As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 12, 2019.

Registration No. 333-            

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM S-1

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER

THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

Parsons Corporation

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

5875 Trinity Parkway #300

Centreville, Virginia 20120

(703) 988-8500

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

Charles L. Harrington

Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President

5875 Trinity Parkway #300

Centreville, Virginia 20120

(703) 988-8500

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

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 of 1933, check the following box.  ☐

If this form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) 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.  ☐

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.  ☐

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.  ☐

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

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act.  ☐

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 of 1933 or until the registration statement shall become effective on such date as the Securities and Exchange Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.

The information in this preliminary prospectus is not complete and may be changed. These securities may not be sold until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This preliminary prospectus is not an offer to sell nor does it seek an offer to buy these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.    

Subject to Completion. Dated April 12, 2019.

             Shares

Parsons Corporation

Common Stock

This is an initial public offering of shares of common stock of Parsons Corporation. All of the              shares of common stock are being sold by the company.

Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for the common stock. It is currently estimated that the initial public offering price per share will be between $            and $            . Parsons Corporation has applied to list the common stock on the New York Stock Exchange, or NYSE, under the symbol “PSN”.

Upon completion of this offering, the shares beneficially owned by the Parsons Employee Stock Ownership Plan, or the ESOP, will represent     % of the total voting power of our outstanding capital stock. As a result, we will be a “controlled company” within the meaning of the corporate governance rules of the NYSE. See “Management—Controlled Company Exception.”

See “Risk Factors” on page 21 to read about factors you should consider before buying shares of the common stock.

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any other regulatory body has approved or disapproved of these securities or passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

To the extent that the underwriters sell more than                  shares of common stock, the underwriters have the option to purchase up to an additional                  shares from us at the initial price to the public less the underwriting discount.

The underwriters expect to deliver the shares against payment in New York, New York on                     , 2019.

Morgan Stanley

Prospectus dated                     , 2019

TABLE OF CONTENTS

You should rely only on the information contained in this prospectus or in any free writing prospectus we may authorize to be delivered or made available to you. We and the underwriters have not authorized anyone to provide any information or to make any representations other than those contained in this prospectus or in any free writing prospectuses we have prepared. We and the underwriters take no responsibility for, and can provide no assurance as to the reliability of, any other information that others may give you. We are offering to sell, and seeking offers to buy, shares of our common stock only under circumstances and in jurisdictions where offers and sales are permitted. The information in this prospectus is accurate only as of the date of this prospectus, regardless of the time of delivery of this prospectus or any sale of shares of our common stock. Our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospectus may have changed since that date.

For investors outside the U.S., we have not, and the underwriters have not, done anything that would permit this offering or possession or distribution of this prospectus or any free writing prospectus we may provide to you in connection with this offering in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required, other than in the U.S. Persons outside the U.S. who come into possession of this prospectus must inform themselves about, and observe any restrictions relating to, the offering of the shares of common stock and the distribution of this prospectus outside the U.S. See “Underwriting.”

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Alpha, which we acquired in May 2018, and our Critical Infrastructure segment had 7.5% year-over-year revenue growth. The following table shows our growth over the last three years (in millions):

 

 

 

 

See “Summary Consolidated Financial and Other Data” for a discussion of our definition of Adjusted EBITDA, how we use this metric, why we present this metric and the material limitations on usefulness of this metric. See also “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Segment Results” and “Note 20—Segments Information” in the notes to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus for further discussion regarding our segment revenue and segment Adjusted EBITDA attributable to Parsons Corporation.

On new contracts and task orders for which we competed, we achieved an overall win rate of 39.9% in fiscal 2016, 34.9% in fiscal 2017 and 42.9% in fiscal 2018. As of December 31, 2018, our total backlog was $8.0 billion, an increase of 24.1% from December 29, 2017.

Our Services and Solutions

Within each of our segments, we focus our services and solutions on the needs of customers in each of our business lines. Our capabilities of systems integration, software development, program management and critical mission support apply across our segments and business lines.

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RISK FACTORS

You should carefully consider the risks described below and the other information contained in this prospectus, including our consolidated financial statements and the related notes, before making an investment decision. Our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected by any of these risks or uncertainties. In that case, the trading price of our common stock could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment.

Risks Relating to Our Business

Government spending and priorities could change in a manner that adversely affects our future revenue and limits our growth prospects.

We derive, and expect to continue to derive, a significant portion of our revenue from contracts with government entities. As a result, our business depends upon continued government expenditures on defense, intelligence, civil and engineering programs for which we provide support, both among foreign governments and at federal, state and local levels domestically. These expenditures have not remained constant over time and have been reduced in some periods. In particular, these expenditures have recently been affected by efforts to improve efficiency and reduce costs affecting government programs generally. Our business, prospects, financial condition or operating results could be materially harmed, among other causes, by the following:

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Any disruption in the functioning of government agencies, including as a result of government closures and shutdowns, terrorism, war, natural disasters, destruction of government facilities, and other potential calamities could have a negative impact on our operations and cause us to lose revenue or incur additional costs due to, among other things, our inability to deploy our staff to client locations or facilities as a result of such disruptions.

In particular, with regard to our largest single customer, the U.S. federal government, budget deficits, the national debt and the prevailing economic condition, and actions taken to address them, could continue to negatively affect the U.S. government expenditures on defense, intelligence and civil programs for which we provide support. The Department of Defense is one of our significant clients and cost cutting, including through consolidation and elimination of duplicative organizations and insourcing, has become a major initiative for the Department of Defense. In particular, the Budget Control Act of 2011 provides for automatic spending cuts (referred to as sequestration) totaling approximately $1.2 trillion between 2013 and 2021, including an estimated $500.0 billion in federal defense spending cuts over this time period. Most recently, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 amended the discretionary spending limits established by the Budget Control Act of 2011 for the government fiscal 2018 and 2019 budgets across the federal government and increased the prior discretionary spending cap in both defense and non-defense. Pursuant to the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018, the new Department of Defense spending limit is approximately $660.0 billion for government fiscal 2018, including an allocation of $65.0 billion in overseas contingency operations funding. While recent budget actions reflect a more measured and strategic approach to addressing the U.S. government’s fiscal challenges, there remains uncertainty as to how exactly budget cuts, including sequestration, will impact us, and we are therefore unable to predict the extent of the impact of such cuts on our business and results of operations. However, a reduction in the amount of or delays or cancellations of funding for, services that we are contracted to provide to the Department of Defense as a result of any of these initiatives, legislation or otherwise could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, in response to an Office of Management and Budget mandate, government agencies have reduced management support services spending in recent years. If federal awards for management support services continue to decline, our revenue and operating profits may materially decline and further efforts by the Office of Management and Budget to decrease federal awards for management support services could have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

In addition, most government contracts are subject to the government’s budgetary approval process. Legislatures typically appropriate funds for a given program on a year-by-year basis, even though contract performance may take more than one year. In addition, public-supported financing such as state and local municipal bonds may be only partially raised to support existing infrastructure projects. As a result, at the beginning of a program, the related contract is only partially funded, and additional funding is normally committed only as appropriations are made in each fiscal year. These appropriations, and the timing of payment of appropriated amounts, may be influenced by, among other things, the state of the economy, competing priorities for appropriation, changes in administration or control of legislatures and the timing and amount of tax receipts and the overall level of government expenditures. Similarly, the impact of an economic downturn on state and local governments may make it more difficult for them to fund infrastructure projects. If appropriations are not made in subsequent years on our government contracts, then we will not realize all of our potential revenue and profit from that contract, and we may incur substantial labor costs without reimbursement.

Government funding with respect to our Critical Infrastructure services fluctuates over time and new or changing government policies may affect our Critical Infrastructure business and operations. In March 2018, for example, President Trump signed proclamations to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports per the U.S. Trade Expansion Act of 1962 increasing the price for steel and aluminum in the United States which could impact client spending. Government spending for our

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Critical Infrastructure services may also depend on factors related to government demand, such as the condition of the existing infrastructure and buildings and the need for new or expanded infrastructure and buildings. Our government clients may face budget cuts or deficits that prohibit them from funding proposed and existing Critical Infrastructure projects.

These or other factors could cause our defense, intelligence, infrastructure or civil clients to decrease the number of new government contracts awarded generally and fail to award us new government contracts, reduce their purchases under our existing government contracts, exercise their right to terminate our government contracts or not exercise options to renew our government contracts, any of which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The U.S. federal government and its agencies collectively are our largest single customer and, if our reputation or relationships with the U.S. federal government were harmed, our future revenues and cash flows would be adversely affected.

The U.S. federal government and its agencies, including the military and intelligence community, collectively are our largest customer. In particular, it represents substantially all of the revenue of our Federal Solutions segment. Approximately 35%, 36% and 42% of consolidated revenues for the years ended December 30, 2016, December 29, 2017 and December 31, 2018, respectively, and approximately 25% and 29% of accounts receivable as of December 29, 2017 and December 31, 2018, respectively, were derived from contracts with the U.S. federal government and its agencies. Our reputation and relationships with various U.S. government entities and agencies, and in particular with the U.S. Department of Defense, including the Missile Defense Agency and the United States Army, the Federal Aviation Administration, the United States intelligence community and the U.S. Department of Energy are key factors in maintaining and growing these revenues and winning new bids for new business. Negative press reports or publicity, regardless of accuracy, could harm our reputation. If our reputation or relationships with government agencies were to be negatively affected, or if we are suspended or debarred from contracting with government agencies for any reason, the amount of business with government and other customers would decrease and our financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

Our failure to comply with a variety of complex procurement rules and regulations could result in our being liable for penalties, including termination of our government contracts, disqualification from bidding on future government contracts and suspension or debarment from government contracting.

We must comply with various laws and regulations relating to the formation, administration and performance of government contracts, which affect how we do business with our customers and may impose added costs on our business.

Many of our U.S. government contracts contain organizational conflict of interest, or OCI, clauses that may limit our ability to compete for or perform contracts or other types of services for particular customers. OCI arises when we engage in activities that may make us unable to render impartial assistance or advice to the U.S. government, impair our objectivity in performing contract work or provide us with an unfair competitive advantage. Existing OCI, and any OCI that may develop, could preclude our competition for or performance on a significant project or contract, which could limit our opportunities.

Some U.S. federal and state statutes and regulations provide for automatic debarment based on our actions, such as violations of the U.S. False Claims Act or the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or FCPA. The suspension or debarment in any particular case may be limited to the facility, contract or

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subsidiary involved in the violation or could be applied to our entire enterprise in severe circumstances. Even a narrow scope suspension or debarment could result in negative publicity that could adversely affect our ability to renew contracts and to secure new contracts, both with governments and private customers, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Governments may adopt new contract rules and regulations or revise their procurement practices in a manner adverse to us at any time.

The government-related industries within which we do business continue to experience significant changes to business practices as a result of an increased focus on affordability, efficiencies and recovery of costs, among other items. Our existing and potential clients are similarly focused on increasing the productivity of their contractual arrangements. Moreover, government agencies may face restrictions or pressure regarding the type and amount of services that they may obtain from private contractors. Legislation, regulations and initiatives dealing with procurement reform, mitigation of potential OCIs, deterrence of fraud, and environmental responsibility or sustainability could have an adverse effect on us. Moreover, shifts in the buying practices of government agencies, such as increased usage of fixed price contracts, multiple award contracts and small business set-aside contracts, could have adverse effects on government contractors, including us. Any of these changes could impair our ability to obtain new contracts or contract renewals. Any new contracting requirements or procurement methods could be costly or administratively difficult for us to implement and could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

A substantial portion of our business is subject to reviews, audits and cost adjustments by government agencies, which, if resolved unfavorably to us, could adversely affect our profitability, cash flows or growth prospects.

Government agencies routinely audit and review a contractor’s performance on government contracts, indirect cost rates and pricing practices, and compliance with applicable contracting and procurement laws, regulations and standards. They also review the adequacy of the contractor’s compliance with government standards for its business systems, which are defined as the contractor’s accounting, earned value management, estimating, materials management, property management and purchasing systems. A finding of significant control deficiencies in a contractor’s business systems or a finding of noncompliance with U.S. government Cost Accounting Standards, or CAS, can result in decremented billing rates to U.S. government customers until the control deficiencies are corrected and their remediation is accepted by the Defense Contract Management Agency. The agencies conducting these audits and reviews have come under increased scrutiny. As a result, audits and reviews have become more rigorous and the standards to which we are held are being more strictly interpreted which has increased the likelihood of an audit or review resulting in an adverse outcome.

If a review or investigation by a government agency identifies improper or illegal activities, we may be subject to civil or criminal penalties or administrative sanctions which could include the termination of contracts, forfeiture of profits, the triggering of price reduction clauses, suspension of payments, fines, and suspension or debarment from doing business with governmental agencies. We may suffer harm to our reputation if allegations of impropriety are made against us, which would impair our ability to win new contract awards or receive contract renewals. Penalties and sanctions are not uncommon in our industries. If we incur a material penalty or administrative sanction or otherwise suffer harm to our reputation, our profitability, cash position and future prospects could be adversely affected.

Government audits and reviews may conclude that our practices are not consistent with applicable laws and regulations and result in adjustments to contract costs and mandatory customer

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refunds. Such adjustments can be applied retroactively, which could result in significant customer refunds, and those refunds would negatively impact our revenue. Receipt of adverse audit findings or the failure to obtain an “approved” determination on our various business systems could significantly and adversely affect our business by, among other things, restricting our ability to bid on new contracts and, for those proposals under evaluation, diminishing our competitive position. A determination of noncompliance could also result in penalties and sanctions against us, including withholding of payments, suspension of payments and increased government scrutiny. Increased scrutiny could adversely impact our ability to perform on contracts, affect our ability to invoice for work performed, delay the receipt of timely payment on contracts, and weaken our ability to compete for new contracts with the government.

Our government contracts may be terminated by the government counterparty at any time and may contain other provisions permitting the government to discontinue contract performance, and if lost contracts are not replaced, our operating results may differ materially and adversely from those anticipated.

Government contracts often contain provisions and are subject to laws and regulations that provide government clients with rights and remedies not typically found in commercial contracts. These rights and remedies allow government clients, among other things, to:

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Recent and potential future budget cuts, the impact of sequestration and recent efforts by the Office of Management and Budget to decrease federal awards for management support services, may cause agencies with which we currently have contracts to terminate, reduce the number of task orders under or fail to renew such contracts. If a government client were to unexpectedly terminate, cancel, or decline to exercise an option to renew with respect to one or more of our significant contracts, or suspend or debar us from doing business with such government, our revenue and operating results would be materially harmed.

We face aggressive competition that can impact our ability to obtain contracts and may affect our future revenues, profitability and growth prospects.

We expect that a majority of the business that we seek in the foreseeable future will be awarded through a competitive bidding process. For example, the U.S. government increasingly relies on IDIQ, GSA Schedule and other multi-award contracts, which has resulted in greater competition and increased pricing pressure. The competitive bidding process involves substantial costs and a number of risks, including significant cost and managerial time to prepare bids and proposals for contracts that may not be awarded to us, or that may be awarded but for which we do not receive meaningful task orders. For contracts awarded to us, we also face the risk of inaccurately estimating the resources and costs that will be required to fulfill any contract we win. Following contract award, we may encounter significant expense, delay, contract modifications or even contract loss as a result of our competitors protesting the award of contracts to us in competitive bidding. Any resulting loss or delay of startup and funding of work under protested contract awards may adversely affect our revenues and/or profitability. In addition, multi-award contracts require that we make sustained post-award efforts to obtain task orders under the contract. As a result, we may not be able to obtain these task orders or recognize revenues under these multi award contracts. Our failure to compete effectively in this procurement environment would adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Projects may be awarded based solely upon price, but often take into account other factors, such as technical qualifications, proposed project team, schedule and past performance on similar projects. We compete with larger companies that have greater name recognition, financial resources and larger technical staffs and with smaller, more specialized companies that are able to concentrate their resources on particular areas. Additionally, we may compete with a government’s own capabilities. Technology-focused companies may also develop products and services that could disrupt our business or compete with our services. To remain competitive, we must consistently provide superior service, technology and performance on a cost-effective basis to our customers and there is no assurance that we will do so.

Our revenue and growth prospects may be harmed if we or our employees are unable to obtain government granted eligibility or other qualifications we and they need to perform services for our customers.

A number of government programs require contractors to have certain kinds of government granted eligibility, such as security clearance credentials. Depending on the project, eligibility can be difficult and time-consuming to obtain. If we or our employees are unable to obtain or retain the necessary eligibility, including local ownership requirements, we may not be able to win new business, and our existing customers could terminate their contracts with us or decide not to renew them. To the extent we cannot obtain or maintain the required security clearances for our employees working on a particular contract, we may not derive the revenue or profit anticipated from such contract.

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A failure to attract, train and retain skilled employees and our senior management team would adversely affect our ability to execute our strategy and may disrupt our operations.

Our business relies heavily upon the expertise and services of our employees. Our continued success depends on our ability to recruit and retain highly trained and skilled engineering, technical and professional personnel. Competition for skilled personnel is intense and competitors aggressively recruit key employees. In addition, many U.S. government programs require contractors to have security clearances. Depending on the level of required clearance, security clearances can be difficult and time-consuming to obtain and personnel with security clearances are in great demand. Particularly in highly specialized areas, it has become more difficult to retain employees and meet all of our needs for employees in a timely manner, which may affect our growth in the current and future fiscal years. Although we intend to continue to devote significant resources to recruiting, training and retaining qualified employees, we may not be able to attract, effectively train and retain these employees. Any failure to do so could impair our ability to efficiently perform our contractual obligations, timely meet our customers’ needs and ultimately win new business, all of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We believe that our success also depends on the continued employment of a highly qualified and experienced senior management team and that team’s ability to retain existing business and generate new business. The loss of key personnel in critical functions could lead to lack of business continuity or disruptions in our business until we are able to hire and train replacement personnel.

Our profitability could suffer if we are not able to timely and effectively utilize our employees or manage our cost structure.

The cost of providing our services, including the degree to which our employees are utilized, affects our profitability. The degree to which we are able to utilize our employees in a timely manner or at all is affected by a number of factors, including:

If our employees are under-utilized, our profit margin and profitability could suffer. Additionally, if our employees are over-utilized, it could have a material adverse effect on employee morale and attrition, which would in turn have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Our profitability is also affected by the extent to which we are able to effectively manage our overall cost structure for operating expenses, such as wages and benefits, real estate expenses, overhead and capital and other investment-related expenditures. If we are unable to effectively manage our costs and expenses and achieve efficiencies, our competitiveness and profitability may be adversely affected.

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Our focus on new growth areas for our business entails risks, including those associated with new relationships, clients, talent needs, capabilities, service offerings and maintaining our collaborative culture and core values.

We are focused on growing our presence in our addressable markets by enhancing and optimizing our core operations, extending into opportunity-rich adjacent markets and acquiring and integrating transformative, disruptive technologies. These efforts entail inherent risks associated with innovation and competition from other participants in those areas, potential failure to help our clients respond to the challenges they face, our ability to comply with uncertain evolving legal standards applicable to some of our service offerings, including those in the cybersecurity area, and, with respect to potential international growth, risks associated with operating in foreign jurisdictions, such as compliance with applicable foreign and U.S. laws and regulations that may impose different and, occasionally, conflicting or contradictory requirements, and the economic, legal, and political conditions in the foreign jurisdictions in which we operate, as described in additional detail below. As we attempt to develop new relationships, clients, capabilities, and service offerings, these efforts could harm our results of operations due to, among other things, a diversion of our focus and resources and actual costs, opportunity costs of pursuing these opportunities in lieu of others and a failure to reach a profitable return on our investments in new technologies, capabilities, and businesses, including expenses on research and development investments, and these efforts could ultimately be unsuccessful. Additionally, the possibility exists that our competitors might develop new capabilities or service offerings that might cause our existing capabilities and service offerings to become obsolete. If we fail in our new capabilities development efforts or our capabilities or services fail to achieve market acceptance more rapidly than our competitors, our ability to procure new contracts could be negatively impacted, which would negatively impact our results of operations and our financial condition.

In addition, our ability to grow our business by leveraging our operating model to efficiently and effectively deploy our people across our client base is largely dependent on our ability to maintain our collaborative culture. To the extent that we are unable to maintain our culture for any reason, including our effort to focus on new growth areas or acquire new businesses with different corporate cultures, we may be unable to grow our business. Any such failure could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

With the growth of our U.S. and international operations, we are now providing client services and undertaking business development efforts in numerous and disparate geographic locations both domestically and internationally. Our ability to effectively serve our clients is dependent upon our ability to successfully leverage our operating model across all of these and any future locations, maintain effective management controls over all of our locations to ensure, among other things, compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations, and instill our core values in all of our personnel at each of these and any future locations. Any inability to ensure any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

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We may make acquisitions, investments, joint ventures and divestitures in the future that involve numerous risks, which if realized, may adversely affect our business and our future results.

We may make strategic acquisitions, engage in joint ventures or divest existing businesses, which could cause us to incur unforeseen expenses and have disruptive effects on our business and may not yield the benefits we expect. Our Credit Agreement imposes limitations on our ability to make other acquisitions. Subject to those limitations, we may selectively pursue additional strategic acquisitions, investments and joint ventures in the future. Any future acquisitions, investments and joint ventures may pose many risks that could adversely affect our reputation, operations or financial results, including:

If any acquisitions, investments or joint ventures fail, perform poorly or their value is otherwise impaired for any reason, including contractions in credit markets and global economic conditions, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

In addition, we may periodically divest or plan to divest businesses, including businesses that are no longer a part of our ongoing strategic plan. These divestitures similarly require significant investment of time and resources and may disrupt our business, distract management from other responsibilities and may result in losses on disposal or continued financial involvement in the divested business, including through indemnification, guarantee or other financial arrangements, for a period of time following the transaction, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. When we determine that we would like to divest a business, we may not be able to divest that business on attractive terms or at all.

We conduct a portion of our work through joint venture entities, some of which we do not have management control over, and with which we typically have joint and several liability with our joint venture partners.

12.6% of our revenue during fiscal 2016, 14.8% of our revenue during fiscal 2017 and 15.2% of our revenue during fiscal 2018 was derived from our operations through consolidated joint ventures. In addition, 4.2% of our revenues in fiscal 2016, 3.7% of our revenues in fiscal 2017 and 4.1% of our revenues in fiscal 2018 related to services we provided to our unconsolidated joint ventures, where control resides with unaffiliated third parties, and 100.2% of our operating income during fiscal 2016, 26.6% of our operating income during fiscal 2017 and 18.0% of our operating income during fiscal 2018 was derived from equity in our unconsolidated joint ventures. As with most joint venture

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arrangements, differences in views among the joint venture participants may result in delayed decisions or disputes. We also cannot control the actions of our joint venture partners and we typically have joint and several liability with our joint venture partners under the applicable contracts for joint venture projects. These factors could potentially adversely impact the business and operations of a joint venture and, in turn, our business and operations.

Operating through joint ventures in which we are a minority holder results in us having limited control over many decisions made with respect to projects and internal controls relating to projects. We generally do not have control of these unconsolidated joint ventures. These joint ventures may not be subject to the same requirements regarding internal controls and internal control over financial reporting that we follow. As a result, internal control problems may arise with respect to these joint ventures, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations and could also affect our reputation in the industries we serve.

We participate in joint ventures where we provide guarantees and may be adversely impacted by the failure of such joint venture or its participants to fulfill their obligations.

We have investments in and commitments to joint ventures with unrelated parties. These joint ventures from time to time may borrow money to help finance their activities and in some circumstances, we may be required to provide guarantees of the obligations of our affiliated entities. At December 31, 2018, we had $76.8 million of letters of credit and guarantees that relate to joint ventures. If these entities are not able to honor their obligations under the guarantees, we may be required to expend additional resources or suffer losses, which could be significant.

The Polaris Acquisition and OGSystems Acquisition may not achieve their full intended benefits or may disrupt our plans and operations.

We cannot assure you that we will be able to successfully integrate Polaris Alpha and OGSystems with our business or otherwise realize the expected benefits of our acquisition of Polaris Alpha on May 31, 2018, which we refer to as the Polaris Acquisition, and our acquisition of OGSystems, on January 7, 2019, which we refer to as the OGSystems Acquisition. Our ability to realize the anticipated benefits of the Polaris Acquisition and OGSystems Acquisition will depend, to a large extent, on our ability to integrate Polaris Alpha and OGSystems with our business. The combination of multiple independent businesses will be a complex, costly, and time-consuming process. Our business may be negatively impacted following the Polaris Acquisition and OGSystems Acquisition if we are unable to effectively manage our expanded operations. The integration process will require significant time and focus from our management team and may divert attention from the day-to-day operations of the combined business. Additionally, consummation of the Polaris Acquisition and OGSystems Acquisition could disrupt our current plans and operations, which could delay the achievement of our strategic objectives.

The expected synergies and operating efficiencies of each of the Polaris Acquisition and OGSystems Acquisition may not be fully realized, which could result in increased costs and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, the overall integration of the businesses may result in material unanticipated problems, expenses, liabilities, competitive responses, loss of customer relationships and diversion of management’s attention, among other potential adverse consequences. The risks of combining our operations of the businesses include, among others:

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Many of these risks will be outside of our control and any one of them could result in increased costs, decreases in the amount of expected revenue, and diversion of our management’s time and energy, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, even if our operations are integrated successfully with Polaris Alpha’s and OGSystems’, we may not realize the full benefits of the Polaris Acquisition and OGSystems Acquisition, including the synergies, operating efficiencies, or sales or growth opportunities that are expected. These benefits may not be achieved within the anticipated time frame or at all.

Our earnings and profitability may vary based on the mix of our contracts and may be adversely affected by our failure to accurately estimate and manage costs, time and resources.

We generate revenue under various types of contracts, which include time-and-materials, cost-plus and fixed-price contracts. Our earnings and profitability may vary materially depending on changes in the proportionate amount of revenues derived from each type of contract, the nature of services or solutions provided, as well as the achievement of performance objectives and the stage of performance at which the right to receive fees, particularly under incentive and award fee contracts, is finally determined. Cost-plus and time-and-materials contracts generally have lower profitability than fixed-price contracts. To varying degrees, each of our contract types involves some risk that we could underestimate the costs and resources necessary to fulfill the contract. Our profitability is adversely affected when we incur costs on cost-plus and time-and-materials contracts that we cannot bill to our customers. While fixed-price contracts allow us to benefit from cost savings, these contracts also increase our exposure to the risk of cost overruns.

Revenue derived from fixed-price contracts represented 33% of our total revenue during fiscal 2016, 35% of our total revenue during fiscal 2017 and 32% of our total revenue during fiscal 2018. When making proposals on fixed-price contracts, we rely heavily on our estimates of costs, scope and timing for completing the associated projects, as well as assumptions regarding technical issues. In particular, contracts in our Critical Infrastructure segment are often won in a hard bid process, in which clients primarily select the lowest qualified bidder with the understanding that they will not pay above the bid amount, even if we perform work beyond the initial scope of our contract. In each case, our failure to accurately estimate costs, scope or the resources and technology needed to perform our contracts or to effectively manage and control our costs during the performance of work could result, and in some instances has resulted, in reduced profits or in losses. More generally, any increased or unexpected costs or unanticipated delays in connection with the performance of our contracts, including costs and delays caused by contractual disputes or other factors outside of our control, such as performance failures of our subcontractors, natural disasters or other force majeure events, could make our contracts less profitable than expected or unprofitable.

We use estimates in recognizing revenues and, if we make changes to estimates used in recognizing revenues, our profitability may be adversely affected.

A significant portion of our contract revenues are recognized using the cost-to-cost measure of progress method. This method requires estimates of total costs at completion or measurement of progress towards completion. Particularly due to the technical nature of the services being performed and the length of the contracts, this estimation process is complex and involves significant judgment. Adjustments to original estimates are often required as work progresses, experience is gained and additional information becomes known, even though the scope of the work required under the contract may not change. Any adjustment as a result of a change in estimate is recognized immediately. Changes in the underlying assumptions, circumstances or estimates could result in adjustments that

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may adversely affect our financial results of operations. For example, we recognized net operating income decreases related to changes in estimates at contract completion of $22.4 million in fiscal 2016, $23.8 million in fiscal 2017 and $2.3 million in fiscal 2018.

We have submitted claims to clients for work we performed beyond the initial scope of some of our contracts. If these clients do not approve these claims, our results of operations could be adversely impacted.

We typically have pending claims submitted under some of our contracts for payment of work performed beyond the initial contractual requirements for which we have already recorded revenue. In general, we cannot guarantee that such claims will be approved in whole, in part, or at all. Often, these claims can be the subject of lengthy arbitration or litigation proceedings, and it is difficult to accurately predict when these claims will be fully resolved. When these types of events occur and unresolved claims are pending, we have used working capital in projects to cover cost overruns pending the resolution of the relevant claims. If these claims are not approved, our revenue may be reduced in future periods. As of December 31, 2018, we had recorded $45.7 million of unresolved pending claims on our balance sheet.

Systems that we develop, integrate, maintain, or otherwise support could experience security breaches which may damage our reputation with our clients and hinder future contract win rates.

We develop, integrate, maintain, or otherwise support systems and provide services that include managing and protecting information involved in intelligence, national security and other sensitive or classified government functions. Our systems also store and process sensitive information for commercial clients. The cyber and security threats that our clients face have grown more frequent and sophisticated. A security breach in one of these systems could cause serious harm to our business, damage our reputation, and prevent us from being eligible for further work on sensitive systems for government or commercial clients. Work for non-government and commercial clients involving the protection of information systems or that store clients’ information could also be harmed due to associated security breaches. Damage to our reputation or limitations on our eligibility for additional work or any liability resulting from a security breach in one of the systems we develop, install, maintain, or otherwise support could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Services we provide and technologies we develop are designed to detect and monitor threats to our clients, the failure of which may lead to reputational harm or liability against us by our clients or third parties and may subject our staff to potential threats, risk of loss or harm.

We help our clients detect, monitor and mitigate threats to their people, information and facilities. These threats may originate from nation states, terrorist or criminal actors, activist hackers or others who seek to harm our clients. There are many factors, some of which are beyond our control, which could result in the failure of our products to detect, monitor or mitigate these threats. Successful attacks on our clients may cause physical or reputational harm to us and our clients, as well as lead to liability claims against us by our clients or third parties, particularly if such attacks are a result of a failure or perceived failure of our services or technologies. In addition, as a result of our involvement with some clients or projects, our staff, information and facilities may be targeted by these or other threat actors and may be at risk for loss, or physical or reputational harm.

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Internal system or service failures affecting us or our vendors, including as a result of cyber or other security threats, could disrupt our business and impair our ability to effectively provide our services to our clients, which could damage our reputation and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We create, implement, and maintain information technology and engineering systems and also use vendors to provide services that are often critical to our clients’ operations, some of which involve sensitive information and may be conducted in war zones or other hazardous environments, or include information whose confidentiality is protected by law. As a result, we may be subject to systems or service failures, not only resulting from our own failures or the failures of third-party service providers, natural disasters, power shortages, or terrorist attacks, but also from continuous exposure to cyber and other security threats, including computer viruses and malware, attacks by computer hackers or physical break-ins. There has been an increase in the frequency and sophistication of the cyber and security threats we face, with attacks ranging from those common to businesses generally to those that are more advanced and persistent, which may target us because, as a cybersecurity services contractor, we hold classified, controlled unclassified and other sensitive information. As a result, we and our vendors face a heightened risk of a security breach or disruption resulting from an attack by computer hackers, foreign governments, and cyber terrorists. While we put in place policies, controls and technologies to help detect and protect against such attacks, we cannot guarantee that future incidents will not occur, and if an incident does occur, we may not be able to successfully mitigate the impact. We have been the target of these types of attacks in the past and future attacks are likely to occur. If successful, these types of attacks on our network or other systems or service failures could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, due to, among other things, the loss of client or proprietary data, interruptions or delays in our clients’ businesses and damage to our reputation. In addition, the failure or disruption of our systems, communications, vendors, or utilities could cause us to interrupt or suspend our operations, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, if our employees inadvertently do not adhere to appropriate information security protocols, our protocols are inadequate, or our employees intentionally avoid these protocols, our or our clients’ sensitive information may be released thereby causing significant negative impacts to our reputation and exposing us or our clients to liability.

If our or our vendors’ systems, services or other applications have significant defects or errors, are successfully attacked by cyber and other security threats, suffer delivery delays or otherwise fail to meet our clients’ expectations, we may:

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In addition to any costs resulting from contract performance or required corrective action, these failures may result in increased costs or loss of revenue if they result in clients postponing subsequently scheduled work or canceling or failing to renew contracts.

The costs related to cyber or other security threats or disruptions may not be fully insured or indemnified by other means. Additionally, some cyber technologies and techniques that we utilize or develop may raise potential liabilities related to legal compliance, intellectual property and civil liberties, including privacy concerns, which may not be fully insured or indemnified. We may not be able to obtain and maintain insurance coverage on reasonable terms or in sufficient amounts to cover one or more large claims, or the insurer may disclaim coverage as to some types of future claims. The successful assertion of any large claim against us could seriously harm our business. Even if not successful, these claims could result in significant legal and other costs, may be a distraction to our management, and may harm our client relationships. In some new business areas, we may not be able to obtain sufficient insurance and may decide not to accept or solicit business in these areas.

As a contractor supporting defense and national security clients, we are also subject to regulatory compliance requirements under the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement and other federal regulations requiring that our networks and information technology systems comply with the security and privacy controls in National Institute of Standards and Technology Special Publications. To the extent that we do not comply with the applicable security and control requirements, whether imposed by regulation or contract, unauthorized access or disclosure of sensitive information could potentially result in a contract termination that has a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations and reputational harm.

Unavailability or cancellation of third-party insurance coverage would increase our overall risk exposure as well as disrupt the management of our business operations.

We maintain insurance coverage from third-party insurers as part of our overall risk management strategy and because some of our contracts require us to maintain specific insurance coverage limits. If any of our third-party insurers fail, suddenly cancel our coverage or otherwise are unable to provide us with adequate insurance coverage, then our overall risk exposure and our operational expenses would increase and the management of our business operations would be disrupted. In addition, there can be no assurance that any of our existing insurance coverage will be renewable upon the expiration of the coverage period or that future coverage will be affordable at the required limits.

Adverse judgments or settlements in legal disputes could result in materially adverse monetary damages or injunctive relief and damage our reputation.

We are subject to, and may become a party to, a variety of litigation or other claims and suits that arise from time to time in the ordinary course of our business. For example, our performance under U.S. government contracts and compliance with the terms of those contracts and applicable laws and regulations are subject to continuous audit, review, and investigation by the U.S. government which may include such investigative techniques as subpoenas or civil investigative demands.

The results of litigation and other legal proceedings, including the claims described under “Business—Legal Proceedings”, are inherently uncertain and adverse judgments or settlements in some or all of these legal disputes may result in materially adverse monetary damages or injunctive relief against us. For example, in fiscal 2014, we recorded a loss of approximately $100.0 million when

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a California state court entered judgment against us in connection with a claim by the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority, or the MTA Lawsuit, against a joint venture in which we were the managing partner, which we refer to as the MTA Judgment. We successfully appealed this judgment and, in 2018, the judgment was vacated. Additionally, our insurance policies may not protect us against potential liability due to various exclusions in the policies and self-insured retention amounts. Partially or completely uninsured claims, if successful and of significant magnitude, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Furthermore, any claims or litigation, even if fully indemnified or insured, could damage our reputation and make it more difficult to compete effectively or obtain adequate insurance in the future.

Our business is subject to numerous legal and regulatory requirements and any violation of these requirements or any misconduct by our employees, subcontractors, agents or business partners could harm our business and reputation.

In addition to government contract procurement laws and regulations, we are subject to numerous other federal, state and foreign legal requirements on matters as diverse as data privacy and protection, employment and labor relations, immigration, taxation, anti-corruption, import/export controls, trade restrictions, internal and disclosure control obligations, securities regulation and anti-competition. Compliance with diverse and changing legal requirements is costly, time-consuming and requires significant resources. Violations of one or more of these requirements in the conduct of our business could result in significant fines and other damages, criminal sanctions against us or our officers, prohibitions on doing business and damage to our reputation. Violations of these regulations or contractual obligations related to regulatory compliance in connection with the performance of customer contracts could also result in liability for significant monetary damages, fines and/or criminal prosecution, unfavorable publicity and other reputational damage, restrictions on our ability to compete for work and allegations by our customers that we have not performed our contractual obligations.

Misconduct by our employees, subcontractors, agents or business partners could subject us to fines and penalties, restitution or other damages, loss of security clearance, loss of current and future customer contracts and suspension or debarment from contracting with federal, state or local government agencies, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Such misconduct could include fraud or other improper activities such as falsifying time or other records, failure to comply with our policies and procedures or violations of applicable laws and regulations.

Goodwill and intangible assets represent a significant amount of our total assets and any impairment of these assets would negatively impact our results of operations.

As of December 31, 2018, we had goodwill and intangible assets of $916.5 million. In fiscal 2016, we recorded an impairment charge of $84.7 million associated with goodwill and intangible assets in connection with our restructuring activities in 2015 and 2016.

Goodwill is tested for impairment annually, or more often if indicators of potential impairment exist, and intangible assets are tested for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value may not be recoverable. Examples of events or changes in circumstances indicating that the carrying value of goodwill may not be recoverable could include a significant adverse change in legal factors or in the business climate, an adverse action or assessment by a regulator, unanticipated competition, loss of key contracts, customer relationships, or personnel that affect current and future operating cash flows of the reporting unit. Any future impairment of goodwill or other intangible assets would have a negative impact on our profitability and financial results.

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We depend on our teaming arrangements and relationships with other contractors and subcontractors. If we are not able to maintain these relationships, or if these parties fail to satisfy their obligations to us or the customer, our revenues, profitability and growth prospects could be adversely affected.

We rely on teaming relationships with other prime contractors and subcontractors in order to submit bids for large procurements or other opportunities where we believe the combination of services, products and solutions provided by us and our teammates will help us to win and perform the contract. Our future revenues and growth prospects could be adversely affected if other contractors eliminate or reduce their contract relationships with us, or if our government clients terminate or reduce these other contractors’ programs, do not award them new contracts or refuse to pay under a contract. Companies that do not have access to government contracts or experience with our customers may perform services as our subcontractor that we cannot otherwise provide ourselves, and that exposure could enhance such companies’ prospect of securing a future position as a prime government contractor which could increase competition for future contracts and impair our ability to win these contracts.

Whenever our subcontractors fail to timely meet their contractual obligations, have regulatory compliance or other problems, our ability to fulfill our obligations as a prime contractor or higher tier subcontractor may be jeopardized. Subcontractor performance deficiencies under subcontracts with us as the prime contractor could lead to significant losses in future periods and could result in our termination for default as the prime contractor even though it was the subcontractor that failed to perform and not our personnel.

Our failure to meet contractual schedule requirements, meet a required performance standard, meet our internal contractual performance projections or otherwise perform adequately on a project could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Under some of our contracts, we can incur liquidated or other damages if we do not achieve project completion by a scheduled date. In addition, our costs generally increase from schedule delays and/or could exceed our projections for a particular project. Project performance can be affected by a number of factors beyond our control, including unavoidable delays from governmental inaction, public opposition, inability to obtain financing, weather conditions, unavailability of vendor materials, changes in the project scope of services requested by our clients, industrial accidents, environmental hazards, labor disruptions and other factors. Any defects or errors, or failures to meet our clients’ expectations, in our projects or services could result in claims for damages against us and could adversely affect our reputation. Material performance problems for existing and future contracts could cause actual results of operations to differ from those anticipated by us and also could cause us to suffer damage to our reputation within our industries and client base.

Many of our contracts require innovative design capabilities, are technologically complex or are dependent upon factors not wholly within our control. Failure to meet these obligations could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

We design and develop technologically advanced and innovative products and services applied by our customers in a variety of environments. Problems and delays in development or delivery as a result of issues with respect to design, technology, licensing and patent rights, labor, learning curve assumptions or materials and components could prevent us from achieving contractual requirements. Our offerings cannot be tested and proven in all situations and are otherwise subject to unforeseen problems that could negatively affect revenue and profitability such as problems with governmental inaction, quality and workmanship, delivery of subcontractor components or services, unplanned degradation of product performance, unavailability of vendor materials and changes in the project

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scope requested by our clients. Among the factors that may adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations could be unforeseen costs and expenses not covered by insurance or indemnification from the customer, diversion of management focus in responding to unforeseen problems, loss of follow-on work, damage to our reputation and repayment to the customer of contract cost and fee payments we previously received.

Failure to adequately protect, maintain, or enforce our rights in our intellectual property may adversely limit our competitive position.

We rely upon a combination of nondisclosure agreements and other contractual arrangements, as well as copyright, trademark, patent and trade secret laws to protect our proprietary information. We also enter into proprietary information and intellectual property agreements with employees, which require them to disclose any inventions created during employment, to convey such rights to inventions to us, and to restrict any disclosure of proprietary information. Trade secrets are generally difficult to protect. Although our employees are subject to confidentiality obligations, this protection may be inadequate to deter or prevent misappropriation of our confidential information and/or the infringement of our patents and copyrights. Further, we may be unable to detect unauthorized use of our intellectual property or otherwise take appropriate steps to enforce our rights. Failure to adequately protect, maintain, or enforce our intellectual property rights may adversely limit our competitive position.

Assertions by third parties of infringement, misappropriation or other violations by us of their intellectual property rights could result in significant costs and substantially harm our business, financial condition and operation results.

In recent years, there has been significant litigation involving intellectual property rights in technology industries. We may face from time to time, allegations that we or a supplier or customer have violated the rights of third parties, including patent, trademark, and other intellectual property rights. If, with respect to any claim against us for violation of third-party intellectual property rights, we are unable to prevail in the litigation or retain or obtain sufficient rights or develop non-infringing intellectual property or otherwise alter our business practices on a timely or cost-efficient basis, our business, financial condition or results of operations may be adversely affected.

Any infringement, misappropriation or related claims, whether or not meritorious, are time consuming, divert technical and management personnel, and are costly to resolve. As a result of any such dispute, we may have to develop non-infringing technology, pay damages, enter into royalty or licensing agreements, cease utilizing products or services, or take other actions to resolve the claims. These actions, if required, may be costly or unavailable on terms acceptable to us.

Our operations outside the United States expose us to legal, political and economic risks in different countries as well as currency exchange rate fluctuations that could harm our business and financial results.

Revenue attributable to our services provided outside of the United States as a percentage of our total revenue was 29.7% in fiscal 2016, 30.0% in fiscal 2017 and 29.8% in fiscal 2018. There are risks inherent in doing business internationally, including:

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Any of these factors could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

We have operations in the Middle East and neighboring regions, and these regions may experience turmoil that may impact our current projects, future business and financial stability.

We currently have operations in the Middle East, including in Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. These countries experience frequent political turmoil such as the tensions among Qatar and several of its neighbors, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. This uncertainty may affect our ability to continue our projects in these regions due to lack of resources, local support, and safety for our workers. If we are unable to finish these projects, it is likely that our finances will be impacted. Furthermore, we may experience liability regarding our employees and their safety and security in these locations. We also may incur material costs to maintain the safety of our personnel. Despite these precautions, the safety of our personnel in these locations may continue to be at risk. Acts of terrorism and threats of armed conflicts in or around various areas in which we operate could limit or disrupt markets and our operations, including disruptions resulting from the evacuation of personnel, cancellation of contracts, or the loss of key employees, contractors or assets.

We operate in many different jurisdictions and we could be adversely affected by violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and similar worldwide anti-corruption laws.

The FCPA and similar worldwide anti-corruption laws, including the U.K. Bribery Act of 2010, generally prohibit companies and their intermediaries from making improper payments to non-U.S. officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. Our internal policies mandate compliance with these anti-corruption laws, including the requirements to maintain accurate information and internal controls which may fall within the purview of the FCPA, its books and records provisions or its anti-bribery provisions. We operate in many parts of the world that have experienced governmental corruption to some degree; and, in some circumstances, strict compliance with anticorruption laws may conflict with local customs and practices. Despite our training and compliance programs, we cannot assure that our internal control policies and procedures always will protect us from reckless or criminal acts committed by our employees or agents. In addition, from time to time, government investigations of corruption in industries we operate in may affect us and our peers. Violations of these laws, or allegations of such violations, could disrupt our business and result in a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

We may not realize the full value of our backlog, which may result in lower than expected revenue.

As of December 31, 2018, our total backlog was $8.0 billion, of which $5.3 billion was funded. We historically have not realized all of the revenue included in our total backlog, and we may not realize all

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of the revenue included in our total backlog in the future. There is a somewhat higher degree of risk in this regard with respect to unfunded backlog and backlog related to unexercised options years and IDIQ contracts for which delivery orders have not yet been issued. In addition, there can be no assurance that our backlog will result in actual revenue in any particular period. This is because the actual receipt, timing and amount of revenue under contracts included in backlog are subject to various contingencies, including congressional appropriations, many of which are beyond our control. In particular, delays in the completion of the U.S. government’s budgeting process and the use of continuing resolutions could adversely affect our ability to timely recognize revenue under our contracts included in backlog. Furthermore, the actual receipt of revenue from contracts included in backlog may never occur or may be delayed because: a program schedule could change or the program could be canceled; a contract’s funding or scope could be reduced, modified, delayed or terminated early, including as a result of a lack of appropriated funds or as a result of cost cutting initiatives and other efforts to reduce government spending; in the case of funded backlog, the period of performance for the contract has expired; in the case of unfunded backlog, funding may not be available; in the case of backlog related to unexercised option years, the contract option is not yet exercised or may ever be exercised; and, in the case of backlog related to IDIQ contracts where delivery orders have not been issued, no further delivery orders may be issued. In addition, headcount growth is the primary means by which we are able to achieve revenue growth. Any inability to hire additional appropriately qualified personnel or failure to timely and effectively deploy such additional personnel against funded backlog could negatively affect our ability to grow our revenue. We may also not recognize revenue on funded backlog due to, among other reasons, the tardy submissions of invoices by our subcontractors and the expiration of the relevant appropriated funding in accordance with a predetermined expiration date such as the end of the U.S. government’s fiscal year. The amount of our funded backlog is also subject to change, due to, among other factors: changes in appropriations that reflect changes in government policies or priorities resulting from various military, political, economic or international developments; changes in the use of government contracting vehicles, and the provisions therein used to procure our services; and adjustments to the scope of services under, or cancellation of contracts, by the applicable government at any time. Furthermore, even if our backlog results in revenue, the contracts may not be profitable.

If we cannot collect our receivables or if payment is delayed, our business may be adversely affected by our inability to generate cash flow, provide working capital or continue our business operations.

As of December 31, 2018, our accounts receivable, net was $623.3 million. We depend on the timely collection of our receivables to generate cash flow, provide working capital and continue our business operations. If our customers fail to pay or delay the payment of invoices for any reason, our business and financial condition may be materially and adversely affected. Our customers have in the past and may in the future delay or fail to pay invoices for a number of reasons, including lack of appropriated funds, lack of an approved budget or as a result of audit findings by government regulatory agencies. We cannot assure you that we will collect all our accounts receivable in excess of our allowance for doubtful accounts in a timely manner.

The agreements governing our debt contain a number of restrictive covenants which may limit our ability to finance future operations, acquisitions or capital needs or engage in other business activities that may be in our interest.

As of December 31, 2018, our total indebtedness was $429.2 million, which does not include $260.0 million of aggregate borrowings under our Term Loan and Revolving Credit Facility in connection with the consummation of our acquisition of OGSystems in January 2019. Our Credit Agreement and the agreements governing our Senior Notes contain a number of covenants that impose operating and other restrictions on us and our subsidiaries. Such restrictions affect or will

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affect, and in many respects limit or prohibit our ability and the ability of our subsidiaries to, among other things:

In addition, our Credit Agreement also requires us to comply with certain financial ratio covenants, including a debt leverage ratio and a fixed charge coverage ratio. Our ability to comply with these ratios may be affected by events beyond our control.

These restrictions could limit our ability to plan for or react to market or economic conditions or meet capital needs or otherwise restrict our activities or business plans, and could adversely affect our ability to finance our operations, acquisitions, investments or strategic alliances or other capital needs or to engage in other business activities that would be in our interest.

A breach of any of these covenants or our inability to comply with the required financial ratios could result in a default under our debt instruments. If an event of default occurs, our creditors could elect to:

If we were unable to repay or otherwise refinance these borrowings when due, the lenders under our Credit Agreement could sell the collateral securing the borrowings under our Credit Agreement, which constitutes substantially all of our domestic and foreign, wholly owned subsidiaries’ assets.

We may lose one or more members of our senior management team or fail to develop new leaders, which could cause a disruption in the management of our business.

We believe that the future success of our business and our ability to operate profitably depends on the continued contributions of the members of our senior management and the continued development of new members of senior management. We rely on our senior management to generate business and execute programs successfully. In addition, the relationships and reputation that many members of our senior management team have established and maintain with our clients are important to our business and our ability to identify new business opportunities. We do not have any employment agreements providing for a specific term of employment with any members of our senior management.

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The loss of any member of our senior management or our failure to continue to develop new members could impair our ability to identify and secure new contracts, to maintain good client relations, and to otherwise manage our business, and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our services and operations sometimes involve handling or disposing of hazardous substances or dangerous materials, and we are subject to environmental requirements and risks which could result in significant costs, liabilities and obligations.

Our operations are subject to stringent and complex federal, state and local laws and regulations governing the discharge of materials into the environment, the health and safety aspects of our operations, or otherwise relating to environmental protection. Some of our services and operations involve the handling or disposal of hazardous substances or dangerous materials, including explosive, chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear materials. These activities generally subject us to extensive foreign, federal, state and local environmental protection and health and safety laws and regulations, which, among other things, require us to incur costs to comply with these regulations and could impose liability on us for handling or disposing of hazardous substances or dangerous materials. Numerous governmental authorities, such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, or the EPA, and analogous state agencies, have the power to enforce compliance with these laws and regulations and the permits issued under them. Such enforcement actions often involve difficult and costly compliance measures or corrective actions. Furthermore, failure to comply with these environmental protection and health and safety laws and regulations could result in civil, criminal, regulatory, administrative or contractual sanctions, including fines, penalties or suspension or debarment from contracting with the U.S. government, and could also result in investigations, the imposition of corrective action or remedial obligations, and the issuance of orders limiting or prohibiting some or all of our operations. In certain instances, citizen groups also have the ability to bring legal proceedings against us if we are not in compliance with environmental laws. In addition, claims for damages to persons or property, including natural resources, may result from the environmental, health and safety impacts of our operations. We, like other businesses, can never completely eliminate the risk of contamination or injury from certain materials that we use in our business. If we have any violations of, or incur liabilities pursuant to, these laws or regulations, it may result in a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Certain environmental laws impose strict liability (i.e., no showing of “fault” is required) as well as joint and several liability for costs required to remediate and restore sites where hazardous substances, hydrocarbons or solid wastes have been stored or released. We may be required to remediate contaminated properties currently or formerly owned or operated by us or facilities of third parties that received waste generated by our operations, regardless of whether such contamination resulted from the conduct of others or from the consequences of our own actions that were in compliance with all applicable laws at the time those actions were taken.

We have limited, and potentially insufficient, insurance coverage for expenses and losses that may arise in connection with environmental contamination. Finally, in connection with certain acquisitions, we could acquire, or be required to provide indemnification against, environmental liabilities that could expose us to material losses.

Many of our field project sites and facilities are inherently dangerous workplaces. Failure to manage our field project sites and facilities safely could result in environmental disasters, employee deaths or injuries, reduced profitability, the loss of projects or clients and possible exposure to litigation.

Our field project sites and facilities, particularly in our Critical Infrastructure business, often put our employees and others in close proximity with mechanized equipment, moving vehicles, chemical

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and manufacturing processes, and highly regulated materials. On some field project sites and in some of our facilities, we may be responsible for safety and, accordingly, we have an obligation to implement effective safety procedures. If these procedures are not appropriately implemented or are ineffective, our employees could be injured or killed, and we could be exposed to possible litigation. As a result, our failure to maintain adequate safety standards and equipment could result in reduced profitability or the loss of projects or clients, and could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Prior to this offering, we were treated as an S Corporation, and claims of taxing authorities related to our prior status as an S Corporation could adversely affect us.

Upon consummation of this offering, our status as an “S” Corporation will terminate and we will be treated as a “C” Corporation under the provisions of Sections 301 through 385 of the Code, which treat the corporation as an entity that is subject to U.S. federal income tax. If the unaudited, open tax years in which we were an “S” Corporation are audited by the Internal Revenue Service, or IRS, and we are determined not to have qualified for, or to have violated any requirement for maintaining, our “S” Corporation status, we will be obligated to pay back taxes, interest and penalties. The amounts that we would be obligated to pay could include taxes on all our taxable income while we were an “S” Corporation. Any such claims could result in additional costs to us and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Prior to this offering we are 100% owned by the ESOP, which is a retirement plan that is intended to be qualified under the Code. If the ESOP failed to meet the requirements of a tax qualified retirement plan we could be subject to substantial penalties.

The ESOP is a defined contribution retirement plan subject to the requirements of the Code and ERISA. The ESOP has received a determination letter, dated January 31, 2012, from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that it meets the requirements of a tax qualified retirement plan in form and we endeavor to maintain and administer the ESOP in compliance with all requirements of the Code and ERISA. However, the rules regarding tax qualified plans, and especially ESOPs, are complex and change frequently. Accordingly, it is possible that the ESOP may not have been administered in full compliance with all applicable rules under the Code or ERISA at all times.

If the ESOP were determined not to be in material compliance with the Code or ERISA, then the ESOP could lose its tax qualified status and we could be subject to substantial penalties under the Code and ERISA which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. Additionally, loss of the ESOP’s tax-qualified status would adversely impact our prior treatment as an S Corporation.

Negotiations with labor unions and possible work actions could divert management attention and disrupt operations. In addition, new collective bargaining agreements or amendments to existing agreements could increase our labor costs and operating expenses.

We have entered into collective bargaining agreements for approximately 330 of our more than 15,600 employees as of January 31, 2019. The outcome of any future negotiations relating to union representation or collective bargaining agreements for these or other employees in the future may not be favorable to us. We may reach agreements in collective bargaining that increase our operating expenses and lower our net income as a result of higher wages or benefit expenses. In addition, negotiations with unions could divert management attention and disrupt operations, which may adversely affect our results of operations. If we are unable to negotiate acceptable collective bargaining agreements, we may have to address the threat of union-initiated work actions, including strikes. Depending on the nature of the threat or the type and duration of any work action, these actions could disrupt our operations and adversely affect our operating results.

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Foreign exchange rate risks may affect our ability to realize a profit from certain projects and negatively impact our backlog and our results of operations.

Our financial condition and results of operations are exposed to foreign currency exchange rate risks resulting from our operations outside of the U.S. While we generally attempt to denominate our contracts in the currencies of our expenditures, or otherwise include contractual clauses to provide protection from currency fluctuations, we do enter into contracts that expose us to currency risk, particularly to the extent contract revenue is denominated in a currency different than the contract costs. In addition, fluctuations in currency exchange rates may impact the U.S. dollar value of our backlog. We may also be exposed to limitations on our ability to reinvest earnings from operations in one country to fund the financing requirements of our operations in other countries. We also reflect the transaction gains or losses on movements in foreign currency rates, which were a $6,000 gain in fiscal 2016, $5.1 million gain in fiscal 2017 and $5.2 million loss in fiscal 2018.

Risks Related to Our Common Stock and This Offering

Our costs will increase significantly as a result of operating as a public company, and our management will be required to devote substantial time to complying with public company regulations.

As a public company, we will incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses that we did not incur as a private company. In addition, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as well as rules subsequently implemented by the SEC, have imposed various requirements on public companies, including requiring changes in corporate governance practices. Our management and other personnel will need to devote a substantial amount of time to comply with these rules and regulations. Moreover, these rules and regulations relating to public companies will increase our legal and financial compliance costs and will make some activities more time-consuming and costly. For example, we expect these new rules and regulations to make it more difficult and more expensive for us to obtain and maintain director and officer liability insurance. These rules and regulations could also make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified persons to serve on our board of directors, our board committees or as executive officers.

In addition, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires, among other things, that we maintain and periodically evaluate our internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures. In particular, we must perform system and process evaluation and testing of our internal control over financial reporting to allow management and our independent registered public accounting firm to report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, as required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Our compliance with Section 404 will require that we incur substantial accounting expense and expend significant management efforts. We will need to hire additional accounting and financial staff with appropriate public company experience and technical accounting knowledge to satisfy the ongoing requirements of Section 404 and provide internal audit services. If our finance and accounting organization is unable for any reason to respond adequately to the increased demands that will result from being a public company, the quality and timeliness of our financial reporting may suffer and we could experience internal control weaknesses. Any consequences resulting from inaccuracies or delays in our reported financial statements could have an adverse effect on the trading price of our common stock as well as an adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.

If we are unable to implement and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting in the future, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports and the market price of our common stock may be negatively affected.

As a public company, we are required to maintain internal control over financial reporting and to report any material weaknesses in such internal control. In addition, beginning with our second annual

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report on Form 10-K, we will be required to furnish a report by management on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. At such time, our independent registered public accounting firm may issue a report that is adverse in the event it is not satisfied with the level at which our internal control over financial reporting is documented, designed or operating.

The process of designing, implementing and testing the internal control over financial reporting required to comply with this obligation is time-consuming, costly and complicated. If we identify material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, or if we are unable to comply with the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in a timely manner or to assert that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, or if our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to express an opinion as to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports, the market price of our common stock could be negatively affected, and we could become subject to investigations by our stock exchange, the SEC or other regulatory authorities, which could require additional financial and management resources.

There is no existing market for our common stock, and you cannot be certain that an active trading market or a specific share price will be established.

Prior to this offering, there was no public market for shares of our common stock. We have applied to list our common stock on the NYSE. We cannot predict the extent to which investor interest in our company will lead to the development of a trading market on such exchange or otherwise or how liquid that market might become. The initial public offering price for the shares of our common stock will be determined by negotiations between us and the underwriters, and may not be indicative of the price that will prevail in the trading market following this offering. The market price for our common stock may decline below the initial public offering price, and our stock price is likely to be volatile.

If our stock price fluctuates after this offering, you could lose a significant part of your investment.

The market price of our stock may be influenced by many factors, some of which are beyond our control, including the following:

As a result of these factors, investors in our common stock may not be able to resell their shares at or above the initial offering price. These broad market and industry factors may materially reduce the market price of our common stock, regardless of our operating performance.

In addition, the stock markets have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have affected and continue to affect the market prices of equity securities of many companies. In the past,

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stockholders have instituted securities class action litigation following periods of market volatility. If we were involved in securities litigation, we could incur substantial costs and our resources and the attention of management could be diverted from our business.

Our operating results and share price may be volatile, and the market price of our common stock after this offering may drop below the price you pay.

Our quarterly operating results are likely to fluctuate in the future as a publicly traded company. In addition, securities markets worldwide have experienced, and are likely to continue to experience, significant price and volume fluctuations. This market volatility, as well as general economic, market or political conditions, could subject the market price of our shares to wide price fluctuations regardless of our operating performance. We and the underwriters will negotiate to determine the initial public offering price. You may not be able to resell your shares at or above the initial public offering price or at all. Our operating results and the trading price of our shares may fluctuate in response to various factors, including:

These and other factors, many of which are beyond our control, may cause our operating results and the market price and demand for our shares to fluctuate substantially. While we believe that

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operating results for any particular quarter are not necessarily a meaningful indication of future results, fluctuations in our quarterly operating results could limit or prevent investors from readily selling their shares and may otherwise negatively affect the market price and liquidity of our shares. In addition, in the past, when the market price of a stock has been volatile, holders of that stock have sometimes instituted securities class action litigation against the company that issued the stock. If any of our stockholders brought a lawsuit against us, we could incur substantial costs defending the lawsuit. Such a lawsuit could also divert the time and attention of our management from our business, which could significantly harm our profitability and reputation.

Sales of outstanding shares of our common stock into the market in the future could cause the market price of our common stock to drop significantly, even if our business is doing well.

Immediately after this offering, we will have outstanding                shares of our common stock. Of these shares, the                shares sold in this offering will be freely tradable except for any shares purchased by our “affiliates” as that term is used in Rule 144 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act. At various times after the date of this prospectus, the remaining                shares will become available for resale in the public market, in compliance with the requirements of the federal securities laws and in accordance with lock-up agreements that the holders of these shares have with the underwriters. However, the underwriters can waive these restrictions and allow these stockholders to sell their shares at any time without prior notice.

If the                remaining shares not sold in this offering described above are sold, or if it is perceived that they will be sold in the public market, the trading price of our common stock could drop significantly.

Following the consummation of this offering, qualifying ESOP participants will have the right to receive distributions of shares of our common stock from the ESOP and to sell such shares in the market.    

Approximately                shares of common stock will be held by the ESOP following consummation of this offering. We intend to register the shares held by the ESOP on a Form S-8 in connection with this offering. Participants are generally entitled to distributions from the ESOP only following termination of employment or upon death and in order to diversify their accounts upon attaining a specified age and completing a specified number of years of service as described in more detail under the heading “Executive Compensation—Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP)”.

During the 180-day lock-up period following the date of this prospectus, ESOP distributions will be made in the form of cash. Beginning on the 181^st day following the date of this prospectus, ESOP distributions will be made in the form of shares of our common stock (other than distributions in respect of fractional shares, which will be made in cash). Upon receiving a distribution of our common stock from the ESOP, a participant will be able to sell such shares in the market, subject to any requirements of the federal securities laws and any further lock-up agreement restrictions that the participant may have with the underwriters.

As of                 , there were                  shares eligible for distribution and                  shares were eligible for diversification elections. We cannot predict if participants will make diversification elections or elect to take distributions from the ESOP. As a result, we cannot predict the effect, if any, that these distributions and the corresponding sales of shares by the participants following expiration of the 180-day lock-up period may have on the market price of our common stock. Distribution of substantial amounts of our common stock to participants may cause the market price of our common stock to decline.

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The issuance of additional stock, not reserved for issuance under our equity incentive plans or otherwise, will dilute all other stockholdings.

After this offering, we will have an aggregate of                shares of common stock authorized but unissued and not reserved for issuance under our 2019 Plan, under the 2019 Awards or otherwise. We may issue all of these shares without any action or approval by our stockholders. The issuance of additional shares could be dilutive to existing holders. We historically have made annual contributions of our common stock to the ESOP. We made contributions of 656,027 shares in fiscal 2016, 596,832 shares in fiscal 2017 and 627,241 shares in fiscal 2018 of our common stock to the ESOP, and intend to continue to make annual contributions to the ESOP after we are a public company.

Investors in this offering will suffer immediate and substantial dilution.

The initial public offering price of our common stock is substantially higher than the net tangible book value per share of our outstanding common stock immediately after this offering. Therefore, if you purchase our common stock in this offering, you will incur an immediate dilution of $                in net tangible book value per share from the price you paid.

Your ability to influence corporate matters may be limited because the ESOP beneficially owns a substantial amount of our stock and the ESOP, as a majority stockholder, is expected to have substantial control over us after the offering.

Our common stock, which is the stock we are selling in this offering, has one vote per share. Upon completion of this offering, the ESOP will beneficially own approximately    % of our outstanding common stock. Under the terms of the ESOP, each participant has the ability to direct the ESOP Trustee on the voting of the shares allocated to his or her account under the ESOP. However, the ESOP Trustee will vote any shares that a participant does not direct the voting, or any shares that are held by the ESOP which are not allocated to participants’ accounts. As such, the ESOP Trustee may be able to exercise a greater influence than otherwise over matters requiring stockholder approval, including the election of directors and approval of significant corporate transactions.

The purpose of the ESOP is to provide retirement income to employees and their beneficiaries. Accordingly, the interests of the ESOP and the ESOP participants may be contrary to yours as an outside investor.

ERISA sets forth certain fiduciary requirements that require an ERISA fiduciary, like the ESOP Trustee, to act solely in the interests of plan participants and their beneficiaries for the purpose of providing retirement benefits. The Department of Labor, which is the agency with the authority to interpret and enforce the fiduciary sections of ERISA, has indicated in its interpretative guidance that voting is an ERISA fiduciary act. The ESOP Trustee’s fiduciary duties under ERISA to the ESOP and its participants may cause the ESOP Trustee to override participants’ voting directions to the extent that following such directions would violate ERISA. In such case, the ESOP Trustee will be able to exercise voting control over all of the ESOP’s shares. Further, following completion of this offering, the interests of the minority stockholders may not be aligned with those of the ESOP as the majority stockholder, because the ESOP Trustee is required under ERISA to act in the best interest of the ESOP participants and beneficiaries, this may present a conflict.

As a result, the concentration of ownership in our company by the ESOP could delay or prevent a change in control of our company or otherwise discourage a potential acquirer from attempting to obtain control of our company, which in turn could reduce the price of our common stock.

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We are a “controlled company” within the meaning of the NYSE listing standards and, as a result, will qualify for exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements. You may not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to such requirements.

Following the closing of this offering, the ESOP will hold common stock representing approximately      % of the voting power of our common stock. As a result, we will be considered a “controlled company” for the purposes of NYSE rules and corporate governance standards. As a controlled company, we will be exempt from certain NYSE corporate governance requirements, including those that would otherwise require our board of directors to have a majority of independent directors and require that we either establish compensation and nominating and corporate governance board committees, each comprised entirely of independent directors, or otherwise ensure that the compensation of our executive officers and nominees for directors are determined or recommended to the board of directors by the independent members of the board of directors. While we intend to have a majority of independent directors, and our compensation and nominating and corporate governance committees to consist entirely of independent directors, we may decide at a later time to rely on one of the “controlled company” exemptions. Accordingly, our common stock may not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to all of the NYSE corporate governance requirements.

Our management will have broad discretion over the use of the proceeds we receive in this offering and might not apply the proceeds in ways that increase the value of your investment.

Our management will have broad discretion to use our net proceeds from this offering, and you will be relying on the judgment of our management regarding the application of these proceeds. Our management may not apply our net proceeds from this offering in ways that increase the value of your investment. We intend to use the net proceeds from this offering to repay the outstanding balances under our Term Loan and Revolving Credit Facility, to fund future acquisitions and for working capital and other general corporate purposes. Our management might not be able to yield a significant return, if any, on any investment of these net proceeds. You will not have the opportunity to influence our decisions on how to use our net proceeds from this offering.

Our ability to raise capital in the future may be limited, which could limit our business plan or adversely affect your investment.

Our business and strategic plans may consume resources faster than we anticipate. In the future, we may need to raise additional funds through the issuance of new equity securities, debt or a combination of both. However, any decline in the market price of our common stock could impair our ability to raise capital. Separately, additional financing may not be available on favorable terms, or at all. If adequate funds are not available on acceptable terms, we may be unable to fund our operations or new investments. If we issue new debt securities, the debt holders would have rights senior to common stockholders to make claims on our assets, and the terms of any debt could restrict our operations, including our ability to pay dividends on our common stock. If we issue additional equity securities, existing stockholders will experience dilution, and the new equity securities could have rights senior to those of our common stock. Because our decision to issue securities in any future offering will depend on market conditions and other factors beyond our control, we cannot predict or estimate the amount, timing or nature of our future offerings. Thus, our stockholders bear the risk of our future securities offerings reducing the market price of our common stock and diluting their interest.

Anti-takeover provisions in our organizational documents could delay a change in management and limit our share price.

Upon the consummation of this offering, provisions of our certificate of incorporation and bylaws that will become effective prior to the completion of this offering could make it more difficult for a third

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party to acquire control of us even if such a change in control would increase the value of our common stock and prevent attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current board of directors or management.

We have a number of anti-takeover devices that will be in place prior to the completion of this offering that will hinder takeover attempts and could reduce the market value of our common stock or prevent sale at a premium. Our anti-takeover provisions:

In addition, as a Delaware corporation, we are subject to Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, or the DGCL. These provisions may prohibit large stockholders, in particular those owning 15% or more of our outstanding voting stock, from merging or combining with us for a period of time.

Our certificate of incorporation will provide that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the exclusive forum for substantially all disputes between us and our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers or employees.

Our certificate of incorporation which will become effective prior to the closing of this offering will provide that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is the exclusive forum for the following civil actions:

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This choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that the stockholder finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers or other employees, which may discourage such lawsuits against us and our directors, officers and other employees. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in our certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

After the completion of this offering, we do not expect to declare any dividends in the foreseeable future.

After the completion of this offering, other than the IPO Dividend, we do not anticipate declaring any cash dividends to holders of our common stock in the foreseeable future. Any determination to pay dividends in the future will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend upon results of operations, financial condition, any contractual restrictions, our indebtedness, restrictions imposed by applicable law and other factors our board of directors deems relevant. Consequently, investors may need to sell all or part of their holdings of our common stock after price appreciation, which may never occur, as the only way to realize any future gains on their investment. Investors seeking cash dividends should not purchase our common stock.

If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, our stock price and trading volume could decline.

The trading market for our common stock will depend, in part, on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business. We do not currently have, and may never obtain, research coverage by securities and industry analysts. If no securities or industry analysts commence coverage of our company, the trading price for our common stock would be negatively impacted. If we obtain securities or industry analyst coverage and if one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrades our common stock or publishes inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, our stock price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts ceases coverage of us or fails to publish reports on us regularly, demand for our common stock could decrease, which could cause our stock price and trading volume to decline.

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SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This prospectus contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, which statements involve substantial risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements generally relate to future events or our future financial or operating performance. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as “may”, “will”, “should”, “expects”, “plans”, “anticipates”, “could”, “intends”, “target”, “projects”, “contemplates”, “believes”, “estimates”, “predicts”, “potential” or “continue” or the negative of these words or other similar terms or expressions that concern our expectations, strategy, plans or intentions. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. We believe that these factors include, but are not limited to, the following:

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We have based the forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus primarily on our current expectations and projections about future events and trends that we believe may affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, prospects, business strategy and financial needs. The outcome of the events described in these forward-looking statements is subject to risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors described in the section captioned “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this prospectus. These risks are not exhaustive. Other sections of this prospectus include additional factors that could adversely impact our business and financial performance. Furthermore, new risks and uncertainties emerge from time to time and it is not possible for us to predict all risks and uncertainties that could have an impact on the forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus. We cannot assure you that the results, events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements will be achieved or occur, and actual results, events or circumstances could differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements.

In addition, statements that “we believe” and similar statements reflect our beliefs and opinions on the relevant subject. These statements are based upon information available to us as of the date of this prospectus, and while we believe such information forms a reasonable basis for such statements, such information may be limited or incomplete, and our statements should not be read to indicate that we have conducted an exhaustive inquiry into, or review of, all potentially available relevant information. These statements are inherently uncertain and investors are cautioned not to unduly rely upon these statements.

You should read this prospectus and the documents that we reference in this prospectus and have filed as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part with the understanding that our actual future results, levels of activity, performance and achievements may be materially different from what we expect. We qualify all of our forward-looking statements by these cautionary statements.

The forward-looking statements made in this prospectus relate only to events as of the date on which such statements are made. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements after the date of this prospectus or to conform such statements to actual results or revised expectations, except as required by law.

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USE OF PROCEEDS

We estimate that the net proceeds to us from the sale of shares of our common stock in this offering will be approximately $                million, based upon the assumed initial public offering price of $                 per share, which is the midpoint of the estimated offering price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, and after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. If the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares in full, we estimate that the net proceeds to be received by us will be approximately $                million, after deducting underwriting discounts, commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us.

A $1.00 increase (decrease) in the assumed initial public offering price of $                 per share would increase (decrease) the net proceeds that we receive from this offering by approximately $                 million, assuming that the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same and after deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. Similarly, each increase (decrease) of 1.0 million in the number of shares offered by us would increase (decrease) the net proceeds that we receive from this offering by approximately $                 million, assuming that the assumed initial public offering price remains the same and after deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us.

The principal purposes of this offering are to increase our capitalization and financial flexibility, create a public market for our common stock and thereby enable access to the public equity markets for us and our stockholders. We intend to use the net proceeds to us from this offering to repay the outstanding principal balance of approximately $150.0 million under our Term Loan (plus any accrued interest) and the outstanding principal balance of approximately $                million under our Revolving Credit Facility (plus any accrued interest), to fund future acquisitions and for working capital and other general corporate purposes.

As of December 31, 2018, the outstanding indebtedness under our Revolving Credit Facility was $180.0 million, which does not include $110.0 million we borrowed under our Revolving Credit Facility in January 2019 to partially finance the OGSystems Acquisition. In May 2018, we borrowed $260.0 million under our Revolving Credit Facility to partially finance the acquisition of Polaris Alpha. Under the terms of our Credit Agreement, borrowings under our Revolving Credit Facility bear interest, at our option, at either the Base Rate (as defined in the Credit Agreement), plus an applicable margin, or LIBOR plus an applicable margin. The applicable margin for Base Rate loans is a range of 0.125% to 1.00% and the applicable margin for LIBOR loans is a range of 1.125% to 2.00%, both based on our leverage ratio at the end of each fiscal quarter. The Credit Agreement has a maturity date of November 15, 2022. We intend to use $                 million of our net proceeds from this offering to repay the outstanding balance under our Revolving Credit Facility upon the consummation of this offering.

In January 2019, we borrowed $150.0 million under our Term Loan Agreement to partially finance the OGSystems Acquisition. Our Term Loan is comprised of Offshore Rate Loans and Base Rate Loans (each as defined in the Term Loan Agreement), with an initial aggregate principal amount of $150.0 million. The Offshore Rate Loans bear interest at a rate per annum of LIBOR, divided by 1.00 minus the Eurodollar Reserve Percentage, plus 1.25%. The Base Rate Loans bear interest at a rate per annum of the sum of (a) the highest of (1) the administrative agent’s reference rate; (2) the rate equal to 1.50% per annum above the Offshore Rate; and (3) the rate equal to 0.50% per annum above the latest federal funds rate, plus (b) 0.25%. The Term Loan has a maturity date of January 3, 2020. We intend to use $                 million of our net proceeds from this offering to repay the outstanding balance under our Term Loan upon the consummation of this offering.

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We will have broad discretion over the uses of the net proceeds from this offering and investors will be relying on the judgment of our management regarding the application of the net proceeds from this offering. Pending the use of proceeds from this offering as described above, we plan to invest the net proceeds that we receive in this offering in short-term and long-term interest-bearing obligations, including government- and investment-grade debt securities and money market funds.

Affiliates of Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, MUFG Securities Americas Inc. and Scotia Capital (USA) Inc. are each a lender under the Term Loan and Revolving Credit Facility. A portion of the net proceeds from this offering will be used to repay borrowings under the Term Loan and Revolving Credit Facility. As a result, we expect more than 5% of the net proceeds from this offering will be paid to affiliates of each of Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, MUFG Securities Americas Inc. and Scotia Capital (USA) Inc. Therefore, this offering is being made in compliance with FINRA Rule 5121. As a result of this conflict of interest, Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC has agreed to act as the qualified independent underwriter with respect to this offering. See the section entitled “Underwriting—Conflicts of Interest.”

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DIVIDEND POLICY

We currently intend to retain all available funds and any future earnings for use in the operation of our business and, other than the IPO Dividend, do not intend to declare or pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Any further determination to pay dividends on our capital stock will be at the discretion of our board of directors, subject to applicable laws, and will depend on our financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements, restrictions under our Senior Notes, Credit Agreement and Term Loan Agreement, general business conditions, and other factors that our board of directors considers relevant. Our ability to pay dividends may also be restricted by the terms of any future credit agreement or any future debt or preferred equity securities of us or our subsidiaries. See “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Common Stock and This Offering—After the completion of this offering, we do not expect to declare any dividends in the foreseeable future.”

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CAPITALIZATION

The following table sets forth cash and cash equivalents, as well as our capitalization, as of December 31, 2018:

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The table above does not include:

The table above assumes no exercise by the underwriters of their option to purchase additional shares of our common stock.

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DILUTION

Dilution is the amount by which the offering price paid by the purchasers of our common stock in this offering exceeds the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our common stock after this offering. Our net tangible book value as of December 31, 2018 was $38.8 million. Net tangible book value per share is determined at any date by subtracting our total liabilities from the total book value of our tangible assets and dividing the difference by the number of shares of our common stock deemed to be outstanding at that date.

If you invest in our common stock in this offering, your ownership interest will be immediately diluted to the extent of the difference between the initial public offering price per share and the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our common stock after this offering.

Our pro forma net tangible book value as of December 31, 2018 would have been $57.3 million, or $2.20 per share of common stock. Pro forma net tangible book value per share is determined at any date by subtracting our total liabilities from the total book value of our tangible assets and dividing the difference by the number of shares of our common stock, after giving effect to (i) the termination of our “S” Corporation status in connection with our initial public offering and our election to be treated as a “C” Corporation under the Code, including an increase in net deferred tax assets of $70.7 million, assuming our “S” Corporation status terminated on December 31, 2018, and (ii) the payment of the IPO Dividend of $52.1 million.

Our pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value as of December 31, 2018 would have been $                million, or $                 per share of common stock, after giving effect to (i) the sale of                  shares of our common stock in this offering at an assumed initial public offering price of $                 per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us, and (ii) repayment of $                 million of outstanding indebtedness under our Term Loan and Revolving Credit Facility in connection with the consummation of this offering. This represents an immediate dilution in pro forma net tangible book value of $                 per share to investors purchasing our common stock in this offering. We determine dilution by subtracting the pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share after this offering from the amount of cash that a new investor paid for a share of our common stock.

The following table illustrates this dilution:

A $1.00 increase (decrease) in the assumed initial public offering price of common stock of $                 per share, the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase (decrease), our pro forma net tangible book value per share after this offering by $                , and would increase (decrease) dilution per share to new investors in this offering by $                , assuming that the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this

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prospectus, remains the same and after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. Similarly, each increase (decrease) of 1.0 million shares in the number of shares offered by us would increase (decrease) our pro forma net tangible book value per share after this offering by $                 per share and decrease (increase) the dilution to new investors by $                 per share, assuming that the assumed initial public offering price remains the same, and after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us.

If the underwriters fully exercise their option to purchase additional shares and all such shares are sold by the Company, pro forma net tangible book value after this offering would increase to approximately $                 per share, and there would be an immediate dilution of approximately $                 per share to investors in this offering.

In addition, we may choose to raise additional capital due to market conditions or strategic considerations even if we believe we have sufficient funds for our current or future operating plans. Furthermore, we may choose to issue common stock as part or all of the consideration in acquisitions of other companies and as part of our planned growth and acquisition strategy. To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities, the issuance of these securities could result in further dilution to our stockholders.

The following table shows, as of December 31, 2018, after giving effect to the pro forma adjustments described above, including this offering, the number of shares of common stock purchased from us, the total consideration paid to us and the average price paid per share by existing stockholders and by new investors purchasing common stock in this offering at an assumed initial public offering price of $                 per share, before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us (in thousands, except per share amounts and percentages):

A $1.00 increase (decrease) in the assumed initial public offering price of $                per share, which is the midpoint of the estimated offering price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase (decrease) the total consideration paid by new investors and total consideration paid by all stockholders by $                million, assuming that the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us.

The above table and discussion excludes:

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Except as otherwise indicated, the above discussion and tables assume no exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares of our common stock from us. If the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares of our common stock were exercised in full, our existing stockholders would own     % and the investors purchasing shares of our common stock in this offering would own     % of the total number of shares of our common stock outstanding immediately after completion of this offering.

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SELECTED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL AND OTHER DATA

The following tables present consolidated financial and other data and pro forma information to reflect our conversion from an “S” Corporation to a “C” Corporation for income tax purposes. The consolidated statements of operations data for the fiscal years ended December 30, 2016, December 29, 2017 and December 31, 2018 and the consolidated balance sheet data as of December 29, 2017 and December 31, 2018 are derived from our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus. The consolidated statements of operations data for the fiscal years ended December 26, 2014 and December 25, 2015 and the consolidated balance sheet data as of December 26, 2014, December 25, 2015 and December 30, 2016 is derived from audited consolidated financial statements that are not included in this prospectus.

You should read this data together with our audited consolidated financial statements and related notes, as well as the information under the caption “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” included elsewhere in this prospectus. Our historical results are not necessarily indicative of our future results.

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Adjusted EBITDA is a supplemental measure of our operating performance included in this prospectus because it is used by management and our board of directors to assess our financial performance both on a segment and on a consolidated basis. We discuss Adjusted EBITDA because our management uses this measure for business planning purposes, including to manage the business against internal projected results of operations and measure the performance of the business generally. Adjusted EBITDA is frequently used by analysts, investors and other interested parties to evaluate companies in our industry.

Adjusted EBITDA is not a GAAP measure of our financial performance or liquidity and should not be considered as an alternative to net income (loss) as a measure of financial performance or cash flows from operations as measures of liquidity, or any other performance measure derived in accordance with GAAP. We define Adjusted EBITDA as net income (loss) attributable to Parsons Corporation, adjusted to include net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests and to exclude interest expense (net of interest income), provision for income taxes, depreciation and amortization and certain other items that we do not consider in our evaluation of ongoing operating performance. These other items include, among other things, impairment of goodwill, intangible and other assets, interest and other expenses recognized on litigation matters, amortization of deferred gain resulting from sale-leaseback transactions, expenses incurred in connection with acquisitions and other non-recurring transaction costs and expenses related to our corporate restructuring initiatives. Adjusted EBITDA should not be construed as an inference that our future results will be unaffected by unusual or non-recurring items. Additionally, Adjusted EBITDA is not intended to be a measure of free cash flow for management’s discretionary use, as it does not reflect tax payments, debt service requirements, capital expenditures and certain other cash costs that may recur in the future, including, among other things, cash requirements for working capital needs and cash costs to replace assets being depreciated and amortized. Management compensates for these limitations by relying on our

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GAAP results in addition to using Adjusted EBITDA supplementally. Our measure of Adjusted EBITDA is not necessarily comparable to similarly titled captions of other companies due to different methods of calculation.

The following table shows Adjusted EBITDA attributable to Parsons Corporation for each of our reportable segments and Adjusted EBITDA attributable to noncontrolling interests:

See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Segment Results," and "Note 20—Segments Information” in the notes to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus for further discussion regarding our segment Adjusted EBITDA attributable to Parsons Corporation.

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MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF

FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following discussion and analysis is intended to help prospective investors understand our business, financial condition, results of operations, liquidity and capital resources. You should read this discussion together with our consolidated financial statements and related notes thereto included elsewhere in this prospectus.

The statements in this discussion regarding industry outlook, our expectations regarding our future performance, liquidity and capital resources and other non-historical statements in this discussion are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the risks and uncertainties described in “Risk Factors” and “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.” Actual results may differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements.

Overview

We are a leading provider of technology-driven solutions in the defense, intelligence and critical infrastructure markets. We provide technical design and engineering services and software to address our customers’ challenges. We have developed significant expertise and differentiated capabilities in key areas of cybersecurity, intelligence, defense, military training and development, connected communities, physical infrastructure and mobility solutions. By combining our talented team of professionals and advanced technology, we help solve complex technical challenges to enable a safer, smarter and more interconnected world.

We operate in two reporting segments, Federal Solutions and Critical Infrastructure. Our Federal Solutions business is a high-end services and technology provider to the U.S. government. Our Critical Infrastructure business provides integrated design and engineering services for complex physical and digital infrastructure to state and local governments and large companies.

Our employees provide services pursuant to contracts that we are awarded by the customer and specific task orders relating to such contracts. These contracts are often multi-year, which provides us backlog and visibility on our revenues for future periods. Many of our contracts and task orders are subject to renewal and rebidding at the end of their term, and some are subject to the exercise of contract options and issuance of delivery or task orders by the applicable government entity. In addition to focusing on increasing our revenues through increased contract awards and backlog, we focus our financial performance on margin expansion and cash flow.

Key Metrics

We manage and assess the performance of our business by evaluating a variety of metrics. The following table sets forth selected key metrics:

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Awards

Awards generally represent the amount of revenue expected to be earned in the future from funded and unfunded contract awards received during the period. Contract awards include both new and re-compete contracts and task orders. Given that new contract awards generate growth, we closely track our new awards each year.

The following table summarizes the total value of new awards for the periods presented below:

The change in new awards from year to year is primarily due to ordinary course fluctuations in our business. The volume of contract awards can fluctuate in any given period due to win rate and the timing and size of the awards issued by our customers.

Backlog

We define backlog to include the following two components:

Backlog includes (i) unissued delivery orders and unexercised option years, to the extent their issuance or exercise is probable, as well as (ii) contract awards, to the extent we believe contract execution and funding is probable.

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The following table summarizes the value of our backlog at the respective dates presented: