Table of Contents Our business is subject to the inventory management decisions and sourcing practices of our dealers and our OEM customers. We sell finished products primarily through an independent dealer network and directly to OEMs and are subject to risks relating to their inventory management decisions and operational and sourcing practices. Both carry inventories of finished products as part of ongoing operations and adjust those inventories based on their assessments of future needs and market conditions, including levels of used equipment inventory and machine rental usage rates. Such adjustments may impact our results positively or negatively. If the inventory levels of our dealers and OEM customers are higher than they desire, they may postpone product purchases from us, which could cause our sales to be lower than the end-user demand for our products and negatively impact our results. Similarly, our results could be negatively impacted through the loss of time-sensitive sales if our dealers and OEM customers do not maintain inventory levels sufficient to meet customer demand. In pursuing our business strategy, we routinely evaluate targets and enter into agreements regarding possible acquisitions, divestitures and joint ventures. We often compete with others for the same opportunities. To be successful, we conduct due diligence to identify valuation issues and potential loss contingencies, negotiate transaction terms, complete complex transactions and manage post-closing matters such as the integration of acquired businesses. Further, while we seek to mitigate risks and liabilities of such transactions through, among other things, due diligence, there may be risks and liabilities that such due diligence efforts fail to discover, that are not accurately or completely disclosed to us or that we inadequately assess. We may incur unanticipated costs or expenses following a completed acquisition, including post-closing asset impairment charges, expenses associated with eliminating duplicate facilities, litigation, and other liabilities. Risks associated with our past or future acquisitions also include the following: We may not realize all of the anticipated benefits of our acquisitions, joint ventures or divestitures, or these benefits may take longer to realize than expected. • the business culture of the acquired business may not match well with our culture; • technological and product synergies, economies of scale and cost reductions may not occur as expected; • unforeseen expenses, delays or conditions may be imposed upon the acquisition, including due to required regulatory approvals or consents; • we may acquire or assume unexpected liabilities or be subject to unexpected penalties or other enforcement actions; • faulty assumptions may be made regarding the macroeconomic environment or the integration process; • unforeseen difficulties may arise in integrating operations, processes and systems; • higher than expected investments may be required to implement necessary compliance processes and related systems, including IT systems, accounting systems and internal controls over financial reporting; • we may fail to retain, motivate and integrate key management and other employees of the acquired business; • higher than expected costs may arise due to unforeseen changes in tax, trade, environmental, labor, safety, payroll or pension policies in any jurisdiction in which the acquired business conducts its operations; and • we may experience problems in retaining customers and integrating customer bases. Many of these factors will be outside of our control and any one of them could result in increased costs, decreases in the amount of expected revenues and diversion of management’s time and attention. They may also delay the realization of the benefits we anticipate when we enter into a transaction. In order to conserve cash for operations, we may undertake acquisitions financed in part through public offerings or private placements of debt or equity securities, or other arrangements. Such acquisition financing could result in a decrease in our earnings and adversely affect other leverage measures. If we issue equity securities or equity-linked securities, the issued securities may have a dilutive effect on the interests of the holders of our common shares. Failure to implement our acquisition strategy, including successfully integrating acquired businesses, could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Furthermore, we make strategic divestitures from time to time. In the case of divestitures, we may agree to indemnify acquiring parties for certain liabilities arising from our former businesses. These divestitures may also result in continued financial involvement in the divested businesses, including through 12