FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This report contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this report are forward-looking statements. These statements relate to analyses and other information, which are based on forecasts of future results and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. These statements also relate to our future prospects, developments and business strategies. We claim the protection of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 for all forward-looking statements in this report.
These forward-looking statements are identified by the use of terms and phrases such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “predict,” “project,” “will” and similar terms and phrases, including references to assumptions. However, these words are not the exclusive means of identifying such statements. Although we believe that our plans, intentions and expectations reflected in or suggested by such forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot assure you that we will achieve those plans, intentions or expectations. All forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those that we expected.
Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations, or cautionary statements, are disclosed under the section entitled “Risk Factors” included elsewhere in this report. All written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to us, or persons acting on our behalf, are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained in the section entitled “Risk Factors” included elsewhere in this report as well as other cautionary statements that are made from time to time in our other SEC filings and public communications. You should evaluate all forward-looking statements made in this report in the context of these risks and uncertainties.
We caution you that the important factors referenced above may not contain all of the factors that are important to you. In addition, we cannot assure you that we will realize the results or developments we expect or anticipate or, even if substantially realized, that they will result in the consequences or affect us or our operations in the way we expect. The forward-looking statements included in this report are made only as of the date hereof. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as otherwise required by law.
Item 1. Business
Overview
CDW is a leading multi-brand technology solutions provider to business, government, education and healthcare customers in the U.S. and Canada. We provide comprehensive and integrated solutions for our customers’ technology needs through our extensive hardware, software and value-added service offerings. We serve over 250,000 customers through our experienced and dedicated sales force of more than 3,600 coworkers. We offer over 100,000 products from over 1,000 brands and a multitude of advanced technology solutions. Our broad range of technology products includes leading brands such as Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, Cisco, Lenovo, EMC, IBM, Apple and VMware. Our offerings range from discrete hardware and software products to complex technology solutions such as virtualization, collaboration, security, mobility, data center optimization and cloud computing. Our sales and operating results have been driven by the combination of our large and knowledgeable selling organization, highly skilled technology specialists and engineers, extensive range of product offerings, strong vendor partner relationships, and fulfillment and logistics capabilities. For the year ended December 31, 2011, our net sales, net income and Adjusted EBITDA were $9,602.4 million, $17.1 million and $717.3 million, respectively. Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure. See “Selected Financial Data” included elsewhere in this report for the definition of Adjusted EBITDA, the reason for its inclusion and a reconciliation to net income.
We have two reportable segments:
Corporate. Our Corporate segment customers are primarily in the small and medium business category, which we define as customers with up to 1,000 employees at a single location. We also serve larger customers, including FORTUNE 1000 companies, that value our broad offerings, brand selection and flexible delivery model. We have over 200,000 active accounts, well diversified across numerous industries. Our Corporate segment is divided into a small business customer channel, primarily serving customers with up to 100 employees, and a medium-large business customer channel, primarily serving customers with more than 100 employees. Our Corporate segment sales team is primarily organized by geography and customer size. We believe this enables us to better understand and serve customer needs, optimize sales resource coverage and strengthen relationships with vendor partners to create more sales opportunities. Our Corporate segment generated net sales of $5,334.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2011.
Public. Our Public segment is divided into government, education and healthcare customer channels. The government channel serves federal as well as state and local governments. The education channel serves higher education and K-12 customers. The healthcare channel serves customers across the healthcare provider industry. We have built sizable businesses in each of our three Public customer channels as annual net sales for the year ended December 31, 2011 exceeded $1 billion for each customer channel. Our Public segment sales teams are organized by customer channel, and within each customer channel, they are generally organized by geography, except our federal government sales teams, which are organized by agency. We believe this enables our sales teams to address the specific needs of their customer channel while promoting strong customer relationships. Our Public segment generated net sales of $3,757.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2011.
Other. We also have two other operating segments, CDW Advanced Services and Canada, which do not meet the reportable segment quantitative thresholds and, accordingly, are combined together as “Other.” The CDW Advanced Services business is comprised of customized engineering services, delivered by CDW professional engineers, as well as managed services, including hosting and data center services. Certain other services, such as custom configuration and third-party services, are included in our Corporate and Public segment net sales and not in "Other." Advanced services provided by CDW professional engineers are recorded in CDW Advanced Services. Our CDW Advanced Services and Canada business segments generated net sales of $510.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2011.
For further information on our segments, including financial results, see Note 18 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this report.
History
CDW was founded in 1984. In 2003, we purchased selected U.S. assets and the Canadian operations of Micro Warehouse, which extended our growth platform into Canada. In 2006, we acquired Berbee Information Networks Corporation, a provider of technology products, solutions and customized engineering services in advanced technologies primarily across Cisco, IBM and Microsoft portfolios. This acquisition increased our capabilities in customized engineering services and managed services.
On October 12, 2007, CDW Corporation, an Illinois corporation, was acquired through a merger transaction by an
entity controlled by investment funds affiliated with Madison Dearborn Partners, LLC and Providence Equity Partners L.L.C. (the “Acquisition”). CDW Corporation continued as the surviving corporation and same legal entity after the Acquisition, but became a wholly owned subsidiary of VH Holdings, Inc., a Delaware corporation.
On December 31, 2009, CDW Corporation merged into CDWC LLC, an Illinois limited liability company owned by VH Holdings, Inc., with CDWC LLC as the surviving entity. This change had no impact on our operations or management. On December 31, 2009, CDWC LLC was renamed CDW LLC (“CDW LLC”). On August 17, 2010, VH Holdings, Inc. was renamed CDW Corporation (“Parent”), a Delaware corporation.
Throughout this report, the terms “the Company,” “CDW” and “Successor” refer to Parent and its wholly owned subsidiaries subsequent to the Acquisition, and “Predecessor” refers to CDW Corporation, an Illinois corporation, and its wholly owned subsidiaries prior to the Acquisition.
Parent is owned directly by CDW Holdings LLC, a company controlled by investment funds affiliated with Madison Dearborn Partners, LLC and Providence Equity Partners L.L.C. (the “Equity Sponsors”), certain other co-investors and certain members of CDW management. See “Equity Sponsors” below.
Industry Overview
According to International Data Corporation (“IDC”), the overall U.S. technology market generated approximately $601 billion in sales in 2011, including $216 billion in hardware sales, $158 billion in software sales and $227 billion in services sales. The channels through which these products and services are delivered are highly fragmented and served by a multitude of participants. These participants include original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”), software publishers, wholesale distributors and resellers. Wholesale distributors, such as Ingram Micro Inc., Tech Data Corporation and SYNNEX Corporation, act as intermediaries between OEMs and software publishers, on the one hand, and resellers, on the other hand, providing logistics management and supply-chain services. Resellers, which include direct marketers, value-added resellers, e-tailers and retailers, sell products and/or services directly to the end-user customer, sourcing products sold to their customers directly from OEMs and software publishers or from wholesale distributors. CDW is a technology solutions provider with both direct marketer and value-added reseller capabilities.
Two key customer groups within our addressable market are the small and medium business market and the public sector market. The small and medium business market is highly fragmented and is generally characterized by companies that employ fewer than 1,000 employees. The public sector market is also fragmented and is generally divided into market verticals, each with specialized needs that require an adaptive and flexible sales, services and logistics model to meet customer needs. We believe that many vendors rely heavily on channel partners like CDW to efficiently serve small and medium business and public sector customers.
Our Competitive Strengths
We believe the following strengths have contributed to our success and enabled us to become an important strategic partner for both our customers and our vendor partners:
Significant scale and scope
We are a leading multi-brand technology solutions provider in the U.S. and Canada. Based upon publicly available information, we believe that our net sales are significantly larger than any other multi-brand direct marketer or value-added reseller in the U.S. Our significant scale and scope create competitive advantages through: