3
Portions of the Proxy Statement for the 2011 Annual Meeting of Shareholders (“2011 Proxy Statement”) of Acxiom Corporation (“Acxiom,” the “Company,” “we” or “us”) are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Form 10-K.
PART I
Our website address is www.acxiom.com, where copies of documents which we have filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) may be obtained free of charge as soon as reasonably practicable after being filed electronically. Included among those documents are our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act. Copies may also be obtained through the SEC’s EDGAR site, or by sending a written request for copies to Acxiom Investor Relations, 601 East Third Street, Little Rock, AR 72201. Copies of all of our SEC filings were available on our website during the past fiscal year covered by this Form 10-K. In addition, at the “Corporate Governance” section of our website, we have posted copies of our Corporate Governance Principles, the charters for the Audit/Finance, Compensation, Executive and Governance/Nominating Committees of the Board of Directors, the codes of ethics applicable to directors, financial personnel and all employees, and other information relating to the governance of the Company. Although referenced herein, information contained on or connected to our corporate website is not incorporated by reference into this annual report on Form 10-K and should not be considered part of this report or any other filing we make with the SEC.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS RELEVANT TO FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
This Annual Report on Form 10-K, including, without limitation, the items set forth on pages F-3 – F-19 in Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, contains and may incorporate by reference certain statements that may be deemed to be “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended (as amended, the “PSLRA”), and that are intended to enjoy the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements provided by the PSLRA. These statements, which are not statements of historical fact, may contain estimates, assumptions, projections and/or expectations regarding the Company’s financial position, results of operations, market position, product development, growth opportunities, economic conditions, and other similar forecasts and statements of expectation. Forward-looking statements are often identified by words or phrases such as “anticipate,” “estimate,” “plan,” “expect,” “believe,” “intend,” “foresee,” and similar words or phrases. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties that could cause the Company’s actual results and experiences to differ materially from the anticipated results and expectations expressed in the forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements may include but are not limited to the following:
·
management’s expectations about the macro economy;
that the amounts for restructuring and impairment charges and accruals for litigation will be within estimated ranges;
that the cash flows used in estimating the recoverability of assets will be within the estimated ranges; and
that items which management currently believes are not material will continue to not be material in the future.
Among the factors that may cause actual results and expectations to differ from anticipated results and expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are the following:
the risk factors described in Part I, “Item 1A. Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this report and those described from time to time in our future reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission;
4
the possibility that in the event a change of control of the Company is sought that certain clients may attempt to invoke provisions in their contracts resulting in a decline in revenue and profit;
the possibility that the integration of acquired businesses may not be as successful as planned;
the possibility that the fair value of certain of our assets may not be equal to the carrying value of those assets now or in future time periods;
the possibility that sales cycles may lengthen;
the possibility that we won’t be able to properly motivate our sales force or other associates;
the possibility that we may not be able to attract and retain qualified technical and leadership associates, or that we may lose key associates to other organizations;
the possibility that we may be unable to quickly and seamlessly integrate a new chief executive officer and chief financial officer;
the possibility that we won’t be able to continue to receive credit upon satisfactory terms and conditions;
the possibility that competent, competitive products, technologies or services will be introduced into the marketplace by other companies;
the possibility that there will be changes in consumer or business information industries and markets that negatively impact the Company;
the possibility that we won’t be able to protect proprietary information and technology or to obtain necessary licenses on commercially reasonable terms;
the possibility that there will be changes in the legislative, accounting, regulatory and consumer environments affecting our business, including but not limited to litigation, legislation, regulations and customs relating to our ability to collect, manage, aggregate and use data;
the possibility that data suppliers might withdraw data from us, leading to our inability to provide certain products and services;
the possibility that we may enter into short-term contracts which would affect the predictability of our revenues;
the possibility that the amount of ad hoc, volume-based and project work will not be as expected;