted loss per share amounts presented in the unaudited pro forma combined statements of operations are based upon the number of the combined company’s shares outstanding, assuming the business combination occurred on January 1, 2021.

The pro forma adjustments included in the unaudited pro forma combined statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2021 are as follows:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Represents the net loss per share calculated using the historical weighted average shares outstanding, and the issuance of additional shares in connection with the business combination, assuming the shares were outstanding since January 1, 2021. As the business combination and related equity transactions reflect as if they had occurred at the beginning of the periods presented, the calculation of weighted average shares outstanding for basic and diluted net income (loss) per share assumes that the shares issuable relating to the business combination have been outstanding for the entirety of the period presented.

 

 

36

KORE offers IoT services and solutions. KORE is one of the largest global independent IoT enablers, delivering critical services to customers globally to deploy, manage and scale their IoT application and use cases. KORE provides advanced connectivity services, location-based services, device solutions, managed and professional services used in the development and support of IoT solutions and applications. KORE’s IoT platform is delivered in partnership with the world’s largest mobile network operators and provides secure, reliable wireless connectivity to mobile and fixed devices. This technology enables KORE to expand its global technology platform by transferring capabilities across the new and existing vertical markets and to deliver complimentary products to channel partners and resellers worldwide. KORE began operations in 2003. A predecessor entity, KORE, Maple Holdings Inc., was incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware on July 29, 2014. After the Closing, Maple Holdings Inc. ceased to exist as a separate legal entity.

KORE has operating subsidiaries located in Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Ireland, Malta, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.

KORE believes it is one of the largest global enablers of IoT, providing Connectivity and IoT Solutions to enterprise customers across five key industry verticals, comprised of (i) Connected Health, (ii) Fleet Management, (iii) Asset Monitoring, (iv) Communications Services and (v) Industrial IoT (or “IIoT”).

KORE has built a business at scale with revenue, net loss and adjusted EBITDA as shown in the table below:

 

Already a large market, KORE believes that IoT shows the promise and potential to be a significant technological revolution. IoT adoptions often result in significant productivity increases while creating entirely new business models in many cases, and the Company believes that IoT has the ability to have a significant impact worldwide. KORE enables this IoT adoption and is at the center of this revolution.

KORE enables mission-critical IoT applications for enterprise and solution provider customers across approximately 14.6 million and 11.8 million devices as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. KORE provided connectivity to over 3,600 customers for each of the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020. Examples of how our customers use KORE’s products and services across KORE’s five key verticals are illustrated below:

 

 

 

 

 

37

Across the above-mentioned use cases and others, IoT is already a large and fast-growing industry comprised of IoT hardware, software, connectivity and services.

KORE’s customers operate in a wide variety of sectors, including healthcare, fleet and vehicle management, asset management, communication services and industrial/manufacturing. KORE’s largest customer, comprising approximately 21% and 16% of KORE’s revenue for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, is a large multinational medical device and health care company.

KORE has a B2B (business to business) model where any given customer may have hundreds, or thousands of devices deployed in the field. The structure of KORE’s relationships with its connectivity customers is “sticky,” meaning that any exit by a connectivity customer from KORE’s platform generally will take place over an extended period of time. Additionally, it may not be clear to KORE that a customer is exiting.

The difficulty in determining if a customer is moving away from KORE is compounded by the fact that the number of Total Connections that KORE has with any particular customer can increase or decrease over time depending on a variety of factors, including pricing, customer satisfaction and fit with a particular customer product, etc. In some cases, customers may choose to allocate a portion of their business to other service providers alongside KORE. This allocation can change from period to period. As a result, a decline in Total Connections by a customer is not necessarily an indicator that the customer has decided to move away from KORE. Customers often keep their volume allocation decisions confidential in order to prevent KORE from making commercial adjustments (such as price increases).

KORE’s strong customer and partner relationships provide it with the opportunity to expand its market reach and sales. KORE partners with leading cellular providers to enable its CaaS business. KORE’s IoT ecosystem partners include enterprise-level IoT software providers as application platform partners, top of the line commercial hardware manufacturers as hardware OEM partners, well-known electronics solutions providers as semi-conductor and module OEM partners, globally recognized cloud platforms as cloud providers as well as multinational system integrators as systems integration services partners. These partnerships allow KORE to provide IoT Solutions to its customers.

Key highlights of KORE’s market and business opportunity include:

 

38

one-stop

 

 

39

de-provision,

back-end,

 

KORE also believes that eSIMs and eUICC technology have significant potential for IoT providers and for KORE in particular. eSIM and eUICC technology are new standards for remote SIM provisioning defined by the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (“GSMA”), the organization that supports and defines cellular standards. The transition from the current standard, where a SIM is “locked in” to a specific cellular carrier, to an “unlocked” eSIM model with eUICC technology that allows a company deploying IoT to switch cellular carriers at the push of a button, “over the air,” without the need to physically change SIM cards, will allow a provider in KORE’s position to offer a single eSIM that works across multiple cellular carriers. This evolution will provide KORE clients the ability to easily switch cellular carriers, without the need for expensive and labor-intensive physical SIM replacements.

Within IoT Connectivity services, KORE offers CaaS and CEaaS.

CaaS is cellular connectivity via KORE’s IoT platform ‘KORE One’ and it is offered to enterprise customers such as large medical device manufacturers, or to IoT software and solutions providers such as fleet tracking companies who may bundle connectivity with their own software and solutions. Fees for CaaS services generally consist of a monthly subscription fee for each connection, and additional data usage fees. Connectivity services also include charges for each SIM sold to a customer and other miscellaneous charges.

 

40

CEaaS is provided to communication service providers (such as MVNOs, and telecom carriers), device OEMs or other providers who wish to provide IoT cellular services to the market. The infrastructure software and services offered to such providers are cellular Core Network as a Service (including Cloud Native EPC), or “CNaaS”), Connectivity Management Platform as a Service (“CMPaaS”) and Private Networking as a Service (“PNaaS”). Fees for CEaaS generally consist of a monthly subscription fee and other miscellaneous charges.

IoT Connectivity services represent 68% and 74% of KORE’s revenue for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.

Successful deployment of IoT is extremely complex. Some of the significant challenges in IoT deployment include:

 

To simplify IoT deployment complexity, KORE offers a comprehensive portfolio of IoT Solutions capabilities, including:

 

 

 

 

41