Business description of CHARLES-RIVER-LABORATORIES-INTERNATIONAL-INC from last 10-k form

Washington, D.C. 20549

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FORM 10-K

Commission File No. 001-15943

CHARLES RIVER LABORATORIES INTERNATIONAL, INC.
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

(Registrant's telephone number, including area code): (781) 222-6000

          Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

          Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

          Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ý    No o

          Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes o    No ý

          Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ý    No o

          Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Website, if any, every Interactive Date File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files. Yes ý    No o

          Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of the Registrant's knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. o

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

          Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes o    No ý

          On June 26, 2010, the aggregate market value of the Registrant's voting common stock held by non-affiliates of the Registrant was approximately $2,317,534,618.

          As of February 10, 2011, there were outstanding 56,477,889 shares of the Registrant's common stock, $0.01 par value per share.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

          Portions of the Registrant's Definitive Proxy Statement for its 2011 Annual Meeting of Stockholders scheduled to be held on May 10, 2011, which will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission not later than 120 days after December 25, 2010, are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. With the exception of the portions of the 2011 Proxy Statement expressly incorporated into this Annual Report on Form 10-K by reference, such document shall not be deemed filed as part of this Form 10-K.

CHARLES RIVER LABORATORIES INTERNATIONAL, INC.
ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 10-K

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I

Item 1.    Business

General

        This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements regarding future events and the future results of Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. that are based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts, and projections about the industries in which Charles River operates and the beliefs and assumptions of our management. Words such as "expect," "anticipate," "target," "goal," "project," "intend," "plan," "believe," "seek," "estimate," "will," "likely," "may," "designed," "would," "future," "can," "could" and other similar expressions that are predictions of or indicate future events and trends or which do not relate to historical matters are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations and beliefs of Charles River and involve a number of risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that are difficult to predict. For example, we may use forward-looking statements when addressing topics such as: the pursuit of our initiatives to optimize returns for stockholders, including efforts to improve our operating margins, improve free cash flow, invest in growth businesses and return value to shareholders; goodwill and asset impairments still under review; future demand for drug discovery and development products and services, including the outsourcing of these services and spending trends by our customers; our expectations regarding stock repurchases, including our accelerated stock repurchase program, the number of shares to be repurchased, expected timing and duration, the amount of capital that may be expended and the treatment of repurchased shares; present spending trends and other cost reduction activities by our customers; future actions by our management; the outcome of contingencies; changes in our business strategy; changes in our business practices and methods of generating revenue; the development and performance of our services and products; market and industry conditions, including competitive and pricing trends; changes in the composition or level of our revenues; our cost structure; the impact of acquisitions and dispositions; our expectations with respect to sales growth and operating synergies (including the impact of specific actions intended to cause related improvements); the impact of specific actions intended to improve overall operating efficiencies and profitability (and our ability to accommodate future demand with our infrastructure); changes in our expectations regarding future stock option, restricted stock, and other equity grants to employees and directors; expectations with respect to foreign currency exchange; assessing (or changing our assessment of) our tax positions for financial statement purposes; and our cash flow and liquidity. In addition, these statements include the impact of economic and market conditions on our customers; the effects of our 2010 cost-saving actions and the steps to optimize returns to shareholders on an effective and timely basis and the ability of Charles River to withstand the current market conditions. You should not rely on forward-looking statements because they are predictions and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual results may differ materially and adversely from those expressed in any forward-looking statements. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this document or in the case of statements incorporated by reference, on the date of the document incorporated by reference. Factors that might cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, those discussed in this Form 10-K under the section entitled "Our Strategy," the section entitled "Risks Related to Our Business and Industry," the section entitled "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and in our press releases and other financial filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We have no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or risks. New information, future events or risks may cause the forward-looking events we discuss in this report not to occur.