WeightWatchers 2012 Annual Report Download - page 27

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April 9, 2012, we repurchased approximately 9.5 million of Artal Holdings’ shares at a purchase price of $82.00
per share pursuant to the Purchase Agreement. In March 2012, we amended and extended the WWI Credit
Facility to finance these repurchases.
Regulation
A number of laws and regulations govern our advertising, services, products, operations and relations with
consumers, employees and other service providers in the countries in which we operate. Certain federal, state and
foreign agencies, such as the Federal Trade Commission, or FTC, regulate and enforce such laws relating to
advertising, disclosures to consumers, privacy, consumer pricing and billing arrangements, and other consumer
protection matters. Since we operate our meetings business both in the United States and internationally, we are
subject to many distinct employment, labor, benefits and tax laws in each country in which we operate, including
regulations affecting our employment practices and our relations with our employees and service providers. Laws
and regulations directly applicable to communications, operations or commerce over the Internet such as those
governing intellectual property, privacy, libel and taxation, are more prevalent and remain unsettled. Our
operations are subject to these laws and regulations and we continue to monitor their development and our
compliance. In addition, we are subject to other laws and regulations in the United States and internationally.
During the mid-1990s, the FTC filed complaints against a number of commercial weight management
providers alleging violations of federal law in connection with the use of advertisements that featured
testimonials, claims for program success and program costs. In 1997, we entered into a consent order with the
FTC settling all contested issues raised in the complaint filed against us. The consent order requires us to comply
with certain procedures and disclosures in connection with our advertisements of services and products.
Employees and Service Providers
As of December 29, 2012, we had approximately 27,000 employees. In addition, in certain of our markets,
our service providers are self-employed. As of December 29, 2012, we had over 54,000 employees and service
providers in the aggregate. We consider our relations with our employees and service providers to be satisfactory.
Financial Information About Segments and Financial Information About Geographic Areas
Information concerning our reportable segments and our geographic areas is set forth in Note 14 of our
consolidated financial statements, contained in Part IV, Item 15 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Information concerning some of the risks to which we are exposed resulting from our international operations
and foreign currency exchange rates is set forth in “Item 1A. Risk Factors” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Available Information
Corporate information and our press releases, Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on
Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K, and amendments thereto, are available free of charge on our
website at www.weightwatchersinternational.com as soon as reasonably practicable after such material is
electronically filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission (i.e., generally the same day as
the filing). Moreover, we also make available at that site the Section 16 reports filed electronically by our
officers, directors and 10 percent shareholders. Usually these are publicly accessible no later than the business
day following the filing.
We use our website at www.weightwatchersinternational.com as a channel of distribution of material
Company information. Financial and other material information regarding the Company is routinely posted on
and accessible at our website. Our website and the information posted on it or connected to it shall not be deemed
to be incorporated herein by reference.
Our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics and our Corporate Governance Guidelines are also available on
our website at www.weightwatchersinternational.com.
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