Alight, Inc. / Delaware (ALIT)
SIC breadcrumb: Services > Business Services > SIC 7389 Services-Business Services, NEC
SEC company page: https://www.sec.gov/edgar/browse/?CIK=1809104. Latest filing source: 0001628280-26-011108.
Informational only - descriptive public-record data, not investment advice.
Business
Read ALIT's verbatim Item 1 Business section from its latest 10-K: Business.
Risk Factors
Read ALIT's verbatim Item 1A Risk Factors from its latest 10-K: Risk Factors.
Selected Fundamentals
| Metric | Value | Unit | FY | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 2,262,000,000 | USD | 2025 | 2026-02-24 |
| Net income | -3,097,000,000 | USD | 2025 | 2026-02-24 |
| Assets | 4,568,000,000 | USD | 2025 | 2026-02-24 |
Financials
Annual standardized facts from SEC companyfacts as of latest extracted filing date 2026-02-24. Source: https://data.sec.gov/api/xbrl/companyfacts/CIK0001809104.json. Derived margins, ratios, and free cash flow are computed from the extracted annual SEC facts.
| Metric | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 2,552,000,000 | 2,728,000,000 | 2,207,000,000 | 2,386,000,000 | 2,332,000,000 | 2,262,000,000 | |
| Net income | -35,000,000 | -62,000,000 | -345,000,000 | -157,000,000 | -3,097,000,000 | ||
| Operating income | 265,000,000 | 147,000,000 | -94,000,000 | -81,000,000 | -90,000,000 | -3,090,000,000 | |
| Gross profit | 686,000,000 | 810,000,000 | 794,000,000 | 765,000,000 | |||
| Diluted EPS | -0.08 | -0.14 | -0.70 | -0.29 | -5.87 | ||
| Operating cash flow | 286,000,000 | 386,000,000 | 252,000,000 | 360,000,000 | |||
| Capital expenditures | 131,000,000 | 140,000,000 | 121,000,000 | 110,000,000 | |||
| Dividends paid | 0.00 | 0.00 | 21,000,000 | 86,000,000 | |||
| Share buybacks | 12,000,000 | 40,000,000 | 167,000,000 | 65,000,000 | |||
| Assets | 6,956,000,000 | 10,988,000,000 | 11,235,000,000 | 10,782,000,000 | 8,193,000,000 | 4,568,000,000 | |
| Liabilities | 6,273,000,000 | 6,060,000,000 | 6,146,000,000 | 6,040,000,000 | 3,880,000,000 | 3,522,000,000 | |
| Stockholders' equity | 683,000,000 | 4,140,000,000 | 4,439,000,000 | 4,462,000,000 | 4,309,000,000 | 1,044,000,000 | |
| Cash and cash equivalents | 506,000,000 | 372,000,000 | 228,000,000 | 324,000,000 | 343,000,000 | 273,000,000 | |
| Free cash flow | 155,000,000 | 246,000,000 | 131,000,000 | 250,000,000 |
Ratios
| Metric | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net margin | -2.81% | -14.46% | -6.73% | -136.91% | |||
| Operating margin | 10.38% | 5.39% | -4.26% | -3.39% | -3.86% | -136.60% | |
| Return on equity | -0.85% | -1.40% | -7.73% | -3.64% | -296.65% | ||
| Return on assets | -0.32% | -0.55% | -3.20% | -1.92% | -67.80% | ||
| Liabilities / equity | 9.18 | 1.46 | 1.38 | 1.35 | 0.90 | 3.37 | |
| Current ratio | 1.25 | 1.16 | 1.20 | 1.27 | 1.42 | 1.31 |
Industry Peer Context
Net margin peer context
Operating margin peer context
ROE peer context
ROA peer context
Financial Bridges
Income statement bridge from reported figures
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts FY 2025. Revenue: accession 0001628280-26-011108; concept RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax; source concepts us-gaap:RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax | Gross profit: accession 0001628280-26-011108; concept GrossProfit; source concepts us-gaap:GrossProfit | Operating income: accession 0001628280-26-011108; concept OperatingIncomeLoss; source concepts us-gaap:OperatingIncomeLoss | Net income: accession 0001628280-26-011108; concept NetIncomeLoss; source concepts us-gaap:NetIncomeLoss
Free cash flow = operating cash flow - capital expenditures
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts FY 2025. Operating cash flow: accession 0001628280-26-011108; concept NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities; source concepts us-gaap:NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities | Capital expenditures: accession 0001628280-26-011108; concept PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment; source concepts us-gaap:PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment | Free cash flow: accession 0001628280-26-011108; concept NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities - PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment; source concepts us-gaap:NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities; us-gaap:PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment
Financial Charts
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001628280-26-011108; filed 2026-02-24. Concept: RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax. Source concepts: us-gaap:RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001628280-26-011108; filed 2026-02-24. Concept: NetIncomeLoss. Source concepts: us-gaap:NetIncomeLoss.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001628280-26-011108; filed 2026-02-24. Concept: OperatingIncomeLoss. Source concepts: us-gaap:OperatingIncomeLoss.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001628280-26-011108; filed 2026-02-24. Concept: GrossProfit. Source concepts: us-gaap:GrossProfit.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001628280-26-011108; filed 2026-02-24. Concept: EarningsPerShareDiluted. Source concepts: us-gaap:EarningsPerShareDiluted.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001628280-26-011108; filed 2026-02-24. Concept: NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities. Source concepts: us-gaap:NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001628280-26-011108; filed 2026-02-24. Concept: PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment. Source concepts: us-gaap:PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001628280-26-011108; filed 2026-02-24. Concept: PaymentsOfDividends. Source concepts: us-gaap:PaymentsOfDividends.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001628280-26-011108; filed 2026-02-24. Concept: PaymentsForRepurchaseOfCommonStock. Source concepts: us-gaap:PaymentsForRepurchaseOfCommonStock.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001628280-26-011108; filed 2026-02-24. Concept: Assets. Source concepts: us-gaap:Assets.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001628280-26-011108; filed 2026-02-24. Concept: Liabilities. Source concepts: us-gaap:Liabilities.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001628280-26-011108; filed 2026-02-24. Concept: StockholdersEquity. Source concepts: us-gaap:StockholdersEquity.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001628280-26-011108; filed 2026-02-24. Concept: CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue. Source concepts: us-gaap:CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001628280-26-011108; filed 2026-02-24. Concept: NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities - PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment. Source concepts: us-gaap:NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities; us-gaap:PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment.
Quarterly
Quarterly standardized facts from SEC companyfacts as of latest extracted filing date 2026-05-05. Source: https://data.sec.gov/api/xbrl/companyfacts/CIK0001809104.json.
| Quarter | End Date | Revenue | Net Income | Diluted EPS | Method |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-Q2 | 2022-06-30 | 0.10 | reported discrete quarter | ||
| 2022-Q3 | 2022-09-30 | -0.08 | reported discrete quarter | ||
| 2023-Q1 | 2023-03-31 | -0.14 | reported discrete quarter | ||
| 2023-Q2 | 2023-06-30 | 806,000,000 | -67,000,000 | -0.14 | reported discrete quarter |
| 2023-Q3 | 2023-09-30 | 813,000,000 | -48,000,000 | -0.10 | reported discrete quarter |
| 2023-Q4 | 2023-12-31 | 960,000,000 | -162,000,000 | derived Q4 = FY annual - nine-month YTD | |
| 2024-Q1 | 2024-03-31 | 559,000,000 | -114,000,000 | -0.21 | reported discrete quarter |
| 2024-Q2 | 2024-06-30 | 538,000,000 | 23,000,000 | 0.04 | reported discrete quarter |
| 2024-Q3 | 2024-09-30 | 555,000,000 | -74,000,000 | -0.14 | reported discrete quarter |
| 2024-Q4 | 2024-12-31 | 680,000,000 | 8,000,000 | derived Q4 = FY annual - nine-month YTD | |
| 2025-Q1 | 2025-03-31 | 548,000,000 | -25,000,000 | -0.05 | reported discrete quarter |
| 2025-Q2 | 2025-06-30 | 528,000,000 | -1,073,000,000 | -2.03 | reported discrete quarter |
| 2025-Q3 | 2025-09-30 | 533,000,000 | -1,067,000,000 | -2.02 | reported discrete quarter |
| 2025-Q4 | 2025-12-31 | 653,000,000 | -932,000,000 | derived Q4 = FY annual - nine-month YTD | |
| 2026-Q1 | 2026-03-31 | 534,000,000 | -19,000,000 | -0.04 | reported discrete quarter |
Quarterly Charts
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2026 ended 2026-03-31; accession 0001628280-26-030596; filed 2026-05-05. Concept: RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax. Source concepts: us-gaap:RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2026 ended 2026-03-31; accession 0001628280-26-030596; filed 2026-05-05. Concept: NetIncomeLoss. Source concepts: us-gaap:NetIncomeLoss.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2026 ended 2026-03-31; accession 0001628280-26-030596; filed 2026-05-05. Concept: EarningsPerShareDiluted. Source concepts: us-gaap:EarningsPerShareDiluted.
Macro Cross-References
- CPIAUCSL - Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: All Items in U.S. City Average
- UNRATE - Unemployment Rate
- FEDFUNDS - Federal Funds Effective Rate
- CES0500000003 - Average Hourly Earnings of All Employees, Total Private
- DFEDTARU - Federal Funds Target Range - Upper Limit
- DFEDTARL - Federal Funds Target Range - Lower Limit
- DGS3MO - Market Yield on U.S. Treasury Securities at 3-Month Constant Maturity
- DGS2 - Market Yield on U.S. Treasury Securities at 2-Year Constant Maturity
- DGS10 - Market Yield on U.S. Treasury Securities at 10-Year Constant Maturity
- DGS30 - Market Yield on U.S. Treasury Securities at 30-Year Constant Maturity
- T10Y2Y - 10-Year Treasury Constant Maturity Minus 2-Year Treasury Constant Maturity
- CPILFESL - Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: All Items Less Food and Energy
- CPIUFDSL - Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: Food
- CPIENGSL - Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: Energy
- CUSR0000SAH1 - Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: Shelter
- PCEPI - Personal Consumption Expenditures: Chain-type Price Index
- PCEPILFE - Personal Consumption Expenditures Excluding Food and Energy: Chain-type Price Index
- PPIACO - Producer Price Index by Commodity: All Commodities
- T10YIE - 10-Year Breakeven Inflation Rate
- U6RATE - Total Unemployed, Plus All Marginally Attached Workers Plus Total Employed Part Time for Economic Reasons
- PAYEMS - All Employees, Total Nonfarm
- CIVPART - Labor Force Participation Rate
- EMRATIO - Employment-Population Ratio
- UNEMPLOY - Unemployed
- CE16OV - Employment Level
- ICSA - Initial Claims
- JTSJOL - Job Openings: Total Nonfarm
- JTSQUR - Quits: Total Nonfarm
- GDPC1 - Real Gross Domestic Product
- A191RL1Q225SBEA - Real Gross Domestic Product: Percent Change from Preceding Period
- INDPRO - Industrial Production: Total Index
- TCU - Capacity Utilization: Total Index
- HOUST - New Privately-Owned Housing Units Started: Total Units
- PERMIT - New Privately-Owned Housing Units Authorized in Permit-Issuing Places: Total Units
- RSAFS - Advance Retail Sales: Retail Trade
- PCE - Personal Consumption Expenditures
- DSPIC96 - Real Disposable Personal Income
- PSAVERT - Personal Saving Rate
- M2SL - M2
- BOPGSTB - U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services: Balance
- MSPUS - Median Sales Price of Houses Sold for the United States
- HSN1F - New One Family Houses Sold: United States
- RHORUSQ156N - Homeownership Rate in the United States
- TTLCONS - Total Construction Spending: Total Construction in the United States
- RRVRUSQ156N - Rental Vacancy Rate in the United States
- TOTALSL - Total Consumer Credit Owned and Securitized
- REVOLSL - Revolving Consumer Credit Owned and Securitized
- DRCCLACBS - Delinquency Rate on Credit Card Loans, All Commercial Banks
- GDP - Gross Domestic Product
- GPDI - Gross Private Domestic Investment
- GCE - Government Consumption Expenditures and Gross Investment
- PCEC - Personal Consumption Expenditures
- NETEXP - Net Exports of Goods and Services
- GFDEBTN - Federal Debt: Total Public Debt
- GFDEGDQ188S - Federal Debt: Total Public Debt as Percent of Gross Domestic Product
- FYFSD - Federal Surplus or Deficit
- FGRECPT - Federal Government Current Receipts
- FGEXPND - Federal Government: Current Expenditures
- MANEMP - All Employees, Manufacturing
- USCONS - All Employees, Construction
- USTRADE - All Employees, Retail Trade
- USFIRE - All Employees, Financial Activities
- USGOVT - All Employees, Government
- AWHAETP - Average Weekly Hours of All Employees, Total Private
- DGORDER - Manufacturers' New Orders: Durable Goods
- NEWORDER - Manufacturers' New Orders: Nondefense Capital Goods Excluding Aircraft
- BUSINV - Total Business Inventories
- EXPGS - Exports of Goods and Services
- IMPGS - Imports of Goods and Services
- IR - Import Price Index (End Use): All Commodities
- PPIFIS - Producer Price Index by Commodity: Final Demand
Latest quarter (10-Q)
Latest 10-Q source: 0001628280-26-030596.
Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the condensed consolidated financial statements and related notes which are included elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and with the Annual Report. In addition to historical information, the following discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Our actual results could differ materially as a result of the factors discussed in "Item 1A. Risk Factors" in our Annual Report. See "Forward-Looking Statements" in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.
BUSINESS
Overview
Alight is a technology-enabled services company delivering human capital management solutions to many of the world’s largest and most complex organizations. This includes the implementation and administration of employee benefits (e.g. health, wealth and leaves) solutions. Alight’s numerous solutions and services are utilized year-round by employees and their family members in support of their overall health, wealth and wellbeing goals. Participants can access their solutions digitally, including through a mobile application on Alight Worklife®, our intuitive, cloud-based employee engagement platform. Through Alight Worklife, the Company believes it is defining the future of employee benefits by providing an enterprise level, integrated offering designed to drive better outcomes for organizations and individuals.
We aim to be the pre-eminent employee experience partner by providing personalized experiences that help employees make the best decisions for themselves and their families about their health, wealth and wellbeing. At the same time, we help employers tackle their biggest people and business challenges by helping them understand prevalence, trends and risks to generate better outcomes for the future, such as improved employee productivity and retention, while also realizing a return on their people investment. Our data, analytics and AI allow us to deliver actionable insights that drive measurable outcomes, such as healthcare claims savings, for companies and their people.
Business Combination
On July 2, 2021 (the “Closing Date”), Alight Holding Company, LLC (the "Predecessor" or "Alight Holdings") completed a business combination (the "Business Combination") with a special purpose acquisition company. On the Closing Date, pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement, the special purpose acquisition company became a wholly owned subsidiary of Alight, Inc. (“Alight”, the “Company”, “we” “us” “our” or the “Successor”). As of March 31, 2026, Alight owned approximately 99% of the economic interest in the Predecessor, had 100% of the voting power and controlled the management of the Predecessor. The non-voting ownership percentage held by noncontrolling interest was less than 1% as of March 31, 2026.
Divestiture
On July 12, 2024, the Company, completed the previously announced sale (the “Transaction”) of the “Divested Business” entities affiliated with H.I.G. Capital, L.L.C. (collectively, “Buyer”), pursuant to the terms of the Stock and Asset Purchase Agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”), dated as of March 20, 2024. Under the terms of the Purchase Agreement, the Buyer agreed to acquire the Divested Business for total consideration of up to $1.2 billion, in the form of (1) $1.0 billion in cash (the “Closing Cash Consideration”) payable at the closing of the transactions (the “Closing”) contemplated by the Purchase Agreement, (2) a note with an aggregate principal amount of $50 million, and an initial fair value of $35 million as of July 12, 2024 issued at Closing (the “Seller Note”) by an indirect parent of Buyer (the “Note Issuer”) and (3) contingent upon the financial performance of the Divested Business for the 2025 fiscal year, a note with an aggregate principal amount of up to $150 million (the “Additional Seller Note”) and an initial fair value of $43 million as of July 12, 2024 to be issued by the Note Issuer. The Seller Note has a stated interest rate of 8.0% which is expected to mature in July 2030.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF FINANCIAL RESULTS
The following table sets forth our historical results of operations for the periods indicated below:
| Three Months Ended March 31, | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in millions) | 2026 | 2025 | ||||||||
| Revenue | $ | 534 | $ | 548 | ||||||
| Cost of services, exclusive of depreciation and amortization | 347 | 351 | ||||||||
| Depreciation and amortization | 31 | 26 | ||||||||
| Gross Profit | 156 | 171 | ||||||||
| Operating Expenses | ||||||||||
| Selling, general and administrative | 105 | 104 | ||||||||
| Depreciation and intangible amortization | 73 | 75 | ||||||||
| Total Operating expenses | 178 | 179 | ||||||||
| Operating Income (Loss) From Continuing Operations | (22) | (8) | ||||||||
| Other (Income) Expense | ||||||||||
| (Gain) Loss from change in fair value of financial instruments | — | (8) | ||||||||
| (Gain) Loss from change in fair value of tax receivable agreement | (19) | 9 | ||||||||
| Interest expense | 24 | 22 | ||||||||
| Other (income) expense, net | (1) | (11) | ||||||||
| Total Other (income) expense, net | 4 | 12 | ||||||||
| Income (Loss) From Continuing Operations Before Taxes | (26) | (20) | ||||||||
| Income tax expense (benefit) | (7) | (3) | ||||||||
| Net Income (Loss) From Continuing Operations | (19) | (17) | ||||||||
| Net Income (Loss) From Discontinued Operations, Net of Tax | — | (8) | ||||||||
| Net Income (Loss) | (19) | (25) | ||||||||
| Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests | — | — | ||||||||
| Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Alight, Inc. | $ | (19) | $ | (25) |
REVIEW OF RESULTS
Key Components of Our Continuing Operations
Revenue
Our clients’ demand for our services ultimately drives our revenues. We generate primarily all of our revenue, which is highly recurring, from fees for services provided from contracts across all solutions, which is primarily based on a contracted fee charged per participant per period (e.g., monthly or annually, as applicable). Our contracts typically have three to five-year terms for ongoing services with mutual renewal options. The majority of the Company’s revenue is recognized over time when control of the promised services is transferred, and the customers simultaneously receive and consume the benefits of our services. Payment terms are consistent with industry practice. We calculate growth rates for each of our solutions in relation to recurring revenues and revenues from project work. One of the components of our growth in recurring revenues is the increase in net commercial activity which reflects items such as client wins and losses (“Net Commercial Activity”). We define client wins as sales to new clients and sales of new solutions to existing clients. We define client losses as instances where clients do not renew or terminate their arrangements in relation to individual solutions or all of the solutions that we provide. We use annual revenue retention rates as an important measure to manage our business. We calculate annual revenue retention on a gross basis by identifying the clients from whom we generated revenue in the prior year and determining what percentage of that revenue is generated from those same clients for the same solutions in the subsequent year.
Cost of Services, exclusive of Depreciation and Amortization
Cost of services, exclusive of depreciation and amortization includes compensation-related and vendor costs directly attributable to client-related services and costs related to application development and client-related infrastructure.
30
Depreciation and Amortization
Depreciation and amortization expenses include the depreciation and amortization related to our hardware, software and application development. Depreciation and amortization may increase or decrease in absolute dollars in future periods depending on the future level of capital investments in hardware, software and application development.
Selling, General and Administrative
Selling, general and administrative expenses include compensation-related costs for administrative and management employees, system and facilities expenses, and costs for external professional and consulting services.
Depreciation and Intangible Amortization
Depreciation and intangible amortization expenses consist of charges relating to the depreciation of the property and equipment used in our business and the amortization of acquired customer-related and contract based intangible assets and technology related intangible assets. Depreciation and intangible amortization may increase or decrease in absolute dollars in future periods depending on the future level of capital investments in hardware and other equipment as well as amortization expense associated with future acquisitions.
(Gain) Loss from Change in Fair Value of Financial Instruments
(Gain) loss from change in fair value of financial instruments includes the impact of the revaluation to fair value at the end of each reporting period for the Seller Earnouts contingent consideration and the Additional Seller Note.
(Gain) Loss from Change in Fair Value of Tax Receivable Agreement
(Gain) loss from change in fair value of Tax Receivable Agreement ("TRA") includes the impact of the revaluation to fair value at the end of each reporting period.
Interest Expense
Interest expense primarily includes interest expense related to our outstanding debt and, is net of interest rate swap derivative gains recognized and interest income.
Other (Income) Expense, net
Other (income) expense, net includes non-operating expenses and income, including realized (gains) and losses from remeasurement of foreign currency transactions, and Transition Services Agreement (the "TSA") income for providing various corporate services to the Divested Business.
Results of Continuing Operations for the Three Months Ended March 31, 2026 Compared to the Three Months Ended March 31, 2025
Revenue
Revenues were $534 million for the three months ended March 31, 2026 as compared to $548 million for the prior year period. The decrease of $14 million, or 2.6%, was driven by lower Net Commercial Activity, partially offset by higher project revenue. The Company continues to experience larger losses from client contract renewals and lower than expected bookings, which has impacted revenue growth and is expected to continue to impact revenue growth during fiscal year 2026.
Recurring revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2026 decreased by $22 million, or 4.2%, from $520 million in the prior year period to $498 million, primarily driven by lower Net Commercial Activity.
Cost of Services, exclusive of Depreciation and Amortization
Cost of services, exclusive of depreciation and amortization decreased $4 million, or 1.1%, for the three months ended March 31, 2026 and was primarily attributable to productivity savings.
Depreciation and Amortization
Depreciation and amortization expenses increased by $5 million, or 19.2%, as compared to the prior year period, primarily driven by capitalized software.
Selling, General and Administrative
Selling, general and administrative expenses increased $1 million, or 1.0%, for the three months ended March 31, 2026 and were consistent with the prior year period.
31
Depreciation and Intangible Amortization
Depreciation and intangible amortization expenses were consistent with the prior year period.
Change in Fair Value of Financial Instruments
There was no gain or loss related to the change in the fair value of fi
[Excerpt truncated for page length; source filing is linked above.]
Latest 10-K MD&A
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
This discussion includes forward-looking statements. See ‘Disclaimer Regarding Forward-Looking Statements’ for certain cautionary information regarding forward-looking statements and ‘Risk Factors’ in Item 1A. of this Annual Report for a list of factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted in those statements.
This discussion includes references to non-GAAP financial measures as defined in the rules of the SEC. We present such non-GAAP financial measures as we believe such information is of interest to the investment community because it provides additional meaningful methods of evaluating certain aspects of the Company’s operating performance from period to period on a basis that may not be otherwise apparent under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”), and these provide a measure against which our businesses may be assessed in the future. Our methods of calculating these measures may differ from those used by other companies and therefore comparability may be limited. These financial measures should be viewed in addition to, not in lieu of, the consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2025. See ‘Non-GAAP Financial Measures’ below for further discussion.
BUSINESS
Overview
Alight is a technology-enabled services company delivering human capital management solutions to many of the world’s largest and most complex organizations. This includes the implementation and administration of employee benefits (e.g. health, wealth and leaves) solutions. Alight’s numerous solutions and services are utilized year-round by employees and their family members in support of their overall health, wealth and wellbeing goals. Participants can access their solutions digitally, including through a mobile application on Alight Worklife®, our intuitive, cloud-based employee engagement platform. Through Alight Worklife, the Company believes it is defining the future of employee benefits by providing an enterprise level, integrated offering designed to drive better outcomes for organizations and individuals.
We aim to be the pre-eminent employee experience partner by providing personalized experiences that help employees make the best decisions for themselves and their families about their health, wealth and wellbeing. At the same time, we help employers tackle their biggest people and business challenges by helping them understand prevalence, trends and risks to generate better outcomes for the future, such as improved employee productivity and retention, while also realizing a return on their people investment. Our data, analytics and AI allow us to deliver actionable insights that drive measurable outcomes, such as healthcare claims savings, for companies and their people.
Business Combination
On July 2, 2021 (the “Closing Date”), Alight Holding Company, LLC (the "Predecessor" or "Alight Holdings") completed a business combination (the "Business Combination") with a special purpose acquisition company. On the Closing Date, pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement, the special purpose acquisition company became a wholly owned subsidiary of Alight, Inc. (“Alight”, the “Company”, “we” “us” “our” or the “Successor”). As of December 31, 2025, Alight owned approximately 99% of the economic interest in the Predecessor, had 100% of the voting power and controlled the management of the Predecessor. The non-voting ownership percentage held by noncontrolling interest was less than 1% as of December 31, 2025.
Divestiture
On July 12, 2024, the Company, completed the previously announced sale (the “Transaction”) of the “Divested Business” entities affiliated with H.I.G. Capital, L.L.C. (collectively, “Buyer”), pursuant to the terms of the Stock and Asset Purchase Agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”), dated as of March 20, 2024. Under the terms of the Purchase Agreement, the Buyer agreed to acquire the Divested Business for total consideration of up to $1.2 billion, in the form of (1) $1.0 billion in cash (the “Closing Cash Consideration”) payable at the closing of the transactions (the “Closing”) contemplated by the Purchase Agreement, (2) a note with an aggregate principal amount of $50 million, and an initial fair value of $35 million as of July 12, 2024 issued at Closing (the “Seller Note”) by an indirect parent of Buyer (the “Note Issuer”) and (3) contingent upon the financial performance of the Divested Business for the 2025 fiscal year, a note with an aggregate principal amount of up to $150 million (the “Additional Seller Note”) and an initial fair value of $43 million as of July 12, 2024 to be issued by the Note Issuer. The Seller Note has a stated interest rate of 8.0%. The Company incurred higher operating expenses in 2024 as a result of professional fees paid in conjunction with the Transaction.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF FINANCIAL RESULTS
The following Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (“MD&A”) is intended to help the reader understand the results of operations and financial condition of Alight. This MD&A is provided as a supplement to, and should be read in conjunction with, our consolidated financial statements and the accompanying Notes to Financial Statements (Part II, Item 8 of this Form 10-K). This section generally discusses the results of our operations for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the year ended December 31, 2024. For a discussion of the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to the year ended December 31, 2023, please refer to Part II, Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, filed with the SEC on February 27, 2025, which is incorporated herein by reference.
The following table sets forth our historical results of operations for the periods indicated below:
| Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in millions) | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | |||||||||||
| Revenue | $ | 2,262 | $ | 2,332 | $ | 2,386 | ||||||||
| Cost of services, exclusive of depreciation and amortization | 1,386 | 1,442 | 1,504 | |||||||||||
| Depreciation and amortization | 111 | 96 | 72 | |||||||||||
| Gross Profit | 765 | 794 | 810 | |||||||||||
| Operating Expenses | ||||||||||||||
| Selling, general and administrative | 435 | 585 | 590 | |||||||||||
| Depreciation and intangible amortization | 296 | 299 | 301 | |||||||||||
| Goodwill impairment | 3,124 | — | — | |||||||||||
| Total Operating expenses | 3,855 | 884 | 891 | |||||||||||
| Operating Income (Loss) From Continuing Operations | (3,090) | (90) | (81) | |||||||||||
| Other (Income) Expense | ||||||||||||||
| (Gain) Loss from change in fair value of financial instruments | (1) | (57) | 10 | |||||||||||
| (Gain) Loss from change in fair value of tax receivable agreement | (93) | 34 | 118 | |||||||||||
| Interest expense | 92 | 103 | 131 | |||||||||||
| Other (income) expense, net | (26) | (22) | (3) | |||||||||||
| Total Other (income) expense, net | (28) | 58 | 256 | |||||||||||
| Income (Loss) From Continuing Operations Before Taxes | (3,062) | (148) | (337) | |||||||||||
| Income tax expense (benefit) | 16 | (8) | (20) | |||||||||||
| Net Income (Loss) From Continuing Operations | (3,078) | (140) | (317) | |||||||||||
| Net Income (Loss) From Discontinued Operations, Net of Tax | (21) | (19) | (45) | |||||||||||
| Net Income (Loss) | (3,099) | (159) | (362) | |||||||||||
| Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests | (2) | (2) | (17) | |||||||||||
| Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Alight, Inc. | $ | (3,097) | $ | (157) | $ | (345) |
REVIEW OF RESULTS
Key Components of Our Continuing Operations
Revenue
Our clients’ demand for our services ultimately drives our revenues. We generate primarily all of our revenue, which is highly recurring, from fees for services provided from contracts across all solutions, which is primarily based on a contracted fee charged per participant per period (e.g., monthly or annually, as applicable). Our contracts typically have three to five-year terms for ongoing services with mutual renewal options. The majority of the Company’s revenue is recognized over time when control of the promised services is transferred, and the customers simultaneously receive and consume the benefits of our services. Payment terms are consistent with industry practice. We calculate growth rates for each of our solutions in relation to recurring revenues and revenues from project work. One of the components of our growth in recurring revenues is the increase in net commercial activity which reflects items such as client wins and losses (“Net Commercial Activity”). We define client wins as sales to new clients and sales of new solutions to existing clients.
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We define client losses as instances where clients do not renew or terminate their arrangements in relation to individual solutions or all of the solutions that we provide. We use annual revenue retention rates as an important measure to manage our business. We calculate annual revenue retention on a gross basis by identifying the clients from whom we generated revenue in the prior year and determining what percentage of that revenue is generated from those same clients for the same solutions in the subsequent year.
Cost of Services, exclusive of Depreciation and Amortization
Cost of services, exclusive of depreciation and amortization includes compensation-related and vendor costs directly attributable to client-related services and costs related to application development and client-related infrastructure.
Depreciation and Amortization
Depreciation and amortization expenses include the depreciation and amortization related to our hardware, software and application development. Depreciation and amortization may increase or decrease in absolute dollars in future periods depending on the future level of capital investments in hardware, software and application development.
Selling, General and Administrative
Selling, general and administrative expenses include compensation-related costs for administrative and management employees, system and facilities expenses, and costs for external professional and consulting services.
Depreciation and Intangible Amortization
Depreciation and intangible amortization expenses consist of charges relating to the depreciation of the property and equipment used in our business and the amortization of acquired customer-related and contract based intangible assets and technology related intangible assets. Depreciation and intangible amortization may increase or decrease in absolute dollars in future periods depending on the future level of capital investments in hardware and other equipment as well as amortization expense associated with future acquisitions.
Goodwill impairment
Goodwill impairment consists of charges relating to Goodwill. We review goodwill for impairment annually on October 1st and more frequently if events or changes in circumstances indicate that an impairment may exist. If the carrying value of the reporting unit exceeds its fair value, the fair value of the reporting unit’s goodwill is calculated and an impairment loss equal to the excess is recorded.
(Gain) Loss from Change in Fair Value of Financial Instruments
(Gain) loss from change in fair value of financial instruments includes the impact of the revaluation to fair value at the end of each reporting period for the Seller Earnouts contingent consideration and the Additional Seller Note.
(Gain) Loss from Change in Fair Value of Tax Receivable Agreement
(Gain) loss from change in fair value of Tax Receivable Agreement ("TRA") includes the impact of the revaluation to fair value at the end of each reporting period.
Interest Expense
Interest expense primarily includes interest expense related to our outstanding debt and is net of interest rate swap derivative gains recognized and interest income.
Other (Income) Expense, net
Other (income) expense, net includes non-operating expenses and income, including realized (gains) and losses from remeasurement of foreign currency transactions, and Transition Services Agreement (the "TSA") income for providing various corporate services to the Divested Business.
Results of Continuing Operations for the Year Ended December 31, 2025 Compared to the Year Ended December 31, 2024
Revenue
Revenues were $2,262 million for the year ended December 31, 2025 as compared to $2,332 million for the prior year. The decrease of $70 million, or 3.0%, was driven by lower Net Commercial Activity and lower project revenue. The Company experienced lower than expected bookings and larger than anticipated losses from contract renewals during the year ended December 31, 2025, which impacted revenue growth and is also expected to impact revenue growth in fiscal year 2026.
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Recurring revenues for the year ended December 31, 2025 decreased by $27 million, or 1.3%, from $2,135 million in the prior year to $2,108 million, primarily driven by lower Net Commercial Activity.
Cost of Services, exclusive of Depreciation and Amortization
Cost of services, exclusive of depreciation and amortization, decreased $56 million, or 3.9%, for the year ended December 31, 2025 as compared to the prior year. The decrease was primarily driven by a decrease in lower revenue and savings realized in conjunction with productivity initiatives, partially offset by an increase in compensation .
Depreciation and Amortization
Depreciation and amortization expenses increased by $15 million, or 15.6%, for the year ended December 31, 2025 as compared to the prior year, primarily driven by capitalized software.
Selling, General and Administrative
Selling, general and administrative expenses decreased $150 million, or 25.6%, for the year ended December 31, 2025 as compared to the prior year. The decrease was driven by lower professional fees incurred related to the sale and separation of the Divested Business, a reduction in stock based compensation expense and productivity savings, partially offset by an increase in compensation expense.
Depreciation and Intangible Amortization
Depreciation and intangible amortization expenses decreased by $3 million, or 1.0%, for the year ended December 31, 2025 as compared to the prior year.
Goodwill Impairment
During the year ended December 31, 2025, the Company identified indicators of impairment and recorded a $3,124 million non-cash impairment charge for the period. There was no impairment recognized for the year ended December 31, 2024. See Note 6 "Goodwill and Intangible assets, net" within the Consolidated Financial Statements within Item 8 of this Annual Report for additional information.
Change in Fair Value of Financial Instruments
There was a $1 million gain related to the change in the fair value of financial instruments for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to a gain of $57 million for the prior year, primarily due to the $50 million write down of our Additional Seller Note in the year ended December 31, 2025, partially offset by a gain on remeasurement of the Seller Earnout. We are required to remeasure the financial instruments at the end of each reporting period and reflect a gain or loss for the change in fair value of the financial instruments in the period the change occurred. Changes in the fair value are primarily due to changes in the underlying assumptions of each respective instrument, including changes in the risk-free interest rate, volatility, cost of debt, forecasts, and the closing stock price for the period. See Note 14, "Financial Instruments" within the Consolidated Financial Statements within Item 8 of this Annual Report for additional information.
Change in Fair Value of Tax Receivable Agreement
The change in the fair value of the TRA resulted in a gain of $93 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, an increase of $127 million compared to a loss of $34 million for the prior year. The change in fair value was due to changes in the Company's assumptions related to the timing of the utilization of tax attributes during the term of the TRA, changes in the discount rate and the passage of time.
Interest Expense
Interest expense decreased $11 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, as compared to the prior year. The decrease was primarily due to the partial repayment of debt in the prior year and the opportunistic repricing of our 2028 term loan, partially offset by the Company's hedges and lower interest income. See Note 8, “Debt” within the Consolidated Financial Statements within Item 8 of this Annual Report for additional information.
Other (Income) Expense, net
Under the terms of the TSA as described in Note 4, "Discontinued Operations" within the Consolidated Financial Statements within Item 8 of this Annual Report, the Company is providing technology infrastructure, risk and security, and various other corporate services to the Divested Business subsequent to the close. We recorded $26 million and $19 million for services performed under the TSA for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively, in Other (income) expense, net. The corresponding expenses were recognized in Cost of services and Selling, general and administrative expense in the Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income (Loss).
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Income (Loss) From Continuing Operations Before Taxes
Loss from continuing operations before taxes was $3,062 million for the year ended December 31, 2025 as compared to a loss from continuing operations before taxes of $148 million for the year ended December 31, 2024. The increase in loss was primarily attributable to the $3,124 million non-cash goodwill impairment charge and the non-operating fair value remeasurements of financial instruments, partially offset by lower selling, general and administrative expenses, a change in fair value remeasurements of the tax receivable agreement and lower interest expense as a result of the debt pay down.
Income Tax Expense (Benefit)
Income tax expense was $16 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, as compared to an income tax benefit of $8 million for the prior year. The effective tax rate of (1)% for the year ended December 31, 2025 was lower than the 21% U.S. statutory corporate income tax rate primarily due to the Company’s non-deductible expenses, tax credits, changes in valuation allowance, and certain non-recurring items, including non-deductible goodwill impairment. The effective tax rate of 5% for the year ended December 31, 2024 was lower than the 21% U.S. statutory corporate income tax rate primarily due to the Company’s non-deductible expenses, tax credits, and changes in valuation allowance. See Note 7, “Income Taxes” within the Consolidated Financial Statements within Item 8 of this Annual Report for additional information.
In July 2025, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (the “OBBBA”) was enacted into law in the U.S. The OBBBA made several changes to business tax provisions including modifications to the Section 163j interest expense limitation and immediate expensing of domestic research and development expenditures. After considering impacts associated with the Company’s valuation allowance for the year ended December 31, 2025, the impact was immaterial for the year ended December 31, 2025. The Company will continue to monitor any developments and guidance related to the OBBBA.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
The presentation of non-GAAP financial measures is used to enhance our management and stakeholders understanding of certain aspects of our financial performance. This discussion is not meant to be considered in isolation, superior to, or as a substitute for the directly comparable financial measures prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Management also uses supplemental non-GAAP financial measures to manage and evaluate the business, make planning decisions, allocate resources and as performance measures for Company-wide bonus plans. These key financial measures provide an additional view of our operational performance over the long-term and provide useful information that we use in order to maintain and grow our business.
The measures referred to as “adjusted”, have limitations as analytical tools, and such measures should not be considered either in isolation or as a substitute for net income or other methods of analyzing our results as reported under U.S. GAAP. Some of the limitations are:
•Measure does not reflect changes in, or cash requirements for, our working capital needs or contractual commitments;
•Measure does not reflect our interest expense or the cash requirements to service interest or principal payments on our indebtedness;
•Measure does not reflect our tax expense or the cash requirements to pay our taxes, including payments related to the Tax Receivable Agreement;
•Measure does not reflect the impact on earnings or changes resulting from matters that we consider not to be indicative of our future operations;
•Although depreciation and amortization are non-cash charges, the assets being depreciated or amortized will often need to be replaced in the future, and the adjusted measure does not reflect any cash requirements for such replacements; and
•Other companies may calculate adjusted measures differently, limiting its usefulness as a comparative measure.
Adjusted Net Income From Continuing Operations and Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share From Continuing Operations
Adjusted Net Income From Continuing Operations, which is defined as net income (loss) from continuing operations attributable to Alight, Inc., adjusted for intangible amortization and the impact of certain non-cash items, including goodwill impairment charges, that we do not consider in the evaluation of ongoing operational performance, is a
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non-GAAP financial measure used solely for the purpose of calculating Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share From Continuing Operations.
Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share From Continuing Operations is defined as Adjusted Net Income From Continuing Operations divided by the adjusted weighted-average number of shares of common stock, diluted. The adjusted weighted shares calculation assumes the full exchange of the non-controlling interest units and the full amount of non-vested time-based restricted units that were determined to be antidilutive and therefore excluded from the U.S. GAAP diluted earnings per share. Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share From Continuing Operations, including the adjusted weighted-average number of shares, is used by us and our investors to evaluate our core operating performance and to benchmark our operating performance against our competitors.
A reconciliation of Adjusted Net Income (Loss) From Continuing Operations and the computation of Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share From Continuing Operations is as follows:
| Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in millions, except share and per share amounts) | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | |||||||||||
| Numerator: | ||||||||||||||
| Net Income (Loss) From Continuing Operations Attributable to Alight, Inc. (1) | $ | (3,076) | $ | (138) | $ | (300) | ||||||||
| Conversion of noncontrolling interest | (2) | (2) | (17) | |||||||||||
| Intangible amortization | 281 | 280 | 281 | |||||||||||
| Share-based compensation | 19 | 76 | 139 | |||||||||||
| Transaction and integration expenses (2) | 16 | 82 | 29 | |||||||||||
| Restructuring | 55 | 63 | 73 | |||||||||||
| (Gain) Loss from change in fair value of financial instruments | (1) | (57) | 10 | |||||||||||
| (Gain) Loss from change in fair value of tax receivable agreement | (93) | 34 | 118 | |||||||||||
| Goodwill impairment and other (3) | 3,128 | 8 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Tax effect of adjustments (4) | (61) | (85) | (100) | |||||||||||
| Adjusted Net Income From Continuing Operations | $ | 266 | $ | 261 | $ | 234 | ||||||||
| Denominator: | ||||||||||||||
| Weighted average shares outstanding - basic | 527,567,685 | 539,861,208 | 489,461,259 | |||||||||||
| Dilutive effect of the exchange of noncontrolling interest units | — | 510,237 | — | |||||||||||
| Dilutive effect of RSUs | — | — | — | |||||||||||
| Weighted average shares outstanding - diluted | 527,567,685 | 540,371,445 | 489,461,259 | |||||||||||
| Exchange of noncontrolling interest units(5) | 506,234 | 518,412 | 44,569,341 | |||||||||||
| Impact of unvested RSUs(6) | 7,617,889 | 7,325,106 | 10,080,390 | |||||||||||
| Adjusted shares of Class A Common Stock outstanding - diluted(7)(8) | 535,691,808 | 548,214,963 | 544,110,990 | |||||||||||
| Basic (Net Loss) Earnings Per Share From Continuing Operations | $ | (5.83) | $ | (0.25) | $ | (0.61) | ||||||||
| Diluted (Net Loss) Earnings Per Share From Continuing Operations | $ | (5.83) | $ | (0.25) | $ | (0.61) | ||||||||
| Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share From Continuing Operations | $ | 0.50 | $ | 0.48 | $ | 0.43 |
(1)Excludes the impact of discontinued operations.
(2)Transaction and integration expenses primarily relate to acquisitions and divestiture activities.
(3)Goodwill impairment and other primarily includes $3,124 million non-cash goodwill impairment charges for the year ended December 31, 2025.
(4)Income tax effects have been calculated based on statutory tax rates for both U.S. and foreign jurisdictions based on the Company's mix of income and adjusted for significant changes in fair value measurement.
(5)Assumes the full exchange of the units held by noncontrolling interests for shares of Class A Common Stock of Alight, Inc. pursuant to the exchange agreement.
(6)Includes non-vested time-based restricted stock units that were determined to be antidilutive for U.S. GAAP diluted earnings per share purposes.
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(7)Excludes two tranches of contingently issuable seller earnout shares: (i) 7.5 million shares will be issued if the Company's Class A Common Stock's volume-weighted average price ("VWAP") is $12.50 for any 20 trading days within a consecutive period of 30 trading days; (ii) 7.5 million shares will be issued if the Company's Class A Common Stock VWAP is $15.00 for any 20 trading days within a consecutive period of 30 trading days. Both tranches have a seven-year duration.
(8)Excludes approximately 0.7 million, 10.9 million, and 27.4 million performance-based units, which represents the gross number of shares expected to vest based on achievement of the respective performance conditions as of December 31, 2025, 2024, and 2023, respectively.
Adjusted EBITDA From Continuing Operations and Adjusted EBITDA Margin From Continuing Operations
Adjusted EBITDA From Continuing Operations is defined as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and intangible amortization adjusted for the impact of certain non-cash and other items, including goodwill impairments, that we do not consider in the evaluation of ongoing operational performance. Adjusted EBITDA Margin From Continuing Operations is defined as Adjusted EBITDA From Continuing Operations divided by revenue. Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin From Continuing Operations are non-GAAP financial measures used by management and our stakeholders to provide useful supplemental information that enables a better comparison of our performance across periods as well as to evaluate our core operating performance. A reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA From Continuing Operations to Net Income (Loss) From Continuing Operations is as follows:
| Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in millions) | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | |||||||||||
| Net Income (Loss) From Continuing Operations | $ | (3,078) | $ | (140) | $ | (317) | ||||||||
| Interest expense | 92 | 103 | 131 | |||||||||||
| Income tax expense (benefit) | 16 | (8) | (20) | |||||||||||
| Depreciation | 126 | 115 | 92 | |||||||||||
| Intangible amortization | 281 | 280 | 281 | |||||||||||
| EBITDA From Continuing Operations | (2,563) | 350 | 167 | |||||||||||
| Share-based compensation | 19 | 76 | 139 | |||||||||||
| Transaction and integration expenses (1) | 16 | 82 | 29 | |||||||||||
| Restructuring | 55 | 63 | 73 | |||||||||||
| (Gain) Loss from change in fair value of financial instruments | (1) | (57) | 10 | |||||||||||
| (Gain) Loss from change in fair value of tax receivable agreement | (93) | 34 | 118 | |||||||||||
| Goodwill impairment and other (2) | 3,128 | 8 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Adjusted EBITDA From Continuing Operations (3) | $ | 561 | $ | 556 | $ | 537 | ||||||||
| Revenue | $ | 2,262 | $ | 2,332 | $ | 2,386 | ||||||||
| Adjusted EBITDA Margin From Continuing Operations (4) | 24.8 | % | 23.8 | % | 22.5 | % |
(1)Transaction and integration expenses primarily relate to acquisition and divestiture activities.
(2)Goodwill impairment and other primarily includes $3,124 non-cash goodwill impairment charges for the year ended December 31, 2025.
(3)Adjusted EBITDA excludes the impact of discontinued operations.
(4)Adjusted EBITDA Margin From Continuing Operations is defined as Adjusted EBITDA From Continuing Operations as a percentage of revenue.
Revenue Disaggregation and Gross Profit
Adjusted gross profit is defined as revenue less cost of services adjusted for depreciation, amortization and share-based compensation. Adjusted gross profit margin percent is defined as adjusted gross profit divided by revenue. Management uses adjusted gross profit and adjusted gross profit margin percent as key measures in making financial, operating and planning decisions and in evaluating our performance. We believe that presenting adjusted gross profit and
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adjusted gross profit margin percent is useful to investors as it eliminates the impact of certain non-cash expenses and allows a direct comparison between periods.
Employer Solutions Results of Operations for the Year Ended December 31, 2025 Compared to the Year Ended December 31, 2024
Revenue
| Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ($ in millions) | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | |||||||||||
| Employer Solutions Revenue | ||||||||||||||
| Recurring | $ | 2,108 | $ | 2,135 | $ | 2,141 | ||||||||
| Project | 154 | 197 | 219 | |||||||||||
| Total Employer Solutions Revenue | $ | 2,262 | $ | 2,332 | $ | 2,360 |
Employer Solutions revenue was $2,262 million for the year ended December 31, 2025 as compared to $2,332 million for the prior year. The overall decrease of $70 million was primarily driven by decreases in net commercial activity and lower project revenue. We experienced annual revenue retention rates of 94% and 95% in 2025 and 2024, respectively.
Gross Profit to Adjusted Gross Profit Reconciliation for the Year Ended December 31, 2025 Compared to the Year Ended December 31, 2024
| Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in millions) | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | |||||||||||
| Gross Profit | $ | 765 | $ | 794 | $ | 810 | ||||||||
| Add: stock-based compensation | 7 | 14 | 30 | |||||||||||
| Add: depreciation and amortization | 111 | 96 | 72 | |||||||||||
| Adjusted Gross Profit | $ | 883 | $ | 904 | $ | 912 | ||||||||
| Gross Profit Margin | 33.8 | % | 34.0 | % | 33.9 | % | ||||||||
| Adjusted Gross Profit Margin | 39.0 | % | 38.8 | % | 38.2 | % |
Employer Solutions gross profit was $765 million for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to $794 million for the prior year. The decrease of $29 million was driven by lower revenues and an increase in compensation expense, partially offset by productivity savings. Employer Solutions adjusted gross profit decreased $21 million for the year ended December 31, 2025 to $883 million from $904 million in the prior year, primarily driven by lower revenues and an increase in compensation expense, partially offset by productivity savings.
Free Cash Flow Reconciliation
Free Cash Flow is defined as cash provided by operating activities net of capital expenditures. Management believes that free cash flow is an important liquidity metric because it measures, during a given period, the amount of cash generated that is available to repay debt obligations, make strategic acquisitions and investments and for certain other activities such as dividends and stock repurchases.
| Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in millions) | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | |||||||
| Non-GAAP free cash flow reconciliation: | ||||||||||
| Cash provided by operating activities - continuing operations | $ | 360 | $ | 193 | $ | 247 | ||||
| Capital expenditures | (110) | (121) | (140) | |||||||
| Non-GAAP free cash flow | $ | 250 | $ | 72 | $ | 107 |
Net cash provided by operating activities was $360 million for the year ended December 31, 2025 as compared to $193 million for the year ended December 31, 2024. The increase in cash provided by operating activities was primarily due to lower separation costs incurred in conjunction with the sale and separation of the Divested Business and changes in our net working capital requirements.
Net cash provided by operating activities was $193 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 as compared to $247 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. The decrease in cash provided by operating activities was primarily due to increased expenses related to the sale of the Divested Business.
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Free cash flow was $250 million for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to $72 million from the prior period. The increase in free cash flow was primarily due to an increase in cash provided from operations and lower capital expenditures.
Free cash flow was $72 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to $107 million from the prior period. The decrease in free cash flow was primarily due to a decrease in cash provided from operations, offset by lower capital expenditures.
LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
Executive Summary
Our primary sources of liquidity include our existing cash and cash equivalents, cash flows from operations and availability under our revolving credit facility. Our primary uses of liquidity are operating expenses, funding of our debt requirements and capital expenditures.
We currently anticipate that our available cash and cash equivalents, cash flows from operations and availability under our revolving credit facility will be sufficient to meet our liquidity needs, including principal and interest payments on debt obligations, capital expenditures, payments on our TRA and anticipated working capital requirements for at least the next twelve months and for the foreseeable future. We continuously evaluate our liquidity and capital resources, including our access to external capital, to ensure we can finance our future capital requirements.
Indebtedness
As of December 31, 2025, we had outstanding long-term debt in the form of term loans for an aggregate principal amount of $1,985 million, which mature in 2028.
In January 2025, we entered into Amendment No. 11 to our credit agreement, dated as of May 1, 2017 (as amended from time to time, the "Credit Agreement"), with a syndicate of lenders to establish a new class of Seventh Incremental Term Loans with an aggregate principal amount of $2,030 million and to reprice the outstanding Sixth Incremental Term Loans due August 31, 2028 by reducing the applicable rate from SOFR + 2.25% to SOFR + 1.75%.
In May 2025, we entered into Amendment No. 12 to the Credit Agreement, which increased the aggregate principal amount of the revolving credit facility to $330 million and extended the maturity date to May 31, 2030. As of December 31, 2025, there were no borrowings outstanding under our revolving credit facility.
Share Repurchases
Our board of directors has authorized a share repurchase program of our Class A common stock, which commenced in August 2022 and does not have an expiration date. On February 13, 2025, the Company’s Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to an additional $200 million of our Class A Common Stock. As of December 31, 2025, the total remaining amount authorized for repurchase was $216 million.
During the year ended December 31, 2025, we repurchased 13,881,417 shares of Class A Common Stock for an aggregate purchase price of $65 million under the share repurchase program.
Repurchases may be conducted through open market purchases or privately negotiated transactions in compliance with Rule 10b-18 under the Exchange Act, including pursuant to Rule 10b5-1 trading plans. The actual timing and amount of future repurchases are subject to business and market conditions, corporate and regulatory requirements, stock price, acquisition opportunities and other factors. The stock repurchase program does not obligate Alight to acquire any amount of common stock, and the program may be suspended or terminated at any time by Alight at its discretion without prior notice.
Cash Dividends
In 2024, our Board of Directors approved a quarterly dividend program. The following table provides information with respect to quarterly dividends on common stock during the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024.
| Declaration Date | Dividends Per Share | Total Payment (in millions) | Record Date | Payable Date | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 12, 2024 | $0.04 | $21 | December 2, 2024 | December 16, 2024 | |||
| February 13, 2025 | $0.04 | $21 | March 3, 2025 | March 17, 2025 | |||
| April 30, 2025 | $0.04 | $22 | June 2, 2025 | June 16, 2025 | |||
| July 23, 2025 | $0.04 | $22 | September 2, 2025 | September 15, 2025 | |||
| November 5, 2025 | $0.04 | $21 | December 1, 2025 | December 15, 2025 |
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On February 19, 2026, the Company announced it will replace its cash dividend on its Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, with other capital allocation activities, including deleveraging the balance sheet and continuing our share repurchase program, subject to market and other conditions.
Cash on our balance sheet includes funds available for general corporate purposes. Funds held on behalf of clients in a fiduciary capacity are segregated and shown in Fiduciary assets on the Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2025 and 2024, with a corresponding amount in Fiduciary liabilities. Fiduciary funds are not used for general corporate purposes and are not a source of liquidity for us.
The following table provides a summary of cash flows from continuing operating, investing, and financing activities for the periods presented.
| Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in millions) | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | |||||||
| Cash provided by operating activities - continuing operations | $ | 360 | $ | 193 | $ | 247 | ||||
| Cash provided by (used in) investing activities - continuing operations | (123) | 847 | (139) | |||||||
| Cash used for financing activities - continuing operations | (298) | (1,096) | (144) |
Operating Activities
Net cash provided by operating activities was $360 million for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to $193 million for the year ended December 31, 2024. The increase in cash provided by operating activities was primarily due to decreased expenses related to the sale of the Payroll and Professional Services business and changes in net working capital requirements.
Investing Activities
Cash used in investing activities was $123 million for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to cash provided by investing activities of $847 million for the prior year. The decrease in cash provided by investing activities was primarily driven by net proceeds from the sale of the Divested Business, partially offset by a decrease in capital expenditures.
Financing Activities
Cash used in financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2025 was $298 million as compared to cash used in financing activities of $1,096 million in the prior year. The primary drivers of cash used for financing activities were $100 million of TRA payments, $86 million of dividend payments, $65 million of share repurchases, $22 million of finance lease payments, $20 million of debt repayments, and $12 million of shares/units withheld in lieu of taxes, partially offset by a $9 million net increase in fiduciary liabilities. The increase in fiduciary cash was primarily due to timing of client funding and subsequent disbursement of payments.
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Fiduciary Assets
At December 31, 2025, our continuing operations cash and cash equivalents were $273 million, a decrease of $70 million from December 31, 2024. Of the total balances of cash and cash equivalents as of December 31, 2025 and 2024, none of the balances were restricted as to use.
Some of our client agreements require us to hold funds on behalf of clients to pay obligations on their behalf. The levels of Fiduciary assets and liabilities can fluctuate significantly, depending on when we collect the amounts from clients and make payments on their behalf. Such funds are not available to service our debt or for other corporate purposes. There is typically a short period of time between when the Company receives funds and when it pays obligations on behalf of clients. We are entitled to retain investment income earned on fiduciary funds, when investment strategies are deployed, in accordance with industry custom and practice, which has historically been immaterial. In our Consolidated Balance Sheets, the amount we report for Fiduciary assets and Fiduciary liabilities are equal. Our continuing operations Fiduciary assets included cash of $248 million and $239 million at December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively.
Other Liquidity Matters
Our cash flows from operations, borrowing availability and overall liquidity are subject to risks and uncertainties. For further information, see the “Risk Factors” section within Item 1A of this Annual Report.
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Tax Receivable Agreement
In connection with the Business Combination, we entered into the TRA with certain of our pre-Business Combination owners that provides for the payment by Alight to such owners of 85% of the benefits that Alight is deemed to realize as a result of the Company’s share of existing tax basis acquired in the Business Combination and other tax benefits related to entering into the TRA.
Actual tax benefits realized by Alight may differ from tax benefits calculated under the TRA as a result of the use of certain assumptions in the TRA, including the use of an assumed weighted-average state and local income tax rate to calculate tax benefits. While the amount of existing tax basis, the anticipated tax basis adjustments and the actual amount and utilization of tax attributes, as well as the amount and timing of any payments under the TRA, will vary depending upon a number of factors, we expect that the payments that Alight may make under the TRA will be substantial. For the year ended December 31, 2025, we paid $100 million related to the TRA. As of December 31, 2025, we expect to make payments of approximately $156 million in 2026, subject to finalization through the procedures set forth in the TRA, and less than $1 million in 2027. During the first quarter of 2026, the Company received an Objection Notice from the TRA Party Representative with respect to certain methodology used to prepare a portion of the Tax Benefit Schedule that calculates our 2026 Tax Benefit Payments to the TRA Parties (all capitalized terms as defined in the TRA). The Company disagrees with the TRA Party Representative’s assertions and is in discussions to resolve this matter. If a resolution is not reached timely, the parties will proceed through the dispute mechanisms as set forth in the TRA agreement. The Company intends to vigorously contest the TRA Representative's assertions in the Objection Notice. If the TRA Representative nonetheless prevails in its position or the Company resolves the dispute consensually, the Company currently estimates that a resolution could increase the 2026 Tax Benefit Payments by up to $20 million above the Company's current estimate of $156 million. The Objection Notice does not address the Company's current 2027 Tax Benefit Payments estimate.
Contractual Obligations and Commitments
For the year ended December 31, 2025, the Company had various obligations and commitments outstanding including debt of $2,005 million, operating leases of $67 million, finance leases of $47 million and purchase obligations of $242 million. Over the twelve months ending December 31, 2026, we expect to pay $20 million, $17 million, $16 million and $83 million for our debt, operating leases, finance leases and purchase obligations, respectively. For further information of each these obligations, refer to the Consolidated Financial Statements within Item 8 of this Annual Report, Note 8, “Debt”, Note 19, “Lease Obligations” and Note 20, “Commitments and Contingencies” within the Consolidated Financial Statements within Item 8 of this Annual Report.
During 2018, the Company executed an agreement to form a strategic partnership with Wipro, a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company, through 2029. As of December 31, 2025, the non-cancellable services obligation totaled $247 million, with $123 million expected to be paid over the twelve months ending December 31, 2026. We may terminate certain elements of the arrangement with Wipro with cause or for our convenience with no penalty prior to August 31, 2029. If an unconsumed portion of the obligation remains after August 31, 2029, then the Company shall satisfy the obligation by paying Wipro the remaining unconsumed portion by September 30, 2029.
Critical Accounting Estimates
These consolidated financial statements conform to U.S. GAAP, which requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting period. Our estimates, judgments and assumptions are continually evaluated based on available information and experience. Because of the use of estimates inherent in the financial reporting process, actual results could differ from those estimates. The areas that we believe include critical accounting policies are revenue recognition, goodwill and accounting for the TRA. The critical accounting policies discussed below involve making difficult, subjective or complex accounting estimates that could have a material effect on our financial condition and results of operations. Different estimates that we could have used, or changes in estimates that are reasonably likely to occur, may have a material effect on our results of operations and financial condition.
Revenue Recognition
Revenues are recognized when control of the promised services is transferred to the customer in the amount that best reflects the consideration to which the Company expects to be entitled in exchange for those services. Substantially all of the Company’s revenue is recognized over time as the customer simultaneously receives and consumes the benefits of our services. On occasion, we may be entitled to a fee based on achieving certain performance criteria or contract milestones. Any taxes assessed on revenues relating to services provided to our clients are recorded on a net basis.
The Company capitalizes incremental costs to obtain and fulfill contracts with a customer that are expected to be recovered. Assets recognized for the costs to fulfill a contract are amortized on a systematic basis over the expected life of
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the underlying customer relationships. For further discussion, see Note 3, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers” within the Consolidated Financial Statements within Item 8 of this Annual Report.
Tax Receivable Agreement
The Company’s TRA liability established upon completion of the Business Combination is measured at fair value on a recurring basis using significant unobservable inputs (Level 3). We record additional liabilities under the TRA as and when Class A units of Alight Holdings are exchanged for Class A Common Stock of Alight, Inc. Liabilities resulting from these exchanges are recorded on a gross undiscounted basis and are not remeasured at fair value. During the year ended December 31, 2025, an immaterial TRA liability was established as a result of these exchanges. Actual tax benefits realized by Alight may differ from tax benefits calculated under the TRA as a result of the use of certain assumptions in the TRA, including the use of an assumed weighted-average state and local income tax rate to calculate tax benefits.
While the amount of existing tax basis, the anticipated tax basis adjustments and the actual amount and utilization of tax attributes, as well as the amount and timing of any payments under the TRA, will vary depending upon a number of factors, we expect that the payments that Alight may make under the TRA will be substantial. The $664 million TRA liability balance at December 31, 2025 assumes: (i) a blended U.S. federal, state and local income tax rate of 26.5%; (ii) the latest estimates in taxable income inclusive of the OBBBA which was enacted into law in the U.S. in July 2025; (iii) the ability to utilize tax attributes based on current tax forecasts; and (iv) future payments under the TRA are made when due under the TRA. The amount of the expected future payments under the TRA has been discounted to its present value using a discount rate of 7.4%, which was determined based on benchmark rates of a similar duration. A hypothetical increase of 75 bps in the discount rate assumption used for fiscal year 2025 would result in a decrease of approximately $21 million in our TRA liability, while a hypothetical decrease of 75 bps in the discount rate assumption used for fiscal year 2025 would result in an increase of approximately $23 million in our TRA liability. The calculations used to derive such payments are subject to review by the TRA Parties.
Goodwill
Goodwill for each reporting unit is tested for impairment annually as of October 1, or more frequently if there are indicators that a reporting unit may be impaired. Accounting Standard Codification 350, Intangibles and Other ("ASC 350") states that an optional qualitative impairment assessment can be performed to determine whether an impairment is more likely than not by considering various factors such as macroeconomic and industry trends, reporting unit performance and overall business changes. If inconclusive evidence results from the qualitative impairment test, a quantitative assessment is performed where the Company determines the fair value of the reporting units by using a combination of the present value of expected future cash flows and a market approach based on earnings multiple data from peer companies using unobservable level 3 inputs. If an impairment is identified, an impairment is recorded by the amount that the carrying value exceeds the fair value for each reporting unit as a non-recurring fair value measurement. While the future cash flows are consistent with those that are used in our internal planning process inclusive of long-term growth assumptions, estimating cash flows requires significant judgment. Future changes to our projected cash flows can vary from the cash flows eventually realized, which may have a material impact on the outcomes of future goodwill impairment tests.
The Company uses a weighted average cost of capital that represents the blended average required rate of return for equity and debt capital based on observed market return data and company-specific risk factors. Other significant assumptions utilized included the Company’s projections of expected future revenues and EBITDA margin, which is defined as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and intangible amortization as a percentage of revenue.
During the second quarter of 2025, we concluded that there were interim indicators of impairment in the Health Solutions reporting unit and recorded a non-cash goodwill impairment charge of $983 million, which was included in the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss) within the Consolidated Financial Statements within Item 8 of this Annual Report for the year ended December 31, 2025. During the third quarter of 2025, we evaluated for interim indicators of impairment and concluded the sustained decline in our stock price coupled with a reduction in future expected financial performance were indicators of impairment. The reduction of future expected financial performance was driven by lower Net Commercial Activity (which reflects items such as client wins and losses), including lower than expected bookings and larger than anticipated losses from contract renewals which is expected to impact revenue growth. We define client wins as sales to new clients and sales of new solutions to existing clients. We define client losses as instances where clients do not renew or terminate their arrangements in relation to individual solutions or all of the solutions that we provide. A discount rate of 11.25% and a long-term growth rate of 3.5% were utilized for our Health Solutions and Wealth Solutions reporting units in the determination of fair value. Other significant assumptions utilized included the Company’s projections of expected future revenues and EBITDA margin, which is defined as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and intangible amortization as a percentage of revenue. As a result, the Company recorded non-cash goodwill impairment charges of $1,293 million in the Health Solutions reporting unit and $45 million in the Wealth Solutions reporting unit, which were also included in the accompanying Consolidated Statements of
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Comprehensive Income (Loss) within the Consolidated Financial Statements within Item 8 of this Annual Report for the year ended December 31, 2025.
On October 1, 2025, the Company performed its annual goodwill impairment assessment in accordance with ASC 350. We evaluated the potential for goodwill impairment by considering macroeconomic conditions, industry and market conditions, cost factors, both current and future expected financial performance, and relevant entity-specific events for each of the reporting units. We also considered our overall market performance discretely as well as in relation to our peers. Given the third quarter test was performed as of September 30, 2025, we determined that the fair value of each reporting unit equaled the carrying value as of October 1, 2025.
Subsequent to our October 1, 2025 annual impairment test, we evaluated the macroeconomic, industry and market conditions to determine whether there had been any significant changes. The Company concluded that the sustained decline in our stock price coupled with an incremental reduction in future expected financial performance were indicators of impairment that did not exist as of October 1, 2025. As part of this process, the Company identified a goodwill impairment in its Health Solutions reporting unit and recorded an $803 million non-cash goodwill impairment charge, which is included in the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss) for the year ended December 31, 2025. We utilized a discount rate of 11.75% and a long-term growth rate of 3.5% for our Health Solutions and Wealth Solutions reporting units in the determination of fair value. The Company's Wealth Solutions reporting unit estimated fair value exceeded its carrying value by 16.6%, or approximately $77 million. A hypothetical 25-basis point increase in the discount rate or a hypothetical 50-basis point decrease in the long-term growth rate would still provide the Company with an excess fair value over its carrying value of 14.5%, or approximately $67 million, in the Company's Wealth Solutions reporting unit. At December 31, 2025, our Health Solutions reporting unit had no goodwill and our Wealth Solutions reporting unit had $83 million of goodwill.
Long-Lived Asset Impairment
The Company reviews its long-lived assets, including finite-lived intangible assets, for recoverability whenever indicators of impairment exist. The Company's long-lived assets are grouped and evaluated for impairment at the lowest level for which there are identifiable cash flows that are largely independent of the cash flows of the other assets and liabilities. In determining whether an impairment of long-lived assets has occurred, the Company considers both qualitative and quantitative factors. The quantitative analysis involves estimating the undiscounted future cash flows directly related to that asset group and comparing the resulting value against the carrying value of the asset group. If the carrying value of the asset group is greater than the sum of the undiscounted future cash flows, an impairment loss is recognized for the difference between the carrying value of the asset group and its estimated fair value.
We did not record impairment charges for any of our long-lived assets or finite-lived intangibles during the year ended December 31, 2025.
MD&A history
Prior-year 10-K MD&A spans are extracted from SEC filings with the same bounded parser used for the latest filing. The latest 10-K appears above; prior years are below.
FY 2024 10-K MD&A
SEC filing source: 0001809104-25-000062.
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
This discussion includes forward-looking statements. See ‘Disclaimer Regarding Forward-Looking Statements’ for certain cautionary information regarding forward-looking statements and ‘Risk Factors’ in Item 1A. of this Annual Report for a list of factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted in those statements.
This discussion includes references to non-GAAP financial measures as defined in the rules of the SEC. We present such non-GAAP financial measures as we believe such information is of interest to the investment community because it provides additional meaningful methods of evaluating certain aspects of the Company’s operating performance from period to period on a basis that may not be otherwise apparent under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”), and these provide a measure against which our businesses may be assessed in the future. Our methods of calculating these measures may differ from those used by other companies and therefore comparability may be limited. These financial measures should be viewed in addition to, not in lieu of, the consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2024. See ‘Non-GAAP Financial Measures’ below for further discussion.
BUSINESS
Overview
Alight is a technology-enabled services company delivering human capital management solutions to many of the world’s largest and most complex organizations. This includes the implementation and administration of employee benefits (e.g. health, wealth and leaves benefits) solutions. Alight’s numerous solutions and services are utilized year-round by employees and their family members in support of their overall health, wealth and wellbeing goals. Participants can access their solutions digitally, including through a mobile application on Alight Worklife®, our intuitive, cloud-based employee engagement platform. Through Alight Worklife, the Company believes it is defining the future of employee benefits by providing an enterprise level, integrated offering designed to drive better outcomes for organizations and individuals.
We aim to be the pre-eminent employee experience partner by providing personalized experiences that help employees make the best decisions for themselves and their families about their health, wealth and wellbeing. At the same time, we help employers tackle their biggest people and business challenges by helping them understand prevalence, trends and risks to generate better outcomes for the future, such as improved employee productivity and retention, while also realizing a return on their people investment. Our data, analytics and AI allow us to deliver actionable insights that drive measurable outcomes, such as healthcare claims savings, for companies and their people.
Business Combination
On July 2, 2021 (the “Closing Date”), Alight Holding Company, LLC (the "Predecessor" or "Alight Holdings") completed a business combination (the "Business Combination") with a special purpose acquisition company. On the Closing Date, pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement, the special purpose acquisition company became a wholly owned subsidiary of Alight, Inc. (“Alight”, the “Company”, “we” “us” “our” or the “Successor”). As of December 31, 2024, Alight owned approximately 99% of the economic interest in the Predecessor, had 100% of the voting power and controlled the management of the Predecessor. The non-voting ownership percentage held by noncontrolling interest was less than 1% as of December 31, 2024.
Divestiture
On July 12, 2024, the Company, completed the previously announced sale (the “Transaction”) of the “Divested Business” entities affiliated with H.I.G. Capital, L.L.C. (collectively, “Buyer”), pursuant to the terms of the Stock and Asset Purchase Agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”), dated as of March 20, 2024. Under the terms of the Purchase Agreement, the Buyer agreed to acquire the Divested Business for total consideration of up to $1.2 billion, in the form of (1) $1.0 billion in cash (the “Closing Cash Consideration”) payable at the closing of the transactions (the “Closing”) contemplated by the Purchase Agreement, (2) a note with an aggregate principal amount of $50 million, and an initial fair value of $35 million as of July 12, 2024 issued at Closing (the “Seller Note”) by an indirect parent of Buyer (the “Note Issuer”) and (3) contingent upon the financial performance of the Divested Business for the 2025 fiscal year, a note with an aggregate principal amount of up to $150 million (the “Additional Seller Note”) and an initial fair value of $43 million as of July 12, 2024 to be issued by the Note Issuer. The Seller Note has a stated interest rate of 8.0%. The Company incurred higher operating expenses in 2024 as a result of professional fees paid in conjunction with the Transaction.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF FINANCIAL RESULTS
The following Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (“MD&A”) is intended to help the reader understand the results of operations and financial condition of Alight. This MD&A is provided as a supplement to, and should be read in conjunction with, our consolidated financial statements and the accompanying Notes to Financial Statements (Part II, Item 8 of this Form 10-K). This section generally discusses the results of our operations for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to the year ended December 31, 2023. For a discussion of the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to the year ended December 31, 2022, please refer to Part II, Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, filed with the SEC on February 29, 2024, noting the results for the year ended December 31, 2023 and year ended December 31, 2022 have since been recast in this Form 10-K.
The following table sets forth our historical results of operations for the periods indicated below:
| Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in millions) | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | |||||||||||
| Revenue | $ | 2,332 | $ | 2,386 | $ | 2,207 | ||||||||
| Cost of services, exclusive of depreciation and amortization | 1,442 | 1,504 | 1,472 | |||||||||||
| Depreciation and amortization | 96 | 72 | 49 | |||||||||||
| Gross Profit | 794 | 810 | 686 | |||||||||||
| Operating Expenses | ||||||||||||||
| Selling, general and administrative | 585 | 590 | 479 | |||||||||||
| Depreciation and intangible amortization | 299 | 301 | 301 | |||||||||||
| Total Operating expenses | 884 | 891 | 780 | |||||||||||
| Operating Income (Loss) From Continuing Operations | (90) | (81) | (94) | |||||||||||
| Other (Income) Expense | ||||||||||||||
| (Gain) Loss from change in fair value of financial instruments | (57) | 10 | (38) | |||||||||||
| (Gain) Loss from change in fair value of tax receivable agreement | 34 | 118 | (41) | |||||||||||
| Interest expense | 103 | 131 | 121 | |||||||||||
| Other (income) expense, net | (22) | (3) | (12) | |||||||||||
| Total Other (income) expense, net | 58 | 256 | 30 | |||||||||||
| Income (Loss) From Continuing Operations Before Taxes | (148) | (337) | (124) | |||||||||||
| Income tax expense (benefit) | (8) | (20) | 16 | |||||||||||
| Net Income (Loss) From Continuing Operations | (140) | (317) | (140) | |||||||||||
| Net Income (Loss) From Discontinued Operations, Net of Tax | (19) | (45) | 68 | |||||||||||
| Net Income (Loss) | (159) | (362) | (72) | |||||||||||
| Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests | (2) | (17) | (10) | |||||||||||
| Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Alight, Inc. | $ | (157) | $ | (345) | $ | (62) |
REVIEW OF RESULTS
Key Components of Our Continuing Operations
Revenue
Our clients’ demand for our services ultimately drives our revenues. We generate primarily all of our revenue, which is highly recurring, from fees for services provided from contracts across all solutions, which is primarily based on a contracted fee charged per participant per period (e.g., monthly or annually, as applicable). Our contracts typically have three to five-year terms for ongoing services with mutual renewal options. The majority of the Company’s revenue is recognized over time when control of the promised services is transferred, and the customers simultaneously receive and consume the benefits of our services. Payment terms are consistent with industry practice. We calculate growth rates for each of our solutions in relation to recurring revenues and revenues from project work. One of the components of our growth in recurring revenues is the increase in net commercial activity which reflects items such as client wins and losses (“Net Commercial Activity”). We define client wins as sales to new clients and sales of new solutions to existing clients. We define client losses as instances where clients do not renew or terminate their arrangements in relation to individual
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solutions or all of the solutions that we provide. We measure revenue growth as it relates to the cloud-based products and solutions that are central to our Alight Worklife® platform and next generation product suite, BPaaS Solutions. We use annual revenue retention rates as an important measure to manage our business. We calculate annual revenue retention on a gross basis by identifying the clients from whom we generated revenue in the prior year and determining what percentage of that revenue is generated from those same clients for the same solutions in the subsequent year.
Cost of Services, exclusive of Depreciation and Amortization
Cost of services, exclusive of depreciation and amortization includes compensation-related and vendor costs directly attributable to client-related services and costs related to application development and client-related infrastructure.
Depreciation and Amortization
Depreciation and amortization expenses include the depreciation and amortization related to our hardware, software and application development. Depreciation and amortization may increase or decrease in absolute dollars in future periods depending on the future level of capital investments in hardware, software and application development.
Selling, General and Administrative
Selling, general and administrative expenses include compensation-related costs for administrative and management employees, system and facilities expenses, and costs for external professional and consulting services.
Depreciation and Intangible Amortization
Depreciation and intangible amortization expenses consist of charges relating to the depreciation of the property and equipment used in our business and the amortization of acquired customer-related and contract based intangible assets and technology related intangible assets. Depreciation and intangible amortization may increase or decrease in absolute dollars in future periods depending on the future level of capital investments in hardware and other equipment as well as amortization expense associated with future acquisitions.
(Gain) Loss from Change in Fair Value of Financial Instruments
(Gain) loss from change in fair value of financial instruments includes the impact of the revaluation to fair value at the end of each reporting period for the Seller Earnouts contingent consideration and the Additional Seller Note.
(Gain) Loss from Change in Fair Value of Tax Receivable Agreement
(Gain) loss from change in fair value of Tax Receivable Agreement ("TRA") includes the impact of the revaluation to fair value at the end of each reporting period.
Interest Expense
Interest expense primarily includes interest expense related to our outstanding debt.
Other (Income) Expense, net
Other (income) expense, net includes non-operating expenses and income, including realized (gains) and losses from remeasurement of foreign currency transactions, and Transition Services Agreement (the "TSA") income for providing various corporate services to the Divested Business.
Results of Continuing Operations for the Year Ended December 31, 2024 Compared to the Year Ended December 31, 2023
Revenue
Revenues were $2,332 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 as compared to $2,386 million for the prior year period. The decrease of $54 million, or 2.3%, was driven by lower volumes, Net Commercial Activity, project revenue and the wind-down of our Hosted business operations. We experienced short term impacts in the first half of 2024 when compared to the prior year period as a result of large deal go-live timing and softness in BPaaS bookings in the first half of 2023. We also measure revenue growth as it relates to our cloud-based products and solutions that are central to our Alight Worklife® platform and our next generation product suite, BPaaS Solutions. For the year ended December 31, 2024, we recorded BPaaS revenue of $499 million, which represented growth of 15.0% compared to the prior year period.
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Recurring revenues for the year ended December 31, 2024 decreased by $32 million, or 1.5%, from $2,167 million in the prior year period to $2,135 million and were primarily driven by lower volumes and Net Commercial Activity.
Cost of Services, exclusive of Depreciation and Amortization
Cost of services, exclusive of depreciation and amortization, decreased $62 million, or 4.1%, for the year ended December 31, 2024 as compared to the prior year period. The decrease was primarily driven by lower revenues and, lower compensation and benefits expenses, primarily stock-based compensation and savings realized in conjunction with productivity initiatives.
Depreciation and Amortization
Depreciation and amortization expenses increased by $24 million, or 33.3%, as compared to the prior year period, primarily driven by capitalized software.
Selling, General and Administrative
Selling, general and administrative expenses decreased $5 million, or 0.8%, for the year ended December 31, 2024 as compared to the prior year period. The decrease was driven by lower compensation expenses primarily related to share-based awards and lower costs incurred from our restructuring program, partially offset by higher professional fees related to the sale and separation of our Payroll and Professional Services businesses.
Depreciation and Intangible Amortization
Depreciation and intangible amortization expenses decreased by $2 million, or 0.7%, and was consistent compared to the prior year period.
Change in Fair Value of Financial Instruments
There was a $57 million gain related to the change in the fair value of financial instruments for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to a loss of $10 million for the prior year period. We are required to remeasure the financial instruments at the end of each reporting period and reflect a gain or loss for the change in fair value of the financial instruments in the period the change occurred. Changes in the fair value are primarily due to changes in the underlying assumptions of each respective instrument, including changes in the risk-free interest rate, volatility, cost of debt, forecasts, and the closing stock price for the period and are primarily related to the Seller Earnout and Additional Seller Note. See Note 14 "Financial Instruments" within the Consolidated Financial Statements within Item 8 of this Annual Report for additional information.
Change in Fair Value of Tax Receivable Agreement
The change in the fair value of the TRA resulted in a loss of $34 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, a decrease of $84 million compared to a loss of $118 million for the prior year period. The change in fair value was due to the conversion of non-controlling interests during the year ended December 31, 2024, changes in the Company's assumptions related to the timing of the utilization of tax attributes during the term of the TRA, changes in the discount rate and the passage of time.
Interest Expense
Interest expense decreased $28 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 as compared to the prior year period. The decrease was primarily due to the partial repayment of debt during the year, the opportunistic repricing of our 2028 term loan and higher interest income, partially offset by the Company's hedges. See Note 8 “Debt” for additional information.
Other (Income) Expense, net
Under the terms of the TSA as described in Note 4 "Discontinued Operations", the Company is providing technology infrastructure, risk and security, and various other corporate services to the Divested Business subsequent to the close. We recorded $19 million for services performed under the TSA for the year ended December 31, 2024 in Other (income) expense, net, and the corresponding expenses were recognized in Cost of services and Selling, general and administrative expense in the consolidated statement of comprehensive income (loss).
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Income (Loss) From Continuing Operations Before Taxes
Loss from continuing operations before taxes was $148 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 as compared to loss from continuing operations before taxes of $337 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. The decrease in loss was primarily attributable to lower interest expense as a result of the partial debt repayment and other income recorded in conjunction with the TSA and the non-operating fair value remeasurements of financial instruments and the TRA.
Income Tax Expense (Benefit)
Income tax benefit was $8 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, as compared to an income tax benefit of $20 million for the prior year period. The effective tax rate of 5% for the year ended December 31, 2024 was lower than the 21% U.S. statutory corporate income tax rate primarily due to the Company’s non-deductible expenses, tax credits, and changes in valuation allowance. The effective tax rate of 6% for the year ended December 31, 2023 was lower than the 21% U.S. statutory corporate income tax rate primarily due to the Company’s non-deductible expenses, tax credits, and changes in valuation allowance. See Note 7 “Income Taxes” within the Consolidated Financial Statements within Item 8 of this Annual Report for additional information.
Results of Continuing Operations for the Year Ended December 31, 2023 Compared to the Year Ended December 31, 2022
Revenue
Revenues were $2,386 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 as compared to $2,207 million for the prior year period. The increase of $179 million reflects growth of 8.1%. We also measure revenue growth as it relates to our cloud-based products and solutions that are central to our Alight Worklife® platform and our next generation product suite, BPaaS Solutions. For the year ended December 31, 2023, we recorded BPaaS revenue of $434 million, which represented growth of 44.7% compared to the prior year period.
Recurring revenues for the year ended December 31, 2023 increased by $164 million, or 8.2%, from $2,003 million in the prior year period to $2,167 million and is a result of higher revenues related to Net Commercial Activity and our 2022 acquisition, partially offset by lower volumes.
Cost of Services, exclusive of Depreciation and Amortization
Cost of services, exclusive of depreciation and amortization, increased $32 million, or 2.2%, for the year ended December 31, 2023 as compared to the prior year period. The increase was primarily driven by growth in revenues, including investments in key resources and as a result of our 2022 acquisition, partially offset by productivity initiatives.
Selling, General and Administrative
Selling, general and administrative expenses increased $111 million, or 23.2%, for the year ended December 31, 2023 as compared to the prior year period. The increase was primarily driven by the inclusion of expenses from our 2022 acquisition and costs incurred from our previously announced restructuring program, partially offset by lower compensation expenses related to share-based awards.
Depreciation and Intangible Amortization
Depreciation and intangible amortization expenses remained consistent when comparing the year ended December 31, 2023 to the prior year period.
Change in Fair Value of Financial Instruments
There was a loss of $10 million related to the change in the fair value of financial instruments for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to a gain of $38 million for the prior year period. We are required to remeasure the financial instruments at the end of each reporting period and reflect a gain or loss for the change in fair value of the financial instruments in the period the change occurred. Changes in the fair value are due to changes in the underlying assumptions, including changes in the risk-free interest rate, volatility, forecasts, and the closing stock price for the period. See Note 14 "Financial Instruments" for additional information.
Change in Fair Value of Tax Receivable Agreement
The change in the fair value of the TRA resulted in a loss of $118 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, compared to a gain of $41 million for the prior year period. This revaluation loss was due to changes in the discount rate,
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passage of time, and changes in the expected timing of the utilization of tax attributes during the term of the TRA, which we are required to revalue at the end of each reporting period.
Interest Expense
Interest expense increased $10 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 as compared to the prior year period. The increase was primarily due to higher interest expense on our Term Loan due to movement in market interest rates. See Note 8 “Debt” within the Consolidated Financial Statements within Item 8 of this Annual Report for additional information.
Income (Loss) From Continuing Operations Before Taxes
Loss from continuing operations before taxes was $337 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 as compared to loss from continuing operations before taxes of $124 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. The increase in loss from continuing operations before taxes was primarily due to non-operating fair value remeasurements associated with financial instruments and the TRA.
Income Tax Expense (Benefit)
Income tax benefit was $20 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, as compared to an income tax expense of $16 million for the prior year period. The effective tax rate of 6% for the year ended December 31, 2023 was lower than the 21% U.S. statutory corporate income tax rate primarily due to the Company’s non-deductible expenses, tax credits, and changes in valuation allowance. The effective tax rate of 13% for the year ended December 31, 2022 was lower than the 21% U.S. statutory corporate income tax rate primarily due to the Company’s non-deductible expenses, tax credits, and changes in valuation allowance. See Note 7 “Income Taxes” within the Consolidated Financial Statements within Item 8 of this Annual Report for additional information.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
The presentation of non-GAAP financial measures is used to enhance our management and stakeholders understanding of certain aspects of our financial performance. This discussion is not meant to be considered in isolation, superior to, or as a substitute for the directly comparable financial measures prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Management also uses supplemental non-GAAP financial measures to manage and evaluate the business, make planning decisions, allocate resources and as performance measures for Company-wide bonus plans. These key financial measures provide an additional view of our operational performance over the long-term and provide useful information that we use in order to maintain and grow our business.
The measures referred to as “adjusted”, have limitations as analytical tools, and such measures should not be considered either in isolation or as a substitute for net income or other methods of analyzing our results as reported under U.S. GAAP. Some of the limitations are:
•Measure does not reflect changes in, or cash requirements for, our working capital needs or contractual commitments;
•Measure does not reflect our interest expense or the cash requirements to service interest or principal payments on our indebtedness;
•Measure does not reflect our tax expense or the cash requirements to pay our taxes, including payments related to the Tax Receivable Agreement;
•Measure does not reflect the impact on earnings or changes resulting from matters that we consider not to be indicative of our future operations;
•Although depreciation and amortization are non-cash charges, the assets being depreciated or amortized will often need to be replaced in the future, and the adjusted measure does not reflect any cash requirements for such replacements; and
•Other companies may calculate adjusted measures differently, limiting its usefulness as a comparative measure.
Adjusted Net Income From Continuing Operations and Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share From Continuing Operations
Adjusted Net Income From Continuing Operations, which is defined as net income (loss) from continuing operations attributable to Alight, Inc., adjusted for intangible amortization and the impact of certain non-cash items that we
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do not consider in the evaluation of ongoing operational performance, is a non-GAAP financial measure used solely for the purpose of calculating Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share From Continuing Operations.
Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share From Continuing Operations is defined as Adjusted Net Income From Continuing Operations divided by the adjusted weighted-average number of shares of common stock, diluted. The adjusted weighted shares calculation assumes the full exchange of the non-controlling interest units and the full amount of non-vested time-based restricted units that were determined to be antidilutive and therefore excluded from the U.S. GAAP diluted earnings per share. Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share From Continuing Operations, including the adjusted weighted-average number of shares, is used by us and our investors to evaluate our core operating performance and to benchmark our operating performance against our competitors.
A reconciliation of Adjusted Net Income (Loss) From Continuing Operations and the computation of Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share From Continuing Operations is as follows:
| Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in millions, except share and per share amounts) | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | |||||||
| Numerator: | ||||||||||
| Net Income (Loss) From Continuing Operations Attributable to Alight, Inc. (1) | $ | (138) | $ | (300) | $ | (130) | ||||
| Conversion of noncontrolling interest | (2) | (17) | (10) | |||||||
| Intangible amortization | 280 | 281 | 278 | |||||||
| Share-based compensation | 76 | 139 | 164 | |||||||
| Transaction and integration expenses (2) | 82 | 29 | 19 | |||||||
| Restructuring | 63 | 73 | 46 | |||||||
| (Gain) Loss from change in fair value of financial instruments | (57) | 10 | (38) | |||||||
| (Gain) Loss from change in fair value of tax receivable agreement | 34 | 118 | (41) | |||||||
| Other | 8 | 1 | (1) | |||||||
| Tax effect of adjustments (3) | (85) | (100) | (109) | |||||||
| Adjusted Net Income From Continuing Operations | $ | 261 | $ | 234 | $ | 178 | ||||
| Denominator: | ||||||||||
| Weighted average shares outstanding - basic | 539,861,208 | 489,461,259 | 458,558,192 | |||||||
| Dilutive effect of the exchange of noncontrolling interest units | 510,237 | — | — | |||||||
| Dilutive effect of RSUs | — | — | — | |||||||
| Weighted average shares outstanding - diluted | 540,371,445 | 489,461,259 | 458,558,192 | |||||||
| Exchange of noncontrolling interest units(4) | 518,412 | 44,569,341 | 74,665,373 | |||||||
| Impact of unvested RSUs(5) | 7,325,106 | 10,080,390 | 7,624,817 | |||||||
| Adjusted shares of Class A Common Stock outstanding - diluted(6)(7) | 548,214,963 | 544,110,990 | 540,848,382 | |||||||
| Basic (Net Loss) Earnings Per Share From Continuing Operations | $ | (0.25) | $ | (0.61) | $ | (0.28) | ||||
| Diluted (Net Loss) Earnings Per Share From Continuing Operations | $ | (0.25) | $ | (0.61) | $ | (0.28) | ||||
| Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share From Continuing Operations | $ | 0.48 | $ | 0.43 | $ | 0.33 |
__________________________________________________________
(1)Excludes the impact of discontinued operations. Comparable periods have been recast to exclude these impacts.
(2)Transaction and integration expenses primarily relate to acquisitions and divestiture activities.
(3)Income tax effects have been calculated based on statutory tax rates for both U.S. and foreign jurisdictions based on the Company's mix of income and adjusted for significant changes in fair value measurement.
(4)Assumes the full exchange of the units held by noncontrolling interests for shares of Class A Common Stock of Alight, Inc. pursuant to the exchange agreement.
(5)Includes non-vested time-based restricted stock units that were determined to be antidilutive for U.S. GAAP diluted earnings per share purposes.
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(6)Excludes two tranches of contingently issuable seller earnout shares: (i) 7.5 million shares will be issued if the Company's Class A Common Stock's volume-weighted average price ("VWAP") is $12.50 for any 20 trading days within a consecutive period of 30 trading days; (ii) 7.5 million shares will be issued if the Company's Class A Common Stock VWAP is $15.00 for any 20 trading days within a consecutive period of 30 trading days. Both tranches have a seven-year duration.
(7)Excludes approximately 10.9 million and 27.4 million performance-based units, which represents the gross number of shares expected to vest based on achievement of the respective performance conditions as of December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively.
Adjusted EBITDA From Continuing Operations and Adjusted EBITDA Margin From Continuing Operations
Adjusted EBITDA From Continuing Operations is defined as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and intangible amortization adjusted for the impact of certain non-cash and other items that we do not consider in the evaluation of ongoing operational performance. Adjusted EBITDA Margin From Continuing Operations is defined as Adjusted EBITDA From Continuing Operations divided by revenue. Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin From Continuing Operations are non-GAAP financial measures used by management and our stakeholders to provide useful supplemental information that enables a better comparison of our performance across periods as well as to evaluate our core operating performance. A reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA From Continuing Operations to Net Income (Loss) From Continuing Operations is as follows:
| Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in millions) | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | |||||||
| Net Income (Loss) From Continuing Operations (1) | $ | (140) | $ | (317) | $ | (140) | ||||
| Interest expense | 103 | 131 | 121 | |||||||
| Income tax expense (benefit) | (8) | (20) | 16 | |||||||
| Depreciation | 115 | 92 | 72 | |||||||
| Intangible amortization | 280 | 281 | 278 | |||||||
| EBITDA From Continuing Operations | 350 | 167 | 347 | |||||||
| Share-based compensation | 76 | 139 | 164 | |||||||
| Transaction and integration expenses (2) | 82 | 29 | 19 | |||||||
| Restructuring | 63 | 73 | 46 | |||||||
| (Gain) Loss from change in fair value of financial instruments | (57) | 10 | (38) | |||||||
| (Gain) Loss from change in fair value of tax receivable agreement | 34 | 118 | (41) | |||||||
| Other | 8 | 1 | (1) | |||||||
| Adjusted EBITDA From Continuing Operations | $ | 556 | $ | 537 | $ | 496 | ||||
| Revenue | $ | 2,332 | $ | 2,386 | $ | 2,207 | ||||
| Adjusted EBITDA Margin From Continuing Operations (3) | 23.8 | % | 22.5 | % | 22.5 | % |
(1)Adjusted EBITDA excludes the impact of discontinued operations. Comparable periods have been recast to exclude these impacts.
(2)Transaction and integration expenses primarily relate to acquisition and divestiture activities.
(3)Adjusted EBITDA Margin From Continuing Operations is defined as Adjusted EBITDA From Continuing Operations as a percentage of revenue.
Revenue Disaggregation and Gross Profit
Adjusted gross profit is defined as revenue less cost of services adjusted for depreciation, amortization and share-based compensation. Adjusted gross profit margin percent is defined as adjusted gross profit divided by revenue. Management uses adjusted gross profit and adjusted gross profit margin percent as key measures in making financial, operating and planning decisions and in evaluating our performance. We believe that presenting adjusted gross profit and adjusted gross profit margin percent is useful to investors as it eliminates the impact of certain non-cash expenses and allows a direct comparison between periods.
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Employer Solutions Results
| Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ($ in millions) | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | |||||||||||
| Employer Solutions Revenue | ||||||||||||||
| Recurring | $ | 2,135 | $ | 2,141 | $ | 1,960 | ||||||||
| Project | 197 | 219 | 204 | |||||||||||
| Total Employer Solutions Revenue | $ | 2,332 | $ | 2,360 | $ | 2,164 | ||||||||
| Employer Solutions Gross Profit | $ | 794 | $ | 812 | $ | 687 | ||||||||
| Employer Solutions Gross Profit Margin | 34.0 | % | 34.4 | % | 31.7 | % | ||||||||
| Employer Solutions Adjusted Gross Profit | $ | 904 | $ | 912 | $ | 768 | ||||||||
| Employer Solutions Adjusted Gross Profit Margin | 38.8 | % | 38.6 | % | 35.5 | % |
Employer Solutions Results of Operations for the Year Ended December 31, 2024 Compared to the Year Ended December 31, 2023
Employer Solutions Revenue
Employer Solutions revenue was $2,332 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 as compared to $2,360 million for the prior year period. The overall decrease of $28 million was primarily driven by decreases in recurring revenues from lower volumes, Net Commercial Activity and project revenue. We experienced annual revenue retention rates of 95% and 97% in 2024 and 2023, respectively.
Employer Solutions Gross Profit and Adjusted Gross Profit
Employer Solutions gross profit was $794 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to $812 million for the prior year period. The decrease of $18 million was driven by a decrease in revenue and increases in costs associated with funding growth of current and future revenues, partially offset by lower expenses related to productivity initiatives. Employer Solutions adjusted gross profit for the year ended December 31, 2024 decreased $8 million to $904 million from $912 million in the prior year period, primarily driven by a decrease in revenue and increases in costs associated with funding growth of current and future revenues, partially offset by lower expenses related to productivity initiatives.
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Gross Profit to Adjusted Gross Profit Reconciliation
| Year Ended December 31, 2024 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in millions) | Employer Solutions | Other | Total | |||||||
| Gross Profit | $ | 794 | $ | — | $ | 794 | ||||
| Add: stock-based compensation | 14 | — | 14 | |||||||
| Add: depreciation and amortization | 96 | — | 96 | |||||||
| Adjusted Gross Profit | $ | 904 | $ | — | $ | 904 | ||||
| Gross Profit Margin | 34.0 | % | — | % | 34.0 | % | ||||
| Adjusted Gross Profit Margin | 38.8 | % | — | % | 38.8 | % | ||||
| Year Ended December 31, 2023 | ||||||||||
| (in millions) | Employer Solutions | Other | Total | |||||||
| Gross Profit | $ | 812 | $ | (2) | $ | 810 | ||||
| Add: stock-based compensation | 30 | — | 30 | |||||||
| Add: depreciation and amortization | 70 | 2 | 72 | |||||||
| Adjusted Gross Profit | $ | 912 | $ | — | $ | 912 | ||||
| Gross Profit Margin | 34.4 | % | (7.7) | % | 33.9 | % | ||||
| Adjusted Gross Profit Margin | 38.6 | % | — | % | 38.2 | % | ||||
| Year Ended December 31, 2022 | ||||||||||
| (in millions) | Employer Solutions | Other | Total | |||||||
| Gross Profit | $ | 687 | $ | (1) | $ | 686 | ||||
| Add: stock-based compensation | 34 | — | 34 | |||||||
| Add: depreciation and amortization | 47 | 2 | 49 | |||||||
| Adjusted Gross Profit | $ | 768 | $ | 1 | $ | 769 | ||||
| Gross Profit Margin | 31.7 | % | (2.3) | % | 31.1 | % | ||||
| Adjusted Gross Profit Margin | 35.5 | % | 2.3 | % | 34.8 | % |
LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
Executive Summary
Our primary sources of liquidity include our existing cash and cash equivalents, cash flows from operations and availability under our revolving credit facility. Our primary uses of liquidity are operating expenses, funding of our debt requirements and capital expenditures.
We believe that our available cash and cash equivalents, cash flows from operations and availability under our revolving credit facility will be sufficient to meet our liquidity needs, including principal and interest payments on debt obligations, capital expenditures, anticipated quarterly dividend payments, payments on our TRA and anticipated working capital requirements for the foreseeable future. We believe our liquidity position at December 31, 2024 remained strong. We will continue to closely monitor and proactively manage our liquidity position in consideration of the evolving economic outlook and changing interest rate environment.
Indebtedness
In July 2024, we paid down $440 million of the Sixth Incremental Term Loans balance and we fully repaid the principal balance of $300 million Secured Senior Notes with proceeds from the Transaction. We used the remainder of after-tax cash proceeds to return capital and for general corporate purposes, including reinvestment into growth opportunities.
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In January 2025, the Company entered into Amendment No. 11 to Credit Agreement with a syndicate of lenders to establish a new class of Seventh Incremental Term Loans with an aggregate principal amount of $2,030 million and to reprice the outstanding Sixth Incremental Term Loans due August 31, 2028 by reducing the applicable rate from SOFR + 2.25% to SOFR + 1.75%.
Share Repurchases
In August 2022, we established a repurchase program allowing for authorized share repurchases. In March 2024, the Company’s Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to an additional $200 million of the Company’s Class A Common Stock.
On June 18, 2024, the Company announced that it entered into an accelerated share repurchase agreement (the "ASR") with Barclays Bank PLC (the "ASR counterparty") to repurchase $75 million of Alight's Class A Common Stock, as part of the Company's existing share repurchase program. On July 16, 2024, the Company made an initial payment of $75 million to the ASR counterparty and received an initial delivery of shares equal in value to 80% of the prepayment amount of $75 million, based on Alight’s closing share price as of the effective date of July 15, 2024. The final number of shares repurchased was based on the volume-weighted average price of Alight's Class A Common Stock during the term of the transaction, less a discount and subject to adjustments pursuant to the terms and conditions of the ASR. The ASR was settled on September 23, 2024, resulting in an additional delivery of 2,400,041 shares of Alight's Class A Common Stock.
During the three months ended September 30, 2024, the Company repurchased 10,563,306 shares of Alight's Class A Common Stock in aggregate for $75 million as part of the ASR.
During the year ended December 31, 2024, there were 22,327,717 Class A Common Stock shares repurchased under the Program inclusive of shares repurchased under the ASR discussed above. As of December 31, 2024, the total remaining amount authorized for repurchase was $81 million.
On February 13, 2025, the Company’s Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to an additional $200 million of the Company’s Class A common stock, providing a total amount authorized for repurchase of $281 million after giving effect to the increase. Repurchases may be conducted through open market purchases or privately negotiated transactions in compliance with Rule 10b-18 under the Exchange Act, including pursuant to Rule 10b5-1 trading plans. The actual timing and amount of future repurchases are subject to business and market conditions, corporate and regulatory requirements, stock price, acquisition opportunities and other factors. The stock repurchase program does not obligate Alight to acquire any amount of common stock, and the program may be suspended or terminated at any time by Alight at its discretion without prior notice.
Quarterly Dividend Program
On November 12, 2024, the Company announced that its Board of Directors approved a new quarterly dividend program, declaring a regular cash dividend of $0.04 per share of Class A Common Stock, payable on December 16, 2024 to shareholders of record at the close of business on December 2, 2024. The dividend resulted in aggregate payments of approximately $21 million during the year ended December 31, 2024. While the Company intends to continue paying regular cash dividends on a quarterly basis, any decision to declare and pay dividends in the future will be made at the sole discretion of our Board of Directors, whose decision will depend on, among other things, our results of operations, cash requirements, financial condition, contractual restrictions and other factors that our Board of Directors may deem relevant.
On February 13, 2025, the Company announced that its Board of Directors approved the payment of a quarterly dividend in the amount of $0.04 per share of Class A Common Stock on March 17, 2025, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on March 3, 2025.
Cash on our balance sheet includes funds available for general corporate purposes. Funds held on behalf of clients in a fiduciary capacity are segregated and shown in Fiduciary assets on the Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, with a corresponding amount in Fiduciary liabilities. Fiduciary funds are not used for general corporate purposes and are not a source of liquidity for us.
The following table provides a summary of cash flows from continuing operating, investing, and financing activities for the periods presented.
| Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in millions) | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | |||||||
| Cash provided by operating activities - continuing operations | $ | 193 | $ | 247 | $ | 238 | ||||
| Cash provided by (used in) investing activities - continuing operations | 847 | (139) | (218) | |||||||
| Cash used for financing activities - continuing operations | (1,096) | (144) | (184) |
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Operating Activities
Net cash provided by operating activities was $193 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to $247 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. The decrease in cash provided by operating activities was primarily due to increased expenses related to the sale of the Payroll and Professional Services business.
Investing Activities
Cash provided by investing activities was $847 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 from cash used in investing activities of $139 million for the prior year period. The increase in cash provided by investing activities was primarily driven by net proceeds from the sale of the Divested Business, and a decrease in capital expenditures.
Financing Activities
Cash used in financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2024 was $1,096 million as compared to cash used in financing activities of $144 million in the prior year. The primary drivers of cash used for financing activities were $765 million of debt repayments, $167 million of share repurchases, $62 million of TRA payments, $59 million of shares/units withheld in lieu of taxes, $27 million of finance lease payments, and dividend payments of $21 million, partially offset by a $5 million net increase in fiduciary liabilities. The increase in fiduciary cash was primarily due to timing of client funding and subsequent disbursement of payments.
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Fiduciary Assets
At December 31, 2024, our continuing operations cash and cash equivalents were $343 million, an increase of $19 million from December 31, 2023. Of the total balances of cash and cash equivalents as of December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, none of the balances were restricted as to use.
Some of our client agreements require us to hold funds on behalf of clients to pay obligations on their behalf. The levels of Fiduciary assets and liabilities can fluctuate significantly, depending on when we collect the amounts from clients and make payments on their behalf. Such funds are not available to service our debt or for other corporate purposes. There is typically a short period of time between when the Company receives funds and when it pays obligations on behalf of clients. We are entitled to retain investment income earned on fiduciary funds, when investment strategies are deployed, in accordance with industry custom and practice, which has historically been immaterial. In our Consolidated Balance Sheets, the amount we report for Fiduciary assets and Fiduciary liabilities are equal. Our continuing operations Fiduciary assets included cash of $239 million and $234 million at December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively.
Other Liquidity Matters
Our cash flows from operations, borrowing availability and overall liquidity are subject to risks and uncertainties. For further information, see the “Risk Factors” section within Item 1A of this Annual Report.
We do not have any material business, operations or assets in Russia, Belarus or Ukraine and we have not been materially impacted by the actions of the Russian government. Our total revenues from these three countries are de minimis for all periods presented.
Tax Receivable Agreement
In connection with the Business Combination, we entered into the TRA with certain of our pre-Business Combination owners that provides for the payment by Alight to such owners of 85% of the benefits that Alight is deemed to realize as a result of the Company’s share of existing tax basis acquired in the Business Combination and other tax benefits related to entering into the TRA.
Actual tax benefits realized by Alight may differ from tax benefits calculated under the TRA as a result of the use of certain assumptions in the TRA, including the use of an assumed weighted-average state and local income tax rate to calculate tax benefits. While the amount of existing tax basis, the anticipated tax basis adjustments and the actual amount and utilization of tax attributes, as well as the amount and timing of any payments under the TRA, will vary depending upon a number of factors, we expect that the payments that Alight may make under the TRA will be substantial. For the year ended December 31, 2024, we paid $62 million related to the TRA. As of December 31, 2024, we expect to make payments of approximately $100 million in 2025 and payments in the range of $175 million to $200 million in 2026.
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Contractual Obligations and Commitments
In March 2024, the Company entered into an agreement with a third-party provider in the ordinary course of business for the use of certain cloud services. Under this agreement, the Company is committed to purchase services totaling $286 million over a five years term.
For the year ended December 31, 2024, the Company had various obligations and commitments outstanding including debt of $2,025 million, operating leases of $73 million, finance leases of $58 million and purchase obligations of $286 million. Over the twelve months ending December 31, 2025, we expect to pay $25 million, $18 million, $16 million and $72 million for our debt, operating leases, finance leases and purchase obligations, respectively. For further information of each these obligations, refer to the Consolidated Financial Statements within Item 8 of this Annual Report, Note 8 “Debt”, Note 19 “Lease Obligations” and Note 20 “Commitments and Contingencies” within the Consolidated Financial Statements within Item 8 of this Annual Report.
During 2018, the Company executed an agreement to form a strategic partnership with Wipro, a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company, through 2028. As of December 31, 2024, the non-cancellable services obligation totaled $664 million, with $162 million expected to be paid over the twelve months ending December 31, 2025. We may terminate our arrangement with Wipro with cause or for our convenience. In the case of a termination for convenience, we would be required to pay a termination fee. If we had terminated the Wipro arrangement on December 31, 2024, we estimate that the termination charges would have been approximately $235 million.
Critical Accounting Estimates
These consolidated financial statements conform to U.S. GAAP, which requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting period. Our estimates, judgments and assumptions are continually evaluated based on available information and experience. Because of the use of estimates inherent in the financial reporting process, actual results could differ from those estimates. The areas that we believe include critical accounting policies are revenue recognition, goodwill and accounting for the TRA. The critical accounting policies discussed below involve making difficult, subjective or complex accounting estimates that could have a material effect on our financial condition and results of operations. Different estimates that we could have used, or changes in estimates that are reasonably likely to occur, may have a material effect on our results of operations and financial condition.
Revenue Recognition
Revenues are recognized when control of the promised services is transferred to the customer in the amount that best reflects the consideration to which the Company expects to be entitled in exchange for those services. Substantially all of the Company’s revenue is recognized over time as the customer simultaneously receives and consumes the benefits of our services. On occasion, we may be entitled to a fee based on achieving certain performance criteria or contract milestones. Any taxes assessed on revenues relating to services provided to our clients are recorded on a net basis.
The Company capitalizes incremental costs to obtain and fulfill contracts with a customer that are expected to be recovered. Assets recognized for the costs to fulfill a contract are amortized on a systematic basis over the expected life of the underlying customer relationships. For further discussion, see Note 3 “Revenue from Contracts with Customers” within the Consolidated Financial Statements.
Tax Receivable Agreement
The Company’s TRA liability established upon completion of the Business Combination is measured at fair value on a recurring basis using significant unobservable inputs (Level 3). We record additional liabilities under the TRA as and when Class A units of Alight Holdings are exchanged for Class A Common Stock of Alight, Inc. Liabilities resulting from these exchanges are recorded on a gross undiscounted basis and are not remeasured at fair value. During the year ended December 31, 2024, an additional TRA liability of $90 million was established as a result of these exchanges. This amount along with the deferred tax impact of exchanges of $11 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, are excluded from the portion of the TRA liability that is measured at fair value on a recurring basis. Actual tax benefits realized by Alight may differ from tax benefits calculated under the TRA as a result of the use of certain assumptions in the TRA, including the use of an assumed weighted-average state and local income tax rate to calculate tax benefits.
While the amount of existing tax basis, the anticipated tax basis adjustments and the actual amount and utilization of tax attributes, as well as the amount and timing of any payments under the TRA, will vary depending upon a number of factors, we expect that the payments that Alight may make under the TRA will be substantial. The $857 million TRA liability balance at December 31, 2024 assumes: (i) a constant blended U.S. federal, state and local income tax rate of 26%, (ii) no material changes in tax law, (iii) the ability to utilize tax attributes based on current alternative tax forecasts, and (iv)
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future payments under the TRA are made when due under the TRA. The amount of the expected future payments under the TRA has been discounted to its present value using a discount rate of 7.9%, which was determined based on benchmark rates of a similar duration. A hypothetical increase or decrease of 75 bps in the discount rate assumptions used for fiscal year 2024, would result in a change in our TRA liability balance of approximately $18 million.
Goodwill
Goodwill for each reporting unit is tested for impairment annually as of October 1, or more frequently if there are indicators that a reporting unit may be impaired. Accounting Standard Codification 350, Intangibles and Other ("ASC 350") states that an optional qualitative impairment assessment can be performed to determine whether an impairment is more likely than not by considering various factors such as macroeconomic and industry trends, reporting unit performance and overall business changes. If inconclusive evidence results from the qualitative impairment test, a quantitative assessment is performed where the Company determines the fair value of the reporting units by using a combination of the present value of expected future cash flows and a market approach based on earnings multiple data from peer companies using unobservable level 3 inputs. If an impairment is identified, an impairment is recorded by the amount that the carrying value exceeds the fair value for each reporting unit as a non-recurring fair value measurement. While the future cash flows are consistent with those that are used in our internal planning process inclusive of long-term growth assumptions, estimating cash flows requires significant judgment. Future changes to our projected cash flows can vary from the cash flows eventually realized, which may have a material impact on the outcomes of future goodwill impairment tests. The Company uses a weighted average cost of capital that represents the blended average required rate of return for equity and debt capital based on observed market return data and company specific risk factors.
During the fourth quarter of 2024, the Company performed a quantitative assessment in accordance with ASC 350. We evaluated the potential for goodwill impairment by considering macroeconomic conditions, industry and market conditions, cost factors, both current and future expected financial performance, and relevant entity-specific events for each of the reporting units. We also considered our overall market performance discretely as well as in relation to our peers. We utilized a discount rate of 11.0% and a long-term growth rate of 3.5% for our Health Solutions and Wealth Solutions reporting units in the determination of fair value. Other significant assumptions utilized included the Company’s projections of expected future revenues and EBITDA margin, which is defined as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and intangible amortization as a percentage of revenue. The Company determined the fair value of its reporting units exceeded the carrying value as of October 1, 2024, and therefore, goodwill was not impaired. Based on the results of the Company’s quantitative assessment, the fair value of the Health Solutions and Wealth Solutions reporting units exceeded their carrying values by 1.2% and 55.7%, respectively. A hypothetical 25-basis point increase in the discount rate or a hypothetical 50-basis point decrease in the long-term growth rate could have resulted in a goodwill impairment in the Company’s Health Solutions reporting unit of $125 million.
At December 31, 2024, our Health Solutions and Wealth Solutions reporting units had $3,084 million and $128 million of goodwill, respectively.
FY 2023 10-K MD&A
SEC filing source: 0000950170-24-022978.
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
This discussion includes forward-looking statements. See ‘Disclaimer Regarding Forward-Looking Statements’ for certain cautionary information regarding forward-looking statements and ‘Risk Factors’ in Item 1A. of this Annual Report for a list of factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted in those statements.
This discussion includes references to non-GAAP financial measures as defined in the rules of the SEC. We present such non-GAAP financial measures as we believe such information is of interest to the investment community because it provides additional meaningful methods of evaluating certain aspects of the Company’s operating performance from period to period on a basis that may not be otherwise apparent under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”), and these provide a measure against which our businesses may be assessed in the future.
Our methods of calculating these measures may differ from those used by other companies and therefore comparability may be limited. These financial measures should be viewed in addition to, not in lieu of, the consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2023. See ‘Non-GAAP Financial Measures’ below for further discussion.
BUSINESS
Overview
Alight delivers human capital management solutions to many of the world’s largest and most complex companies. This includes the implementation and administration of both employee wellbeing (e.g. health, wealth and leaves benefits) and global payroll solutions. In addition, the Company implements and runs human capital management software platforms on behalf of third-party providers. Alight’s numerous solutions and services are utilized year-round by employees and their family members in support of their overall health, wealth and wellbeing goals. Participants can access their solutions digitally, including through a mobile application on Alight Worklife®, our intuitive, cloud-based employee engagement platform. Through Alight Worklife, the Company believes it is defining the future of employee wellbeing by providing an enterprise level, integrated offering designed to drive better outcomes for organizations and individuals.
We aim to be the pre-eminent employee experience partner by providing personalized experiences that help employees make the best decisions for themselves and their families about their health, wealth and wellbeing. At the same time, we help employers tackle their biggest people and business challenges by helping them understand prevalence, trends and risks to generate better outcomes for the future, such as improved employee productivity and retention, while also realizing a return on their people investment. Our data, analytics and AI allow us to deliver actionable insights that drive measurable outcomes, such as healthcare claims savings, for companies and their people. We provide solutions to manage health and retirement benefits, tools for payroll and HR management, as well as solutions to manage the workforce from the cloud.
On July 2, 2021 (the “Closing Date”), Alight Holding Company, LLC (the "Predecessor" or "Alight Holdings") completed a business combination (the "Business Combination") with a special purpose acquisition company. On the Closing Date, pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement, the special purpose acquisition company became a wholly owned subsidiary of Alight, Inc. (“Alight”, the “Company”, “we” “us” “our” or the “Successor”). As of December 31, 2023, Alight owned 95% of the economic interest in the Predecessor, had 100% of the voting power and controlled the management of the Predecessor. The non-voting ownership percentage held by noncontrolling interest was approximately 5% as of December 31, 2023.
As a result of the Business Combination, for accounting purposes, the Company is the acquirer and Alight Holdings is the acquiree and accounting predecessor.
Segment Reporting
Effective January 1, 2023, the Company's former Hosted business revenues and gross margin are reported in Other as the business is no longer core to the Company’s operations. There is no change in composition among the Employer Solutions and Professional Services segments.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF FINANCIAL RESULTS
While the Closing Date was July 2, 2021, we determined the impact of one day was immaterial to the results of operations. As such, we utilized July 1, 2021 as the date of the Business Combination for accounting purposes. As a result of the Business Combination, the following tables present selected financial data for the Successor years ended December 31, 2023, December 31, 2022 and the six months ended December 31, 2021, and the Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021.
We prepared our discussion of the results of operations by comparing the results of the Successor year ended December 31, 2023 to the Successor year ended December 31, 2022 and the combined Successor six months ended December 31, 2021 and Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021. The core business operations of the Predecessor and Successor were not significantly impacted by the consummation of the Business Combination. Therefore, we believe the combined results for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021 and the Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021 are comparable to the Successor year end, and provide enhanced comparability to the reader about the current year's results. We believe this approach provides the most meaningful basis of comparison and is useful in identifying current business trends for the periods presented. The combined results of operations included in our discussion below are not considered to be prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP and have not been prepared as pro forma results under applicable regulations, may not reflect the actual results we would have achieved had the Business Combination occurred at the beginning of 2021, and should not be viewed as a substitute for the results of operations of the Predecessor and Successor periods presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP.
Except for the discussion of adjusted gross profit, year-to-year comparisons between 2022 and 2021 have been omitted from this Form 10-K, but may be found in "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in Part II, Item 7 of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022.
The following table sets forth our historical results of operations for the periods indicated below:
| Successor | Predecessor | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year Ended | Year Ended | Six Months Ended | Six Months Ended | ||||||||||||||||
| December 31, | December 31, | December 31, | June 30, | ||||||||||||||||
| (in millions) | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2021 | |||||||||||||||
| Revenue | $ | 3,410 | $ | 3,132 | $ | 1,554 | $ | 1,361 | |||||||||||
| Cost of services, exclusive of depreciation and amortization | 2,188 | 2,080 | 1,001 | 888 | |||||||||||||||
| Depreciation and amortization | 82 | 56 | 21 | 38 | |||||||||||||||
| Gross Profit | 1,140 | 996 | 532 | 435 | |||||||||||||||
| Operating Expenses | |||||||||||||||||||
| Selling, general and administrative | 754 | 671 | 304 | 222 | |||||||||||||||
| Depreciation and intangible amortization | 339 | 339 | 163 | 111 | |||||||||||||||
| Goodwill Impairment | 148 | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||
| Total Operating expenses | 1,241 | 1,010 | 467 | 333 | |||||||||||||||
| Operating Income (Loss) | (101 | ) | (14 | ) | 65 | 102 | |||||||||||||
| Other (Income) Expense | |||||||||||||||||||
| (Gain) Loss from change in fair value of financial instruments | 10 | (38 | ) | 65 | — | ||||||||||||||
| (Gain) Loss from change in fair value of tax receivable agreement | 118 | (41 | ) | (37 | ) | — | |||||||||||||
| Interest expense | 131 | 122 | 57 | 123 | |||||||||||||||
| Other (income) expense, net | 6 | (16 | ) | 3 | 9 | ||||||||||||||
| Total Other (income) expense, net | 265 | 27 | 88 | 132 | |||||||||||||||
| Income (Loss) Before Taxes | (366 | ) | (41 | ) | (23 | ) | (30 | ) | |||||||||||
| Income tax expense (benefit) | (4 | ) | 31 | 25 | (5 | ) | |||||||||||||
| Net Income (Loss) | (362 | ) | (72 | ) | (48 | ) | (25 | ) | |||||||||||
| Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests | (17 | ) | (10 | ) | (13 | ) | — | ||||||||||||
| Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Alight, Inc. | $ | (345 | ) | $ | (62 | ) | $ | (35 | ) | $ | (25 | ) |
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REVIEW OF RESULTS
Key Components of Our Operations
Revenue
Our clients’ demand for our services ultimately drives our revenues. We generate primarily all of our revenue, which is highly recurring, from fees for services provided from contracts across all solutions, which is primarily based on a contracted fee charged per participant per period (e.g., monthly or annually, as applicable). Our contracts typically have three to five-year terms for ongoing services with mutual renewal options. The majority of the Company’s revenue is recognized over time when control of the promised services is transferred, and the clients simultaneously receive and consume the benefits of our services. Payment terms are consistent with industry practice. We calculate growth rates for each of our solutions in relation to recurring revenues and revenues from project work. One of the components of our growth in recurring revenues is the increase in net commercial activity which reflects items such as client wins and losses (“Net Commercial Activity”). We define client wins as sales to new clients and sales of new solutions to existing clients. We define client losses as instances where clients do not renew or terminate their arrangements in relation to individual solutions or all of the solutions that we provide. We measure revenue growth as it relates to the cloud-based products and solutions that are central to our Alight Worklife® platform and next generation product suite, BPaaS Solutions.
Cost of Services, exclusive of Depreciation and Amortization
Cost of services, exclusive of depreciation and amortization includes compensation-related and vendor costs directly attributable to client-related services and costs related to application development and client-related infrastructure.
Depreciation and Amortization
Depreciation and amortization expenses include the depreciation and amortization related to our hardware, software and application development. Depreciation and amortization may increase or decrease in absolute dollars in future periods depending on the future level of capital investments in hardware, software and application development.
Selling, General and Administrative
Selling, general and administrative expenses include compensation-related costs for administrative and management employees, system and facilities expenses, and costs for external professional and consulting services.
Depreciation and Intangible Amortization
Depreciation and intangible amortization expenses consist of charges relating to the depreciation of the property and equipment used in our business and the amortization of acquired customer-related and contract based intangible assets and technology related intangible assets. Depreciation and intangible amortization may increase or decrease in absolute dollars in future periods depending on the future level of capital investments in hardware and other equipment as well as amortization expense associated with future acquisitions.
Goodwill impairment
Goodwill impairment consists of charges relating to Goodwill. We review goodwill for impairment annually on October 1 and more frequently if events or changes in circumstances indicate that an impairment may exist. If the carrying value of the reporting unit continues to exceed its fair value, the fair value of the reporting unit’s goodwill is calculated and an impairment loss equal to the excess is recorded.
(Gain) Loss from Change in Fair Value of Financial Instruments
(Gain) loss from change in fair value of financial instruments includes the impact of the revaluation to fair value at the end of each reporting period for our previously issued warrants and the Seller Earnouts contingent consideration.
(Gain) Loss from Change in Fair Value of Tax Receivable Agreement
(Gain) loss from change in fair value of Tax Receivable Agreement (the "TRA") includes the impact of the revaluation to fair value at the end of each reporting period.
Interest Expense
Interest expense primarily includes interest expense related to our outstanding debt.
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Other (Income) Expense, net
Other (income) expense, net includes non-operating expenses and income, including realized (gains) and losses from remeasurement of foreign currency transactions.
Results of Operations for the Year Ended December 31, 2023 Compared to the Year Ended December 31, 2022
Revenue
Revenues were $3,410 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2023 as compared to $3,132 million for the prior year period. The increase of $278 million reflects growth of 9.0% in our Employer Solutions segment and 13.5% in our Professional Services segment. We also measure revenue growth as it relates to our cloud-based products and solutions that are central to our Alight Worklife® platform and our next generation product suite, BPaaS Solutions. For the twelve months ended December 31, 2023, we recorded BPaaS revenue of $756 million, which represented growth of 34.0% compared to the prior year period.
In addition, we also consider BPaaS bookings, defined as total contract value ("TCV") for BPaaS customer agreements executed in the period, to be a key indicator of future revenue growth and is used as a metric of commercial activity by management and investors. For the twelve months ended December 31, 2023, BPaaS bookings of $747 million represents a decrease of 14.2% compared to the prior year period. Since the start of 2021, we have delivered BPaaS TCV bookings of nearly $2.2 billion, ahead of our three-year goal of $1.5 billion by the end of 2023.
Recurring revenues, excluding Other increased by $242 million, or 9.3%, to $2,837 million from $2,595 million, primarily due to growth in both the Employer Solutions and Professional Services segments. Growth in Employer Solutions is a result of higher revenues related to net commercial activity and our 2022 acquisition, partially offset by lower volumes. Growth in Professional Services is primarily a result of higher project revenues.
Cost of Services, exclusive of Depreciation and Amortization
Cost of services, exclusive of depreciation and amortization, increased $108 million, or 5.2%, for the year ended December 31, 2023 as compared to the prior year period. The increase was primarily driven by growth in revenues, including investments in key resources and as a result of our 2022 acquisition, partially offset by productivity initiatives.
Selling, General and Administrative
Selling, general and administrative expenses increased $83 million, or 12.4%, for the year ended December 31, 2023 as compared to the prior year period. The increase was primarily driven by the inclusion of expenses from our 2022 acquisition and costs incurred from our previously announced restructuring program, partially offset by lower compensation expenses related to share-based awards.
Depreciation and Intangible Amortization
Depreciation and intangible amortization expenses remained consistent when comparing the year ended December 31, 2023 to the prior year period.
Goodwill Impairment
In connection with our strategic portfolio review, we identified a goodwill impairment in the Cloud Services reporting unit and recorded a $148 million non-cash goodwill impairment charge during the year ended December 31, 2023. There was no impairment recognized in the year ended December 31, 2022.
Change in Fair Value of Financial Instruments
There was a loss of $10 million related to the change in the fair value of financial instruments for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to a gain of $38 million for the prior year period. We are required to remeasure the financial instruments at the end of each reporting period and reflect a gain or loss for the change in fair value of the financial instruments in the period the change occurred. Changes in the fair value are due to changes in the underlying assumptions, including changes in the risk-free interest rate, volatility, and the closing stock price for the period. See Note 14 "Financial Instruments" for additional information.
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Change in Fair Value of Tax Receivable Agreement
The remeasurement of the fair value of the TRA resulted in a loss of $118 million for twelve months ended December 31, 2023, compared to a gain of $41 million for the prior year period. This revaluation loss was due to changes in the discount rate, passage of time, and changes in the expected timing of the utilization of tax attributes during the term of the TRA, which we are required to revalue at the end of each reporting period.
Interest Expense
Interest expense increased $9 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 as compared to the prior year period. The increase was primarily due to higher interest expense on our Term Loan due to movement in market interest rates. See Note 8 “Debt” for additional information.
Loss before Income Tax Expense (Benefit)
Loss before income taxes was $366 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 as compared to loss before taxes of $41 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. The increase in loss before income taxes was primarily due to the non-cash goodwill impairment charge, and non-operating fair value remeasurements associated with financial instruments and the TRA.
Income Tax Expense (Benefit)
Income tax benefit was $4 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, as compared to an income tax expense of $31 million for the prior year period. The effective tax rate of 1% for the year ended December 31, 2023 is lower than the 21% U.S. statutory corporate income tax rate primarily due to the Company's organizational structure after the Business Combination, the recognition of expenses which are not deductible for income tax purposes, including the goodwill impairment charge, and valuation allowances. The effective tax rate of (76%) for the year ended December 31, 2022 was primarily due to the recognition of a benefit for an uncertain tax position for which the statute of limitations has lapsed, and partially offset by losses in certain non-U.S. jurisdictions for which tax benefits have not been recorded. See Note 7 “Income Taxes” for additional information.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
The presentation of non-GAAP financial measures is used to enhance our management and stakeholders understanding of certain aspects of our financial performance. This discussion is not meant to be considered in isolation, superior to, or as a substitute for the directly comparable financial measures prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Management also uses supplemental non-GAAP financial measures to manage and evaluate the business, make planning decisions, allocate resources and as performance measures for Company-wide bonus plans. These key financial measures provide an additional view of our operational performance over the long-term and provide useful information that we use in order to maintain and grow our business.
The measures referred to as “adjusted”, have limitations as analytical tools, and such measures should not be considered either in isolation or as a substitute for net income or other methods of analyzing our results as reported under U.S. GAAP. Some of the limitations are:
•
Measure does not reflect changes in, or cash requirements for, our working capital needs or contractual commitments;
•
Measure does not reflect our interest expense or the cash requirements to service interest or principal payments on our indebtedness;
•
Measure does not reflect our tax expense or the cash requirements to pay our taxes, including payments related to the Tax Receivable Agreement;
•
Measure does not reflect the impact on earnings or changes resulting from matters that we consider not to be indicative of our future operations;
•
Although depreciation and amortization are non-cash charges, the assets being depreciated or amortized will often need to be replaced in the future, and the adjusted measure does not reflect any cash requirements for such replacements; and
•
Other companies may calculate adjusted measures differently, limiting its usefulness as a comparative measure.
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Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share
Adjusted Net Income, which is defined as net income (loss) attributable to Alight, Inc. adjusted for intangible amortization and the impact of certain non-cash items that we do not consider in the evaluation of ongoing operational performance, is a non-GAAP financial measure used solely for the purpose of calculating Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share.
Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share is defined as Adjusted Net Income divided by the adjusted weighted-average number of shares of common stock, diluted. The adjusted weighted shares calculation assumes the full exchange of the noncontrolling interest units, the total amount of warrants that were exercised, and non-vested time-based restricted units that were determined to be antidilutive and therefore excluded from the U.S. GAAP diluted earnings per share. Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share, including the adjusted weighted-average number of shares, is used by us and our investors to evaluate our core operating performance and to benchmark our operating performance against our competitors.
A reconciliation of Adjusted Net Income to Net Loss Attributable to Alight, Inc. and the computation of Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share is as follows:
| Year Ended | Year Ended | Six Months Ended | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, | December 31, | December 31, | |||||||||||||
| (in millions, except share and per share amounts) | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | ||||||||||||
| Numerator: | |||||||||||||||
| Net (Loss) Income Attributable to Alight, Inc. | $ | (345 | ) | $ | (62 | ) | $ | (35 | ) | ||||||
| Conversion of noncontrolling interest | (17 | ) | (10 | ) | (13 | ) | |||||||||
| Intangible amortization | 319 | 316 | 153 | ||||||||||||
| Share-based compensation | 160 | 181 | 67 | ||||||||||||
| Transaction and integration expenses (1) | 29 | 19 | 13 | ||||||||||||
| Restructuring | 85 | 63 | 5 | ||||||||||||
| (Gain) Loss from change in fair value of financial instruments | 10 | (38 | ) | 65 | |||||||||||
| (Gain) Loss from change in fair value of tax receivable agreement | 118 | (41 | ) | (37 | ) | ||||||||||
| Other (2) | 151 | (1 | ) | 12 | |||||||||||
| Tax effect of adjustments (3) | (125 | ) | (121 | ) | (62 | ) | |||||||||
| Adjusted Net Income | $ | 385 | $ | 306 | $ | 168 | |||||||||
| Denominator: | |||||||||||||||
| Weighted average shares outstanding - basic | 489,461,259 | 458,558,192 | 439,800,624 | ||||||||||||
| Weighted average shares outstanding - diluted | 489,461,259 | 458,558,192 | 439,800,624 | ||||||||||||
| Exchange of noncontrolling interest units(4) | 44,569,341 | 74,665,373 | 77,459,687 | ||||||||||||
| Impact of warrants exercised(5) | — | — | 14,490,641 | ||||||||||||
| Impact of unvested RSUs(6) | 10,080,390 | 7,624,817 | 7,007,072 | ||||||||||||
| Adjusted shares of Class A Common Stock outstanding - diluted(7)(8) | 544,110,990 | 540,848,382 | 538,758,024 | ||||||||||||
| Basic (Net Loss) Earnings Per Share | $ | (0.70 | ) | $ | (0.14 | ) | $ | (0.08 | ) | ||||||
| Diluted (Net Loss) Earnings Per Share | $ | (0.70 | ) | $ | (0.14 | ) | $ | (0.08 | ) | ||||||
| Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share(7) (8) | $ | 0.71 | $ | 0.57 | $ | 0.31 |
(1)
Transaction and integration expenses primarily relate to acquisition and divestiture activities.
(2)
Other primarily includes a $148 million non-cash goodwill impairment charge for the year ended December 31, 2023 related to the Company’s Cloud Services reporting unit.
(3)
Income tax effects have been calculated based on the statutory tax rates for both U.S. and foreign jurisdictions based on the Company's mix of income and adjusted for significant changes in fair value measurement.
(4)
Assumes the full exchange of the units held by noncontrolling interests for shares of Class A Common Stock of Alight, Inc. pursuant to the exchange agreement.
(5)
Represents the number of shares of Class A Common Stock issued in relation to warrant exercises completed in December 2021, not fully included in the weighted average shares outstanding.
(6)
Includes non-vested time-based restricted stock units that were determined to be antidilutive for U.S. GAAP diluted earnings per share purposes.
(7)
Excludes two tranches of contingently issuable seller earnout shares: (i) 7.5 million shares will be issued if the Company's Class A Common Stock's volume-weighted average price ("VWAP") is $12.50 for any 20 trading days within a consecutive period of 30 trading days; (ii) 7.5
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million share will be issued if the Company's Class A Common Stock VWAP is $15.00 for any 20 trading days within a consecutive period of 30 trading days. Both tranches have a seven-year duration.
(8)
Excludes 27,411,360 and 32,852,974 performance-based units, which represents the gross number of shares expected to vest based on achievement of performance conditions as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively.
Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin
Adjusted EBITDA is defined as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and intangible amortization adjusted for the impact of certain non-cash and other items that we do not consider in the evaluation of ongoing operational performance. Adjusted EBITDA Margin is defined as Adjusted EBITDA divided by revenue. Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin are non-GAAP financial measures used by management and our stakeholders to provide useful supplemental information that enables a better comparison of our performance across periods as well as to evaluate our core operating performance. A reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to Net Loss is as follows:
| Successor | Predecessor | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year Ended | Year Ended | Six Months Ended | Six Months Ended | ||||||||||||||||||
| December 31, | December 31, | December 31, | June 30, | ||||||||||||||||||
| (in millions) | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2021 | |||||||||||||||||
| Net Loss | $ | (362 | ) | $ | (72 | ) | $ | (48 | ) | $ | (25 | ) | |||||||||
| Interest expense | 131 | 122 | 57 | 123 | |||||||||||||||||
| Income tax expense (benefit) | (4 | ) | 31 | 25 | (5 | ) | |||||||||||||||
| Depreciation | 102 | 79 | 31 | 49 | |||||||||||||||||
| Intangible amortization | 319 | 316 | 153 | 100 | |||||||||||||||||
| EBITDA | 186 | 476 | 218 | 242 | |||||||||||||||||
| Share-based compensation | 160 | 181 | 67 | 5 | |||||||||||||||||
| Transaction and integration expenses (1) | 29 | 19 | 13 | — | |||||||||||||||||
| Non-recurring professional expenses(2) | — | — | 19 | 18 | |||||||||||||||||
| Restructuring | 85 | 63 | 5 | 9 | |||||||||||||||||
| (Gain) Loss from change in fair value of financial instruments | 10 | (38 | ) | 65 | — | ||||||||||||||||
| (Gain) Loss from change in fair value of tax receivable agreement | 118 | (41 | ) | (37 | — | ||||||||||||||||
| Other(3) | 151 | (1 | ) | (7 | ) | 4 | |||||||||||||||
| Adjusted EBITDA | $ | 739 | $ | 659 | $ | 343 | 278 | ||||||||||||||
| Revenue | $ | 3,410 | $ | 3,132 | $ | 1,554 | $ | 1,361 | |||||||||||||
| Adjusted EBITDA Margin(4) | 21.7 | % | 21.0 | % | 22.1 | % | 20.4 | % |
(1)
Transaction and integration expenses primarily relate to acquisition and divestiture activities.
(2)
Non-recurring professional expenses includes external advisor and legal costs related to the Company's Business Combination completed in 2021.
(3)
Other primarily includes a $148 million non-cash goodwill impairment charge for the year ended December 31, 2023 related to the Company’s Cloud Services reporting unit.
(4)
Adjusted EBITDA Margin is defined as Adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of revenue.
Segment Revenue and Adjusted Gross Profit
Adjusted gross profit is defined as revenue less cost of services adjusted for depreciation, amortization and share-based compensation. Adjusted gross profit margin percent is defined as adjusted gross profit divided by revenue. Management uses adjusted gross profit and adjusted gross profit margin percent as key measures in making financial, operating and planning decisions and in evaluating our performance. We believe that presenting adjusted gross profit and adjusted gross profit margin percent is useful to investors as it eliminates the impact of certain non-cash expenses and allows a direct comparison between periods.
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Employer Solutions Segment Results
| Successor | Predecessor | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year Ended | Year Ended | Six Months Ended | Six Months Ended | ||||||||||||||||||
| December 31, | December 31, | December 31, | June 30, | ||||||||||||||||||
| ($ in millions) | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2021 | |||||||||||||||||
| Employer Solutions Revenue | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Recurring | $ | 2,695 | $ | 2,467 | $ | 1,213 | $ | 1,049 | |||||||||||||
| Project | 268 | 251 | 134 | 107 | |||||||||||||||||
| Total Employer Solutions Revenue | $ | 2,963 | $ | 2,718 | $ | 1,347 | $ | 1,156 | |||||||||||||
| Employer Solutions Gross Profit | $ | 1,033 | $ | 911 | $ | 489 | $ | 392 | |||||||||||||
| Employer Solutions Gross Profit Margin | 34.9 | % | 33.5 | % | 36.3 | % | 33.9 | % | |||||||||||||
| Employer Solutions Adjusted Gross Profit | $ | 1,147 | $ | 1,001 | $ | 527 | $ | 429 | |||||||||||||
| Employer Solutions Adjusted Gross Profit Margin | 38.7 | % | 36.8 | % | 39.1 | % | 37.1 | % |
Employer Solutions Segment Results of Operations for the Successor Year Ended December 31, 2023 Compared to the Successor Year Ended December 31, 2022
Employer Solutions Revenue
Employer Solutions total revenues were $2,963 million and $2,718 million, respectively for the Successor years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022. The increase of $245 million, or 9.0%, over the prior year was primarily attributable to an increase of recurring revenues of $228 million, or 9.2%, as a result of the 2022 acquisition, increased volumes and increases in Net Commercial Activity.
Employer Solutions Gross Profit and Adjusted Gross Profit
Employer Solutions Gross Profit was $1,033 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2023 as compared to $911 million for the prior year period. The increase of $122 million, or 13.4% over the prior year was driven by revenue growth and lower expenses related to productivity initiatives, partially offset by employee compensation costs and increases in costs associated with funding growth of current and future revenues. Employer Solutions adjusted gross profit for the year ended December 31, 2023 increased $146 million to $1,147 million from $1,001 million in the prior year period primarily due to revenue growth and lower expenses related to productivity initiatives, partially offset by employee compensation costs and increases in costs associated with funding growth of current and future revenues. Employer Solutions adjusted gross profit for the Successor year ended December 31, 2022 increased $45 million to $1,001 million from $956 million in the combined prior year period primarily due to revenue growth and lower expenses related to productivity initiatives, partially offset by employee compensation costs and increases in costs associated with funding growth of current and future revenues.
Professional Services Segment Results
| Successor | Predecessor | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year Ended | Year Ended | Six Months Ended | Six Months Ended | ||||||||||||||||||
| December 31, | December 31, | December 31, | June 30, | ||||||||||||||||||
| ($ in millions) | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2021 | |||||||||||||||||
| Professional Services Revenue | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Recurring | $ | 142 | $ | 128 | $ | 65 | $ | 60 | |||||||||||||
| Project | 279 | 243 | 121 | 124 | |||||||||||||||||
| Total Professional Services Revenue | $ | 421 | $ | 371 | $ | 186 | $ | 184 | |||||||||||||
| Professional Services Gross Profit | $ | 109 | $ | 86 | $ | 44 | $ | 46 | |||||||||||||
| Professional Services Gross Profit Margin | 25.9 | % | 23.2 | % | 23.7 | % | 25.0 | % | |||||||||||||
| Professional Services Adjusted Gross Profit | $ | 114 | $ | 90 | $ | 45 | $ | 47 | |||||||||||||
| Professional Services Adjusted Gross Profit Margin | 27.1 | % | 24.3 | % | 24.2 | % | 25.5 | % |
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Professional Services Segment Results of Operations for the Successor Year Ended December 31, 2023 Compared to the Successor Year Ended December 31, 2022.
Professional Services Revenue
Professional Services total revenues was $421 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2023 as compared to $371 million for the prior year period. The increase of $50 million, or 13.5%, over the Successor prior year was primarily attributable to an increase of project revenues of $36 million, or 14.8%, coupled with an increase of recurring revenue of $14 million.
Professional Services Gross Profit and Adjusted Gross Profit
Professional Services Gross Profit was $109 million, for the twelve months ended December 31, 2023 as compared to $86 for the prior year period. The increase of $23 million, or 26.7%, over the prior year was due to increases in costs associated with growth of current revenues, including investments in our commercial functions, partially offset by revenue growth as discussed above. Professional Services adjusted gross profit for the year ended December 31, 2023 increased $24 million to $114 million from $90 million in the prior year period primarily due to growth of project revenue, and net commercial activity, partially offset by the costs as discussed above. Professional Services adjusted gross profit for the year ended December 31, 2022 decreased $2 million to $90 million as compared to the combined prior year and was consistent with the prior year period.
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Gross Profit to Adjusted Gross Profit Reconciliation by Segment
| Successor | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, 2023 | |||||||||||||
| ($ in millions) | Employer Solutions | Professional Services | Other | Total | |||||||||
| Gross Profit | $ | 1,033 | $ | 109 | $ | (2 | ) | $ | 1,140 | ||||
| Add: stock-based compensation | $ | 35 | $ | 4 | $ | - | $ | 39 | |||||
| Add: depreciation and amortization | $ | 79 | $ | 1 | $ | 2 | $ | 82 | |||||
| Adjusted Gross Profit | $ | 1,147 | $ | 114 | $ | - | $ | 1,261 | |||||
| Gross Profit Margin | 34.9 | % | 25.9 | % | -7.7 | % | 33.4 | % | |||||
| Adjusted Gross Profit Margin | 38.7 | % | 27.1 | % | 0.0 | % | 37.0 | % | |||||
| Successor | |||||||||||||
| December 31, 2022 | |||||||||||||
| ($ in millions) | Employer Solutions | Professional Services | Other | Total | |||||||||
| Gross Profit | $ | 911 | $ | 86 | $ | (1 | ) | $ | 996 | ||||
| Add: stock-based compensation | 37 | 3 | - | 40 | |||||||||
| Add: depreciation and amortization | 53 | 1 | 2 | 56 | |||||||||
| Adjusted Gross Profit | $ | 1,001 | $ | 90 | $ | 1 | $ | 1,092 | |||||
| Gross Profit Margin | 33.5 | % | 23.2 | % | -2.3 | % | 31.8 | % | |||||
| Adjusted Gross Profit Margin | 36.8 | % | 24.3 | % | 2.3 | % | 34.9 | % | |||||
| Successor | |||||||||||||
| Six Months Ended | |||||||||||||
| December 31, 2021 | |||||||||||||
| ($ in millions) | Employer Solutions | Professional Services | Other | Total | |||||||||
| Gross Profit | $ | 489 | $ | 44 | $ | (1 | ) | $ | 532 | ||||
| Add: stock-based compensation | 18 | 1 | - | 19 | |||||||||
| Add: depreciation and amortization | 20 | — | 1 | 21 | |||||||||
| Adjusted Gross Profit | $ | 527 | $ | 45 | $ | - | $ | 572 | |||||
| Gross Profit Margin | 36.3 | % | 23.7 | % | -4.8 | % | 34.2 | % | |||||
| Adjusted Gross Profit Margin | 39.1 | % | 24.2 | % | 0.0 | % | 36.8 | % | |||||
| Predecessor | |||||||||||||
| Six Months Ended | |||||||||||||
| June 30, 2021 | |||||||||||||
| ($ in millions) | Employer Solutions | Professional Services | Other | Total | |||||||||
| Gross Profit | $ | 392 | $ | 46 | $ | (3 | ) | $ | 435 | ||||
| Add: stock-based compensation | 1 | - | - | 1 | |||||||||
| Add: depreciation and amortization | 36 | 1 | 1 | 38 | |||||||||
| Adjusted Gross Profit | $ | 429 | $ | 47 | $ | (2 | ) | $ | 474 | ||||
| Gross Profit Margin | 33.9 | % | 25.0 | % | -14.3 | % | 32.0 | % | |||||
| Adjusted Gross Profit Margin | 37.1 | % | 25.5 | % | -9.5 | % | 34.8 | % |
LIQUIDITY, FINANCIAL CONDITION, AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
Executive Summary
Our primary sources of liquidity include our existing cash and cash equivalents, cash flows from operations and availability under our revolving credit facility. Our primary uses of liquidity are operating expenses, funding of our debt requirements and capital expenditures.
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We believe that our available cash and cash equivalents, cash flows from operations and availability under our revolving credit facility will be sufficient to meet our liquidity needs, including principal and interest payments on debt obligations, capital expenditures, payments on our Tax Receivable Agreement and anticipated working capital requirements for the foreseeable future. We believe our liquidity position at December 31, 2023 remains strong. We will continue to closely monitor and proactively manage our liquidity position in light of changing economic conditions and the volatility of interest rates.
In August 2022, we established a repurchase program allowing for up to $100 million in authorized share repurchases. As of December 31, 2023, approximately $48 million remained available for share repurchases under our share repurchase program.
Cash on our balance sheet includes funds available for general corporate purposes. Funds held on behalf of clients in a fiduciary capacity are segregated and shown in Fiduciary assets on the Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, with a corresponding amount in Fiduciary liabilities. Fiduciary funds are not used for general corporate purposes and are not a source of liquidity for us.
The following table provides a summary of cash flows from operating, investing, and financing activities for the periods presented.
| Successor | Predecessor | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year Ended | Year Ended | Six Months Ended | Six Months Ended | ||||||||||||||||||
| December 31, | December 31, | December 31, | June 30, | ||||||||||||||||||
| (in millions) | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2021 | |||||||||||||||||
| Cash provided by operating activities | $ | 386 | $ | 286 | $ | 57 | $ | 58 | |||||||||||||
| Cash used in investing activities | (159 | ) | (235 | ) | (1,852 | ) | (55 | ) | |||||||||||||
| Cash provided by (used in) financing activities | (231 | ) | 54 | 2,400 | (64 | ) | |||||||||||||||
| Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash | 4 | 2 | 11 | — | |||||||||||||||||
| Net increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash | — | 107 | 616 | (61 | ) | ||||||||||||||||
| Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash at end of period | $ | 1,759 | $ | 1,759 | $ | 1,652 | $ | 1,475 |
Operating Activities
Net cash provided by operating activities was $386 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to $286 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. The increase in cash provided by operating activities was primarily due to improved profitability and decrease in our net working capital requirements.
Investing Activities
Cash used for investing activities for the Successor year ended December 31, 2023 was $159 million. The primary drivers of cash used for investing activities were $160 million used for capital expenditures.
Cash used for investing activities for the Successor year ended December 31, 2022 was $235 million. The primary drivers of cash used for investing activities were $148 million used for capital expenditures and $87 million for an acquisition during the fourth quarter of 2022.
Financing Activities
Cash used for financing activities for the Successor year ended December 31, 2023 was $231 million. The primary drivers of cash provided by financing activities were due to a net decrease of $108 million in fiduciary liabilities, $40 million in share repurchases, $25 million of repayments to banks net of borrowings, $25 million principal payments on finance lease obligations, and $16 million for tax payment for shares/units withheld in lieu of taxes. The decrease in fiduciary cash is primarily due to timing of client funding and subsequent disbursement of payments.
Cash provided by financing activities for the Successor year ended December 31, 2022 was $54 million. The primary drivers of cash provided by financing activities were due to a net increase of $229 million in fiduciary liabilities, $85 million of deferred and contingent consideration payments and $37 million of repayments to banks net of borrowings. The increase in fiduciary cash is primarily due to timing of client funding and subsequent disbursement of payments.
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Cash, Cash Equivalents and Fiduciary Assets
At December 31, 2023, our cash and cash equivalents were $358 million, an increase of $108 million from December 31, 2022. Of the total balances of cash and cash equivalents as of December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, none of the balances were restricted as to its use.
Some of our client agreements require us to hold funds on behalf of clients to pay obligations on their behalf. The levels of Fiduciary assets and liabilities can fluctuate significantly, depending on when we collect the amounts from clients and make payments on their behalf. Such funds are not available to service our debt or for other corporate purposes. There is typically a short period of time between when the Company receives funds and when it pays obligations on behalf of clients. We are entitled to retain investment income earned on fiduciary funds, when investment strategies are deployed, in accordance with industry custom and practice, which has historically been immaterial. In our Consolidated Balance Sheets, the amount we report for Fiduciary assets and Fiduciary liabilities are equal. Our Fiduciary assets included cash of $1,401 million and $1,509 million at December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, respectively.
Other Liquidity Matters
Our cash flows from operations, borrowing availability and overall liquidity are subject to risks and uncertainties. For further information, see the “Risk Factors” section within Item 1A. of this Annual Report.
Tax Receivable Agreement
In connection with the Business Combination, we entered into the TRA with certain of our pre-Business Combination owners that provides for the payment by Alight to such owners of 85% of the benefits that Alight is deemed to realize as a result of the Company’s share of existing tax basis acquired in the Business Combination and other tax benefits related to entering into the Tax Receivable Agreement.
Actual tax benefits realized by Alight may differ from tax benefits calculated under the TRA as a result of the use of certain assumptions in the TRA, including the use of an assumed weighted-average state and local income tax rate to calculate tax benefits. While the amount of existing tax basis, the anticipated tax basis adjustments and the actual amount and utilization of tax attributes, as well as the amount and timing of any payments under the TRA, will vary depending upon a number of factors, we expect that the payments that Alight may make under the TRA will be substantial. For the year ended December 31, 2023, we paid $7 million related to the TRA. As of December 31, 2023, we expect to make payments of $62 million and $89 million in 2024 and 2025, respectively.
Contractual Obligations and Commitments
For the year ended December 31, 2023, the Company had various obligations and commitments outstanding including debt of $2,794 million, operating leases of $106 million, finance leases of $18 million and purchase obligations of $100 million. Over the twelve months ending December 31, 2024, we expect to pay $25 million, $33 million, $9 million and $32 million for our debt, operating leases, finance leases and purchase obligations, respectively. For further information of each these obligations, refer to the Consolidated Financial Statements within Item 8 of this Annual Report, Note 8 “Debt”, Note 19 “Lease Obligations” and Note 20 “Commitments and Contingencies”.
During 2018, the Company executed an agreement to form a strategic partnership with Wipro, a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company, through 2028. As of December 31, 2023, the non-cancellable services obligation totaled $818 million, with $154 million expected to be paid over the twelve months ended December 31, 2024. We may terminate our arrangement with Wipro with cause or for our convenience. In the case of a termination for convenience, we would be required to pay a termination fee. If we had terminated the Wipro arrangement on December 31, 2023, we estimate that the termination charges would have been approximately $288 million.
Other Liquidity Matters
Our cash flows from operations, borrowing availability and overall liquidity are subject to risks and uncertainties. For further information, see the “Risk Factors” section within Item 1A. of this Annual Report.
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Critical Accounting Estimates
These consolidated financial statements conform to U.S. GAAP, which requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting period. Our estimates, judgments and assumptions are continually evaluated based on available information and experience. Because of the use of estimates inherent in the financial reporting process, actual results could differ from those estimates. The areas that we believe include critical accounting policies are revenue recognition, goodwill and accounting for the Tax Receivable Agreement. The critical accounting policies discussed below involve making difficult, subjective or complex accounting estimates that could have a material effect on our financial condition and results of operations. Different estimates that we could have used, or changes in estimates that are reasonably likely to occur, may have a material effect on our results of operations and financial condition.
Revenue Recognition
Revenues are recognized when control of the promised services is transferred to the customer in the amount that best reflects the consideration to which the Company expects to be entitled in exchange for those services. Substantially all of the Company’s revenue is recognized over time as the customer simultaneously receives and consumes the benefits of our services. On occasion, we may be entitled to a fee based on achieving certain performance criteria or contract milestones. Any taxes assessed on revenues relating to services provided to our clients are recorded on a net basis.
The Company capitalizes incremental costs to obtain and fulfill contracts with a customer that are expected to be recovered. Assets recognized for the costs to fulfill a contract are amortized on a systematic basis over the expected life of the underlying customer relationships.
For further discussion, see Note 3 “Revenue from Contracts with Customers” within the Consolidated Financial Statements.
Tax Receivable Agreement
The Company’s TRA liability established upon completion of the Business Combination is measured at fair value on a recurring basis using significant unobservable inputs (Level 3).
We record additional liabilities under the TRA as and when Class A units of Alight Holdings are exchanged for Class A Common Stock. Liabilities resulting from these exchanges will be recorded on a gross undiscounted basis and are not remeasured at fair value. During the year ended December 31, 2023, an additional TRA liability of $109 million was established as a result of these exchanges. This amount along with the total impact of exchanges of $43 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, are excluded from the portion of the TRA liability that is measured at fair value on a recurring basis.
Actual tax benefits realized by Alight may differ from tax benefits calculated under the TRA as a result of the use of certain assumptions in the TRA, including the use of an assumed weighted-average state and local income tax rate to calculate tax benefits. While the amount of existing tax basis, the anticipated tax basis adjustments and the actual amount and utilization of tax attributes, as well as the amount and timing of any payments under the TRA, will vary depending upon a number of factors, we expect that the payments that Alight may make under the TRA will be substantial.
The $733 million TRA liability balance at December 31, 2023 assumes: (i) a constant blended U.S. federal, state and local income tax rate of 27.0%, (ii) no material changes in tax law, (iii) the ability to utilize tax attributes based on current alternative tax forecasts, and (iv) future payments under the TRA are made when due under the TRA. The amount of the expected future payments under the TRA has been discounted to its present value using a discount rate of 7.9%, which was determined based on benchmark rates of a similar duration. A hypothetical increase or decrease of 75 bps in the discount rate assumptions used for fiscal year 2023, would result in a change of approximately $24 million.
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Goodwill
Goodwill for each reporting unit is tested for impairment annually during the fourth quarter, or more frequently if there are indicators that a reporting unit may be impaired. Accounting Standard Codification 350, Intangibles and Other ("ASC 350") states that an optional qualitative impairment assessment can be performed to determine whether an impairment is more likely than not by considering various factors such as macroeconomic and industry trends, reporting unit performance and overall business changes. If inconclusive evidence results from the qualitative impairment test, a quantitative assessment is performed where the Company determines the fair value of the reporting units by using a combination of the present value of expected future cash flows and a market approach based on earnings multiple data from peer companies. If an impairment is identified, an impairment is recorded by the amount that the carrying value exceeds the fair value for each reporting unit. While the future cash flows are consistent with those that are used in our internal planning process inclusive of long-term growth assumptions, estimating cash flows requires significant judgment. Future changes to our projected cash flows can vary from the cash flows eventually realized, which may have a material impact on the outcomes of future goodwill impairment tests. The Company uses a weighted average cost of capital that represents the blended average required rate of return for equity and debt capital based on observed market return data and company specific risk factors.
During the fourth quarter of 2023, the Company performed a quantitative assessment in accordance with ASC 350. We evaluated the potential for goodwill impairment by considering macroeconomic conditions, industry and market conditions, cost factors, both current and future expected financial performance, and relevant entity-specific events for each of the reporting units. We also considered our overall market performance discretely as well as in relation to our peers. We utilized a discount rate of 11.5% and a long-term growth rate of 3.5% for our Health and Wealth Solutions reporting units in the determination of fair value. We utilized a discount rate of 12.0% and a long-term growth rate of 3.5% in the determination of fair value for our Cloud Services reporting unit. We utilized a discount rate of 15.0% and a long-term growth rate of 3.0% for our Professional Services reporting unit fair value determination. Other significant assumptions utilized included the Company’s projections of expected future revenues and EBITDA margin, which is defined as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and intangible amortization as a percentage of revenue.
The Company determined the fair value of its reporting units exceeded the carrying value as of October 1, 2023, and therefore, goodwill was not impaired. Based on the results of the Company’s quantitative assessment, the fair value of the Health Solutions and Wealth Solutions reporting units exceeded their carrying values by 1.8% and 7.1%, respectively. A hypothetical 25-basis point increase in the discount rate or a hypothetical 50-basis point decrease in the long-term growth rate could have resulted in a goodwill impairment in the Company’s Health Solutions reporting unit of $82 million.
Subsequent to our October 1, 2023 annual impairment test, we evaluated the macroeconomic, industry and market conditions to determine whether there had been any significant changes. While these factors remained broadly consistent with those that existed as of our annual impairment test date, subsequent to that date, the Company had begun a strategic portfolio review which resulted in new market information relating to the Cloud Services and Professional Services reporting units that did not exist as of October 1, 2023. Management determined there was an interim indicator of impairment with the Cloud Services and Professional Services reporting units. As part of this process, the Company identified a goodwill impairment in its Cloud Services reporting unit and recorded a $148 million non-cash goodwill impairment charge, which is included in the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss) for the year ended December 31, 2023. No additional goodwill impairment testing was warranted based on this assessment. The Company's Professional Services reporting unit fair value exceeded its carrying value by 0.7% or approximately $1 million, and the estimated fair value of the Health Solutions and Wealth Solutions reporting units continued to exceed their respective carrying values. At December 31, 2023, our Health Solutions, Wealth Solutions, Cloud Services and Professional Services reporting units had $3,084 million, $128 million, $258 million and $73 million of goodwill, respectively.
FY 2022 10-K MD&A
SEC filing source: 0000950170-23-005480.
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
This discussion includes forward-looking statements. See ‘Disclaimer Regarding Forward-Looking Statements’ for certain cautionary information regarding forward-looking statements and ‘Risk Factors’ in Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for a list of factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted in those statements.
This discussion includes references to non-GAAP financial measures as defined in the rules of the SEC. We present such non-GAAP financial measures as we believe such information is of interest to the investment community because it provides additional meaningful methods of evaluating certain aspects of the Company’s operating performance from period to period on a basis that may not be otherwise apparent under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”), and these provide a measure against which our businesses may be assessed in the future.
Our methods of calculating these measures may differ from those used by other companies and therefore comparability may be limited. These financial measures should be viewed in addition to, not in lieu of, the consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2022. See ‘Non-GAAP Financial Measures’ below for further discussion.
BUSINESS
Overview
Alight is defining the future of employee wellbeing through the power of our integrated health, wealth, wellbeing and payroll solutions powered by Alight Worklife®. Alight Worklife® is a high-tech employee engagement platform with a human touch – that brings together our mission-critical wellbeing solutions to our clients to drive better outcomes for organizations and individuals.
On July 2, 2021 (the “Closing Date”), Alight Holding Company, LLC (the "Predecessor") completed a business combination (the "Business Combination") with a special purpose acquisition company. On the Closing Date, pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement, the special purpose acquisition company became a wholly owned subsidiary of Alight, Inc. (“Alight”, “the Company”, “we” “us” “our” or the “Successor”). As a result of the Business Combination, and by virtue of such series of mergers and related transactions, the combined company is now organized in an “Up-C” structure, in which substantially all of the assets and business of Alight are held by the Predecessor, of which Alight is the managing member. Immediately following and as a result of the Business Combination, Alight owned approximately 85% of the economic interest in the Predecessor, had 100% of the voting power and controlled the management of the Predecessor. The non-voting ownership percentage held by noncontrolling interest was approximately 15%. As of December 31, 2022, Alight owned 88% of the economic interest in the Predecessor, had 100% of the voting power and controlled the management of the Predecessor and the non-voting ownership percentage held by noncontrolling interest was approximately 12%.
FACTORS AFFECTING THE COMPARABILITY OF OUR RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
As a result of a number of factors, our historical results of operations are not comparable from period to period and may not be comparable to our financial results of operations in future periods. Set forth below is a brief discussion of the key factors that may impact the comparability of our results of operations in future operations.
Impact of the Business Combination
Alight is subject to corporate level tax rates at the federal, state and local levels. The Predecessor was and is treated as a flow-through entity for U.S. federal income tax purposes, and as such, has generally not been subject to U.S. federal income tax at the entity level. Accordingly, other than for certain consolidated subsidiaries of the Predecessor that are structured as corporations and unless otherwise specified, the historical results of operations and other financial information presented does not include any provision for U.S. federal income tax.
Alight (together with certain corporate subsidiaries through which it owns its interest in the Predecessor) pays U.S. federal and state income taxes as a corporation on its share of our taxable income. The Business Combination was accounted for as a business combination using the acquisition method of accounting. Accordingly, the assets and liabilities, including any identified intangible assets, were recorded at their preliminary fair values at the date of completion of the Business Combination, with any excess of the purchase price over the preliminary fair value recorded as goodwill. The application of business combination accounting required the use of significant estimates and assumptions.
As a result of the application of accounting for the Business Combination, the historical consolidated financial statements of the Predecessor are not necessarily indicative of the Successor’s future results of operations, financial position and cash flows. For example, increased tangible and intangible assets resulting from adjusting the basis of tangible and intangible assets to their fair value would result in increased depreciation and amortization expense in the periods following the consummation of the Business Combination.
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In connection with the Business Combination, we entered into a Tax Receivable Agreement (the “TRA”) with certain of our pre-Business Combination owners that provides for the payment by Alight to such owners of 85% of the benefits that Alight is deemed to realize as a result of the Company’s share of existing tax basis acquired in the Business Combination and other tax benefits related to entering into the TRA.
Additionally, in connection with the Business Combination, we accounted for the issuance of warrants and Seller Earnout contingent consideration, which were a result of the issuance of non-voting shares of Class B-1 and Class B-2 Common Stock, as liabilities which require remeasurement to fair value at the end of each reporting period, as applicable and adopted the Alight 2021 Omnibus Incentive Plan which will result in higher share-based compensation expenses. As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, all warrants were exercised or redeemed. Lastly, the redemption of our Unsecured Senior Notes and partial paydown of the Term Loan in conjunction with the Business Combination, has resulted in lower interest expense.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF FINANCIAL RESULTS
While the Closing Date was July 2, 2021, we determined the impact of one day was immaterial to the results of operations. As such, we utilized July 1, 2021 as the date of the Business Combination for accounting purposes. As a result of the Business Combination, the following tables present selected financial data for the Successor year ended December 31, 2022 and six months ended December 31, 2021, and the Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021 and year ended December 31, 2020.
We prepared our discussion of the results of operations by comparing the results of the Successor year ended December 31, 2022 to the combined Successor six months ended December 31, 2021 and Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021. The core business operations of the Predecessor and Successor were not significantly impacted by the consummation of the Business Combination. Therefore, we believe the combined results for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021 and the Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021 are comparable to the Successor year ended December 31, 2022, and provide enhanced comparability to the reader about the current year's results. We believe this approach provides the most meaningful basis of comparison and is useful in identifying current business trends for the periods presented. The combined results of operations included in our discussion below are not considered to be prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP and have not been prepared as pro forma results under applicable regulations, may not reflect the actual results we would have achieved had the Business Combination occurred at the beginning of 2021, and should not be viewed as a substitute for the results of operations of the Predecessor and Successor periods presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP.
Year-to-year comparisons between 2021 and 2020 have been omitted from this Form 10-K, but may be found in "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in Part II, Item 7 of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021.
Subsequent event
On February 20, 2023, the Company approved a two-year strategic transformation restructuring program (the “Program”) intended to accelerate the Company’s back-office infrastructure into the cloud and transform its operating model leveraging technology in order to reduce its overall future costs. The Program includes process and system optimization, third party costs associated with technology infrastructure transformation, and elimination of full-time positions. The Company currently expects to record in the aggregate approximately $140 million in pre-tax restructuring charges over the next two years. The restructuring charges are expected to include severance charges with an estimated range from $20 million to $30 million over the two-year period and other restructuring charges related to items such as data center exit costs, third party fees associated with the restructuring, and costs associated with transitioning existing technology and processes, which are estimated to account for between $100 million and $120 million over the two-year period. The Company estimates an annual savings of over $100 million after the Program is completed. The Program is expected to commence in the first quarter of 2023 and to be substantially completed over an estimated two-year period.
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The following table sets forth our historical results of operations for the periods indicated below:
| Successor | Predecessor | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year Ended | Six Months Ended | Six Months Ended | |||||||||||||
| December 31, | December 31, | June 30, | |||||||||||||
| (in millions) | 2022 | 2021 | 2021 | ||||||||||||
| Revenue | $ | 3,132 | $ | 1,554 | $ | 1,361 | |||||||||
| Cost of services, exclusive of depreciation and amortization | 2,080 | 1,001 | 888 | ||||||||||||
| Depreciation and amortization | 56 | 21 | 38 | ||||||||||||
| Gross Profit | 996 | 532 | 435 | ||||||||||||
| Operating Expenses | |||||||||||||||
| Selling, general and administrative | 671 | 304 | 222 | ||||||||||||
| Depreciation and intangible amortization | 339 | 163 | 111 | ||||||||||||
| Total operating expenses | 1,010 | 467 | 333 | ||||||||||||
| Operating (Loss) Income | (14 | ) | 65 | 102 | |||||||||||
| Other (Income) Expense | |||||||||||||||
| (Gain) Loss from change in fair value of financial instruments | (38 | ) | 65 | — | |||||||||||
| (Gain) Loss from change in fair value of tax receivable agreement | (41 | ) | (37 | ) | — | ||||||||||
| Interest expense | 122 | 57 | 123 | ||||||||||||
| Other (income) expense, net | (16 | ) | 3 | 9 | |||||||||||
| Total other (income) expense, net | 27 | 88 | 132 | ||||||||||||
| Loss Before Income Tax Expense (Benefit) | (41 | ) | (23 | ) | (30 | ) | |||||||||
| Income tax expense (benefit) | 31 | 25 | (5 | ) | |||||||||||
| Net Loss | (72 | ) | (48 | ) | (25 | ) | |||||||||
| Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interests | (10 | ) | (13 | ) | — | ||||||||||
| Net (Loss) Income Attributable to Alight, Inc. | $ | (62 | ) | $ | (35 | ) | $ | (25 | ) |
REVIEW OF RESULTS
Key Components of Our Operations
Revenue
Our clients’ demand for our services ultimately drives our revenues. We generate primarily all of our revenue, which is highly recurring, from fees for services provided from contracts across all solutions, which is primarily based on a contracted fee charged per participant per period (e.g., monthly or annually, as applicable). Our contracts typically have three to five-year terms for ongoing services with mutual renewal options. The majority of the Company’s revenue is recognized over time when control of the promised services is transferred, and the customers simultaneously receive and consume the benefits of our services. Payment terms are consistent with industry practice. We calculate growth rates for each of our solutions in relation to recurring revenues and revenues from project work. One of the components of our growth in recurring revenues is the increase in net commercial activity which reflects items such as client wins and losses (“Net Commercial Activity”). We define client wins as sales to new clients and sales of new solutions to existing clients. We define client losses as instances where clients do not renew or terminate their arrangements in relation to individual solutions or all of the solutions that we provide. We measure revenue growth as it relates to the cloud-based products and solutions that are central to our Alight Worklife® platform and next generation product suite, BPaaS Solutions. These products capitalize on our robust data combined with AI & analytics to deliver greater employee engagement and employer outcomes. BPaaS products and services span across both the Employer Solutions and Professional Services segments. In addition, we also consider BPaaS bookings, defined as total contract value for BPaaS customer agreements executed in the period, to be a key indicator of future revenue growth and used as a metric of commercial activity by management and investors.
Cost of Services, exclusive of Depreciation and Amortization
Cost of services, exclusive of depreciation and amortization includes compensation-related and vendor costs directly attributable to client-related services and costs related to application development and client-related infrastructure.
Depreciation and Amortization
Depreciation and amortization expenses include the depreciation and amortization related to our hardware, software and application development. Depreciation and amortization may increase or decrease in absolute dollars in future periods depending on the future level of capital investments in hardware, software and application development.
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Selling, General and Administrative
Selling, general and administrative expenses include compensation-related costs for administrative and management employees, system and facilities expenses, and costs for external professional and consulting services.
Depreciation and Intangible Amortization
Depreciation and intangible amortization expenses consist of charges relating to the depreciation of the property and equipment used in our business and the amortization of acquired customer-related and contract based intangible assets and technology related intangible assets. Depreciation and intangible amortization may increase or decrease in absolute dollars in future periods depending on the future level of capital investments in hardware and other equipment as well as amortization expense associated with future acquisitions.
(Gain) Loss from Change in Fair Value of Financial Instruments
(Gain) loss from change in fair value of financial instruments includes the impact of the revaluation to fair value at the end of each reporting period for our previously issued warrants and the Seller Earnouts contingent consideration.
(Gain) Loss from Change in Fair Value of Tax Receivable Agreement
(Gain) loss from change in fair value of Tax Receivable Agreement includes the impact of the revaluation to fair value at the end of each reporting period.
Interest Expense
Interest expense primarily includes interest expense related to our outstanding debt.
Other (Income) Expense, net
Other (income) expense, net includes non-operating expenses and income, including realized (gains) and losses from remeasurement of foreign currency transactions.
Results of Operations for the Year Ended December 31, 2022 (Successor) Compared to the Combined Year Ended December 31, 2021 (Successor and Predecessor)
Revenue
Revenues were $3,132 million for the Successor year ended December 31, 2022, and $1,554 million and $1,361 million for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021 and the Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021, respectively. The increase in revenue of $217 million, or 7.4%, over the combined Successor and Predecessor prior year was primarily driven by increased revenues from our Employer Solutions segment. We recorded BPaaS revenue of $564 million for the Successor year ended December 31, 2022 and $203 million and $187 million for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021 and the Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021, respectively. BPaaS revenue increased $174 million, or 44.6%, over the combined Successor and Predecessor prior year.
In addition, we also consider BPaaS bookings, defined as total contract value for BPaaS customer agreements executed in the period, to be a key indicator of future revenue growth and used as a metric of commercial activity by management and investors. BPaaS bookings were $871 million for the Successor year ended December 31, 2022 and $322 million and $280 million for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021 and the Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021, respectively. This represents an increase in BPaaS bookings of $269 million, or 44.7%, over the combined Successor and Predecessor prior year.
Recurring revenues were $2,638 million for the Successor year ended December 31, 2022. Recurring revenues were $1,299 million and $1,130 million for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021 and the Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021, respectively. The increase in recurring revenue of $209 million, or 8.6%, over the combined Successor and Predecessor prior year was primarily related to growth in Employer Solutions, which is a result of higher revenues related to acquisition activity, increased volumes and increases in Net Commercial Activity.
Project revenues increased $8 million, or 1.6%, when comparing the Successor year ended December 31, 2022 to the combined Successor six months ended December 31, 2021 and the Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021, respectively, which was attributable to the Employer Solutions segment partially offset by a decrease in the Professional Services segment.
33
In addition, a majority of our revenue is generated in the U.S., which reflected 88% of the total revenue increase for the Successor year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the combined Successor and Predecessor prior year period.
Cost of Services, exclusive of Depreciation and Amortization
Cost of services, exclusive of depreciation and amortization were $2,080 million for the Successor year ended December 31, 2022. Cost of services, exclusive of depreciation and amortization were $1,001 million and $888 million, respectively, for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021 and the Predecessor year ended June 30, 2021. The increase in Cost of services, exclusive of depreciation and amortization of $191 million, or 10.1%, over the combined Successor and Predecessor prior year was primarily driven by acquisitions in the fourth quarter of 2021, higher costs related to growth in current revenues, including investments in key resources, and increased compensation expenses related to share-based awards.
Selling, General and Administrative
Selling, general and administrative expense increased $145 million, or 27.6%, when comparing the Successor year ended December 31, 2022 to the combined Successor six months ended December 31, 2021 and the Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021, respectively, which was primarily driven by an increase in share-based compensation expense.
Depreciation and Intangible Amortization
Depreciation and intangible amortization expense increased $62 million, or 18.6%, when comparing the Successor year ended December 31, 2022 to the combined Successor six months ended December 31, 2021 and the Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021, which was primarily driven by amortization related to the identifiable intangible assets acquired in conjunction with the Business Combination and recent acquisitions.
Change in Fair Value of Financial Instruments
A gain from a change in the fair value of financial instruments of $38 million was recorded for the Successor year ended December 31, 2022 versus a $65 million loss for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021. There was no gain or loss for the Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021. We are required to remeasure the financial instruments at the end of each reporting period and reflect a gain or loss for the change in fair value of the financial instruments in the period the change occurred. The change in the fair value was due to changes in the underlying assumptions, including the increase in the risk free interest rate and decrease in the closing stock price for the period ended December 31, 2022.
Change in Tax Receivable Agreement
A gain from the change in the fair value of the tax receivable agreement of $41 million was recorded for the Successor year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to a gain of $37 million for the combined Successor six months ended December 31, 2021. The remeasurement gain is due to an increase in the discount rate and the Company's assumptions related to the timing of the utilization of the tax attributes during the term of the TRA, which we are required to remeasure at the end of each reporting period. We did not have a tax receivable agreement in the Predecessor period prior to the Business Combination.
Interest Expense
Interest expense was $122 million for the Successor year ended December 31, 2022, a decrease of $58 million, or 32.2%, as compared to the combined Successor six months ended December 31, 2021 and the Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021, respectively. The decrease was primarily due to the redemption of our Unsecured Senior Notes and the partial paydown of the Term Loan in conjunction with the Business Combination completed during the third quarter of 2021. See Note 8 “Debt” for further information.
Loss before Income Tax Expense (Benefit)
Loss before income tax expense was $41 million for the Successor year ended December 31, 2022. Loss before income tax expense was $23 million and $30 million for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021 and the Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021, respectively. The decrease in Loss before income tax expense of $12 million over the combined Successor and Predecessor prior year was due to the drivers identified above and the fair value remeasurement associated with certain liabilities.
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Income Tax Expense (Benefit)
Income tax expense was $31 million for the Successor year ended December 31, 2022. Income tax expense was $25 million for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021 and an income tax benefit of $5 million for the Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021, respectively. The effective tax rate of (76%) for the Successor year ended December 31, 2022 was primarily due to foreign rate differences, valuation allowances, separate entity corporate taxes, changes in statutory reserves, and the noncontrolling interest associated with the portion of Alight Holdings income not allocable to the Company. The effective tax rate of (109%) for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021 is lower than the 21% U.S. statutory corporate income tax rate primarily due to the Company's organizational structure and the noncontrolling interest associated with the portion of the Predecessor's income not allocable to the Company. The effective tax rate of 17% for the Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021 was primarily driven by foreign and state income taxes payable in jurisdictions where the Company had operations that generated operating income. See Note 7 “Income Taxes” for further information.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
The presentation of non-GAAP financial measures is used to enhance our management and stakeholders understanding of certain aspects of our financial performance. This discussion is not meant to be considered in isolation, superior to, or as a substitute for the directly comparable financial measures prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Management also uses supplemental non-GAAP financial measures to manage and evaluate the business, make planning decisions, allocate resources and as performance measures for Company-wide bonus plans. These key financial measures provide an additional view of our operational performance over the long-term and provide useful information that we use in order to maintain and grow our business.
The measures referred to as “adjusted”, have limitations as analytical tools, and such measures should not be considered either in isolation or as a substitute for net income or other methods of analyzing our results as reported under U.S. GAAP. Some of the limitations are:
•
Measure does not reflect changes in, or cash requirements for, our working capital needs or contractual commitments;
•
Measure does not reflect our interest expense or the cash requirements to service interest or principal payments on our indebtedness;
•
Measure does not reflect our tax expense or the cash requirements to pay our taxes, including payments related to the Tax Receivable Agreement;
•
Measure does not reflect the impact on earnings or changes resulting from matters that we consider not to be indicative of our future operations;
•
Although depreciation and amortization are non-cash charges, the assets being depreciated or amortized will often need to be replaced in the future, and the adjusted measure does not reflect any cash requirements for such replacements; and
•
Other companies may calculate adjusted measures differently, limiting its usefulness as a comparative measure.
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Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share
Adjusted Net Income, which is defined as net income (loss) attributable to Alight, Inc. adjusted for intangible amortization and the impact of certain non-cash items that we do not consider in the evaluation of ongoing operational performance, is a non-GAAP financial measure used solely for the purpose of calculating Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share.
Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share is defined as Adjusted Net Income divided by the adjusted weighted-average number of shares of common stock, diluted. The adjusted weighted shares calculation assumes the full exchange of the noncontrolling interest units, the total amount of warrants that were exercised, and non-vested time-based restricted units that were determined to be antidilutive and therefore excluded from the U.S. GAAP diluted earnings per share. Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share, including the adjusted weighted-average number of shares, is used by us and our investors to evaluate our core operating performance and to benchmark our operating performance against our competitors.
A reconciliation of Adjusted Net Income to Net Loss Attributable to Alight, Inc. and the computation of Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share is as follows:
| Successor | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year Ended | Six Months Ended | |||||||||
| December 31, | December 31, | |||||||||
| (in millions, except share and per share amounts) | 2022 | 2021 | ||||||||
| Numerator: | ||||||||||
| Net (Loss) Income Attributable to Alight, Inc. | $ | (62 | ) | $ | (35 | ) | ||||
| Conversion of noncontrolling interest | (10 | ) | (13 | ) | ||||||
| Intangible amortization | 316 | 153 | ||||||||
| Share-based compensation | 181 | 67 | ||||||||
| Transaction and integration expenses | 19 | 13 | ||||||||
| Restructuring | 63 | 5 | ||||||||
| (Gain) Loss from change in fair value of financial instruments | (38 | ) | 65 | |||||||
| (Gain) Loss from change in fair value of tax receivable agreement | (41 | ) | (37 | ) | ||||||
| Other | (1 | ) | 12 | |||||||
| Tax effect of adjustments (1) | (121 | ) | (62 | ) | ||||||
| Adjusted Net Income | $ | 306 | $ | 168 | ||||||
| Denominator: | ||||||||||
| Weighted average shares outstanding - basic | 458,558,192 | 439,800,624 | ||||||||
| Dilutive effect of the exchange of noncontrolling interest units | — | — | ||||||||
| Dilutive effect of RSUs | — | — | ||||||||
| Weighted average shares outstanding - diluted | 458,558,192 | 439,800,624 | ||||||||
| Exchange of noncontrolling interest units(2) | 74,665,373 | 77,459,687 | ||||||||
| Impact of warrants exercised(3) | — | 14,490,641 | ||||||||
| Impact of unvested RSUs(4) | 7,624,817 | 7,007,072 | ||||||||
| Adjusted shares of Class A Common Stock outstanding - diluted(5) | 540,848,382 | 538,758,024 | ||||||||
| Basic (Net Loss) Earnings Per Share | $ | (0.14 | ) | $ | (0.08 | ) | ||||
| Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share(5) (6) | $ | 0.57 | $ | 0.31 |
(1)
Income tax effects have been calculated based on the statutory tax rates for both U.S. and foreign jurisdictions based on the Company's mix of income and adjusted for significant changes in fair value measurement.
(2)
Assumes the full exchange of the units held by noncontrolling interests for shares of Class A Common Stock of Alight, Inc. pursuant to the exchange agreement.
(3)
Represents the number of shares of Class A Common Stock issued in relation to the warrant exercises completed in December 2021, not fully included in the weighted average shares outstanding.
(4)
Includes non-vested time-based restricted stock units that were determined to be antidilutive for U.S. GAAP diluted earnings per share purposes.
(5)
Excludes two tranches of contingently issuable seller earnout shares: (i) 7.5 million shares will be issued if the Company's Class A Common Stock's volume-weighted average price ("VWAP") is $12.50 for 20 consecutive trading days; (ii) 7.5 million share will be issued if the Company's Class A Common Stock VWAP is $15.00 for 20 consecutive trading days. Both tranches have a seven-year duration.
(6)
Excludes 32,852,974 and 16,036,220 performance-based units, which represents maximum achievement of the respective performance conditions for units granted during the year and six months ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.
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Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA less Capital Expenditures
Adjusted EBITDA, which is defined as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and intangible amortization adjusted for the impact of certain non-cash and other items that we do not consider in the evaluation of ongoing operational performance, is a non-GAAP financial measure used by management and our stakeholders to provide useful supplemental information that enables a better comparison of our performance across periods. Both Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA less Capital Expenditures are non-GAAP measures that are used by management and stakeholders to evaluate our core operating performance.
Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA less Capital Expenditures should not be considered as discretionary cash available to us to reinvest in the growth of our business or to distribute to stockholders or as a measure of cash that will be available to us to meet our obligations.
A reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA less Capital Expenditures to Net Loss is as follows:
| Successor | Predecessor | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year Ended | Six Months Ended | Six Months Ended | Year Ended | |||||||||||||||||
| December 31, | December 31, | June 30, | December 31, | |||||||||||||||||
| (in millions) | 2022 | 2021 | 2021 | 2020 | ||||||||||||||||
| Net Loss | $ | (72 | ) | $ | (48 | ) | $ | (25 | ) | $ | (103 | ) | ||||||||
| Interest expense | 122 | 57 | 123 | 234 | ||||||||||||||||
| Income tax expense (benefit) | 31 | 25 | (5 | ) | 9 | |||||||||||||||
| Depreciation | 79 | 31 | 49 | 91 | ||||||||||||||||
| Intangible amortization | 316 | 153 | 100 | 200 | ||||||||||||||||
| EBITDA | 476 | 218 | 242 | 431 | ||||||||||||||||
| Share-based compensation | 181 | 67 | 5 | 5 | ||||||||||||||||
| Transaction and integration expenses (1) | 19 | 13 | — | — | ||||||||||||||||
| Non-recurring professional expenses(2) | — | 19 | 18 | — | ||||||||||||||||
| Transformation initiatives(3) | — | — | — | 8 | ||||||||||||||||
| Restructuring | 63 | 5 | 9 | 77 | ||||||||||||||||
| (Gain) Loss from change in fair value of financial instruments | (38 | ) | 65 | — | — | |||||||||||||||
| (Gain) Loss from change in fair value of tax receivable agreement | (41 | ) | (37 | ) | — | — | ||||||||||||||
| Other(4) | (1 | ) | (7 | ) | 4 | 43 | ||||||||||||||
| Adjusted EBITDA | $ | 659 | $ | 343 | $ | 278 | 564 | |||||||||||||
| Capital expenditures | (148 | ) | (59 | ) | (55 | ) | (90 | ) | ||||||||||||
| Adjusted EBITDA less Capital Expenditures | $ | 511 | $ | 284 | $ | 223 | $ | 474 |
(1)
Transaction and integration expenses includes activity related to the 2022, 2021 and 2020 acquisitions.
(2)
Non-recurring professional expenses includes external advisor and legal costs related to the Company's Business Combination completed in 2021.
(3)
Transformation initiatives in fiscal year 2020 includes expenses related to enhancing our data center.
(4)
For the year ended December 31, 2022, other primarily includes expenses related to debt refinancing completed in the first quarter of 2022 and other non-operational activities. For the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021 and the Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021, other primarily includes activities related to long-term incentives. For the Predecessor year ended December 31, 2020, other primarily includes expenses related to long-term incentives and acquisitions.
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Segment Revenue and Adjusted EBITDA
Employer Solutions Segment Results
| Successor | Predecessor | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year Ended | Six Months Ended | Six Months Ended | Year Ended | |||||||||||||||||
| December 31, | December 31, | June 30, | December 31, | |||||||||||||||||
| ($ in millions) | 2022 | 2021 | 2021 | 2020 | ||||||||||||||||
| Employer Solutions Revenue | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Recurring revenue | $ | 2,467 | $ | 1,213 | $ | 1,049 | $ | 2,051 | ||||||||||||
| Project revenue | 251 | 134 | 107 | 237 | ||||||||||||||||
| Total Employer Solutions Revenue | $ | 2,718 | $ | 1,347 | $ | 1,156 | $ | 2,288 | ||||||||||||
| Employer Solutions Gross Profit | $ | 911 | $ | 489 | $ | 392 | $ | 725 | ||||||||||||
| Employer Solutions Gross Profit Margin | 34 | % | 36 | % | 34 | % | 32 | % | ||||||||||||
| Employer Solutions Adjusted EBITDA(1) | $ | 659 | $ | 344 | $ | 274 | $ | 533 | ||||||||||||
| Employer Solutions Adjusted EBITDA Margin | 24 | % | 26 | % | 24 | % | 23 | % |
(1)
A reconciliation of the Company's Net Loss to Adjusted EBITDA on a consolidated basis is presented above under "Non-GAAP Financial Measures."
Employer Solutions Revenue
Employer Solutions total revenues were $2,718 million for the Successor year ended December 31, 2022. Employer Solutions total revenues were $1,347 million and $1,156 million for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021 and the Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021, respectively, or $2,503 million for the combined year ended December 31, 2021. The increase of $215 million, or 9%, over the combined Successor and Predecessor prior year was primarily attributable to an increase of recurring revenues of $205 million, or 9%, as a result of acquisitions, increased volumes and increases in Net Commercial Activity. We experienced annual revenue retention rates of 98% and 97% in 2022 and 2021, respectively.
Employer Solutions Gross Profit
Employer Solutions Gross Profit was $911 million for the Successor year ended December 31, 2022. Employer Solutions Gross Profit was $489 million and $392 million for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021 and the Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021, respectively, or $881 million for the combined year ended December 31, 2021. The increase of $30 million, or 3%, over the combined Successor and Predecessor prior year was primarily due to revenue growth as discussed above and lower expenses related to productivity initiatives.
Employer Solutions Adjusted EBITDA
Employer Solutions Adjusted EBITDA was $659 million for the Successor year ended December 31, 2022. Employer Solutions Adjusted EBITDA was $344 million and $274 million for the Predecessor six months ended December 31, 2021 and Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021, respectively, or $618 million for the combined year ended December 31, 2021. The increase of $41 million, or 7%, over the combined Successor and Predecessor prior periods was primarily due to revenue growth as discussed above, partially offset by increases in costs associated with growth of current revenues, including investments in our commercial functions and technology.
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Professional Services Segment Results
| Successor | Predecessor | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year Ended | Six Months Ended | Six Months Ended | Year Ended | |||||||||||||||||
| December 31, | December 31, | June 30, | December 31, | |||||||||||||||||
| ($ in millions) | 2022 | 2021 | 2021 | 2020 | ||||||||||||||||
| Professional Services Revenue | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Recurring revenue | $ | 128 | $ | 65 | $ | 60 | $ | 108 | ||||||||||||
| Project revenue | 243 | 121 | 124 | 260 | ||||||||||||||||
| Total Professional Services Revenue | $ | 371 | $ | 186 | $ | 184 | $ | 368 | ||||||||||||
| Professional Services Gross Profit | $ | 86 | $ | 44 | $ | 46 | $ | 106 | ||||||||||||
| Professional Services Gross Profit Margin | 23 | % | 24 | % | 25 | % | 29 | % | ||||||||||||
| Professional Services Adjusted EBITDA(1) | $ | 1 | $ | 1 | $ | 7 | $ | 31 | ||||||||||||
| Professional Services Adjusted EBITDA Margin | 0 | % | 1 | % | 4 | % | 8 | % |
(1)
A reconciliation of the Company’s Net Loss to Adjusted EBITDA on a consolidated basis is presented above under “Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”
Professional Services Segment Results of Operations for the Year Ended December 31, 2022 (Successor) Compared to the Combined Year Ended December 31, 2021 (Successor and Predecessor)
Professional Services Revenue
Professional Services total revenues were $371 million for the Successor year ended December 31, 2022. Professional Services total revenues were $186 million and $184 million for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021 and Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021, respectively, or $370 million for the combined year ended December 31, 2021. The increase of $1 million over the combined Successor and Predecessor prior periods was driven by an increase in recurring revenue, partially offset by a decrease in project revenue.
Professional Services Gross Profit
Professional Services Gross Profit was $86 million for the Successor year ended December 31, 2022. Professional Services Gross Profit was $44 million and $46 million for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021 and Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021, respectively, or $90 million for the combined year ended December 31, 2021. The decrease of $4 million over the combined Successor and Predecessor prior periods was primarily due to increases in costs associated with growth of current revenues, including investments in key resources, partially offset by revenue growth as discussed above.
Professional Services Adjusted EBITDA
Professional Services Adjusted EBITDA was $1 million for the Successor year ended December 31, 2022. Professional Services Adjusted EBITDA was $1 million and $7 million for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021 and Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021, respectively, or $8 million for the combined year ended December 31, 2021. The $7 million decrease over the combined Successor and Predecessor prior periods was primarily due to increases in costs associated with growth of current revenues, including investments in our commercial functions, partially offset by revenue growth as discussed above.
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Hosted Business Segment Results
| Successor | Predecessor | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year Ended | Six Months Ended | Six Months Ended | Year Ended | |||||||||||||||||
| December 31, | December 31, | June 30, | December 31, | |||||||||||||||||
| ($ in millions) | 2022 | 2021 | 2021 | 2020 | ||||||||||||||||
| Hosted Business Revenue | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Recurring revenue | $ | 43 | $ | 21 | $ | 21 | $ | 72 | ||||||||||||
| Total Hosted Business Revenue | $ | 43 | $ | 21 | $ | 21 | $ | 72 | ||||||||||||
| Hosted Business Gross Profit | $ | (1 | ) | $ | (1 | ) | $ | (3 | ) | $ | 3 | |||||||||
| Hosted Business Gross Profit Margin | -2 | % | -5 | % | -14 | % | 4 | % | ||||||||||||
| Hosted Business Adjusted EBITDA(1) | $ | (1 | ) | $ | (2 | ) | $ | (3 | ) | $ | — | |||||||||
| Hosted Business Adjusted EBITDA Margin | -2 | % | -10 | % | -14 | % | 0 | % |
(1)
A reconciliation of the Company’s Net Loss to Adjusted EBITDA on a consolidated basis is presented above under “Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”
Hosted Business Segment Results of Operations for the Year Ended December 31, 2022 (Successor) Compared to the Combined Year Ended December 31, 2021 (Successor and Predecessor)
Hosted Business Revenue
Hosted Business revenues were $43 million for the Successor year ended December 31, 2022. Hosted Business total revenues were $21 million and $21 million for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021 and Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021, respectively, or $42 million for the combined year ended December 31, 2021. The increase of $1 million over the combined Successor and Predecessor prior period was due to increased contract volumes.
Hosted Business Gross Profit
Hosted Business Gross Profit was ($1) million for the Successor year ended December 31, 2022. Hosted Business Gross Profit was ($1) million and ($3) million for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021 and Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021, respectively, or ($4) million for the combined year ended December 31, 2021.
Hosted Business Adjusted EBITDA
Hosted Business Adjusted EBITDA was ($1) million for the Successor year ended December 31, 2022. Hosted Adjusted EBITDA was ($2) and ($3) million for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021 and Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021, respectively, or ($5) million for the combined year ended December 31, 2021. The decreased loss is due primarily to reduced costs associated with serving the remaining clients.
LIQUIDITY, FINANCIAL CONDITION, AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
Executive Summary
Our primary sources of liquidity include our existing cash and cash equivalents, cash flows from operations and availability of funds under our revolving credit facility. Our primary uses of liquidity are operating expenses, funding of our debt requirements and capital expenditures.
We believe that our available cash and cash equivalents, cash flows from operations and availability under our revolving credit facility will be sufficient to meet our liquidity needs, including principal and interest payments on debt obligations, capital expenditures, payments on our Tax Receivable Agreement and anticipated working capital requirements for the foreseeable future. We believe our liquidity position at December 31, 2022 remains strong. We will continue to closely monitor and proactively manage our liquidity position in light of changing economic conditions and the impact of a rising interest rate environment.
In August 2022, we established a repurchase program allowing for up to $100 million in authorized share repurchases. As of December 31, 2022, approximately $88 million remains available for share repurchases under our share repurchase program.
Cash on our balance sheet includes funds available for general corporate purposes. Funds held on behalf of clients in a fiduciary capacity are segregated and shown in Fiduciary assets on the Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2022 and December 31,
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2021, with a corresponding amount in Fiduciary liabilities. Fiduciary funds are not used for general corporate purposes and are not a source of liquidity for us.
The following table provides a summary of cash flows from operating, investing, and financing activities for the periods presented.
| Successor | Predecessor | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year Ended | Six Months Ended | Six Months Ended | Year Ended | ||||||||||||||||
| December 31, | December 31, | June 30, 2021 | December 31, | ||||||||||||||||
| (in millions) | 2022 | 2021 | 2021 | 2020 | |||||||||||||||
| Cash provided by (used for) operating activities | $ | 286 | $ | 57 | $ | 58 | $ | 233 | |||||||||||
| Cash used for investing activities | (235 | ) | (1,852 | ) | (55 | ) | (142 | ) | |||||||||||
| Cash provided by (used for) financing activities | 54 | 2,400 | (64 | ) | 463 | ||||||||||||||
| Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash | 2 | 11 | — | (3 | ) | ||||||||||||||
| Net increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash | 107 | 616 | (61 | ) | 551 | ||||||||||||||
| Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash at end of period | $ | 1,759 | $ | 1,652 | $ | 1,475 | $ | 1,536 |
Operating Activities
Net cash provided from operating activities was $286 million for the Successor year ended December 31, 2022. The increase of $171 million from $115 million for the combined Successor and Predecessor year ended December 31, 2021 was primarily due to a decrease in our net working capital requirements as compared to the prior year where we incurred significant on-going costs related to the Business Combination.
Investing Activities
Cash used for investing activities for the Successor year ended December 31, 2022 was $235 million. The primary drivers of cash used for investing activities were $148 million used for capital expenditures and $87 million for an acquisition during the fourth quarter of 2022.
Cash used for investing activities for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021 and the Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021 was $1,852 million and $55 million, respectively. The primary drivers of the cash used for investing activities for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021 was $1,793 million related to the Business Combination and $59 million of capital expenditures. For the Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021, $55 million was used for capital expenditures.
Financing Activities
Cash provided by financing activities for the Successor year ended December 31, 2022 was $54 million. The primary drivers of cash provided by financing activities were due to a net increase of $229 million in fiduciary liabilities, $85 million of deferred and contingent consideration payments and $37 million of repayments to banks net of borrowings. The increase in fiduciary cash is primarily due to timing of client funding and subsequent disbursement of payments.
Cash provided by financing activities for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021 was $2,400 million. The primary drivers of the cash provided by financing activities for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021 were proceeds related to FTAC investors in connection with the Business Combination of $1,813 million and bank borrowings of $627 million, partially offset by FTAC share redemptions of $142 million, loan repayments of $120 million, finance lease payments of $14 million and financing fees related to new debt of $8 million. Net cash flows from financing activities also changed due to a net increase in the cash flow from client funds obligations of $266 million, primarily due to timing of client funding and subsequent disbursement of payments.
Cash used for financing activities for the Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021 was $64 million. The primary drivers of the cash used for financing activities were loan repayments of $124 million, finance lease payments of $17 million, partially offset by bank borrowings of $110 million. Net cash flows from financing activities also changed due to a net decrease in the cash flow from client funds obligations of $15 million, primarily due to timing of client funding and subsequent disbursement of payments.
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Fiduciary Assets
At December 31, 2022, our cash and cash equivalents were $250 million, a decrease of $122 million from December 31, 2021. Of the total balances of cash and cash equivalents as of December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, none of the balances were restricted as to its use.
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Some of our client agreements require us to hold funds on behalf of clients to pay obligations on their behalf. The levels of Fiduciary assets and liabilities can fluctuate significantly, depending on when we collect the amounts from clients and make payments on their behalf. Such funds are not available to service our debt or for other corporate purposes. There is typically a short period of time between when the Company receives funds and when it pays obligations on behalf of clients. We are entitled to retain investment income earned on fiduciary funds, when investment strategies are deployed, in accordance with industry custom and practice, which has historically been immaterial. In our Consolidated Balance Sheets, the amount we report for Fiduciary assets and Fiduciary liabilities are equal. Our Fiduciary assets included cash of $1,509 million and $1,280 million at December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, respectively.
Other Liquidity Matters
Our cash flows from operations, borrowing availability and overall liquidity are subject to risks and uncertainties. For further information, see the “Risk Factors” section within Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
We do not have any material business, operations or assets in Russia, Belarus or Ukraine and we have not been materially impacted by the actions of the Russian government. Our total revenues from these three countries are de minimis for all periods presented.
Tax Receivable Agreement
In connection with the Business Combination, we entered into the TRA with certain of our pre-Business Combination owners that provides for the payment by Alight to such owners of 85% of the benefits that Alight is deemed to realize as a result of the Company’s share of existing tax basis acquired in the Business Combination and other tax benefits related to entering into the Tax Receivable Agreement.
Actual tax benefits realized by Alight may differ from tax benefits calculated under the TRA as a result of the use of certain assumptions in the TRA, including the use of an assumed weighted-average state and local income tax rate to calculate tax benefits. While the amount of existing tax basis, the anticipated tax basis adjustments and the actual amount and utilization of tax attributes, as well as the amount and timing of any payments under the TRA, will vary depending upon a number of factors, we expect that the payments that Alight may make under the TRA will be substantial. As of December 31, 2022, we expect to make payments of $7 million and $50 million in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
Contractual Obligations and Commitments
The Company has various obligations and commitments outstanding as of December 31, 2022 including debt of $2,820 million, operating leases of $151 million, finance leases of $44 million and purchase obligations of $69 million. Over the twelve months ended December 31, 2023, we expect to pay $31 million, $37 million, $21 million and $26 million for our debt, operating leases, finance leases and purchase obligations, respectively. For further information of each these obligations, refer to the Consolidated Financial Statements within Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, Note 8 “Debt”, Note 19 “Lease Obligations” and Note 20 “Contractual Obligations”.
During 2018, the Company executed an agreement to form a strategic partnership with Wipro, a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company, through 2028. As of December 31, 2022, the non-cancellable services obligation totaled $965 million, with $147 million expected to be paid over the twelve months ended December 31, 2023. We may terminate our arrangement with Wipro with cause or for our convenience. In the case of a termination for convenience, we would be required to pay a termination fee. If we had terminated the Wipro arrangement on December 31, 2022, we estimate that the termination charges would have been approximately $316 million.
Other Liquidity Matters
Our cash flows from operations, borrowing availability and overall liquidity are subject to risks and uncertainties. For further information, see the “Risk Factors” section within Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Critical Accounting Estimates
These consolidated financial statements conform to U.S. GAAP, which requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting period. Our estimates, judgments and assumptions are continually evaluated based on available information and experience. Because of the use of estimates inherent in the financial reporting process, actual results could differ from those estimates. The areas that we believe include critical accounting policies are revenue recognition, goodwill and accounting for the Tax Receivable Agreement. The critical accounting policies discussed below involve making difficult, subjective or complex accounting estimates that could have a material effect on our
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financial condition and results of operations. Different estimates that we could have used, or changes in estimates that are reasonably likely to occur, may have a material effect on our results of operations and financial condition.
Revenue Recognition
Revenues are recognized when control of the promised services is transferred to the customer in the amount that best reflects the consideration to which the Company expects to be entitled in exchange for those services. Substantially all of the Company’s revenue is recognized over time as the customer simultaneously receives and consumes the benefits of our services. On occasion, we may be entitled to a fee based on achieving certain performance criteria or contract milestones. Any taxes assessed on revenues relating to services provided to our clients are recorded on a net basis.
The Company capitalizes incremental costs to obtain and fulfill contracts with a customer that are expected to be recovered. Assets recognized for the costs to fulfill a contract are amortized on a systematic basis over the expected life of the underlying customer relationships.
For further discussion, see Note 3 “Revenue from Contracts with Customers” within the Consolidated Financial Statements.
Tax Receivable Agreement
The Company accounts for the TRA as a liability at fair value and is subject to remeasurement at each balance sheet date. Any change in fair value is recognized within the Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss).
Actual tax benefits realized by Alight may differ from tax benefits calculated under the TRA as a result of the use of certain assumptions in the TRA, including the use of an assumed weighted-average state and local income tax rate to calculate tax benefits. While the amount of existing tax basis, the anticipated tax basis adjustments and the actual amount and utilization of tax attributes, as well as the amount and timing of any payments under the TRA, will vary depending upon a number of factors, we expect that the payments that Alight may make under the TRA will be substantial.
The Company’s TRA liability is measured at fair value on a recurring basis using significant unobservable inputs. The $575 million TRA liability balance at December 31, 2022 assumes: (i) a constant blended U.S. federal, state and local income tax rate of 26.4%, (ii) no material changes in tax law, (iii) the ability to utilize tax attributes based on current alternative tax forecasts, and (iv) future payments under the TRA are made when due under the TRA. The amount of the expected future payments under the TRA has been discounted to its present value using a discount rate of 9.18%, which was determined based on benchmark rates of a similar duration. A hypothetical increase or decrease of 75 bps in the discount rate assumptions used for fiscal year 2022, would result in a change of approximately $22 million.
Goodwill
Goodwill for each reporting unit is tested for impairment annually during the fourth quarter, or more frequently if there are indicators that a reporting unit may be impaired. Accounting Standard Codification 350, Intangibles and Other ("ASC 350") states that an optional qualitative impairment assessment can be performed to determine whether an impairment is more likely than not by considering various factors such as macroeconomic and industry trends, reporting unit performance and overall business changes. If inconclusive evidence results from the qualitative impairment test, a quantitative assessment is performed where the Company determines the fair value of the reporting units by using a combination of the present value of expected future cash flows and a market approach based on earnings multiple data from peer companies. If an impairment is identified, an impairment is recorded by the amount that the carrying value exceeds the fair value for each reporting unit. While the future cash flows are consistent with those that are used in our internal planning process inclusive of long-term growth assumptions, estimating cash flows requires significant judgment. Future changes to our projected cash flows can vary from the cash flows eventually realized, which may have a material impact on the outcomes of future goodwill impairment tests. The Company uses a weighted average cost of capital that represents the blended average required rate of return for equity and debt capital based on observed market return data and company specific risk factors.
During the fourth quarter of 2022, the Company performed a quantitative assessment in accordance with ASC 350. We evaluated the potential for goodwill impairment by considering macroeconomic conditions, industry and market conditions, cost factors, both current and future expected financial performance, and relevant entity-specific events for each of the reporting units. We also considered our overall market performance discretely as well as in relation to our peers. We utilized a discount rate of 11.0% and a long-term growth rate of 3.5% consistently across all reporting units in the determination of the reporting unit fair value. Other significant assumptions utilized included the Company’s projections of expected future revenues and EBITDA margin. The Company determined the fair value for each reporting unit exceeded the carrying value as of October 1, 2022, and therefore, goodwill was not impaired. Based on the results of the Company’s quantitative assessment, the fair value of the Health Solutions, Wealth Solutions, Cloud Services and Professional Services reporting units exceeded their carrying values by less than 1%, 6%, 1%, and 29%, respectively. A hypothetical 25-basis point increase in the discount rate or a hypothetical 50-basis point decrease in the long-term growth rate could have resulted in goodwill impairment in the Company’s Health Solutions reporting unit of $174 million and the
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Cloud Services reporting unit of $36 million. The Company’s Wealth Solutions and Professional services reporting units fair value continued to exceed carrying value.
Subsequent to our annual impairment test and until the end of the reporting period, we evaluated changes in macroeconomic conditions, industry and market conditions and determined that these factors were broadly consistent with those that existed as of our annual impairment test date. As such, we determined that no additional goodwill impairment testing was warranted, and goodwill remained recoverable as of December 31, 2022. At December 31, 2022, our reporting units has the following amounts of goodwill: Health Solutions, Wealth Solutions, Cloud Services and Professional Services had $3,075 million, $127 million, $404 million and $73 million, respectively.
FY 2021 10-K MD&A
SEC filing source: 0000950170-22-003360.
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
This discussion includes forward-looking statements. See ‘Disclaimer Regarding Forward-looking Statements’ for certain cautionary information regarding forward-looking statements and ‘Risk Factors’ in Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for a list of factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted in those statements.
This discussion includes references to non-GAAP financial measures as defined in the rules of the SEC. We present such non-GAAP financial measures as we believe such information is of interest to the investment community because it provides additional meaningful methods of evaluating certain aspects of the Company’s operating performance from period to period on a basis that may not be otherwise apparent under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”), and these provide a measure against which our businesses may be assessed in the future.
Our methods of calculating these measures may differ from those used by other companies and therefore comparability may be limited. These financial measures should be viewed in addition to, not in lieu of, the consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2021. See ‘Non-GAAP Financial Measures’ below for further discussion.
BUSINESS
Overview
We are a leading cloud-based provider of integrated digital human capital and business solutions. We have an unwavering belief that a company’s success starts with its people, and our solutions connect human insights with technology. The Alight Worklife employee engagement platform provides a seamless customer experience by combining content, plus AI and data analytics to enable Alight's BPaaS model. Our mission-critical solutions enable employees to enrich their health, wealth and wellbeing, which helps global organizations achieve a high-performance culture.
On July 2, 2021 (the “Closing Date”), Foley Trasimene Acquisition Corp. ("FTAC") completed the business combination (the “Business Combination”) with Alight Holding Company, LLC (f/k/a Tempo Holding Company, LLC) (“Alight Holdings” or the “Predecessor”) contemplated by the Business Combination Agreement (as amended and restated as of April 29, 2021) between FTAC, Alight Holdings and other interested parties (the “Business Combination Agreement”). On the Closing Date, pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement, FTAC became a wholly owned subsidiary of Alight, Inc. (“Alight”, “the Company”, “we” “us” “our” or the “Successor”) and was renamed Alight Group, Inc. As a result of the Business Combination, and by virtue of such series of mergers and related transactions, the combined company is now organized in an “Up-C” structure, in which substantially all of the assets and business of Alight are held by Alight Holdings, of which Alight is the managing member pursuant to the terms of the Second Amended and Restated Limited Liability Company Agreement of Alight Holdings that went into effect upon the completion of the Business Combination. As a result of the Business Combination, Alight owns approximately 85% of the economic interest in Alight Holdings, but will have 100% of the voting power and will control the management of Alight Holdings. Immediately following the completion of the Business Combination, the non-voting ownership percentage held by noncontrolling interest was approximately 15%.
Principal Services and Segments
We currently report our results of operations in three segments: Employer Solutions, Professional Services and Hosted Business. Employer Solutions, Professional Services and Hosted Business accounted for approximately 87%, 12% and 1% and 85%, 14% and 1% of consolidated revenue for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021 and the Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021, respectively.
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Employer Solutions: driven by our digital, software and AI-led capabilities powered by the Alight Worklife platform and spanning total employee wellbeing and engagement, including integrated benefits administration, healthcare navigation, financial health, employee wellbeing and payroll. We leverage data across all interactions and activities to improve the employee experience, reduce operational costs and better inform management processes and decision-making. In addition, employees benefit from an integrated platform and user experience, coupled with a full-service client care center, helping them manage the full life cycle of their health, wealth and careers.
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Professional Services: includes our project-based cloud deployment and consulting offerings that provide expertise with both human capital and financial platforms. Specifically, this includes cloud advisory and deployment, and optimization services for cloud platforms such as Workday, SAP SuccessFactors, Oracle, and Cornerstone OnDemand.
Revenue and Compensation
Revenues are principally derived from fees paid by clients for services. Payment terms are consistent with current industry practice.
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Technology
We deliver our solutions through a set of proprietary and partner technologies, a well-developed network of providers and a structured approach to instill and sustain enterprise-wide practices of excellence. With this in mind, there are four layers to our technology strategy, all reinforced with a critical security framework:
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Omnichannel customer experience layer that drives a personalized approach for customers.
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AI and analytics layer that uses data from our transactional systems, combined with client and third-party data to drive insights for clients.
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Core transaction layer that powers our health, wealth and payroll systems.
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Infrastructure layer to provide security, stability and performance across our application landscape.
Seasonality
Due to buying patterns and delivery of certain products in the markets we serve, particularly given the timing of annual benefits enrollment, our revenues tend to be higher in the third and fourth quarters of each year.
Licensing and Regulation
Our business activities are subject to licensing requirements and extensive regulation under the laws of countries in which we operate, including United States (“U.S.”) federal and state laws. See the discussion contained in "Risk Factors" in Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, for information regarding how actions by regulatory authorities or changes in legislation and regulation in the jurisdictions in which we operate may have an adverse effect on our business.
Clients
We serve a broad range of clients, including Fortune 500 companies and mid-market businesses, and seek to establish high-quality, strong, long-term relationships with our clients. We proactively solicit client feedback through ongoing surveys and client councils held throughout the year, and we use this critical feedback to enhance our client services and correct course when necessary. Through these surveys, we have learned that clients value the strength and depth of our relationships, scale and breadth of our solutions and our commitment to innovation and continuous improvement.
Competition
The markets for our solutions are competitive, rapidly evolving and fragmented. Our business faces competition from other global and national companies. The market for our solutions is subject to change as a result of economic, regulatory and legislative changes, technological developments, shifting client needs and increased competition from established and new competitors.
We do not believe there is any single competitor with the breadth of our solutions, and thus our competitors vary for each of our solutions. Our primary competitors include Accenture, Accolade, ADP, Benefitfocus, bswift, Businessolver, Cognizant, Conduent, Deloitte, eHealth, Empower, Fidelity, GoHealth, Grand Rounds, HealthEquity, Mercer, OneSource Virtual, Quantum Health, SD Worx, Vanguard, Voya, WTW, and Workday.
We compete primarily on the basis of product and service quality, technology, breadth of offerings, ease of use and accessibility of technology, data protection, innovation, trust and reliability, price, and reputation.
FACTORS AFFECTING THE COMPARABILITY OF OUR RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
As a result of a number of factors, our historical results of operations are not comparable from period to period and may not be comparable to our financial results of operations in future periods. Set forth below is a brief discussion of the key factors that may impact the comparability of our results of operations in future operations.
Impact of the Business Combination
Alight is subject to corporate level tax rates at the federal, state and local levels. The Predecessor was and is treated as a flow-through entity for U.S. federal income tax purposes, and as such, has generally not been subject to U.S. federal income tax at the entity level. Accordingly, other than for certain consolidated subsidiaries of the Predecessor that are structured as corporations and unless otherwise specified, the historical results of operations and other financial information presented does not include any provision for U.S. federal income tax.
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Alight (together with certain corporate subsidiaries through which it owns its interest in the Predecessor) pays U.S. federal and state income taxes as a corporation on its share of our taxable income. The Business Combination was accounted for as a business combination using the acquisition method of accounting. Accordingly, the assets and liabilities, including any identified intangible assets, were recorded at their preliminary fair values at the date of completion of the Business Combination, with any excess of the purchase price over the preliminary fair value recorded as goodwill. The application of business combination accounting required the use of significant estimates and assumptions.
As a result of the application of accounting for the Business Combination, the historical Consolidated Financial Statements of the Predecessor are not necessarily indicative of the Successor’s future results of operations, financial position and cash flows. For example, increased tangible and intangible assets resulting from adjusting the basis of tangible and intangible assets to their fair value would result in increased depreciation and amortization expense in the periods following the consummation of the Business Combination.
In connection with the Business Combination, we entered into a Tax Receivable Agreement (“TRA”) with certain of our pre-Business Combination owners that provides for the payment by the Alight to such owners of 85% of the benefits that Alight is deemed to realize as a result of the Company’s share of existing tax basis acquired in the Business Combination and other tax benefits related to entering into the TRA.
Additionally, in connection with the Business Combination, we have accounted for the issuance of warrants and Seller Earnout contingent consideration as liabilities which require remeasurement to fair value at the end of each reporting period, as applicable and adopted the Alight 2021 Omnibus Incentive Plan which will result in higher share-based compensation expenses. Lastly, the redemption of our Unsecured Senior Notes and partial paydown of the Term Loan in conjunction with the Business Combination, will result in lower interest expense.
Impact of Becoming a Public Company
We expect to incur additional costs associated with operating as a public company. We expect that these costs will include additional human resources, legal, consulting, regulatory, insurance, accounting, investor relations and other expenses that we did not incur as a private company. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act and rules adopted by the SEC require public companies to implement specified corporate governance practices that are not applicable to a private company. These additional rules and regulations increased our legal, regulatory and financial compliance costs and will make some activities more time-consuming and costly.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF FINANCIAL RESULTS
While the Closing Date was July 2, 2021, we determined that as the impact of one day would be immaterial to the results of operations, we will utilize July 1, 2021 as the date of the Business Combination for accounting purposes. As a result of the Business Combination, the following tables present selected financial data for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021, and the Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021 and year ended December 31, 2020.
We prepared our discussion of the results of operations by comparing the results of the combined Successor six months ended December 31, 2021 and Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021 to the Predecessor year ended December 31, 2020. The core business operations of the Predecessor and Successor were not significantly impacted by the consummation of the Business Combination. Therefore, we believe the combined results for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021 and the Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021 are comparable to the Predecessor year ended December 31, 2020 and provide enhanced comparability to the reader about the current year's results. We believe this approach provides the most meaningful basis of comparison and is useful in identifying current business trends for the periods presented. The combined results of operations included in our discussion below are not considered to be prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP and have not been prepared as pro forma results under applicable regulations, may not reflect the actual results we would have achieved had the Business Combination occurred at the beginning of 2021, and should not be viewed as a substitute for the results of operations of the Predecessor and Successor periods presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP.
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The following table sets forth our historical results of operations for the periods indicated below:
| Successor | Predecessor | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Six Months Ended | Six Months Ended | Year Ended | ||||||||||||||||||
| December 31, | June 30, | December 31, | ||||||||||||||||||
| (in millions) | 2021 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | ||||||||||||||||
| Revenue | $ | 1,554 | $ | 1,361 | $ | 2,728 | $ | 2,552 | ||||||||||||
| Cost of services, exclusive of depreciation and amortization | 1,001 | 888 | 1,829 | 1,619 | ||||||||||||||||
| Depreciation and amortization | 21 | 38 | 65 | 50 | ||||||||||||||||
| Gross Profit | 532 | 435 | 834 | 883 | ||||||||||||||||
| Operating Expenses | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Selling, general and administrative | 304 | 222 | 461 | 415 | ||||||||||||||||
| Depreciation and intangible amortization | 163 | 111 | 226 | 203 | ||||||||||||||||
| Total operating expenses | 467 | 333 | 687 | 618 | ||||||||||||||||
| Operating Income | 65 | 102 | 147 | 265 | ||||||||||||||||
| Other Expense | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Loss from change in fair value of financial instruments | 65 | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||
| Gain from change in fair value of tax receivable agreement | (37 | ) | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||
| Interest expense | 57 | 123 | 234 | 224 | ||||||||||||||||
| Other expense, net | 3 | 9 | 7 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| Total other expense, net | 88 | 132 | 241 | 227 | ||||||||||||||||
| (Loss) Income Before Income Tax Expense (Benefit) | (23 | ) | (30 | ) | (94 | ) | 38 | |||||||||||||
| Income tax expense (benefit) | 25 | (5 | ) | 9 | 16 | |||||||||||||||
| Net (Loss) Income | (48 | ) | (25 | ) | (103 | ) | 22 | |||||||||||||
| Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interests | (13 | ) | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||
| Net (Loss) Income Attributable to Alight, Inc. | $ | (35 | ) | $ | (25 | ) | $ | (103 | ) | $ | 22 |
REVIEW OF RESULTS
Key Components of Our Operations
Revenue
Our clients’ demand for our services ultimately drives our revenues. We generate primarily all of our revenue, which is highly recurring, from fees for services provided from contracts across all solutions, which is primarily based on a contracted fee charged per participant per period (e.g., monthly or annually, as applicable). Our contracts typically have three to five-year terms for ongoing services with mutual renewal options. The majority of the Company’s revenue is recognized over time when control of the promised services is transferred and the customers simultaneously receive and consume the benefits of our services. Payment terms are consistent with industry practice. We calculate growth rates for each of our solutions in relation to recurring revenues and revenues from project work. One of the components of our growth in recurring revenues is the increase in net commercial activity which reflects items such as client wins and losses (“Net Commercial Activity”). We define client wins as sales to new clients and sales of new solutions to existing clients. We define client losses as instances where clients do not renew or terminate their arrangements in relation to individual solutions or all of the solutions that we provide.
Cost of Services, exclusive of Depreciation and Amortization
Cost of services, exclusive of depreciation and amortization includes compensation-related and vendor costs directly attributable to client-related services and costs related to application development and client-related infrastructure.
Depreciation and Amortization
Depreciation and amortization expenses include the depreciation and amortization related to our hardware, software and application development. Depreciation and amortization may increase or decrease in absolute dollars in future periods depending on the future level of capital investments in hardware, software and application development.
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Selling, General and Administrative
Selling, general and administrative expenses include compensation-related costs for administrative and management employees, system and facilities expenses, and costs for external professional and consulting services.
Depreciation and Intangible Amortization
Depreciation and intangible amortization expenses consist of charges relating to the depreciation of the property and equipment used in our business and the amortization of acquired customer-related and contract based intangible assets and technology related intangible assets. Depreciation and intangible amortization may increase or decrease in absolute dollars in future periods depending on the future level of capital investments in hardware and other equipment as well as amortization expense associated with future acquisitions.
Loss from Change in Fair Value of Financial Instruments
Loss from change in fair value of financial instruments includes the impact of the revaluation to fair value at the end of each reporting period for our warrants and the Seller Earnouts contingent consideration.
Gain from Change in Fair Value of Tax Receivable Agreement
Gain from change in fair value of Tax Receivable Agreement includes the impact of the revaluation to fair value at the end of each reporting period.
Interest Expense
Interest expense primarily includes interest expense related to our outstanding debt.
Other Expense, net
Other expense, net includes non-operating expenses and income, including realized currency translation.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
The presentation of non-GAAP financial measures is used to enhance our management and stakeholders understanding of certain aspects of our financial performance. This discussion is not meant to be considered in isolation, superior to, or as a substitute for the directly comparable financial measures prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Management also uses supplemental non-GAAP financial measures to manage and evaluate the business, make planning decisions, allocate resources and as performance measures for Company-wide bonus plans. These key financial measures provide an additional view of our operational performance over the long-term and provide useful information that we use in order to maintain and grow our business.
The measures referred to as “adjusted”, have limitations as analytical tools, and such measures should not be considered either in isolation or as a substitute for net income or other methods of analyzing our results as reported under U.S. GAAP. Some of the limitations are:
•
Measure does not reflect changes in, or cash requirements for, our working capital needs or contractual commitments;
•
Measure does not reflect our interest expense or the cash requirements to service interest or principal payments on our indebtedness;
•
Measure does not reflect our tax expense or the cash requirements to pay our taxes, including payments related to the Tax Receivable Agreement;
•
Measure does not reflect the impact on earnings or changes resulting from matters that we consider not to be indicative of our future operations;
•
Although depreciation and amortization are non-cash charges, the assets being depreciated or amortized will often need to be replaced in the future, and the adjusted measure does not reflect any cash requirements for such replacements; and
•
Other companies may calculate adjusted measures differently, limiting its usefulness as a comparative measure.
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Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share
Adjusted Net Income, which is defined as net loss attributable to Alight, Inc. adjusted for intangible amortization and the impact of certain non-cash items that we do not consider in the evaluation of ongoing operational performance, is a non-GAAP financial measure used solely for the purpose of calculating Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share.
Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share is defined as Adjusted Net Income divided by the adjusted weighted-average number of shares of common stock, diluted. The adjusted weighted shares calculation assumes the full exchange of the noncontrolling interest units, the total amount of warrants that were exercised, and non-vested time-based restricted units that were determined to be antidilutive and therefore excluded from the U.S. GAAP diluted earnings per share. Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share, including the adjusted weighted-average number of shares, is used by us and our investors to evaluate our core operating performance and to benchmark our operating performance against our competitors.
A reconciliation of Adjusted Net Income to Net Loss Attributable to Alight, Inc. and the computation of Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share is as follows:
| Successor | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Six Months Ended | |||||
| December 31, | |||||
| (in millions, except per share amounts) | 2021 | ||||
| Numerator: | |||||
| Net Loss Attributable to Alight, Inc. | $ | (35 | ) | ||
| Conversion of noncontrolling interest | (13 | ) | |||
| Intangible amortization | 153 | ||||
| Share-based compensation | 67 | ||||
| Transaction and integration expenses | 13 | ||||
| Non-recurring professional expenses | 19 | ||||
| Restructuring | 5 | ||||
| Loss from change in fair value of financial instruments | 65 | ||||
| Gain from change in fair value of tax receivable agreement | (37 | ) | |||
| Other | (7 | ) | |||
| Tax effect of adjustments (1) | (62 | ) | |||
| Adjusted Net Income | $ | 168 | |||
| Denominator: | |||||
| Weighted average shares outstanding - basic and diluted | 439,800,624 | ||||
| Exchange of noncontrolling interest units (2) | 77,459,687 | ||||
| Impact of warrant exercises (3) | 14,490,641 | ||||
| Impact of unvested RSUs (4) | 7,007,072 | ||||
| Adjusted shares of Class A Common Stock outstanding - diluted | 538,758,024 | ||||
| Basic and Diluted Net Loss Per Share | $ | (0.08 | ) | ||
| Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share (5) (6) | $ | 0.31 |
(1)
Income tax effects have been calculated based on the statutory tax rates for both U.S. and foreign jurisdictions based on the Company's mix of income.
(2)
Assumes the full exchange of the units held by noncontrolling interests for shares of Class A Common Stock of Alight, Inc. pursuant to the exchange agreement.
(3)
Represents the number of shares of Class A Common Stock issued in relation to the warrant exercises completed in December 2021, not fully included in the weighted average shares outstanding.
(4)
Includes non-vested time-based restricted stock units that were determined to be antidilutive for U.S. GAAP diluted earnings per share purposes.
(5)
Excludes two tranches of contingently issuable earnout shares: (i) 7.5 million shares will be issued if the Company's Class A Common Stock's volume-weighted average price ("VWAP") is $12.50 for 20 consecutive trading days; (ii) 7.5 million share will be issued if the Company's Class A Common Stock VWAP is $15.00 for 20 consecutive trading days. Both tranches have a seven-year duration.
(6)
Excludes 16,036,220 performance-based units.
Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA less Capital Expenditures
Adjusted EBITDA, which is defined as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and intangible amortization adjusted for the impact of certain non-cash and other items that we do not consider in the evaluation of ongoing operational performance, is a non-GAAP financial measure used by management and our stakeholders to provide useful supplemental information that enables a better
34
comparison of our performance across periods. Both Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA less Capital Expenditures are non-GAAP measures that are used by management and stakeholders to evaluate our core operating performance.
Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA less Capital Expenditures should not be considered as discretionary cash available to us to reinvest in the growth of our business or to distribute to stockholders or as a measure of cash that will be available to us to meet our obligations
A reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to Net (Loss) Income is as follows:
| Successor | Predecessor | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Six Months Ended | Six Months Ended | Year Ended | ||||||||||||||||||
| December 31, | June 30, | December 31, | ||||||||||||||||||
| (in millions) | 2021 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | ||||||||||||||||
| Net (Loss) Income | $ | (48 | ) | $ | (25 | ) | $ | (103 | ) | $ | 22 | |||||||||
| Interest expense | 57 | 123 | 234 | 224 | ||||||||||||||||
| Income tax expense (benefit) | 25 | (5 | ) | 9 | 16 | |||||||||||||||
| Depreciation | 31 | 49 | 91 | 68 | ||||||||||||||||
| Intangible amortization | 153 | 100 | 200 | 185 | ||||||||||||||||
| EBITDA | 218 | 242 | 431 | 515 | ||||||||||||||||
| Share-based compensation | 67 | 5 | 5 | 9 | ||||||||||||||||
| Transaction and integration expenses (1) | 13 | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||
| Non-recurring professional expenses(2) | 19 | 18 | — | 14 | ||||||||||||||||
| Transformation initiatives(3) | — | — | 8 | 22 | ||||||||||||||||
| Restructuring | 5 | 9 | 77 | 14 | ||||||||||||||||
| Loss from change in fair value of financial instruments | 65 | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||
| Gain from change in fair value of tax receivable agreement | (37 | ) | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||
| Other(4) | (7 | ) | 4 | 43 | 22 | |||||||||||||||
| Adjusted EBITDA | $ | 343 | $ | 278 | $ | 564 | $ | 596 |
(1)
Transaction and integration expenses related to acquisitions in 2021.
(2)
Non-recurring professional expenses includes external advisor and legal costs related to the Company's Business Combination.
(3)
Transformation initiatives in fiscal years 2020 and 2019 includes expenses related to enhancing our data center for both periods, and severance expense for the first half of 2019.
(4)
Other primarily includes activity related to long-term incentives and expenses related to acquisitions in fiscal years 2020 and 2019.
A reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA less Capital Expenditures to Cash provided by operating activities is as follows:
| Successor | Predecessor | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Six Months Ended | Six Months Ended | Year Ended | |||||||||||||||||||
| December 31, | June 30, | December 31, | |||||||||||||||||||
| (in millions) | 2021 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | |||||||||||||||||
| Cash provided by operating activities | $ | 57 | $ | 58 | $ | 233 | $ | 268 | |||||||||||||
| Interest expense | 57 | 123 | 234 | 224 | |||||||||||||||||
| Income tax expense (benefit) | 25 | (5 | ) | 9 | 16 | ||||||||||||||||
| Capital expenditures | (59 | ) | (55 | ) | (90 | ) | (77 | ) | |||||||||||||
| Financing fee amortization and other non-cash items | (9 | ) | (10 | ) | (31 | ) | (23 | ) | |||||||||||||
| Noncash lease expense | (11 | ) | (10 | ) | (30 | ) | (12 | ) | |||||||||||||
| Transaction and integration expenses | 13 | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||
| Non-recurring professional expenses | 19 | 18 | — | 14 | |||||||||||||||||
| Transformation initiatives | — | — | 8 | 22 | |||||||||||||||||
| Restructuring | 5 | 9 | 77 | 14 | |||||||||||||||||
| Other | (7 | ) | 4 | 43 | 22 | ||||||||||||||||
| Change in operating assets and liabilities | 194 | 91 | 21 | 51 | |||||||||||||||||
| Adjusted EBITDA less Capital Expenditures | $ | 284 | $ | 223 | $ | 474 | $ | 519 |
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Results of Operations for the Combined Year Ended December 31, 2021 (Successor and Predecessor) Compared to the Year Ended December 31, 2020 (Predecessor)
Revenue
Revenues were $1,554 million for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021, $1,361 million for the Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021 and $2,728 million for the Predecessor year ended December 31, 2020. Revenues were $2,915 million for the combined year ended December 31, 2021, which reflects an increase of $187 million over the Predecessor prior year period, representing growth of 9% in our Employer Solutions segment and 1% in our Professional Services segment, partially offset by a decline of 42% in our Hosted Business segment. We measure revenue growth as it relates to the cloud-based products and solutions that are central to our Alight Worklife platform and next generation product suite, BPaaS Solutions. These products capitalize on our robust data combined with AI & analytics to deliver greater employee engagement and employer outcomes. BPaaS products and services span across both the Employer Solutions and Professional Services segments. We recorded BPaaS revenue of $203 million and $187 million for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021 and Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021, respectively. For the combined year ended December 31, 2021, BPaaS revenue of $390 million represents growth of 17% compared to the Predecessor prior year period.
In addition, we also consider BPaaS bookings, defined as total contract value for BPaaS customer agreements executed in the period, to be a key indicator of future revenue growth and used as a metric of commercial activity by management and investors. BPaaS bookings were $322 million and $280 million for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021 and the Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021, respectively. For the combined year ended December 31, 2021, BPaaS bookings of $602 million represents growth of 128%, compared to the Predecessor prior year period.
Recurring revenues were $1,299 million for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021, $1,130 million for the Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021 and $2,231 million for the Predecessor year ended December 31, 2020. Recurring revenues were $2,429 million for the combined year ended December 31, 2021, which reflects an increase of $198 million over the Predecessor prior year period, or 9%, related to growth in both Employer Solutions and Professional Services, partially offset by a decline in the Hosted Business. Growth in Employer Solutions is a result of higher revenues related to acquisition activity, increased volumes, increases in Net Commercial Activity and transitions from our Hosted Business to cloud-based services. Growth in Professional Services is a result of increases in Net Commercial Activity.
Project revenues were $255 million for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021, $231 million for the Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021 and $497 million for the Predecessor year ended December 31, 2020. Project revenues were $486 million for the combined year ended December 31, 2021, which reflects a decrease of $11 million over the Predecessor prior year period, or 2%, related to a decline in Professional Services, partially offset by growth in Employer Solutions.
In addition, a majority of our revenue is generated in the U.S., which reflected 93% of the total revenue increase for the combined year ended December 31, 2021 compared to the Predecessor prior year period.
Cost of Services, exclusive of Depreciation and Amortization
Cost of services, exclusive of depreciation and amortization were $1,001 million for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021, $888 million for the Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021 and $1,829 million for the Predecessor year ended December 31, 2020. Cost of services, exclusive of depreciation and amortization were $1,889 million for the combined year ended December 31, 2021, which reflects an increase of $60 million over the Predecessor prior year period, or 3%, primarily driven by higher costs related to growth in current and future revenues, including investments in key resources and increases related to our recent acquisitions in the fourth quarter of 2021, partially offset by lower expenses related to productivity initiatives, including the impact of lower restructuring related costs and $21 million of lower costs in the Hosted business as clients transition to cloud-based services.
Selling, General and Administrative
Selling, general and administrative expenses were $304 million for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021, $222 million for the Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021 and $461 million for the Predecessor year ended December 31, 2020. Selling, general and administrative expenses were $526 million for the combined year ended December 31, 2021, which reflects an increase of $65 million, or 14%, primarily driven by compensation expenses related to awards issued in the third quarter of 2021 and non-recurring professional expenses related to costs incurred in relation to the Business Combination completed in the third quarter of 2021, partially offset by lower expenses related to productivity initiatives, including the impact of lower restructuring related costs.
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Depreciation and Intangible Amortization
Depreciation and intangible amortization expenses were $163 million for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021, $111 million for the Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021 and $226 million for the Predecessor year ended December 31, 2020. Depreciation and intangible amortization expenses were $274 million for the combined year ended December 31, 2021, which reflects an increase of $48 million, or 21%, primarily driven by amortization related to the identifiable intangible assets acquired in conjunction with the Business Combination completed in the third quarter of 2021 and acquisitions completed during the fourth quarter of 2021.
Loss from Change in Fair Value of Financial Instruments
A loss from a change in the fair value of financial instruments of $65 million was recorded for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021. We are required to revalue the financial instruments at the end of each reporting period and reflect a gain or loss for the change in fair value of the financial instruments in the period the change occurred. We did not have outstanding financial instruments in the Predecessor periods prior to the Business Combination.
Change in Tax Receivable Agreement
A gain from the change in the fair value of the tax receivable agreement of $37 million was recorded for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021. The revaluation gain is due to changes in the discount rate and the Company's assumptions related to the timing of the utilization of the tax attributes during the term of the TRA, which we are required to revalue at the end of each reporting period. We did not have a tax receivable agreement in the Predecessor period prior to the Business Combination.
Interest Expense
Interest expenses were $57 million for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021, $123 million for the Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021 and $234 million for the Predecessor year ended December 31, 2020. Interest expenses were $180 million for the combined year ended December 31, 2021, which reflects a decrease of $54 million over the Predecessor prior year period, or 23%, primarily due to the redemption of our Unsecured Senior Notes and partial paydown of the Term Loan in conjunction with the Business Combination completed during the third quarter of 2021. See Note 8 “Debt” for further information.
Loss before Income Tax Expense (Benefit)
Loss before income tax expense (benefit) was $23 million for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021, $30 million for the Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021 and $94 million for the Predecessor year ended December 31, 2020. Loss before income tax expense (benefit) was $53 million for the combined year ended December 31, 2021, a decrease of $41 million compared to $94 million for the Predecessor year ended December 31, 2020, due to the drivers identified above.
Income Tax Expense (Benefit)
Income tax expense was $25 million for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021, income tax benefit was $5 million for the Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021, and income tax expense was $9 million for the Predecessor year ended December 31, 2020. The effective tax rate of (109%) for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021 is lower than the 21% U.S. statutory corporate income tax rate primarily due to the Company's organizational structure and the noncontrolling interest associated with the portion of Alight Holdings income not allocable to the Company. The effective tax rate of 17% for the Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021 was primarily driven by foreign and state income taxes payable in jurisdictions where the Company had operations that generated operating income. See Note 7 “Income Taxes” for further information.
Results of Operations for the Year Ended December 31, 2020 (Predecessor) Compared to the Year Ended December 31, 2019 (Predecessor)
Revenue
Revenues were $2,728 million for the Predecessor year ended December 31, 2020 as compared to $2,552 million for the Predecessor prior year period. The increase of $176 million reflects growth of 10% and 29% in our Employer Solutions and Professional Services segments, respectively, partially offset by a decline of 61% in our Hosted Business segment. We measure revenue growth as it relates to the cloud-based products and solutions that are central to our Alight Worklife platform and next generation product suite, BPaaS Solutions. These products capitalize on our robust data combined with AI & analytics to deliver greater employee engagement and employer outcomes. BPaaS products and services span across both the Employer Solutions and
37
Professional Services segments. For the Predecessor year ended December 31, 2020, we recorded BPaaS revenue of $334 million, which represents growth of 111%.
Recurring revenues increased by $158 million over the Predecessor prior year period, or 8%, from $2,073 million to $2,231 million and are related to growth in both Employer Solutions and Professional Services, partially offset by a decline in the Hosted Business. Project revenues increased by $18 million, or 4%, from $479 million to $497 million and are related to growth in Professional Services, partially offset by a decline in Employer Solutions.
Cost of Services, exclusive of Depreciation and Amortization
Cost of services, exclusive of depreciation and amortization increased $210 million, or 13%, for the Predecessor year ended December 31, 2020 as compared to the Predecessor prior year period. The increase was primarily driven by $245 million of additional costs associated with the growth in revenues, including the impact of increases related to our recent acquisitions and $21 million of costs related to the restructuring plan initiated in 2019, partially offset by $53 million of lower costs in the Hosted business as clients transition to cloud-based services.
Selling, General and Administrative
Selling, general and administrative expenses increased $46 million, or 11%, for the Predecessor year ended December 31, 2020 as compared to the Predecessor prior year period. The increase was primarily driven by $56 million of costs related to the restructuring plan initiated in 2019, partially offset by $13 million non-recurring professional expenses related to costs incurred in respect of our postponed initial public offering in 2019.
Depreciation and Intangible Amortization
Depreciation and intangible amortization expenses increased $23 million, or 11%, for the Predecessor year ended December 31, 2020 as compared to the Predecessor prior year period. The increase was primarily driven by amortization related to the identifiable intangible assets acquired during the second half of 2019.
Interest Expense
Interest expense increased $10 million, or 4%, for the Predecessor year ended December 31, 2020 as compared to the Predecessor prior year period. The increase was primarily due to incremental interest associated with the additional unsecured and secured senior notes issued in 2020, partially offset by lower interest expense on our Term Loan due to movement in market rates. See Note 8 “Debt” for further information.
Loss before Income Tax Expense
Loss before income tax expense was a loss of $94 million for the Predecessor year ended December 31, 2020, a decrease of $132 million compared to income of $38 million for the Predecessor year ended December 31, 2019, due to the drivers identified above.
Income Tax Expense
Income tax expense decreased $7 million for the Predecessor year ended December 31, 2020 as compared to the Predecessor prior year period, from $16 million to $9 million. The effective tax rate for the Predecessor year ended December 31, 2020 was approximately (10)% and was primarily driven by foreign and state income taxes payable in jurisdictions where the Company had operations that generated operating income. See Note 7 “Income Taxes” for further information.
38
Segment Revenue and Adjusted EBITDA
Employer Solutions Segment Results
| Successor | Predecessor | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Six Months Ended | Six Months Ended | Year Ended | |||||||||||||||||||
| December 31, | June 30, | December 31, | |||||||||||||||||||
| ($ in millions) | 2021 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | |||||||||||||||||
| Employer Solutions Revenue | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Recurring revenue | $ | 1,213 | $ | 1,049 | $ | 2,051 | $ | 1,834 | |||||||||||||
| Project revenue | 134 | 107 | 237 | 250 | |||||||||||||||||
| Total Employer Solutions Revenue | $ | 1,347 | $ | 1,156 | $ | 2,288 | $ | 2,084 | |||||||||||||
| Employer Solutions Gross Profit | $ | 489 | $ | 392 | $ | 725 | $ | 767 | |||||||||||||
| Employer Solutions Gross Profit Margin | 36 | % | 34 | % | 32 | % | 37 | % | |||||||||||||
| Employer Solutions Adjusted EBITDA | $ | 344 | $ | 274 | $ | 533 | $ | 554 | |||||||||||||
| Employer Solutions Adjusted EBITDA Margin | 26 | % | 24 | % | 23 | % | 27 | % |
Employer Solutions Segment Results of Operations for the Combined Year Ended December 31, 2021 (Successor and Predecessor) Compared to the Year Ended December 31, 2020 (Predecessor)
Employer Solutions Revenue
Employer Solutions total revenues were $1,347 million for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021, $1,156 million for the Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021 and $2,288 million for the Predecessor year ended December 31, 2020. We experienced annual revenue retention rates of 97% and 96% in 2021 and 2020, respectively. Employer Solutions total revenues were $2,503 million for the combined year ended December 31, 2021, which reflects an overall increase of $215 million over the Predecessor prior year period due to an increase of recurring revenues of $211 million, or 10%, as a result of approximately $123 million of revenue primarily related to the Retiree acquisition, increased volumes, increases in Net Commercial Activity and transitions from our Hosted Business to cloud-based services, and an increase in project revenues of $4 million, or 2%.
Employer Solutions Gross Profit
Employer Solutions Gross Profit was $489 million for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021, $392 million for the Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021 and $725 million for the Predecessor year ended December 31, 2020. Employer Solutions Gross Profit was $881 million for the combined year ended December 31, 2021 which reflects an increase of $156 million over the Predecessor prior year period, or 22%, primarily due to revenue growth as discussed above and lower expenses related to productivity initiatives, including the impact of lower restructuring related costs, partially offset by increases in costs associated with growth of current and future revenues.
Employer Solutions Adjusted EBITDA
Employer Solutions Adjusted EBITDA was $344 million for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021, $274 million for the Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021 and $533 million for the Predecessor year ended December 31, 2020. Employer Solutions Adjusted EBITDA was $618 million for the combined year ended December 31, 2021, which reflects an increase of $85 million over the Predecessor prior year period, primarily due to revenue growth as discussed above, partially offset by increases in costs associated with growth of current and future revenues, including investments in our commercial functions and technology.
Employer Solutions Segment Results of Operations for the Year Ended December 31, 2020 (Predecessor) Compared to the Year Ended December 31, 2019 (Predecessor)
Employer Solutions Revenue
Employer Solutions total revenues were $2,288 million for the Predecessor year ended December 31, 2020 as compared to $2,084 million for the Predecessor prior year period. We experienced annual revenue retention rates of 96% and 98% in 2020 and 2019. The overall increase of $204 million was due to an increase of recurring revenues of $217 million over the Predecessor prior year period, or 12%, from $1,834 million to $2,051 million as a result of approximately $210 million of revenue related to material acquisitions, partially offset by a decrease in project revenues of $13 million, or 5%, from $250 million to $237 million primarily related to client project delays as a result of COVID-19.
39
Employer Solutions Gross Profit
Employer Solutions Gross Profit was $725 million for the Predecessor year ended December 31, 2020 as compared to $767 million for the Predecessor prior year period. The decrease of $42 million was due to primarily due to higher costs related to our recent acquisitions, which outpaced revenue growth as discussed.
Employer Solutions Adjusted EBITDA
Employer Solutions Adjusted EBITDA was $533 million for the Predecessor year ended December 31, 2020, as compared to $554 million for the Predecessor prior year period. The decrease of $21 million was primarily due to higher costs related to our recent acquisitions, which outpaced revenue growth as discussed above.
Professional Services Segment Results
| Successor | Predecessor | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Six Months Ended | Six Months Ended | Year Ended | |||||||||||||||||||
| December 31, | June 30, | December 31, | |||||||||||||||||||
| ($ in millions) | 2021 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | |||||||||||||||||
| Professional Services Revenue | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Recurring revenue | $ | 65 | $ | 60 | $ | 108 | $ | 56 | |||||||||||||
| Project revenue | 121 | 124 | 260 | 229 | |||||||||||||||||
| Total Professional Services Revenue | $ | 186 | $ | 184 | $ | 368 | $ | 285 | |||||||||||||
| Professional Services Gross Profit | $ | 44 | $ | 46 | $ | 106 | $ | 68 | |||||||||||||
| Professional Services Gross Profit Margin | 24 | % | 25 | % | 29 | % | 24 | % | |||||||||||||
| Professional Services Adjusted EBITDA | $ | 1 | $ | 7 | $ | 31 | $ | 7 | |||||||||||||
| Professional Services Adjusted EBITDA Margin | 1 | % | 4 | % | 8 | % | 2 | % |
Professional Services Segment Results of Operations for the Combined Year Ended December 31, 2021 (Successor and Predecessor) Compared to the Year Ended December 31, 2020 (Predecessor)
Professional Services Revenue
Professional Services total revenues were $186 million for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021, $184 million for the Predecessor six months June 30, 2021 and $368 million for the Predecessor year ended December 31, 2020. Professional Services total revenues were $370 million for the combined year ended December 31, 2021, which reflects an overall increase of $2 million over the Predecessor prior year period, due to an increase of recurring revenues of $17 million, or 16%, as a result of increases in Net Commercial Activity, partially offset by a decrease in project revenues of $15 million, or 6%.
Professional Services Gross Profit
Professional Services Gross Profit was $44 million for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021, $46 million for the Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021 and $106 million for the Predecessor year ended December 31, 2020. Professional Services Gross Profit was $90 million for the combined year ended December 31, 2021, which reflects a decrease of $16 million over the Predecessor prior year period, or 15%, primarily due to increases in costs associated with growth of current and future revenues, including investments in key resources, partially offset by revenue growth as discussed above.
Professional Services Adjusted EBITDA
Professional Services Adjusted EBITDA was $1 million for the six months ended December 31, 2021, $7 million for the Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021 and $31 million for the Predecessor year ended December 31, 2020. Professional Services Adjusted EBITDA was $8 million for the combined year ended December 31, 2021 which reflects a decrease of $23 million over the Predecessor prior year period, primarily due to increases in costs associated with growth of current and future revenues, including investments in our commercial functions, partially offset by revenue growth as discussed above.
40
Professional Services Segment Results of Operations for the Year Ended December 31, 2020 (Predecessor) Compared to the Year Ended December 31, 2019 (Predecessor)
Professional Services Revenue
Professional Services total revenues were $368 million for the Predecessor year ended December 31, 2020 as compared to $285 million for the Predecessor prior year period. The overall increase of $83 million was due to an increase of recurring revenues of $52 million over the Predecessor prior year period, or 93%, from $56 million to $108 million as a result of increases in Net Commercial Activity and approximately $43 million of revenue related to material acquisitions and an increase in project revenues of $31 million, or 14%, from $229 million to $260 million.
Professional Services Gross Profit
Professional Services Gross Profit was $106 million for the Predecessor year ended December 31, 2020 as compared to $68 million for the Predecessor prior year period. The increase of $38 million was primarily due revenue growth, partially offset by increases in costs associated with growth of revenues as discussed above.
Professional Services Adjusted EBITDA
Professional Services Adjusted EBITDA was $31 million for the Predecessor year ended December 31, 2020, as compared to $7 million for the Predecessor prior year period. The increase of $24 million was primarily due to revenue growth, partially offset by increases in costs associated with growth of revenues as discussed above.
Hosted Business Segment Results
| Successor | Predecessor | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Six Months Ended | Six Months Ended | Year Ended | |||||||||||||||||||
| December 31, | June 30, | December 31, | |||||||||||||||||||
| ($ in millions) | 2021 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | |||||||||||||||||
| Hosted Business Revenue | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Recurring revenue | $ | 21 | $ | 21 | $ | 72 | $ | 183 | |||||||||||||
| Total Hosted Business Revenue | 21 | $ | 21 | $ | 72 | $ | 183 | ||||||||||||||
| Hosted Business Gross Profit | $ | (1 | ) | $ | (3 | ) | $ | 3 | $ | 48 | |||||||||||
| Hosted Business Gross Profit Margin | -5 | % | -14 | % | 4 | % | 26 | % | |||||||||||||
| Hosted Business Adjusted EBITDA | $ | (2 | ) | $ | (3 | ) | $ | — | $ | 35 | |||||||||||
| Hosted Business Adjusted EBITDA Margin | -10 | % | -14 | % | 0 | % | 19 | % |
Hosted Business Segment Results of Operations for the Combined Year Ended December 31, 2021 (Successor and Predecessor) Compared to the Year Ended December 31, 2020 (Predecessor)
Hosted Business Revenue
Hosted Business revenues were $21 million for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021, $21 million for the Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021 and $72 million for the Predecessor year ended December 31, 2020. Hosted Business revenues were $42 million for the combined year ended December 31, 2021, which reflects a decrease of $30 million over the Predecessor prior year period due to transitions from our Hosted Business to cloud-based services.
Hosted Business Gross Profit
Hosted Business Gross Profit was ($1) million for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021, ($3) million for the Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021 and $3 million for the Predecessor year ended December 31, 2020. Hosted Business Gross Profit was ($4) million for the combined year ended December 31, 2021, which reflects a decrease of $7 million over the Predecessor prior year period, primarily due to transitions from our Hosted Business to cloud-based services.
Hosted Business Adjusted EBITDA
Hosted Business Adjusted EBITDA was ($2) million for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021, ($3) million for the Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021 and immaterial for the Predecessor year ended December 31, 2020. Hosted Business Adjusted EBITDA was ($5) million for the combined year ended December 31, 2021, which reflects a decrease of $5 million over the
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Predecessor prior year period, driven by a decrease in revenue during the period from the continued transition from our Hosted Business to cloud-based services, which outpaced a decrease in costs during the period.
Hosted Business Segment Results of Operations for the Year Ended December 31, 2020 (Predecessor) Compared to the Year Ended December 31, 2019 (Predecessor)
Hosted Business Revenue
Hosted Business revenues were $72 million for the Predecessor year ended December 31, 2020 as compared to $183 million for the Predecessor prior year period. The decrease of $111 million was due to transitions from our Hosted Business to cloud-based services and client losses.
Hosted Business Gross Profit
Hosted Business Gross Profit was $3 million for the Predecessor year ended December 31, 2020 as compared to $48 million for the Predecessor prior year period. The decrease of $45 million was primarily due to transitions from our Hosted Business to cloud-based services.
Hosted Business Adjusted EBITDA
Hosted Business Adjusted EBITDA was immaterial for the Predecessor year ended December 31, 2020 as compared to $35 million for the Predecessor prior year period. The decrease of $35 million was driven by a decrease in revenue during the period from the continued transition from our Hosted Business to cloud-based services and client losses, which outpaced a decrease in costs during the period.
LIQUIDITY, FINANCIAL CONDITION, AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
Executive Summary
Our primary sources of liquidity include our existing cash and cash equivalents, cash flows from operations and availability under our revolving credit facility. Our primary uses of liquidity are operating expenses, funding of our debt requirements and capital expenditures.
We believe that our available cash and cash equivalents, cash flows from operations and availability under our revolving credit facility will be sufficient to meet our liquidity needs, including principal and interest payments on debt obligations, capital expenditures, payments on our Tax Receivable Agreement and anticipated working capital requirements for the foreseeable future. We believe our liquidity position at December 31, 2021 remains strong and as we continue to operate in a period of uncertain economic conditions related to COVID-19 we will continue to closely monitor and proactively manage our liquidity as economic conditions change.
Cash on our balance sheet includes funds available for general corporate purposes. Funds held on behalf of clients in a fiduciary capacity are segregated and shown in Fiduciary assets on the Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, with a corresponding amount in Fiduciary liabilities. Fiduciary funds are not used for general corporate purposes and are not a source of liquidity for us.
The following table provides a summary of cash flows from operating, investing, and financing activities for the periods presented.
| Successor | Predecessor | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Six Months Ended | Six Months Ended | Year Ended | |||||||||||||||||||
| December 31, | June 30, | December 31, | |||||||||||||||||||
| (in millions) | 2021 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | |||||||||||||||||
| Cash provided by operating activities | $ | 57 | $ | 58 | $ | 233 | $ | 268 | |||||||||||||
| Cash used for investing activities | (1,852 | ) | (55 | ) | (142 | ) | (604 | ) | |||||||||||||
| Cash provided by (used for) financing activities | 2,400 | (64 | ) | 463 | 420 | ||||||||||||||||
| Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash | 11 | — | (3 | ) | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| Net increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash | 616 | (61 | ) | 551 | 85 | ||||||||||||||||
| Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash at end of period | $ | 1,652 | $ | 1,475 | $ | 1,536 | $ | 985 |
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Operating Activities
Net cash for operating activities was $57 million cash provided for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021 and $58 million provided for the Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021. Net cash provided by operating activities decreased from $233 million during the Predecessor year ended December 31, 2020 to $115 million for the combined year ended December 31, 2021, driven by an increase in working capital requirements and non-cash items primarily related to the Business Combination, offset by a decrease in net loss.
Net cash provided by operating activities for the Predecessor year ended December 31, 2020 decreased $35 million to $233 million from the Predecessor prior year period, primarily driven by a net loss in the period compared to net income in the prior period, partially offset by an increase in non-cash items and a decrease in working capital requirements.
Investing Activities
Cash used for investing activities for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021 and the Predecessor six months ended was $1,852 million and $55 million, respectively. The primary drivers of the cash used for investing activities for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021 was $1,793 million related to the Business Combination and $59 million of capital expenditures. For the Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021, $55 million was used for capital expenditures.
Cash used for investing activities for the Predecessor year ended December 31, 2020 was $142 million. The primary drivers of the cash used for investing activities was $90 million of capital expenditures and $52 million for the acquisition of a business.
Cash used for investing activities for the Predecessor year ended December 31, 2019 was $604 million. The primary drivers of the cash used for investing activities was $527 million for the acquisitions of three businesses and $77 million of capital expenditures.
Financing Activities
Cash provided by financing activities for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021 was $2,400 million. The primary drivers of the cash provided by financing activities for the Successor six months ended December 31, 2021 were proceeds related to FTAC investors in connection with the Business Combination of $1,813 million and bank borrowings of $627 million, partially offset by FTAC share redemptions of $142 million, loan repayments of $120 million, finance lease payments of $14 million, financing fees related to new debt of $8 million, payments for settlements related to interest rate swaps of $8 million, and tax related distributions to equity-holders of $1 million. Net cash flows from financing activities also changed due to a net increase in the cash flow from client funds obligations of $266 million, primarily due to timing of client funding and subsequent disbursement of payments.
Cash used for financing activities for the Predecessor six months ended June 30, 2021 was $64 million. The primary drivers of the cash used for financing activities were loan repayments of $124 million, finance lease payments of $17 million, payments for settlements related to interest rate swaps of $14 million, unit repurchases of $2 million, and payments for contingent consideration of $1 million, partially offset by bank borrowings of $110 million. Net cash flows from financing activities also changed due to a net decrease in the cash flow from client funds obligations of $15 million, primarily due to timing of client funding and subsequent disbursement of payments.
Cash provided by financing activities for the Predecessor year ended December 31, 2020 was $463 million. The primary drivers of the cash provided by financing activities were bank borrowings of $779 million, partially offset by loan repayments of $495 million, finance lease payments of $24 million, financing fees of $23 million, payments for settlements related to interest rate swaps of $21 million, payments for contingent consideration of $9 million, tax related distributions to equity-holders of $3 million and unit repurchases $3 million. Net cash flows from financing activities also changed due to a net increase in the cash flow from client funds obligations of $263 million, primarily due to timing of client funding and subsequent disbursement of payments.
Cash provided by financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2019 was $420 million. The primary drivers of the cash provided by financing activities were bank borrowings of $483 million and settlements received related to interest rate swaps of $4 million, partially offset by loan repayments of $120 million, tax related distributions to equity-holders of $10 million, finance lease payments of $13 million, financing fees related to the borrowings of $5 million and unit repurchases of $4 million. Net cash flows from financing activities also changed due to a net increase in the cash flow from client funds obligations of $87 million, primarily due to timing of client funding and subsequent disbursement of payments.
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Fiduciary Assets
At December 31, 2021, our cash and cash equivalents were $372 million, a decrease of $134 million from December 31, 2020. Of the total balances of cash and cash equivalents as of December 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, none of the balances were restricted as to its use.
Some of our client agreements require us to hold funds on behalf of clients to pay obligations on their behalf. The levels of Fiduciary assets and liabilities can fluctuate significantly, depending on when we collect the amounts from clients and make payments
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on their behalf. Such funds are not available to service our debt or for other corporate purposes. There is typically a short period of time between when the Company receives funds and when it pays obligations on behalf of clients. We are entitled to retain investment income earned on fiduciary funds, when investment strategies are deployed, in accordance with industry custom and practice, which has historically been immaterial. In our Consolidated Balance Sheets, the amount we report for Fiduciary assets and Fiduciary liabilities are equal. Our Fiduciary assets included cash of $1,280 million and $1,030 million at December 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively.
Tax Receivable Agreement
In connection with the Business Combination, we entered into the TRA with certain of our pre-Business Combination owners that provides for the payment by Alight to such owners of 85% of the benefits that Alight is deemed to realize as a result of the Company’s share of existing tax basis acquired in the Business Combination and other tax benefits related to entering into the Tax Receivable Agreement.
Actual tax benefits realized by Alight may differ from tax benefits calculated under the TRA as a result of the use of certain assumptions in the TRA, including the use of an assumed weighted-average state and local income tax rate to calculate tax benefits. While the amount of existing tax basis, the anticipated tax basis adjustments and the actual amount and utilization of tax attributes, as well as the amount and timing of any payments under the TRA, will vary depending upon a number of factors, we expect that the payments that Alight may make under the TRA will be substantial. As of December 31, 2021, we do not expect to make any material payments within the next two years, and anticipate payments to become more material beginning in 2024.
Contractual Obligations and Commitments
The Company has various obligations and commitments outstanding as of December 31, 2021 including debt of $2,858 million, operating leases of $210 million, finance leases of $65 million and purchase obligations of $95 million. Over the twelve months ended December 31, 2022, we expect to pay $38 million, $45 million, $23 million and $26 million for our debt, operating leases, finance leases and purchase obligations, respectively. For further information of each these obligations, refer to the Consolidated Financial Statements within Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, Note 8 “Debt”, Note 18 “Lease Obligations” and Note 19 “Contractual Obligations”.
During 2018, the Company executed an agreement to form a strategic partnership with Wipro, a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company, through 2028. As of December 31, 2021, the non-cancellable services obligation totaled $1,106 million, with $141 million expected to be paid over the twelve months ended December 31, 2022. We may terminate our arrangement with Wipro with cause or for our convenience. In the case of a termination for convenience, we would be required to pay a termination fee. If we had terminated the Wipro arrangement on December 31, 2021, we estimate that the termination charges would have been at least $377 million.
Other Liquidity Matters
Our cash flows from operations, borrowing availability and overall liquidity are subject to risks and uncertainties. For further information, see the “Risk Factors” section within Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Critical Accounting Estimates
These consolidated financial statements conform to U.S. GAAP, which requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting period. Our estimates, judgments and assumptions are continually evaluated based on available information and experience. Because of the use of estimates inherent in the financial reporting process, actual results could differ from those estimates. The areas that we believe include critical accounting policies are revenue recognition and accounting for the Tax Receivable Agreement. The critical accounting policies discussed below involve making difficult, subjective or complex accounting estimates that could have a material effect on our financial condition and results of operations. These critical accounting policies require us to make assumptions about matters that are highly uncertain at the time of the estimate or assumption. Different estimates that we could have used, or changes in estimates that are reasonably likely to occur, may have a material effect on our results of operations and financial condition.
Revenue Recognition
Revenues are recognized when control of the promised services is transferred to the customer in the amount that best reflects the consideration to which the Company expects to be entitled in exchange for those services. Substantially all of the Company’s revenue is recognized over time as the customer simultaneously receives and consumes the benefits of our services. On occasion, we may be entitled to a fee based on achieving certain performance criteria or contract milestones. To the extent that we cannot estimate with reasonable assurance the likelihood that we will achieve the performance target, we will constrain this portion of the transaction price
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and recognize it when or as the uncertainty is resolved. Any taxes assessed on revenues relating to services provided to our clients are recorded on a net basis.
The Company capitalizes incremental costs to obtain and fulfill contracts with a customer that are expected to be recovered. Assets recognized for the costs to fulfill a contract are amortized on a systematic basis over the expected life of the underlying customer relationships.
For further discussion, see Note 3 “Revenue from Contracts with Customers” within the Consolidated Financial Statements.
Tax Receivable Agreement
The Company accounts for the TRA as a liability at fair value and is subject to remeasurement at each balance sheet date. Any change in fair value is recognized within the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss).
Actual tax benefits realized by Alight may differ from tax benefits calculated under the TRA as a result of the use of certain assumptions in the TRA, including the use of an assumed weighted-average state and local income tax rate to calculate tax benefits. While the amount of existing tax basis, the anticipated tax basis adjustments and the actual amount and utilization of tax attributes, as well as the amount and timing of any payments under the TRA, will vary depending upon a number of factors, we expect that the payments that Alight may make under the TRA will be substantial.
The Company’s TRA liability is measured at fair value on a recurring basis using significant unobservable inputs. The $581 million TRA liability balance at December 31, 2021 assumes: (i) a constant blended U.S. federal, state and local income tax rate of 26.04%, (ii) no material changes in tax law, (iii) the ability to utilize tax attributes based on current alternative tax forecasts, and (iv) future payments under the TRA are made when due under the TRA. The amount of the expected future payments under the TRA has been discounted to its present value using a discount rate of 6.9%, which was determined based on benchmark rates of a similar duration. A hypothetical increase or decrease of 75 bps in the discount rate assumptions used for fiscal year 2021, would result in a change of approximately $30 million.