American Home Shield 2011 Annual Report Download - page 23

Table of Contents
activities infringe their intellectual property rights. Any litigation or claims brought by or against us could result in substantial costs and diversion of our
resources. A successful claim of trademark, patent or other intellectual property infringement against us, or any other successful challenge to the use of our
intellectual property, could subject us to damages or prevent us from operating our business in the manner in which we have in the past, including preventing
us from providing certain services under our recognized brand names, all of which could have a material adverse impact on our reputation, business, financial
position, results of operations and cash flows.
Disruptions or security failures in our information technology systems could create liability for us and/or limit our ability to effectively monitor, operate
and control our operations and adversely impact our reputation, business, financial position, results of operations and cash flows.
Our information technology systems facilitate our ability to monitor, operate and control our operations. Changes or modifications to our information
technology systems could cause disruption to our operations or cause challenges with respect to our compliance with laws, regulations or other applicable
standards. For example, delays, higher than expected costs or unsuccessful implementation of new information technology systems could adversely impact
our operations. In addition, any disruption in or failure of our information technology systems to operate as expected could, depending on the magnitude of
the problem, adversely impact our business, financial position, results of operations and cash flows, including by limiting our capacity to monitor, operate and
control our operations effectively. Failures of our information technology systems could also lead to violations of privacy laws, regulations, trade guidelines
or practices related to our customers and employees. If our disaster recovery plans do not work as anticipated, or if the third party vendors to which we have
outsourced certain information technology, contact center or other services fail to fulfill their obligations to us, our operations may be adversely impacted and
any of these circumstances could adversely impact our reputation, business, financial position, results of operations and cash flows.
Future acquisitions could impact our reputation, business, financial position, results of operations and cash flows.
We plan to continue to pursue opportunities to expand through selective acquisitions. Our ability to make acquisitions at reasonable prices and to
integrate acquired businesses is an important factor in our future growth. We cannot ensure that we will be able to manage or integrate acquired businesses
successfully and/or retain customers of the acquired businesses. Any inability on our part to consolidate and manage growth from acquired businesses could
have an adverse impact on our reputation, business, financial position, results of operations and cash flows and there can be no assurance that any acquisition
that we make will provide us with the benefits that were anticipated when entering into such acquisition. The process of integrating an acquired business may
create unforeseen difficulties and expenses, including the diversion of resources needed to integrate new businesses, technologies, products, personnel or
systems; the inability to retain employees, customers and suppliers; the assumption of actual or contingent liabilities (including those relating to the
environment); failure to effectively and timely adopt and adhere to our internal control processes and other policies; write-offs or impairment charges relating
to goodwill and other intangible assets; unanticipated liabilities relating to acquired businesses; and potential expense associated with litigation with sellers of
such businesses.
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