As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 23, 2009

Registration No. 333-151559

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

 

 

AMENDMENT NO. 5

TO

Form S-1

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER

THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

 

 

 

 

Mistras Group, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

 

 

 

 

195 Clarksville Road

Princeton Junction, New Jersey 08550

(609) 716-4000

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

Sotirios J. Vahaviolos, Ph.D.

Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer

195 Clarksville Road

Princeton Junction, New Jersey 08550

(609) 716-4000

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

 

 

 

 

With copies to:

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

(Do not check if a smaller reporting company)

 

CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

SUBJECT TO COMPLETION, DATED September 23, 2009

 

8,700,000 Shares

 

Mistras Group, Inc.

 

Common Stock

 

This is an initial public offering of Mistras Group, Inc. common stock.

 

Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for our common stock. The initial public offering price of the common stock is expected to be between $14.00 and $16.00 per share. We have been approved to apply for listing of our common stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “MG”.

 

We are selling 6,700,000 shares of common stock and the selling stockholders are selling 2,000,000 shares of common stock. The underwriters have an option to purchase a maximum of 1,300,000 additional shares of common stock from certain of the selling stockholders to cover over-allotments of shares. We will not receive any of the proceeds from the shares of common stock sold by the selling stockholders.

 

Investing in our common stock involves risks. See “Risk Factors” on page 14.

 

 

 

Delivery of the shares of common stock will be made on or about          , 2009.

 

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

 

Joint Book-Running Managers

 

 

 

 

 

Robert W. Baird & Co.

 

The date of this prospectus is          , 2009.

 

Table of contents

 

 

 

You should rely only on the information contained in this document or to which we have referred you. We have not authorized anyone to provide you with information that is different. This document may only be used where it is legal to sell these securities. The information in this document may only be accurate on the date of this document.

 

Industry and market data

 

This prospectus includes market and industry data and forecasts that we obtained from internal research, publicly available information and industry publications and surveys. Industry publications and surveys generally state that the information contained therein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. Unless otherwise noted, statements as to our market position relative to our competitors are approximated and based on the above-mentioned third-party data and internal analysis and estimates as of the date of this prospectus. Although we believe the industry and market data and statements as to market position to be reliable as of the date of this prospectus, we have not independently verified this information and it could prove inaccurate. Industry and market data could be wrong because of the method by which sources obtained their data and because information cannot always be verified with certainty due to the limits on the availability and reliability of raw data, the voluntary nature of the data gathering process and other limitations and uncertainties. In addition, we do not know all of the assumptions regarding general economic conditions or growth that were used in preparing the forecasts from sources cited herein.

 

Dealer prospectus delivery obligation

 

Until          , 2009 (25 days after the commencement of the offering), all dealers that effect transactions in these securities, whether or not participating in this offering, may be required to deliver a prospectus. This is in addition to the dealer’s obligation to deliver a prospectus when acting as an underwriter and with respect to unsold allotments or subscriptions.

 

 

This summary highlights information contained elsewhere in this prospectus. This summary does not contain all of the information that may be important to you. You should read this entire prospectus carefully, including the risks discussed under “Risk Factors” and the financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus before making an investment decision. In this prospectus, our fiscal years, which end on May 31, are identified according to the calendar year in which they end (e.g., the fiscal year ended May 31, 2009 is referred to as “fiscal 2009”), and unless otherwise specified or the context otherwise requires, “Mistras,” “we,” “us” and “our” refer to Mistras Group, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries and their predecessors.

 

Our business

 

We are a leading global provider of technology-enabled asset protection solutions used to evaluate the structural integrity of critical energy, industrial and public infrastructure. We combine industry-leading products and technologies, expertise in mechanical integrity (MI) and non-destructive testing (NDT) services and proprietary data analysis software to deliver a comprehensive portfolio of customized solutions, ranging from routine inspections to complex, plant-wide asset integrity assessments and management. These mission critical solutions enhance our customers’ ability to extend the useful life of their assets, increase productivity, minimize repair costs, comply with governmental safety and environmental regulations, manage risk and avoid catastrophic disasters. Given the role our services play in ensuring the safe and efficient operation of infrastructure, we have historically provided a majority of our services to our customers on a regular, recurring basis. We serve a global customer base of companies with asset-intensive infrastructure, including companies in the oil and gas, fossil and nuclear power, public infrastructure, chemicals, aerospace and defense, transportation, primary metals and metalworking, pharmaceuticals and food processing industries. As of August 1, 2009, we had approximately 2,000 employees, including 29 Ph.D.’s and more than 100 other degreed engineers and highly-skilled, certified technicians, in 68 offices across 15 countries. We have established long-term relationships as a critical solutions provider to many leading companies, including American Electric Power, Bayer, Bechtel, BP, Chevron, Dow Chemical, Duke Energy, DuPont, Embraer, ExxonMobil, First Energy, General Electric, Pfizer, Rio Tinto Alcan, Rolls Royce, Shell, The Boeing Company and Valero, and to various federal, state and local governmental infrastructure and defense authorities, including the departments of transportation of several states. The following chart represents revenues we generated in certain of our end markets for fiscal 2009.

Mistras revenues by end market
(fiscal 2009)

 

 

Our asset protection solutions have evolved over time as we have combined the disciplines of NDT, MI services and data analysis software to provide value to our customers. The foundation of our business is NDT, which is the examination of assets without impacting the future usefulness or impairing the integrity of these assets. The ability to inspect infrastructure assets and not interfere with their operating performance makes NDT a highly attractive alternative to many traditional intrusive inspection techniques, which may require dismantling equipment or shutting down a plant, refinery, mill or site. Our MI services are a systematic engineering-based approach to developing best practices for ensuring the on-going integrity and safety of equipment and industrial facilities. MI services involve conducting an inventory of infrastructure assets, developing and implementing inspection and maintenance procedures, training personnel in executing these procedures and managing inspections, testing and assessments of customer assets. By assisting customers in implementing MI programs we enable them to identify gaps between existing and desired practices, find and track deficiencies and degradations to be corrected and establish quality assurance standards for fabrication, engineering and installation of infrastructure assets. We believe our MI services improve plant safety and reliability and regulatory compliance, and in so doing reduce maintenance costs. Our solutions also incorporate comprehensive data analysis from our proprietary asset protection software to provide customers with detailed, integrated and cost-effective solutions that rate the risks of alternative maintenance approaches and recommend actions in accordance with consensus industry codes and standards.

 

As a global asset protection leader, we provide a comprehensive range of solutions that includes traditional outsourced NDT inspection services, advanced asset protection solutions, such as MI services, and a proprietary portfolio of both hardware and software products and systems for capturing and analyzing inspection data in real-time. Our solutions are targeted to optimize the safety and operational performance of infrastructure-intensive industries during the design, fabrication, maintenance, inspection and retirement phases of the asset’s life. Since inception,

we have increased our capabilities and the size of our customer base through the development of applied technologies and managed support services, organic growth and the successful and seamless integration of acquired companies. These acquisitions have provided us with additional products, technologies, resources and customers that have enhanced our sustainable competitive advantages over our competition.

 

We generated revenues of $209.1 million, $152.3 million and $122.2 million and adjusted EBITDA of $31.1 million, $28.1 million and $19.2 million for fiscal 2009, 2008 and 2007, respectively. For fiscal 2009, we generated over 80% of our revenues from our Services segment.

 

Our industry

 

Asset protection is a large and rapidly growing industry that consists of NDT inspection, MI services and inspection data warehousing and analysis. NDT plays a crucial role in assuring the operational and structural integrity of critical infrastructure without compromising the usefulness of the tested materials or equipment. The evolution of NDT services, in combination with broader industry trends and regulatory requirements, has made NDT an integral and increasingly outsourced part of many asset-intensive industries. Well-publicized industrial and public infrastructure failures and accidents have also raised the level of awareness of regulators, as well as owners and operators, of the benefits that asset protection can provide.

 

We believe the following key dynamics drive the growth of the asset protection industry:

 

 

 

Our competitive strengths

 

We believe the following competitive strengths contribute to our being a leading provider of asset protection solutions and will allow us to further capitalize on growth opportunities in our industry:

 

 

 

Our growth strategy

 

Our growth strategy emphasizes the following key elements:

 

 

Summary risks

 

Before you invest in our stock, you should carefully consider all the information in this prospectus, including matters set forth under the heading “Risk Factors.” We believe that the following are some of the major risks and uncertainties that may affect us:

 

 

Recent Developments

 

Although our results of operations for the first quarter of fiscal 2010, are not currently available, the following preliminary and unaudited information reflects our expectations with respect to such results based on currently available information.

 

For the first quarter of fiscal 2010, we expect our revenues to increase approximately 16% to 22% to approximately $54.5 million to $57.0 million, as compared to revenues of $47.0 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2009. We expect our income from operations to be approximately $2.0 million to $3.0 million, as compared to our income from operations of $3.7 million during the same period in fiscal 2009.

 

The expected increase in net sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2010 as compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2009 is primarily the result of continued growth in our Services segment, where we obtained a new customer and benefited from several small acquisitions. These increases were offset by approximately $1.7 million in unfavorable foreign exchange variances and a decrease in our Products and Systems revenues as compared to the same quarter last year, due to the impact of the economic downturn. We expect our overall growth and revenue mix trends to continue in the near term.

 

In the first quarter of fiscal 2010, we estimate that we generated a higher percentage of revenues from our Services segment, which negatively impacted our operating income because our Services segment has a lower gross profit margin than our other segments. Also, demand for our solutions is usually lower in our first fiscal quarter because it is a peak operating period for some of our largest end markets, which tend to order our solutions for their non-peak periods. Our estimated operating income also was reduced by an additional provision of

$0.8 million for a large receivable from a customer in bankruptcy, based on the reorganization plan filed by this customer in September 2009, which makes any recovery unlikely. In addition, fees related to our annual audit and Sarbanes-Oxley implementation increased by approximately $0.2 million compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2009. Offsetting these items was an approximately $0.3 million favorable adjustment from the final settlement of a class-action law suit.

 

These preliminary estimates are not a comprehensive statement of our financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2010, are based upon management estimates as of the date of this prospectus, have not been reviewed by our independent registered public accounting firm and are subject to adjustments including those as a result of subsequent events which occur after the date of this prospectus. Our consolidated financial statements for the first quarter of fiscal 2010 will not be available until after this offering is completed, and so will not be available to you prior to your investing in this offering. The final financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2010 may vary from our expectations and may be materially different from the preliminary estimates we are providing above due to completion of quarterly close and review procedures, final adjustments and other developments that may arise between now and the time the financial results for these periods are finalized. These preliminary estimates are not necessarily indicative of our operating results for a full year or any future period and should be read together with “Risk factors,” “Forward-looking statements,” “Management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations,” “Summary historical consolidated financial data,” “Selected historical consolidated financial information” and our consolidated financial statements and the related notes thereto, all included elsewhere in this prospectus.

 

Corporate information

 

We were founded by former AT&T Bell Laboratories researchers in 1978 and operated as Physical Acoustics Corporation until December 29, 1994, when we reorganized and began operating as Mistras Holdings Corp., a Delaware corporation. In February 2007, we changed our name to Mistras Group, Inc. Since inception, we have increased our asset protection services, products and systems offerings through a combination of organic growth and the successful integration of acquired companies.

 

Our principal executive offices are located at 195 Clarksville Road, Princeton Junction, NJ 08550, and our telephone number at that address is (609) 716-4000. Our website is located at www.mistrasgroup.com. Information on, or accessible through, our website is not a part of, and is not incorporated into, this prospectus.

 

Our trademarks include Mistras^tm, Physical Acoustics Corporation^tm, PCMS^®, Controlled Vibrations Inc.^tm, NOESIS^tm, AEwin^tm, AEwinPost^tm, UTwin^tm, UTIA^tm, LST^tm, Vibra-Metrics^tm, TANKPAC^tm, MONPAC^tm, VPAC^tm, POWERPAC^tm and Sensor Highway^tm. Other trademarks or service marks appearing in this prospectus are the property of their respective holders.

The offering

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Except as otherwise indicated or the context otherwise requires, throughout this prospectus the number of shares of common stock shown to be outstanding after this offering and other share-related information is based on the number of shares outstanding as of May 31, 2009, and:

 

 

 

 

 

The following table sets forth the number of shares of common stock to be sold by the directors and executive officers who are selling such shares in this offering. For more information on persons selling shares of common stock in this offering, please see “Principal and Selling Stockholders.”

 

 

Our executive officers, directors and each person, or group of affiliated persons, known by us to beneficially own more than five percent of our voting securities, taken together as a group, will own approximately 46% of our outstanding common stock after this offering. For information on the number of shares of common stock to be received by these individuals or groups upon the conversion of our preferred stock at the completion of this offering, please see “Certain Relationships and Related Transactions—Conversion of All Preferred Stock upon Completion of this Offering.”

Summary historical consolidated financial data

 

The following table sets forth our summary historical consolidated financial information and other data. The historical statement of operations and cash flow data for fiscal 2009, 2008 and 2007 and the historical balance sheet data as of May 31, 2009 are derived from, and should be read in conjunction with, our audited consolidated financial statements and related notes appearing elsewhere in this prospectus.

 

The information contained in this table should also be read in conjunction with “Use of Proceeds,” “Capitalization,” “Selected Historical Consolidated Financial Information,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes thereto, all included elsewhere in this prospectus.

 

 

 

 

		Fiscal
(in thousands, except share and per share data)		2009				2008				2007
Pro forma diluted earnings per common share:
Numerator:
Net income		$	5,466			$	7,439			$	5,388
Denominator:
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding			13,000,000				13,000,000				12,887,524
Common stock equivalents of outstanding stock options			555,815				344,760				213,915
Common stock equivalents of conversion of preferred shares			6,758,778				6,758,778				6,549,777
Total shares			20,314,593				20,103,538				19,651,216
Pro forma diluted earnings per common share		$	0.27			$	0.37			$	0.27

 

		Fiscal
(in thousands, except share and per share data)		2009				2008				2007
Basic (loss) earnings per common share:
Numerator:
Net (loss) income available to common stockholders		$	(21,648	)		$	(25,433	)		$	1,868
Denominator:
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding			13,000,000				13,000,000				12,887,524
Basic (loss) earnings per common share		$	(1.67	)		$	(1.96	)		$	0.14
Diluted (loss) earnings per common share:*
Numerator
Net (loss) income available to common stockholders		$	(21,648	)		$	(25,433	)		$	1,868
Denominator:
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding			13,000,000				13,000,000				12,887,524
Common stock equivalents of outstanding stock options			—				—				213,915
Total shares			13,000,000				13,000,000				13,101,439
Diluted (loss) earnings per common share		$	(1.67	)		$	(1.96	)		$	0.14
* Excludes certain stock options and preferred shares which would be anti-dilutive

 

 

 

		Fiscal
(in thousands)		2009				2008				2007
Net income		$	5,466			$	7,439			$	5,388
Interest expense			4,614				3,531				4,482
Provision for income taxes			4,558				5,380				208
Depreciation and amortization			12,636				11,423				8,691
EBITDA		$	27,274			$	27,773			$	18,769
Legal settlement			2,100				—				—
Large customer bankruptcy			1,556				—				—
Stock compensation expense			192				318				—
Loss on extinguishment of debt			—				—				460
Adjusted EBITDA		$	31,122			$	28,091			$	19,229

 

 

 

 

 

An investment in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully read and consider the risks described below, together with the other information contained in this prospectus, including our financial statements and the notes thereto and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” before making an investment decision. If any of these risks actually occur, our business, financial condition, results of operations and future growth prospects may be adversely affected. As a result, the trading price of our common stock would likely decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment.

 

Risks related to our business

 

Our operating results could be adversely affected by a reduction in business with our significant customers.

 

We derive a significant amount of revenues from a few customers. For instance, various divisions or business units of one of our customers were responsible for 17.1%, 16.8% and 16.5% of our revenues for fiscal 2009, 2008 and 2007, respectively. Taken as a group, our top 10 customers were responsible for 35.8%, 35.2% and 38.6% of our revenues for fiscal 2009, 2008 and 2007, respectively. Generally, our customers do not have an obligation to make purchases from us and may stop ordering our products and services at any time without financial penalty. The loss of any of our significant customers, any substantial decline in sales to these customers or any significant change in the timing or volume of purchases by our customers could result in lower revenues and could harm our business, financial condition or results of operations.

 

An accident or incident involving our asset protection solutions could expose us to claims, harm our reputation and adversely affect our ability to compete for business and, as a result, harm our operating performance.

 

We are exposed to liabilities arising out of the solutions we provide. For instance, we furnish the results of our testing and inspections for use by our customers in their assessment of their assets, facilities, plants and other structures. Such results may be incorrect or incomplete, whether as a result of poorly designed inspections, malfunctioning testing equipment or our employees’ failure to adequately test or properly record data. For example, one of our clients claimed one of our x-ray inspection crews had improperly recorded inspection data about a portion of its infrastructure, requiring us to provide a new team to inspect that infrastructure over a period of three months at our expense. Further, if an accident or incident involving a structure we are testing or have tested occurs and causes personal injuries to our personnel or third parties, or property damage, such as the collapse of a bridge or an explosion in a plant or facility, and particularly if these injuries or damages could have been prevented by our customers had we provided them with correct or complete results, we may face significant claims by injured persons or related parties and claims relating to any property damage or loss. Even if our results are correct and complete, we may face claims for such injuries or damage simply because we tested the structure or facility in question. For instance, we recently inspected a subset of welds made in a liquid storage tank farm under construction for a customer in order to determine if the welds were being made in accordance with applicable regulations. The welds we tested were specified by the contractor that made them. Weeks after our inspections were completed a weld in a tank cracked, resulting in the spill of hazardous material. The

customer made a claim on its insurer, which in turn made claims against us, among others, for the clean-up costs, which in this case are not significant. Though we believe we did not test the weld that failed, if we are unable to prove this fact we may decide to or be compelled by a court to pay some of the clean-up costs. Our insurance coverage may not be adequate to cover the damages from any such claims, forcing us to bear these uninsured damages directly, which could harm our operating results and may result in additional expenses and possible loss of revenues. An accident or incident for which we are found partially or fully responsible, even if fully insured, may also result in negative publicity, which would harm our reputation among our customers and the public, cause us to lose existing and future contracts or make it more difficult for us to compete effectively, thereby significantly harming our operating performance. Such an accident or incident might also make it more expensive or impossible for us to insure against similar events in the future. Even unsuccessful claims relating to accidents could result in substantial costs, including litigation expenses, and diversion of our management resources.

 

If we are unable to attract and retain a sufficient number of trained engineers, scientists and other highly-skilled technicians at competitive wages, our operational performance may be harmed and our costs may increase.

 

We believe that our success depends, in part, upon our ability to attract, develop and retain a sufficient number of trained engineers, scientists and other highly-skilled, certified technicians at competitive wages. The demand for such employees is currently high, and we project that it may increase substantially in the future. Accordingly, we have experienced increases in our labor costs, particularly in our Services segment, but also, to a lesser extent, in our International segment. Many of the companies with which we compete for experienced personnel have comparatively greater name recognition and resources. In addition, in making employment decisions, job candidates often consider the value of the stock options they are to receive in connection with their employment. Volatility in the future market price of our stock may, therefore, adversely affect our ability to attract or retain key employees. Furthermore, the requirement to expense stock options may discourage us from granting the size or type of stock option awards that job candidates require to join our company. The markets for our products and services also require us to field personnel trained and certified in accordance with standards set by domestic or international standard-setting bodies, such as the American Society of Non-Destructive Testing. Because of the limited supply of these certified technicians, we expend substantial resources maintaining in-house training and certification programs. If we fail to attract sufficient new personnel or fail to motivate and retain our current personnel, our ability to perform under existing contracts and orders or to pursue new business may be harmed, causing us to lose customers and revenues, and the costs of performing such contracts and orders may increase, which would likely reduce our margins.

 

If we lose members of our senior management team upon whom we are dependent, we may not be able to manage our operations and achieve our strategic objectives.

 

Our future success depends to a considerable degree upon the availability, contributions, vision, skills, experience and effort of our senior management team. We do not maintain “key person” insurance on any of our employees other than Dr. Sotirios J. Vahaviolos, our Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. We currently have no employment agreements with members of our senior management team other than with Dr. Vahaviolos. Although we may enter into employment agreements with certain executive officers after this offering, these agreements will likely not guarantee the services of the individual for a specified period of time. All of the future agreements with members of our senior management team are expected to provide that

their employment is at-will and may be terminated by either us or the employee at any time and without notice. Although we do not have any reason to believe that we may lose the services of any of these persons in the foreseeable future, the loss of the services of any of these persons might impede our operations or the achievement of our strategic and financial objectives. The loss or interruption of the service of members of our senior management team could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations and could significantly reduce our ability to manage our operations and implement our strategy.

 

We operate in highly competitive markets and if we are unable to compete successfully, we could lose market share and revenues.

 

We face strong competition from NDT and a variety of niche asset protection providers, both larger and smaller than we are. Many of our competitors have greater financial resources than we do and could focus their substantial financial resources to develop a competing business model or develop products or services that are more attractive to potential customers than what we offer. Some of our competitors are business units of companies substantially larger than us and have the ability to combine asset protection solutions into an integrated offering to customers who already purchase other types of products or services from them. Our competitors may offer asset protection solutions at prices below or without cost in order to improve their competitive positions. Any of these competitive factors could make it more difficult for us to attract and retain customers, cause us to lower our prices in order to compete and reduce our market share and revenues, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

 

Due to our dependency on customers in the oil and gas industry, we are susceptible to prolonged negative trends relating to this industry that could adversely affect our operating results.

 

Our customers in the oil and gas industry (including the petrochemical market) have accounted for a substantial portion of our historical revenues. Specifically, they accounted for approximately 58%, 50% and 52% of our revenues for fiscal 2009, 2008 and 2007, respectively. We continue to diversify our customer base into industries other than the oil and gas industry, but we may not be successful in doing so. If the oil and gas industry were to suffer a prolonged or significant downturn, our operating performance may be significantly harmed.

 

Our growth strategy includes acquisitions. We may not be able to identify suitable acquisition candidates or integrate acquired businesses successfully, which may inhibit our rate of growth, and any acquisitions that we do complete may expose us to a number of unanticipated operational and financial risks.

 

Our historical growth has depended, and our future growth is likely to continue to depend, to a certain extent, on our ability to make acquisitions and successfully integrate acquired businesses. We intend to continue to seek additional acquisition opportunities, both to expand into new markets and to enhance our position in existing markets globally. We may not be able to successfully identify suitable candidates, negotiate appropriate acquisition terms, obtain necessary financing on acceptable terms, complete proposed acquisitions, successfully integrate acquired businesses into our current operations or expand into new markets. Once integrated, acquired operations may not achieve levels of revenues, profitability or productivity comparable with those achieved by our current operations, or otherwise perform as expected.

Some of the risks associated with our acquisition strategy include:

 

 

Our ability to undertake acquisitions is limited by covenants in our credit agreement and our financial resources, including available cash and borrowing capacity. Future acquisitions could result in potentially dilutive issuances of equity securities, the incurrence of substantial additional indebtedness and other expenses, impairment expenses related to goodwill and impairment or amortization expenses related to other intangible assets, any of which could harm our financial condition and results of operations. Although management intends to evaluate the risks inherent in any particular transaction, there are no assurances that we will properly ascertain all such risks. Difficulties encountered with acquisitions may harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

Catastrophic events, such as natural disasters, epidemics, war and acts of terrorism, could disrupt our business or the business of our customers, which could significantly harm our operations, financial results and cash flow.

 

Our operations and those of our customers are susceptible to the occurrence of catastrophic events outside our control, ranging from severe weather conditions to acts of war and terrorism. Any such events could cause a serious business disruption that reduces our customers’ ability to or interest in purchasing our asset protection solutions, and have in the past resulted in order cancellations and delays because customer equipment, facilities or operations have been damaged, or are not operational or available. For instance, order cancellations and delays due to Hurricane Ike adversely affected our revenues in fiscal 2009. Additionally, such events have resulted and may in the future result in substantial delays in the provision of solutions to our customers and the loss of valuable equipment. Any cancellations, delays or losses due to a catastrophic event may significantly reduce our revenues and harm our operating performance.

 

We face risks related to the current economic downturn.

 

The global economy is currently in a pronounced economic downturn. Global financial markets are continuing to experience disruptions, including severely diminished liquidity and credit availability, declines in consumer confidence, declines in economic growth, increases in unemployment rates, volatility in interest and currency exchange rates and overall uncertainty about economic stability. There may be further deterioration and volatility in the global economy, the global financial markets and consumer confidence. We are unable to predict the likely duration and severity of the current global economic downturn or disruptions in the financial markets. The downturn has already resulted in some of our customers canceling and delaying orders for our solutions, as well as some customers delaying payment for items billed, which reduced our gross margins and operating income in fiscal 2009. Some of our customers have also recently requested price concessions. In addition, current economic conditions have resulted in the reduced creditworthiness, inability to obtain sufficient financing, and bankruptcies of certain

customers, increasing our exposure to bad debt. For instance, in fiscal 2009, one of our larger customers filed for bankruptcy due to a downturn in the chemical industry combined with its own highly leveraged position. If economic conditions deteriorate further, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be significantly harmed. Although we believe we have adequate liquidity and capital resources to fund our operations as planned, in light of current market conditions, our inability to access the capital markets on favorable terms, or at all, may harm our financial performance. The inability to obtain adequate financing from debt or capital sources could force us to self-fund strategic initiatives or even forgo certain opportunities, which in turn could potentially harm our performance.

 

We expect to continue expanding and investing in our sales and marketing, operations, engineering, research and development capabilities and financial and reporting systems and, as a result, may encounter difficulties in managing our growth, which could disrupt our operations.

 

We expect to experience significant growth in the number of our employees and the scope of our operations. To effectively manage our anticipated future growth, we must continue to implement and improve our managerial, operational, financial and reporting systems, expand our facilities and continue to recruit and train additional qualified personnel. We expect that all of these measures will require significant expenditures and will demand the attention of management. We may not be able to effectively manage the expansion of our operations or recruit and adequately train additional qualified personnel. Failure to manage our growth effectively could lead us to over or under-invest in technology and operations, result in weaknesses in our infrastructure, systems or controls, give rise to operational mistakes, loss of business opportunities, the loss of employees and reduced productivity among remaining employees. Our expected growth could require significant capital expenditures and may divert financial resources from other projects, such as the development of new solutions. If our management is unable to effectively manage our expected growth, our expenses may increase more than expected, our revenues could decline or may grow more slowly than expected and we may be unable to implement our business strategy.

 

The success of our businesses depends, in part, on our ability to develop new asset protection solutions and increase the functionality of our current offerings.

 

The market for asset protection solutions is impacted by technological change, uncertain product lifecycles, shifts in customer demands and evolving industry standards and regulations. We may not be able to successfully develop and market new asset protection solutions that comply with present or emerging industry regulations and technology standards. Also, new regulations or technology standards could increase our cost of doing business.

 

From time to time, our customers have requested greater functionality in our solutions. As part of our strategy to enhance our asset protection solutions and grow our business, we plan to continue making substantial investments in the research and development of new technologies. We believe our future success will depend, in part, on our ability to continue to design new, competitive asset protection solutions, enhance our current solutions and provide new, value-added services. Developing new solutions will require continued investment, and we may experience unforeseen technological or operational challenges. In addition, our asset protection software is complex and can be expensive to develop, and new software and software enhancements can require long development and testing periods. If we are unable to develop new asset protection solutions or enhancements to our current offerings, or if the market does not accept

such solutions, we will likely lose opportunities to realize revenues and customers and our business and results of operations will be adversely affected.

 

If our software produces inaccurate information or is incompatible with the systems used by our customers and makes us unable to successfully provide our solutions, it could lead to a loss of revenues and customers.

 

Our software is complex and, accordingly, may contain undetected errors or failures. Software defects or inaccurate data may cause incorrect recording, reporting or display of information related to our asset protection solutions. Any such failures, defects and inaccurate data may prevent us from successfully providing our asset protection solutions, which would result in lost revenues. Software defects or inaccurate data may lead to customer dissatisfaction and our customers may seek to hold us liable for any damages incurred. As a result, we could lose customers, our reputation may be harmed and our financial condition and results of operations would be materially adversely affected.

 

We currently serve a commercial, industrial and governmental customer base that uses a wide variety of constantly changing hardware, software solutions and operating systems. Our asset protection solutions need to interface with these non-standard systems in order to gather and assess data. Our business depends on the following factors, among others:

 

 

If we are unable to adequately address any of these factors, our results of operations and prospects for growth and profitability would be harmed.

 

If we fail to successfully educate current and potential customers regarding the benefits of our asset protection solutions or the market for these solutions otherwise fails to develop, our ability to grow our business could be adversely impacted.

 

Our future success depends on continued and growing commercial acceptance of our asset protection solutions and our ability to obtain additional contracts. We anticipate that revenues related to our asset protection solutions will constitute a substantial portion of our revenues for the foreseeable future. If we are unable to educate our potential customers about the advantages our solutions have over competing products and services, or our current customers stop purchasing our asset protection solutions, our operating results could be significantly harmed. In addition, because the asset protection solutions industry is rapidly evolving, we could lose insight into trends that may be emerging, which would further harm our competitive position by making it difficult to predict and respond to customer needs. If the market for our asset protection solutions does not continue to develop, our ability to grow our business would be limited and we might not be able to maintain profitability.

Our results of operations could be harmed if our operating expenses do not correspond with the timing of our revenues.

 

Most of our operating expenses, such as employee compensation and property rental expense, are relatively fixed over the short-term. Moreover, our spending levels are based in part on our expectations regarding future revenues. As a result, if revenues for a particular quarter are below expectations, we would not be able to proportionately reduce operating expenses for that quarter without a substantial disruption to our business. This shortfall in revenues could adversely affect our operating results for that quarter and could cause the market price of our common stock to decline substantially.

 

The seasonal nature of our business reduces our revenues in our first and third fiscal quarters.

 

Our business is seasonal. Our first and third fiscal quarter revenues are typically lower than our revenues in the second and fourth fiscal quarters because demand for our asset protection solutions from the oil and gas as well as the fossil and nuclear power industries increases during their non-peak production periods. For instance, U.S. refineries’ non-peak periods are generally in our second fiscal quarter, when they are retooling to produce more heating oil for winter, and in our fourth fiscal quarter, when they are retooling to produce more gasoline for summer. As a result of these trends, we generally have reduced cash flows in our second and fourth fiscal quarters, which may require us to borrow under our credit agreement or otherwise, to discontinue planned operations, or to curtail our operations. We expect that the negative impact of seasonality on our first and third fiscal quarter revenues and second and fourth fiscal quarter cash flows will continue.

 

Growth in revenues from our Services segment or traditional NDT services relative to revenues from our Products and Systems and International segments, may reduce our overall gross profit margin.

 

Our gross profit margin on revenues from our Services segment has historically been lower than our gross profit margin on revenues from our other segments because our services have higher labor-related costs. For instance, the gross profit margin in our Services segment for fiscal 2009 was 28.9%, while our gross profit margin in our Products and Systems segment and in our International segment was 49.0% and 43.2%, respectively. Our overall gross profit margin was 33.1% during the same period. Moreover, our gross profit margin on traditional NDT services has historically been lower than our gross profit margin in our Services segment as a whole. As a result, we expect our overall gross profit margin will be lower in periods when revenues from our services, and particularly from traditional NDT services, has increased as a percentage of total revenues and will be higher in periods when revenues from our International or Products and Systems segments has increased as a percentage of total revenues. Fluctuations in our gross profit margin may affect our level of profitability in any period, which may negatively affect the price of our common stock.

 

We have identified two significant deficiencies in our internal controls over financial reporting.

 

In connection with the audit of our financial results for fiscal 2009, we and our independent registered accounting firm reported to our audit committee two significant deficiencies concerning the substantial number of our internal control processes that are still being formalized or are manual in nature and the design of certain controls related to the financial statement closing process. These processes, at times, require significant effort to execute and, therefore,

generally may not provide a sustainable platform for an effective and efficient financial statement closing process. A significant deficiency is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting that is less severe than a material weakness, yet important enough to merit attention by those responsible for oversight of the registrant’s financial reporting. If we are unable to remedy these significant deficiencies, or if we discover other significant deficiencies in the future, then we may not be able to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of our financial statements, which could have an adverse effect on our business or operating results.

 

Our business is currently subject to governmental regulation, and may become subject to modified or new government regulation that may negatively impact our ability to market our asset protection solutions.

 

We incur substantial costs in complying with various government regulations and licensing requirements. For example, the transportation and overnight storage of radioactive materials used in providing certain of our asset protection solutions is subject to regulation under federal and state laws and licensing requirements. Our Services segment is currently licensed to handle radioactive materials by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and 18 state regulatory agencies. If we allegedly fail to comply with these regulations, we may be investigated and incur significant legal expenses associated with such investigations, and if we are found to have violated these regulations, we may be fined or lose one or more of our licenses to perform further projects. While we are investigated, we may be required to suspend work on the projects associated with our alleged noncompliance, resulting in loss of profits or customers, and damage to our reputation. For instance, in January, 2007, we were investigated due to an incident involving radiation exposure resulting from the misconduct of one of our employees. As a result, our customer required us to briefly suspend work on the associated project. We were found to have violated regulations governing the handling of radioactive materials, and as a result we incurred significant legal expenses. A more serious violation could result in lost profits and damage to our reputation. Many of our customers have strict requirements concerning safety or loss time occurrences. In the future, federal, state, provincial or local governmental agencies may seek to change current regulations or impose additional regulations on our business. Any modified or new government regulation applicable to our current or future asset protection solutions may negatively impact the marketing and provision of those solutions and increase our costs and the price of our solutions.

 

A significant stockholder controls the direction of our business. The concentrated ownership of our common stock may prevent you and other stockholders from influencing significant corporate decisions.

 

Dr. Sotirios J. Vahaviolos, our Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, will own approximately 43% of our outstanding common stock after this offering. As a result, Dr. Vahaviolos will have the ability to exert substantial influence over all matters requiring approval by our stockholders, including the election and removal of directors, amendments to our certificate of incorporation, and any proposed merger, consolidation or sale of all or substantially all of our assets and other corporate transactions. This concentration of ownership could be disadvantageous to other stockholders with differing interests from Dr. Vahaviolos.

An inability to protect our intellectual property could negatively affect our business and results of operations.

 

Our ability to compete effectively depends in part upon the maintenance and protection of the intellectual property related to our asset protection solutions. Patent protection is unavailable for certain aspects of the technology and operational processes important to our business. Any patent held by us or to be issued to us, or any of our pending patent applications, could be unenforceable, challenged, invalidated or circumvented. Some of our trademarks that are not in use may become available to others. To date, we have relied principally on copyright, trademark and trade secrecy laws, as well as confidentiality agreements and licensing arrangements, to establish and protect our intellectual property. However, we have not obtained confidentiality agreements from all of our customers and vendors, and although we have entered into confidentiality agreements with all of our employees in our Products and Systems segment and certain of our other employees involved in the development of our intellectual property, we cannot be certain that these agreements will be honored or enforceable. Some of our confidentiality agreements are not in writing, and some customers are subject to laws and regulations that require them to disclose information that we would otherwise seek to keep confidential. Although we do not transfer ownership of some of our more advanced asset protection products and systems and, instead, sell to our customers services using these products and systems, in part, in an effort to protect the intellectual property upon which they are based, this strategy may not be successful and our customers or third parties may reverse engineer or otherwise derive this intellectual property and use it without our authorization. Policing unauthorized use of our intellectual property is difficult and expensive. The steps that we have taken or may take might not prevent misappropriation of the intellectual property on which we rely. In addition, effective protection may be unavailable or limited in jurisdictions outside the United States, as the intellectual property laws of foreign countries sometimes offer less protection or have onerous filing requirements. From time to time, third parties may infringe our intellectual property rights. Litigation may be necessary to enforce or protect our rights or to determine the validity and scope of the rights of others. Any litigation could be unsuccessful, cause us to incur substantial costs, divert resources away from our daily operations and result in the impairment of our intellectual property. Failure to adequately enforce our rights could cause us to lose valuable rights in our intellectual property and may negatively affect our business.

 

We may be subject to damaging and disruptive intellectual property litigation related to allegations that our asset protection solutions infringe on the intellectual property of others, which could prevent us from offering those solutions.

 

Third-party patent applications and patents may be applicable to our asset protection solutions. As a result, third parties may in the future make infringement and other allegations that could subject us to intellectual property litigation relating to our solutions. Such litigation would be time consuming and expensive, divert attention and resources away from our daily operations, impede or prevent delivery of our solutions and require us to pay significant royalties, licensing fees and damages. In addition, parties making infringement and other claims may be able to obtain injunctive or other equitable relief that could effectively block our ability to provide our solutions and could cause us to pay substantial damages. In the event of a successful claim of infringement, we may need to seek one or more licenses from third parties in order to continue to offer the related solution, which may not be available at a reasonable cost, or at all. For example, in 2004 a competitor brought a patent infringement lawsuit against us based on our use of certain sensor technology in our inspection of a bridge. We incurred approximately $0.6

million in expenses to defend against and settle this lawsuit, and to enter into a license to use this technology. Under this license agreement, we have paid the competitor immaterial amounts for fees and royalties for use of the technology, which we no longer use in our business.

 

We may require additional capital to support business growth, which might not be available.

 

We intend to continue making investments to support our business growth and may require additional funds to respond to business challenges or opportunities, including the need to develop new, or enhance our current, asset protection solutions, enhance our operating infrastructure or acquire complementary businesses and technologies. Accordingly, we may need to engage in equity or debt financings to secure additional funds. If we raise additional funds through further issuances of equity or convertible debt securities, our current stockholders, including investors in this offering, could suffer significant dilution, and any new equity securities we issue could have rights, preferences and privileges superior to those of holders of our common stock. Any debt financing secured by us in the future could involve restrictive covenants relating to our capital-raising activities and other financial and operational matters, which may make it more difficult for us to obtain additional capital and to pursue business opportunities, including potential acquisitions. In addition, we may not be able to obtain additional financing on terms favorable to us, if at all. If we are unable to obtain adequate financing or financing on terms satisfactory to us when we require it, our ability to continue to support our business growth and to respond to business challenges could be significantly limited.

 

Our credit agreement contains financial and operating restrictions that may limit our access to credit. If we fail to comply with financial or other covenants in our credit agreement, we may be required to repay indebtedness to our existing lenders, which may harm our liquidity.

 

Provisions in our credit agreement with Bank of America, N.A., JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., TD Bank, N.A. and Capital One, N.A. impose restrictions on our ability to, among other things:

 

 

Our credit agreement also contains financial covenants that require us to maintain compliance with specified financial ratios. As of May 31, 2009 we were not in compliance with certain covenants in our former credit agreement limiting our incurrence of certain indebtedness and requiring us to maintain a certain debt service coverage ratio, and we may not be able to comply with such covenants in the future. Although this prior noncompliance with these covenants was waived by our lenders, our failure to comply with these covenants in the future may result in the declaration of an event of default, which could prevent us from borrowing under our credit agreement. In addition to preventing additional borrowings under our credit agreement, an event of default, if not cured or waived, may result in the acceleration of the maturity of indebtedness outstanding under the agreement, which would require us to pay all

amounts outstanding and, in addition, our lenders may require us to cash collateralize letters of credit issued thereunder. If an event of default occurs, we may not be able to cure it within any applicable cure period, if at all. If the maturity of our indebtedness is accelerated, we then may not have sufficient funds available for repayment or the ability to borrow or obtain sufficient funds to replace the accelerated indebtedness on terms acceptable to us, or at all.

 

We may become subject to commercial disputes or product liability claims, that could harm our business by distracting our management from the operation of our business, by increasing our expenses and, if we do not prevail, by subjecting us to potential monetary damages and other remedies.

 

We face potential liability for, among other things, contract, negligence and product liability claims related to our provision of asset protection solutions. For instance, our customers may assert that we have failed to perform under our agreements with them, or our customers or third parties may claim damages arising out of misuse of our products, the malfunctioning of our products due to design or manufacturing flaws, or the use of our products with components or systems not manufactured or sold by us. We currently do not carry product liability insurance and we may not have sufficient resources to satisfy any liability resulting from product liability or other claims. Any of these claims or disputes could result in monetary damages and equitable or other remedies that could harm our financial position or operations. Even if we prevail in or settle these claims or disputes, they may distract our management from operating our business and the cost of defending or settling them could harm our operating results, financial position and cash flows.

 

We rely on a limited number of suppliers to provide us radioisotopes and a material interruption in supply could prevent or limit our ability to fill orders for our products.

 

We depend upon a limited number of third-party suppliers for the radioisotopes we use to provide certain advanced asset protection solutions. Our principal suppliers are Industrial Nuclear Company, QSA Global Inc. and Source Production & Equipment Co., Inc. We also utilize other commercial isotope manufacturers located in the United States and overseas. To date, we have been able to obtain the required radioisotopes for our asset protection solutions without any significant delays or interruptions. If we lose any of these suppliers, we may be required to find and enter into supply arrangements with one or more replacement suppliers. Obtaining alternative sources of supply could involve significant delays and other costs and these supply sources may not be available to us on reasonable terms or at all. Any disruption of supplies could delay delivery of our products that use radioisotopes, which could adversely affect our business and financial results and result in lost or deferred sales.

 

Our sales cycles can be lengthy, unpredictable and require significant employee time and financial resources with no assurances that we will realize revenues.

 

Our sales cycles are often long and unpredictable. Many of our current and potential customers have extended budgeting and procurement processes. We believe that they also tend to be risk averse and follow industry trends rather than be the first to purchase new products or services, which can extend the lead time for or prevent acceptance of new products or services. Accordingly, they may take longer to reach a decision to purchase our solutions. This extended sales process, which often lasts between three and six months, requires the dedication of significant time and financial resources, with no certainty of success or recovery of our related

expenses. It is not unusual for our current and potential customers to go through the entire sales process and not make any purchases.

 

Any real or perceived internal or external electronic security breaches in connection with the use of our asset protection solutions could harm our reputation, inhibit market acceptance of our solutions and cause us to lose customers.

 

We and our customers use our asset protection solutions to compile and analyze sensitive or confidential customer-related information. In addition, some of our asset protection solutions allow us to remotely control equipment at commercial, institutional and industrial locations. Our asset protection solutions rely on the secure electronic transmission of proprietary data over the Internet or other networks. Well-publicized compromises of Internet security could have the effect of substantially reducing confidence in the Internet as a medium of data transmission. The occurrence or perception of security breaches in connection with our asset protection solutions or our customers’ concerns about Internet security or the security of our solutions, whether warranted or not, would likely harm our reputation or business, inhibit market acceptance of our asset protection solutions and cause us to lose customers, any of which would harm our financial condition and results of operations.

 

We may come into contact with sensitive consumer information or data when we perform installation, maintenance or testing functions for our customers. Even the perception that we have improperly handled sensitive, confidential information would have a negative effect on our business. If, in handling this information, we fail to comply with privacy or security laws, we could incur civil liability to government agencies, customers and individuals whose privacy is compromised. In addition, third parties may attempt to breach our security or inappropriately harm our asset protection solutions through computer viruses, electronic break-ins and other disruptions. If a breach is successful, confidential information may be improperly obtained, for which we may be subject to lawsuits and other liabilities.

 

Our international operations are subject to risks relating to non-U.S. operations.

 

In fiscal 2009, 2008 and 2007, we generated approximately 22%, 22% and 25% respectively, of our revenues outside the United States and we expect to increase our international presence over time. Our primary operations outside the United States are in Europe, Asia, Canada and South America. There are numerous risks inherent in doing business in international markets, including:

 

 

 

We are expanding our sales and marketing efforts in certain emerging markets, such as Brazil, Russia, India and China. Expanding our business into emerging markets may present additional risks beyond those associated with more developed international markets. For example, in China and Russia, we may encounter risks associated with the ongoing transition from state business ownership to privatization. In any emerging market, we may face the risks of working in cash-based economies, dealing with inconsistent government policies and encountering sudden currency revaluations.

 

We rely on certification of our NDT solutions by industry standards-setting bodies.

 

We currently have International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9001-2000 certifications for each of Mistras Services, Physical Acoustics Corporation (PAC), Physical Acoustics Limited, and Envirocoustics S.A. and we have ISO 14001:2004 certification for Mistras Services and Physical Acoustics South America. Physical Acoustics South America also has a OHSAS 18001 certification. In addition, we currently have Nadcap (formerly National Aerospace and Defense Contractors Accreditation Program) certification for four of our locations in Auburn, Massachusetts; Springfield, Massachusetts; Heath, Ohio; and Kent, Washington. We continually review our NDT solutions for compliance with the requirements of industry specification standards and the Nadcap special processes quality requirements. However, if we fail to maintain our ISO or Nadcap certifications, our business may be harmed because our customers generally require that we have ISO and Nadcap certification before they purchase our NDT solutions.

 

Risks related to our common stock and this offering

 

We expect our quarterly revenues and operating results to fluctuate. If we fail to meet the expectations of market analysts or investors, the market price of our common stock could decline substantially.

 

Our quarterly operating results have fluctuated in the past and are expected to do so in the future. Accordingly, we believe that period-to-period comparisons of our results of operations may be misleading. You should not rely upon the results of one quarter as an indication of future performance. Our revenues and operating results may fall below the expectations of securities analysts or investors in any future period. Our failure to meet these expectations would likely cause the market price of our common stock to decline, perhaps substantially.

 

Our quarterly revenues and operating results may vary depending on a number of factors, including:

 

 

 

We currently have no plans to pay dividends on our common stock.

 

We have not declared or paid any cash dividends on our common stock to date, and we do not anticipate declaring or paying any dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. We currently intend to retain all available funds and any future earnings for use in the development, operation and growth of our business. In addition, our credit agreement prohibits us from paying dividends and future loan agreements may also prohibit the payment of dividends. Any future determination relating to our dividend policy will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on our results of operations, financial condition, capital requirements, business opportunities, contractual restrictions and other factors deemed relevant. To the extent we do not pay dividends on our common stock, investors must look solely to stock appreciation for a return on their investment.

 

There is no existing market for our common stock, and a trading market that will provide you with adequate liquidity may not develop. The price of our common stock may fluctuate significantly, and you could lose all or part of your investment.

 

Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for our common stock. We cannot predict the extent to which investor interest will lead to the development of an active and liquid trading market in our common stock on the New York Stock Exchange or otherwise. If an active and liquid trading market does not develop, you may have difficulty selling any of our common stock.

 

The initial public offering price for the shares will be determined by negotiations between us and the representatives of the underwriters and may not be indicative of the market price of the common stock on the New York Stock Exchange after the offering. The market price of our common stock may decline below the initial public offering price. The market price of our

common stock may also be influenced by many factors, some of which are beyond our control, including:

 

 

The stock markets have generally experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations. This volatility has had a significant impact on the market price of securities issued by many companies, including those in our industry. These changes frequently appear to occur without regard to the operating performance of these companies. The price of our common stock could fluctuate for reasons that have little or nothing to do with our company, and these fluctuations could materially reduce our stock price.

 

In the past, some companies that have had volatile market prices for their securities have been subject to class action or derivative lawsuits. The filing of a lawsuit against us, regardless of the outcome, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, as it could result in substantial legal costs and a diversion of our management’s attention and resources.

 

Shares eligible for future sale may cause the market price for our common stock to decline even if our business is doing well.

 

Future sales by us or by our existing stockholders of substantial amounts of our common stock in the public market, or the perception that these sales may occur, could cause the market price of our common stock to decline. This could also impair our ability to raise additional capital in the future through the sale of our equity securities. Under our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation that will be in effect upon the completion of this offering, we are authorized to issue up to 200,000,000 shares of common stock, of which 26,458,778 shares of common stock will be outstanding following this offering. Of these shares, the 8,700,000 shares of common stock sold in this offering (or 10,000,000 shares, if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares from the selling stockholders in full) will be freely transferable without restriction or further registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (Securities Act), by persons other than “affiliates,” as that term is defined in Rule 144 under the Securities Act. Additional shares of common stock will become freely tradeable immediately upon the termination of the lock-up agreements described below. Certain of our stockholders will be able to cause us to register common stock that they own under the Securities Act pursuant to registration rights that are described in “Certain Relationships and Related Transactions—Registration Rights.” We also intend to register all shares of common stock that we may issue under our 2007 Stock Option Plan and 2009 Long-Term Incentive Plan.

Our executive officers and directors and certain of our stockholders have entered into lock-up agreements described under the caption “Underwriting,” pursuant to which they have agreed, subject to certain exceptions and extensions, not to sell or transfer, directly or indirectly, any shares of our common stock for a period of 180 days from the date of this prospectus or to exercise registration rights during such period with respect to such shares. However, after the lock-up period expires, or if the lock-up restrictions are waived by the representatives, such persons will be able to sell their shares and exercise registration rights to cause them to be registered. We cannot predict the size of future issuances of our common stock or the effect, if any, that future sales and issuances of shares of our common stock, or the perception of such sales or issuances, would have on the market price of our common stock.

 

We have not determined any specific use for a significant portion of the proceeds from this offering and we may use the proceeds in ways with which you may not agree.

 

Our management will have considerable discretion in the application of the net proceeds received by us. You will not have the opportunity, as part of your investment decision, to assess whether the proceeds are being used appropriately. You must rely on the judgment of our management regarding the application of the net proceeds of this offering. We currently expect that we will use a portion of these net proceeds to repay all of our credit facility. After repayment we expect to have availability under our secured revolving credit facility for future borrowings that we also may use at our discretion. The net proceeds may be used for corporate purposes that may not improve our financial condition and results of operations or increase our stock price.

 

Purchasers of common stock will experience immediate and substantial dilution.

 

Based on the initial public offering price of $15.00 per share (the midpoint of the price range shown on the cover page of this prospectus), purchasers of our common stock in this offering will experience an immediate and substantial dilution in the net tangible book value per share of common stock of $12.00 per share from the offering price. Investors purchasing common stock in this offering will contribute approximately 50% of the total amount invested by stockholders since inception, but will only own approximately 33% of the shares of common stock outstanding. In addition, following this offering we will also have a significant number of outstanding warrants and options to purchase our common stock, with the options having exercise prices significantly below the initial public offering price of our common stock. You will incur further dilution if outstanding options or warrants to purchase common stock are exercised. In addition, our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation that will be in effect upon the completion of this offering allows us to issue significant numbers of additional shares, including shares that may be issued under our 2009 Long-Term Incentive Plan, which could result in further dilution to purchasers of our common stock in this offering.

 

Provisions of our charter, bylaws and of Delaware law, as well as some of our employment arrangements, could discourage, delay or prevent a change of control of our company, which may adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

 

Certain provisions of our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws that will be in effect upon the completion of this offering could discourage, delay or prevent a merger, acquisition, or other change of control that stockholders may consider favorable, including transactions in which you might otherwise receive a premium

for your shares. These provisions also could limit the price that investors might be willing to pay in the future for shares of our common stock, thereby depressing the market price of our common stock. Stockholders who wish to participate in these transactions may not have the opportunity to do so. Furthermore, these provisions could prevent or frustrate attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our management. These provisions:

 

 

Some of our employment arrangements and stock option agreements provide for severance payments and accelerated vesting of benefits, including accelerated vesting of restricted stock and options, upon a change of control. This offering will not constitute a change of control under such agreements. These provisions may discourage or prevent a change of control.

 

In addition, because we are incorporated in Delaware, we are governed by the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which may, unless certain criteria are met, prohibit large stockholders, in particular those owning 15% or more of our outstanding voting stock, from merging or combining with us for a prescribed period of time.

 

Being a public company will increase our administrative workload and expenses.

 

As a public company with common stock listed on the New York Stock Exchange, we will need to comply with new laws, regulations and requirements, including certain provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, related regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the requirements of the New York Stock Exchange, which we are not required to comply with as a private company. Complying with these statutes, regulations and requirements will occupy a significant amount of time of our board of directors and management. The hiring of additional personnel to handle these responsibilities will increase our operating costs. We expect we will need to:

 

 

 

In addition, we expect that being a public company subject to these rules and regulations will make it more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance, and we may be required to accept reduced coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain coverage. These factors could also make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified executive officers and qualified members of our board of directors, particularly to serve on our audit and compensation committees.

 

Our internal controls over financial reporting do not currently meet the standards required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and failure to achieve and maintain effective internal controls over financial reporting in accordance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act could have a material adverse effect on our business and stock price.

 

Our internal controls over financial reporting do not currently meet the standards required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, standards that we will be required to meet in the course of preparing our 2011 annual report on Form 10-K. We do not currently have comprehensive documentation of our internal controls, nor do we document or test our compliance with these controls on a periodic basis in accordance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Furthermore, we have not tested our internal controls in accordance with Section 404 and, due to our lack of documentation, such a test would not be possible to perform at this time.

 

We are in the early stages of addressing our internal controls procedures to satisfy the requirements of Section 404, which requires an annual management assessment of the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting. If, as a public company, we are not able to timely or adequately implement the requirements of Section 404, our independent registered public accounting firm may not be able to attest to the adequacy of our internal controls over financial reporting. If we are unable to maintain adequate internal controls over financial reporting, we may be unable to report our financial information in a timely and reliable manner, may suffer adverse regulatory consequences or violations of applicable stock exchange listing rules and may breach the covenants under our credit facilities. There could also be a negative reaction in the financial markets due to a loss of investor confidence in us and the reliability of our financial statements, which could significantly harm our business.

 

In addition, we expect to incur incremental costs in order to improve our internal controls over financial reporting and comply with Section 404, including increased audit and legal fees and costs associated with hiring additional accounting and administrative staff.

 

This prospectus contains forward-looking statements that are based on our management’s beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to us. The forward-looking statements are contained principally in the sections entitled “Prospectus Summary” (including specifically the statements included under “Recent Developments”), “Risk Factors,” “Use of Proceeds,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Business.” When used in this prospectus, the words “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “would,” and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. Although we believe that our plans, intentions and expectations reflected in any forward-looking statements are reasonable, these plans, intentions or expectations are based on assumptions, are subject to risks and uncertainties and may not be achieved. Our actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from those contemplated, expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from our forward-looking statements are set forth in this prospectus, including under the heading “Risk Factors.” Given these uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Also, forward-looking statements represent our management’s beliefs and assumptions only as of the date of this prospectus. All forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements set forth in this prospectus. These statements include, among other things, statements relating to:

 

 

 

Actual events, results and outcomes may differ materially from our expectations due to a variety of factors. Although it is not possible to identify all of these factors, they include, among others, the following:

 

 

 

Potential investors are urged to carefully consider these factors and the other factors described under “Risk Factors” in evaluating any forward-looking statements and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Except as required by applicable law, we undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in any forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future.

 

We estimate that our net proceeds from the sale of our common stock in this offering, based on the initial public offering price of $15.00 per share (the midpoint of the price range shown on the cover page of this prospectus), will be approximately $89.8 million, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us.

 

We plan to use these net proceeds for general corporate purposes, including working capital and possible acquisitions, although we have no present understandings, commitments or agreements to acquire any businesses or technologies. In addition, we currently expect that we will use a portion of these net proceeds to repay all of the indebtedness outstanding under our credit agreement with Bank of America, N.A., JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., TD Bank, N.A. and Capital One, N.A. Borrowings under this agreement currently bear interest at the LIBOR or base rate, at our option, plus an applicable margin ranging from 0% to 3.25% and a market disruption increase of between 0.0% and 1.0%, if the lenders determine it applicable. The applicable rate was approximately 3.00% as of August 31, 2009. Borrowings under this agreement mature on July 21, 2012. We used the proceeds from indebtedness incurred during the past year to repay the outstanding indebtedness of our prior credit agreement, to fund two acquisitions that closed after the end of fiscal 2009 and for other general working capital purposes. As of August 31, 2009, we had $65.8 million of total indebtedness outstanding under this agreement, and had $14.2 million of availability under the $55.0 million revolving credit facility portion of this agreement.

 

We will not receive any proceeds from the sale of shares by the selling stockholders.

 

We have not yet determined the amount of our remaining net proceeds to be used specifically for any of the foregoing purposes. Accordingly, management will have flexibility in applying our remaining net proceeds of this offering. Pending their use, we intend to invest our net proceeds from this offering in short-term, investment grade, interest-bearing instruments.

 

We have never paid or declared any cash dividends on our common stock. We currently intend to retain all available funds and any future earnings to fund the development and expansion of our business, and we do not anticipate paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Any future determination to pay dividends will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on our financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements and other factors that our board of directors deems relevant. The terms of our current credit agreement with Bank of America, N.A., JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., TD Bank, N.A. and Capital One, N.A, preclude us, and the terms of any future debt or credit facility may also preclude us, from paying cash dividends.

 

The following table sets forth (1) our cash and cash equivalents and (2) our capitalization as of May 31, 2009:

 

 

 

 

For purposes of the pro forma as adjusted column of the capitalization table below, we have assumed the net proceeds from this offering will be $89.8 million after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us.

 

In addition, the table excludes the following:

 

 

 

This table should be read in conjunction with our audited consolidated financial statements, including the notes thereto, “Use of Proceeds,” “Selected Historical Consolidated Financial

Information,” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” all included elsewhere in this prospectus.

 

 

 

If you invest in our common stock, your interest will be diluted to the extent of the difference between the initial public offering price per share of our common stock and the net tangible book value per share of our common stock immediately after the completion of this offering. Dilution results from the fact that the per share offering price of the common stock is substantially in excess of the book value per share attributable to the existing stockholders for the presently outstanding stock.

 

As of May 31, 2009, our net tangible book deficit was approximately $98.5 million, or approximately $4.99 per share. Net tangible book deficit per share represents the amount of total tangible assets less our total liabilities, including our preferred stock, divided by the number of shares outstanding. On a pro forma basis, after giving effect to the conversion of 519,906 shares of our preferred stock into 6,758,778 shares of our common stock and a 13-for-1 stock split of our common stock, and excluding proceeds from this offering, our pro forma net tangible book deficit as of May 31, 2009 would have been approximately $7.5 million, or $(0.38) per share.

 

On a pro forma as adjusted basis, after giving further effect to the sale of 6,700,000 shares of common stock in this offering at the initial public offering price of $15.00 per share (the midpoint of the price range shown on the cover page of this prospectus) and after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us, our pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value as of May 31, 2009 would have been approximately $79.4 million, or $3.00 per share. This represents an immediate increase in pro forma net tangible book value from this offering of $3.38 per share to our existing stockholders and an immediate dilution of $12.00 per share to new investors purchasing common stock in this offering.

 

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

 

 

The following table summarizes, as of May 31, 2009, the differences between the number of shares of common stock owned by existing stockholders and the number to be owned by new public investors, the aggregate cash consideration paid to us after deducting underwriting discounts and estimated offering expenses payable by us and the average price per share paid by our existing stockholders and to be paid by new public investors purchasing shares of

common stock in this offering at the initial public offering price of $15.00 per share (the midpoint of the price range shown on the cover page of this prospectus).

 

 

 

The discussion and tables above assume no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option. If the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option in full, the number of shares of common stock held by new investors will increase to approximately 10,000,000 shares, or approximately 37.8% of the total number of shares of our common stock to be outstanding after this offering, our existing stockholders would own approximately 62.2% of the total number of shares of our common stock to be outstanding after this offering, the pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share of common stock would be approximately $97.5 million and the dilution in pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share of common stock to new investors would be $11.31.

 

In addition, the above discussion and tables assume no exercise of stock options.

 

As of May 31, 2009, we had outstanding options to purchase a total of 939,900 shares of common stock at a weighted average exercise price of $6.81 per share. If all of these outstanding options had been exercised as of May 31, 2009, our pro forma net tangible book value would have been $0.06 per share of common stock, pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value after this offering would be $3.24 per share of common stock and dilution in pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value to investors in this offering would be $11.76 per share of common stock.

 

In addition, if all of these outstanding options as of May 31, 2009 were exercised, on an as adjusted basis after deducting underwriting discounts and estimated offering expenses payable by us, (i) existing stockholders would have purchased 939,900 shares representing 3.5% of the total shares for approximately 6.4 million or approximately 4.9% of the total consideration paid, with an average price per share of $6.81 and (ii) 6,273,285 shares purchased by new stockholders in this offering would represent approximately 23.3% of total shares for approximately $94.1 million, or approximately 72% of the total consideration paid.

 

The following tables set forth our selected historical consolidated financial data for the periods indicated. The selected statement of operations and cash flow data for fiscal 2009, 2008 and 2007 and the selected balance sheet data as of May 31, 2009 and 2008 have been derived from our audited financial statements and related notes thereto included elsewhere in this prospectus. The statement of operations and cash flow data for fiscal 2006 and fiscal 2005 and the selected balance sheet data as of May 31, 2007, 2006 and 2005 have been derived from our audited financial statements not included in this prospectus. The information presented below should be read in conjunction with “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and the audited and unaudited financial statements and the notes thereto included elsewhere in this prospectus.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You should read the following discussion together with the financial statements and the notes thereto included elsewhere in this prospectus. This discussion contains forward-looking statements that are based on management’s current expectations, estimates and projections about our business and operations. The cautionary statements made in this prospectus should be read as applying to all related forward-looking statements wherever they appear in this prospectus. Our actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated and expressed in such forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors, including but not limited to those we discuss under “Risk Factors” and “Forward-Looking Statements.”

 

Overview

 

We are a leading global provider of technology-enabled asset protection solutions used to evaluate the structural integrity of critical energy, industrial and public infrastructure. We combine industry-leading products and technologies, expertise in mechanical integrity (MI) and non-destructive testing (NDT) services and proprietary data analysis software to deliver a comprehensive portfolio of customized solutions, ranging from routine inspections to complex, plant-wide asset integrity assessments and management. These mission critical solutions enhance our customers’ ability to extend the useful life of their assets, increase productivity, minimize repair costs, comply with governmental safety and environmental regulations, manage risk and avoid catastrophic disasters. Given the role our services play in ensuring the safe and efficient operation of infrastructure, we have historically provided a majority of our services to our customers on a regular, recurring basis. We serve a global customer base of companies with asset-intensive infrastructure, including companies in the oil and gas, fossil and nuclear power, public infrastructure, chemicals, aerospace and defense, transportation, primary metals and metalworking, pharmaceuticals and food processing industries. During fiscal 2009, we provided our asset protection solutions to approximately 4,500 customers. As of August 1, 2009, we had approximately 2,000 employees, including 29 Ph.D.’s and more than 100 other degreed engineers and highly-skilled, certified technicians, in 68 offices across 15 countries. We have established long-term relationships as a critical solutions provider to many leading companies in our target markets. Our current principal market is the oil and gas industry, which accounted for approximately 58%, 50% and 52% of our revenues for fiscal 2009, 2008 and 2007, respectively.

 

During the last three fiscal years, we have focused on introducing our advanced asset protection solutions to our customers using proprietary, technology-enabled software and testing instruments, including those developed by our Products and Systems segment. During this period, the demand for outsourced asset protection solutions has, in general, increased, creating demand from which our entire industry has benefited. We have experienced compounded annual revenue growth (CAGR) of 30.7% over the last three fiscal years, including the impact of acquisitions and currency fluctuations. During the same period, revenues from our customers in the oil and gas market, historically our largest target market, had a CAGR of 39.0%. All of our other target markets, collectively, had a CAGR of 22.0%. We believe further growth can be realized in all of our target markets. Concurrent with this growth, we have worked to build our infrastructure to profitably absorb additional growth and have made a number of small acquisitions in an effort to leverage our fixed costs, grow our base of experienced personnel, expand our technical capabilities and increase our geographical reach.

Since inception, we have increased our capabilities and the size of our customer base through the development of applied technologies and managed support services, organic growth and the successful and seamless integration of acquired companies. These acquisitions have provided us with additional products, technologies, resources and customers that have enhanced our sustainable competitive advantages over our competition.

 

The global economy is currently in a pronounced economic downturn. Global financial markets are continuing to experience disruptions, including severely diminished liquidity and credit availability, declines in consumer confidence, declines in economic growth, increases in unemployment rates, volatility in interest and currency exchange rates and overall uncertainty about economic stability. There may be further deterioration and volatility in the global economy and the global financial markets. Although this economic downturn has negatively impacted our revenues and profitability in fiscal 2009, and may negatively impact our future results if it continues, we believe it also has allowed us to selectively hire new talented individuals that otherwise might not have been available to us, to acquire and develop new technology in order to aggressively expand our proprietary portfolio of customized solutions, and to make acquisitions of complementary businesses at reasonable valuations. We believe we will be able to derive additional revenues from these strategic investments with favorable gross margins in future periods, which we believe would at least in part offset any further negative revenue impact we incur from the economic downturn during those periods. Also, although some of our customers have delayed turnaround projects and other large-scale inspection projects, they have historically seldom postponed such projects indefinitely, so we expect increased revenues if and when our customers request we complete these projects. However, due to the severity of the economic downturn, these projects instead may continue to be delayed.

 

Basis of presentation

 

Consolidated results of operations

 

Our three segments are:

 

 

General corporate services, including accounting, audit and contract management, are provided to the segments and are reported as intersegment transactions within corporate and eliminations. Sales to the International segment from the Products and Systems segment and subsequent sales by the International segment of the same items are recorded and reflected in the operating performance of both segments. Additionally, engineering charges and royalty fees charged to the Services and International segments by the Products and Systems segment are reflected in the operating performance of each segment. All such intersegment transactions are eliminated in corporate and eliminations.

The accounting policies of the reportable segments are the same as those described in the summary of our significant accounting policies in Note 2 to our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus. Segment income from operations is determined based on internal performance measures used by the Chief Executive Officer, the chief operating decision maker, to assess the performance of each business in a given period and to make decisions as to resource allocations. In connection with that assessment, the Chief Executive Officer may exclude items such as charges for stock-based compensation and certain other acquisition-related charges and balances, technology and product development costs, certain gains and losses from dispositions, and litigation settlements or other charges. Certain general and administrative costs such as human resources, information technology and training are allocated to the segments. Segment income from operations also excludes interest and other financial charges and income taxes. Corporate and other assets are comprised principally of cash, deposits, property, plant and equipment, domestic deferred taxes, deferred charges and other assets. Corporate loss from operations consists of depreciation on the corporate office facilities and equipment, administrative charges related to corporate personnel and other charges that cannot be readily identified for allocation to a particular segment.

 

Statement of operations overview

 

The following describes certain line items in our statement of operations and some of the factors that affect our operating results.

 

Revenues

 

Our revenues are generated by sales of our services, products and systems. The majority of our revenues are derived under time-and-materials contracts for specified asset protection services on a project-by-project basis. The duration of our projects vary depending on their scope. Some of our projects last from a few weeks to a few months, but the more significant projects can last for more than a year and can require long-term deployment of substantial personnel, equipment and resources. The start date of our projects can be postponed or delayed and the duration of our projects can be shortened or increased due to a variety of factors beyond our control. In addition to the timing of these projects and the seasonality of our business, the amount and origination of our revenues often vary from period to period. A percentage of our revenues are usually attributable to recurring work from our existing customers. Although our top ten customers are responsible for a large percentage of our revenues, we generate our revenues from most of these customers by providing asset protection solutions to a number of their business locations. Decisions regarding the purchase of our solutions by these customers are made either on a corporate basis or on a location-by-location basis. Also included in our revenues are software license fees and product sales, as well as an estimate for any sales returns and customer allowances. Revenues under our time-and-materials services contracts are based on the hours of service we provide our customers at negotiated rates, plus any actual costs of materials and other direct expenses that we incur on the project, with little or no mark-up. Because these expenses, such as travel and lodging or subcontracted services, can change significantly from project to project, changes in our revenues may not be indicative of business trends.

Cost of revenues

 

Our cost of revenues includes our direct compensation and related benefits to support our sales, together with reimbursable costs, materials consumed or used in manufacturing our products and certain overhead costs, such as non-billable time, equipment rentals, fringe benefits and repair and maintenance.

 

Depreciation included in gross profit

 

Our depreciation represents the expense charge for our capitalized assets. Depending on the nature of the original item capitalized, these depreciation expenses are reported in one of two places in our statement of operations. Depreciation used in determining gross profit is directly related to our revenues and primarily relates to depreciation of equipment used for the delivery of our asset protection solutions and to a lesser extent depreciation of manufacturing equipment. We also have other depreciation primarily related to our corporate headquarters which is included in deriving our income from operations as discussed below.

 

Gross profit

 

Our gross profit equals our revenues less our cost of revenues and attributed depreciation. Our gross profit, both in absolute dollars and as a percentage of revenues, can vary based on our volume, sales mix, actual manufacturing costs and our utilization of labor. As a result, gross profit may vary from quarter to quarter. For instance, our gross profit can decline during holiday periods when we incur labor costs without any corresponding revenues. Under our time-and-materials contracts, we negotiate hourly billing rates and charge our clients based on the actual time that we expend on a project. Our profit margins on time-and-materials contracts fluctuate based on actual labor and overhead costs that we directly charge or allocate to contracts compared to negotiated billing rates.

 

In recent years, there has been an increasing demand for asset protection solutions and, until recently, a limited supply of certified technicians. Accordingly, we have experienced increases in our cost of labor in our Services segment. The customers of our Services segment are aware of these supply constraints and generally have, to some extent, accepted corresponding price increases for our services. In the current economic environment, we are uncertain whether our ability to increase prices for our services will continue. In our Products and Systems segment, our ability to increase prices for any product or system to offset associated cost increases is based principally on the extent to which its incorporates our proprietary technology. We believe our efforts to develop and offer our customers value-added proprietary solutions instead of commodity-type products help us, in part, to resist margin erosion. Our International segment offers services, products and systems similar to those of our other segments, so our ability to increase prices in this segment as costs increase is determined by the same factors affecting the pricing of our other segments, and the relative mix of services, products and systems it provides in the applicable period.

 

Selling, general and administrative expenses

 

Our selling, general and administrative expenses are comprised primarily of expenses of our sales and marketing operations, field location administrative costs and our corporate headquarters related to our executive, general management, finance, accounting and administrative functions and legal fees and expenses. These costs can vary based on our volume of business or

as expenses are incurred to support corporate activities and initiatives such as training. The largest single category is salaries and related costs. In the near term, we expect these expenses to increase as we support the growth of our business and expand our sales and marketing efforts, improve our information processes and systems and implement the financial reporting, compliance and other infrastructure required for a public company. We also expect that our selling, general and administrative expenses will decline as a percentage of our revenues, particularly over the long term.

 

Research and engineering

 

Research and engineering expense consists primarily of engineering salaries and personnel-related costs and the cost of products, materials and outside services used in our process and product development activities primarily in our Products and Systems segment. Other research and development is conducted in our Services segment by various billable personnel and our management on a collaborative basis. These costs are not separated and are included in cost of revenues. Specific development costs on software are capitalized and amortized in our depreciation and amortization included in our income from operations. From time-to-time, we receive minor grants or contracts for paid research which are recorded in our revenues with the related costs included in cost of revenues. We expect to continue our investment in research and engineering activities and anticipate that our associated expense will increase in absolute terms in the future as we hire additional personnel and increase research and engineering activity. However, as a percentage of revenues, we expect research and engineering expense to decline over time.

 

Depreciation and amortization included in income from operations

 

Our depreciation and amortization used in deriving our income from operations represents the expense charge for our capitalized assets, and primarily relates to buildings and improvements, including our corporate headquarters, office furniture, equipment, and intangibles acquired as part of our acquisitions of other businesses. These intangible assets include, but are not limited to, non-competition agreements, customer lists and trade names. To the extent we ascribe value to identifiable intangible assets that have finite lives, we amortize those values over the estimated useful lives of those assets. Such amortization expense, although non-cash in the period expensed, directly impacts our results of operations. It is difficult to predict with any precision the amount of expense we may record relating to acquired intangible assets. Because many of the intangible assets we acquire are short-lived intangible assets, we would expect to see higher amortization expense in the first 12 to 18 months after an acquisition has been consummated.

 

Income from operations

 

Our income from operations is our gross profit less our selling, general and administrative expenses, research and engineering and depreciation and amortization included in income from operations. We refer to our income from operations as a percentage of our revenues as our operating margin.

Interest expense

 

Our interest expense consists primarily of interest paid to our lenders under our credit agreement. Also included is the interest incurred on our capital leases and on subordinated notes issued as part of our acquisitions. We adjust the interest differential on our interest rate swap quarterly to reflect the difference from our current borrowing rate to the notional amount of our interest rate swap contracts.

 

Income taxes

 

Income tax expense varies as a function of income before income tax expense and permanent non-tax deductible expenses, such as certain amounts of meals and entertainment expense, valuation allowance requirements and other permanent differences. Prior to fiscal 2007, we had net operating loss carryforwards (NOLs) for federal and state purposes, but as a result of our pre-tax income in fiscal 2007, we used a majority of these NOLs. As of May 31, 2009 we had $2.6 million of NOLs available to offset state taxable income in future years. These state NOLs will expire, if not utilized, at varying dates beginning in 2011 depending on the laws of each state and we have provided a valuation allowance of $0.2 million. Our effective income tax rate will be subject to many variables, including the absolute amount and future geographic distribution of our pre-tax income. We also plan to continue our acquisition strategy, and, as such, we anticipate that there will be variability in our effective tax rate from quarter to quarter and year to year, especially to the extent that our permanent differences increase or decrease. As a result of any of these factors, our future effective income tax rate may fluctuate significantly over the next few years.

 

Minority interest, net of taxes

 

The minority interest represents the ownership interests of other stockholders in our international subsidiaries, where 100% ownership is not permitted or de minimis local ownership is helpful for business purposes. For fiscal 2007, this amount primarily consisted of the net income of Envirocoustics A.B.E.E., which we first consolidated in fiscal 2006. We acquired this entity on April 25, 2007.

Consolidated results of operations

 

Fiscal 2009, 2008 and 2007

 

Our revenues, gross profit, income from operations and net income for fiscal 2009, 2008 and 2007 were as follows:

 

 

Fiscal 2009 compared to fiscal 2008

 

Revenues. Revenues increased $56.9 million, or 37.3%, for fiscal 2009 compared to fiscal 2008 as a result of growth in all our segments. For fiscal 2009 and fiscal 2008, we estimate that our organic, as compared to acquisition-driven, growth rate was approximately 16% and 17%, respectively. In fiscal 2009, we estimate that all of our segments had organic growth, and that the Services and International segments had double digit organic growth rates. This organic growth was the result of continued demand for our asset protection solutions, including growth from new and existing customers, and did not result from any unusually large one-time projects. In fiscal 2009, we estimate that growth from acquisitions was approximately 23% compared to 6% in fiscal 2008, primarily because we acquired 5 NDT companies in fiscal 2009 and 7 NDT companies in 2008, increasing our capabilities and adding to our base of qualified technicians.

 

In the second half of fiscal 2009 we believe the economic downturn resulted in greater than usual reductions or delays in capital spending by our customers. Several anticipated regular maintenance projects as well as projects requiring intensive work during a temporary asset shutdown, or “turnaround” projects, were either reduced in scope or have been delayed until fiscal 2010 or later.

 

Despite the economic downturn, we experienced growth in many of our target markets in fiscal 2009 as compared to fiscal 2008. The largest dollar increase was attributable to customers in the oil and gas market, which accounted for approximately 58% of our total revenues. This growth was achieved globally on several new and existing projects. Overall this market provided 57.6% and 49.8% of our total revenues for fiscal 2009 and 2008, respectively. As of May 31, 2009, we serviced approximately 20% of the U.S. refineries and 36% of refineries producing 100,000 or more barrels per day. The remainder of the growth in our revenues was broadly distributed among customers in our other target markets, with the largest increases in this period attributable to customers in the chemical market, where we obtained a new long-term service contract, and in the industrial and manufacturing sector where we obtained new customers through our acquisitions. The most significant decrease in fiscal 2009 was in the electronics and transportation industries, but these industries together accounted for less than 2.0% of our total revenues in fiscal 2009. Our top ten customers represented 35.8% of our revenues for fiscal 2009 compared to 35.2% in fiscal 2008. One of these top ten customers filed for bankruptcy in January 2009. Our revenues from this customer were $6.4 million for fiscal 2009. Although we have increased our allowance for doubtful accounts receivable attributable to this long-term customer by approximately $1.6 million as a result of this bankruptcy, we continue to work for this customer under the protection of the bankruptcy court.

 

Gross profit. Our gross profit increased $14.4 million, or 26.3%, in fiscal 2009 compared to fiscal 2008. As a percentage of revenues, our gross profit was 33.1% and 36.0% in fiscal 2009 and fiscal 2008, respectively. The non-depreciation portion of our cost of revenues as a percentage of revenues increased to 62.7% in fiscal 2009 from 59.5% in fiscal 2008. Depreciation expense included in determining gross profit for fiscal years 2009 and 2008 was $8.7 million, or 4.2% of revenues, and $6.8 million, or 4.5% of revenues, respectively.

 

Despite the 37.3% increase in our fiscal 2009 revenues, our gross profit as a percentage of revenues declined to 33.1% in fiscal 2009 from 36.0% in fiscal 2008. Some of this decline resulted from our sales mix, since our Services segment generated the largest portion of the revenue increase and our gross margins on revenues from our Services segment are generally lower than that of our other segments. A large portion of this cost can be attributed to the economic downturn, because when our customers delay or reschedule projects, this delays our recognition of revenues from those projects while we continue to incur labor expenses. We also incurred the cost to hire and train employees in order to develop several new specialties within our asset protection solutions, or “centers of excellence”, including centers for industrial tube and off-shore oil rig platform riser inspections and new pipeline construction. In addition, our business was disrupted during September 2008 by Hurricane Ike and in our third fiscal quarter by strikes threatened by employees of several of our customers, which were subsequently resolved. As we anticipated, several of our recently acquired businesses had lower margins than we normally achieve and we would expect that these margins will improve as we fully integrate these acquired businesses into our business model. Our payroll costs, including workers’ compensation insurance, also increased during fiscal 2009, but unlike in fiscal 2008, we did not benefit from a $1.0 million adjustment, resulting from favorable claims experienced.