Risk Factors Dashboard

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Legal, Regulatory and Related Risks

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Risks Related to our Indebtedness and Certain Other Obligations

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Risks Related to our Previous Capital Structure and Resulting Chapter 11 Cases

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Risks Related to our Internal Control over Financial Reporting and Critical Accounting Policies

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Risks to Skillsoft Following the Codecademy Merger

Risks Related to Ownership of Our Class A common stock

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Risks Related to Our Business and Operations

The impact of U.S. and worldwide economic trends, financial market conditions, geopolitical events, natural disasters, public health crises, political crises, or other catastrophic events could materially and adversely affect our business, liquidity, financial condition, and results of operations.

We are subject to risks associated with adverse economic conditions in the United States and globally, including economic slowdown, inflation, and the disruption, volatility and tightening of credit and capital markets. Unfavorable global or

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regional economic conditions could materially and adversely impact our business, liquidity, financial condition and results of operations. Additionally, natural disasters, such as earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and other adverse weather and climate conditions; public health crises, such as pandemics and epidemics, including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic; political crises, such as terrorist attacks, war, and other political instability, such as the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the conflict in the region; or other catastrophic events, whether occurring in the United States or internationally, have and could continue to disrupt our operations or the operations of one or more of our third-party providers and vendors. To the extent any of these events occur, our business and results of operations could be adversely affected.

Our quarterly operating results may fluctuate significantly, limiting your ability to evaluate historical financial results and increasing the likelihood that our results will fall below market analysts’ expectations.

Our operating results have historically fluctuated, and our operating results may in the future continue to fluctuate, as a result of factors, which include, without limitation:

Most of our expenses, such as interest, rent, and most employee compensation excluding sales commissions do not vary directly with revenue and are difficult to adjust in the short-term. As a result, if revenue for a particular quarter is below our expectations, we could not proportionately reduce operating expenses for that quarter. Any such revenue shortfall would, therefore, have a disproportionate effect on our expected operating results for that quarter.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted, and may continue to impact, our business and results of operations in volatile and unpredictable ways.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business has included and may in the future include:

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The COVID-19 pandemic may also negatively impact the financial resources available to learners or the operating budgets of our partners or customers, any of which could in turn negatively impact our business and operating results.

We may continue to experience an adverse impact to our business and the value of our Class A common stock as a result of its global economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, including any recession that has occurred or may occur in the future. Further, to the extent the COVID-19 pandemic adversely affects our business, results of operations, financial condition, and cash flows, it may also heighten many of the other risks described in this Annual Report. The ultimate extent of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business, financial condition, and results of operations will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted at this time. These impacts, individually or in the aggregate, could have a material and adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition. Such effect may be exacerbated in the event the pandemic and the measures taken in response to it, and their effects, persist for an extended period of time, or if there is a resurgence of the outbreak. Under any of these circumstances, the resumption of normal business operations may be delayed or hampered by lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on our operations, partners, and customers.

Demand for our products and services is susceptible to general global market and economic conditions.

Weakness in the United States, the European Union (the “EU”) and/or the worldwide economy has had and could continue to have a negative effect on demand for our products and our results of operations. Companies may not view training products and services as critical to the success of their businesses. If these companies continue to experience declines in their business, whether as a result of adverse economic conditions, competitive issues or other factors, they may decrease or forgo employee education and training expenditures to lower their expenses and may do so before limiting their other expenditures. In addition, during economic downturns, companies may slow the rate at which they pay us or may become unable to pay their debts as they become due, which would have a negative effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

Further, the United Kingdom (the “UK”) withdrew from the EU on January 31, 2020, pursuant to a transitionary withdrawal agreement with the EU that in substance maintains the pre-withdrawal, status quo until the end of 2020. On December 24, 2020, the UK and the EU entered into a trade and cooperation agreement, effective January 1, 2021 (the “Brexit Trade Agreement”), which governs, among other things, trade between the UK and the EU. The full impact of the Brexit Trade Agreement and its related consequences remain uncertain, including with respect to ongoing negotiations between the UK and EU and new trade agreements with global trading partners. In addition, conflicts in the Middle East, Ukraine, and elsewhere, and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic have created many economic and political uncertainties which have impacted worldwide markets. These global economic and political conditions may impact our business in a number of ways. The revenue growth and potential profitability of our business depends on demand for digital learning content and enterprise human capital management application software generally and for learning and talent development solutions in particular. We sell our products primarily to large, mid-sized, and small business organizations whose businesses fluctuate based on general economic and business conditions.

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In addition, a portion of our customer contract value is attributable to the number of users of our products at each of our customers, which in turn is influenced by the employment and hiring patterns of our customers and potential customers globally. To the extent that economic uncertainty or weak economic conditions cause our customers and potential customers to freeze or reduce their headcount, demand for our products may be negatively affected. Additionally, economic downturns have historically resulted in overall reductions in spending on information technology and learning and talent development solutions as well as pressure from customers and potential customers for extended billing terms. If economic, political, or market conditions deteriorate, or if there is uncertainty around these conditions, our customers and potential customers may elect to decrease their information technology and people development budgets by deferring or reconsidering product purchases, which would limit our ability to grow our business and negatively affect our operating results.

Market adoption of online learning solutions is relatively new and may not grow as we expect, which may harm our business and results of operations.

Our future success will depend in part on the growth, if any, in the demand for online learning solutions. The market for online learning solutions is less mature than the market for in-person learning and training, which many businesses currently utilize, and these businesses may be slow or unwilling to migrate from these legacy approaches. We cannot predict whether shifts in the traditional models of training as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g., willingness to adopt remote, online and asynchronous learning and training) will continue as COVID-19 vaccines and treatment options have become more widely available, many educational institutions have re-opened their campuses, and businesses have reversed or materially limited remote work policies. It is difficult to predict learner or partner demand for our platform, learner or partner adoption and renewal, the rate at which existing learners and partners expand their engagement with our platform, the size and growth rate of the market for our platform, the entry of competitive offerings into the market, or the success of existing competitive offerings. It may take customers a substantial amount of time and resources to fully transition to an online platform or companies may face delays in doing so due to budget constraints, weakening economic conditions, or other factors. We cannot assure you that adoption of our platform will also increase as market demand increases. We cannot assure you that such financing will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. If the market for online learning solutions does not grow as we expect or our platform does not achieve widespread adoption, it could result in reduced customer spending, learner and partner attrition, and decreased revenue, any of which would adversely affect our business and results of operations.

Increased competition may result in decreased demand for our products and services, which may result in reduced revenue and gross profits and loss of market share.

The market for corporate learning and talent development solutions is highly fragmented, rapidly evolving, and competitive. In addition to increased competition from new companies entering the market, established companies are entering the market through acquisitions of smaller companies, which directly compete with us, and this trend is expected to continue. We may also face competition from publishing companies, educational institutions, vendors of enterprise application software, and human resource outsourcers, including those vendors with whom we have formed development and marketing alliances. Our primary sources of direct competition are:

Growing competition may result in price reductions, reduced revenue and gross profits, and loss of market share, any one of which would have a material adverse effect on our business. Current and potential competitors have and may have substantially greater financial, technical, sales, marketing, and other resources, as well as greater name recognition, and

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we may face increasing price pressures from competitors as buyers demand more value for their learning and talent development budgets. Accordingly, we may be unable to provide digital learning and talent development solutions that compare favorably with new technology-led techniques, other interactive training software or human capital management platforms, or new learning solutions. Our future success will depend upon the extent to which we are able to develop and implement products which address emerging market requirements on a cost effective and timely basis. Product development is risky because it is difficult to foresee developments in technology, coordinate technical personnel, and identify and eliminate design flaws. Any significant delay in releasing new products could have a material adverse effect on the ultimate success of our products and could reduce sales of predecessor products.

Emerging technologies also impact the competitive landscape for learning and talent development solutions. New content development methodologies and/or features and functionality that enhance the learner experience could adversely impact our ability to compete in the market. New market entrants that provide technologies that improve the content delivery and/or management of learning solutions could also increase the level of competition in the market. In addition, even if companies implement technology-based learning solutions, they may still choose to design, develop, deliver, or manage all or part of their learning and development programs internally. If the shift to technology-based learning is not realized, or if companies do not use the products and services of third parties to develop, deliver, or manage their learning and development needs, then some of our products and services may not achieve commercial success.

Lower priced solutions from competitors and access to free content will put pricing pressure on our solutions, and our ability to compete and maintain pricing will be dependent on our ability to differentiate our learning content and the learner experience our platform delivers.

New products introduced by us may not be successful.

An important part of our growth strategy is the continued development and enhancement of our existing offerings and the introduction of new learning content and the delivery of enhanced platform features and functionality. These activities can open new revenue streams, ensure the currency of our content portfolio, and support customer renewals and upgrades. Despite our efforts, we cannot assure you that we will be successful in updating and enhancing our current learning assets, developing and introducing new learning content, or delivering enhanced or new platform features and functionality, or that what we develop or introduce will be met with commercial acceptance. The failure to successfully introduce new, and enhance existing, learning content and platform functionality will not only hamper our growth prospects, but may also adversely impact our net income due to the development and marketing expenses associated with those offerings.

Failure to effectively optimize, retain, expand, and continue to increase the productivity of our direct sales teams and develop and expand our indirect sales channel may impede our growth.

We will need to continue to increase the productivity and enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of our sales and marketing infrastructure in order to grow our customer base and our business. Identifying, recruiting, and onboarding these people and partners requires significant time, expense, and attention. Our business will be seriously harmed, and our financial resources will be wasted, if our efforts do not generate a corresponding increase in revenue, and we may be required to sacrifice near-term growth and divert management time and attention in order to drive growth. In particular, if we are unable to successfully optimize our sales structure to strengthen core competencies, align incentives, improve retention, and grow new business, we may not be able to significantly increase our revenue, profitability, and/or free cash flows.

We rely on third parties to provide us with learning content and subject matter expertise and have content production relationships with third parties for our courses and learning content, and our relationships with these third parties may be terminated or fail to meet our requirements.

We rely on independent third parties and subject matter experts to provide us with some of the learning content for certain of our courses and learning assets based on learning objectives and specific instructional design templates which we develop. We also have arrangements with content development partners for the production of our learning courseware and other digital learning assets. If these group development partners and content providers/subject matter experts were to stop working with us, we cannot predict whether content would be available from reliable alternative sources or that we could

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enter into development partner relationships on reasonable terms and in a timely manner. In addition, our digital book collections rely on third-party publishers to provide the content that is in our digital book offerings. If one or more of these publishers were to terminate their license with us, we may not be able to find substitute publishers for such content or we may be forced to pay increased royalties to these publishers to continue our licenses with them.

In the event that we are unable to maintain or expand our current development relationships or enter into new development relationships, our operating results and financial condition could be materially adversely affected. In addition, the collaborative nature of the development process under these arrangements may result in longer development times and less control over the timing of delivery of certain product offerings. Our strategic partners may from time to time renegotiate the terms of their agreements with us, which could result in changes to the royalty or other economic terms, which could reduce our gross margins.

The partners we rely on as part of the production process and for content or subject matter expertise may compete with us, which could harm our results of operations. Our agreements with these third parties generally do not restrict them from developing content for our competitors or from competing directly with us.

Our success is dependent on the reliability and consistent performance of our information systems and our Software as a Service (“SaaS”) infrastructure. System disruptions and vulnerability from security risks to our technology infrastructure could damage our reputation, negatively impacting our business.

Our success is highly dependent on the consistent performance of our information systems and Internet infrastructure. If our SaaS environment fails for any reason or if it experiences any unscheduled downtimes, even for only a short period, our business and reputation could be materially harmed. We have in the past experienced performance problems and unscheduled downtime, and these problems could recur. We currently rely on third parties for proper functioning of computer infrastructure, delivery of our learning and talent development applications and the performance of our destination site. Our systems and operations could be damaged or interrupted by fire, flood, power loss, telecommunications failure, break-ins, earthquake, financial patterns of hosting providers, and similar events. Any system failures could adversely affect customer usage of our solutions and user traffic results in any future quarters, which could adversely affect our revenue and operating results and harm our reputation with customers and commerce partners. The satisfactory performance, reliability, and availability of our website, computer infrastructure and learning platform are critical to our reputation and ability to attract and retain customers and commerce partners. We cannot accurately project the rate or timing of any increase in traffic to our website and, therefore, the integration and timing of any upgrades or enhancements required to facilitate any significant traffic increase to the website are uncertain. The failure to expand and upgrade our website or if we experience any system error, failure or extended down time, our business, reputation, financial condition or results of operations could be materially harmed.

Global Knowledge relies on hosted SaaS applications from third parties in order to operate critical functions of its business, including content delivery, enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management, billing, project management, and accounting and financial reporting. If these services become unavailable due to extended outages, interruptions, or because they are no longer available on commercially reasonable terms, Global Knowledge’s expenses could increase, the ability to manage finances could be interrupted, and processes for managing sales of Global Knowledge’s platform and supporting its customers could be impaired until equivalent services, if available, are identified, obtained, and implemented, all of which may negatively impact Global Knowledge’s results of operations and harm our business.

We are regularly subject to cybersecurity and other similar attacks. If our security measures are breached or unauthorized access to customer data is otherwise obtained, our platforms may be perceived as insecure, we may lose existing customers or fail to attract new customers, our reputation may be harmed, and we may incur significant liabilities.

Unauthorized access to, or other security breaches of, our platforms or the other systems or networks used in our business, including those of our vendors, contractors, or those with which we have strategic relationships, could result in the loss, compromise or corruption of data, loss of business, reputational damage adversely affecting customer or investor confidence, regulatory investigations and orders, litigation, indemnity obligations, damages for contract breach, penalties for violation of applicable laws or regulations, significant costs for remediation, and other liabilities. As a result, we may be able to complete our initial business combination even though a substantial majority of our public stockholders do not agree with the transaction and have redeemed their shares or, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, have entered into privately negotiated agreements to sell their shares to our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or any of their respective affiliates. Our

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cyber/professional liability insurance coverage for certain information security and privacy damages and claim expenses may be insufficient to compensate us for all liabilities that we may incur.

Our platform and the other systems or networks used in our business are also at risk for breaches as a result of third-party action, or employee, vendor, or contractor error or malfeasance. Security is one of the learning curricula we provide on our platform, which may cause our platform to be a target for hackers and others, and which may cause our brand, credibility, and reputation to be particularly sensitive to any security breaches. We have incurred and expect to continue to incur significant expenses to prevent security breaches, including deploying additional personnel and protection technologies, training employees, and engaging third-party experts and consultants. However, since the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access or to sabotage systems change frequently and generally are not identified until after they are launched against a target, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate preventative measures. We may also experience security breaches that may remain undetected for an extended period and, therefore, have a greater impact on our platform, the proprietary and other confidential data contained therein or otherwise stored or processed in our operations, and ultimately on our business.

Disruption to or failures of our platform could result in our customers becoming unsatisfied with our platform and could harm our reputation.

The performance and reliability of our platform and the underlying technology are critical to our operations, reputation, and ability to attract and retain partners and learners. Our partners rely on our platform to offer their courses and programs online, and learners must access our platform on a frequent and reliable basis. Our platform is complex and relies on infrastructure provided by third parties, and may contain defects, errors, or vulnerabilities, or may not perform as contemplated. These errors, defects, disruptions, breaches, or other performance problems with our platform could damage our or our partners’ reputations, decrease partner and learner satisfaction and retention, negatively impact our ability to attract new learners and partners, and could result in large indemnity payments to learners and partners for losses suffered or incurred in connection with any such defects or errors on our platform, or other liabilities relating to or arising from our platform. In addition, sustained or recurring disruptions in our platform or its underlying technology could adversely affect our and our partners’ compliance with applicable regulations and accrediting body standards.

Further, if we fail to accurately predict the rate or timing of the growth of our platform, we may be required to incur significant additional costs to maintain reliability. We also depend on the development and maintenance of the Internet infrastructure, including maintenance of reliable Internet networks with the necessary speed, data capacity, and security. If we experience failures in our technology infrastructure or do not expand our technology infrastructure successfully, then our ability to attract and retain partners and learners, our growth prospects, and our business would suffer.

We have experienced, and expect that in the future we will experience, interruptions, delays, and outages in service and availability from time to time due to a variety of factors, including infrastructure changes, human or software errors, website hosting disruptions, and capacity constraints, which could affect the availability of services on our platform and prevent or inhibit the ability of learners to access or complete courses and programs on our platform. Any disruption in its services, or any failure of a third-party provider to handle the demands of our platform, could significantly harm our business and damage our reputation. We do not have control over the operations of the facilities of the third-party providers that we use, and these facilities may be vulnerable to damage or interruption from natural disasters, cybersecurity attacks, terrorist attacks, power outages, and similar events or acts of misconduct.

If the mobile solutions available to our learners and partners are not effective, the use of our platform could decline.

Learners have been increasingly accessing our platform on mobile devices through our app in recent years. The smaller screen size and reduced functionality associated with some mobile devices may make the use of our platform more difficult or our partners may believe that online learning through such mobile devices is not effective. Learners accessing our network primarily on mobile devices may not enroll in the courses or the certification, degree, or other credentialing programs offered on our platform as often as those accessing our platform through personal computers, which could result in less revenue for us. If we are not able to provide our partners with the functionality to deliver a rewarding experience on mobile devices, their ability to attract learners to their programs may be harmed and, consequently, our business may suffer.

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As new mobile devices and mobile features are released, we may encounter problems in developing or supporting apps for them. In addition, supporting new devices and mobile device operating systems may require substantial time and resources.

The success of our mobile apps could also be harmed by factors outside our control, including actions taken by mobile app distributors; unfavorable treatment received by our mobile apps, especially as compared to competing apps, such as the placement of our mobile apps in a mobile app download store; increased costs in the distribution and use of our mobile app; or changes in mobile operating systems, such as iOS and Android, that degrade the functionality of our mobile website or mobile apps or that give preferential treatment to competitive offerings.

If our partners or customers, including learners, encounter difficulty accessing or using, or if they choose not to use, our mobile platform, our growth prospects and our business may be adversely affected.

Our business could be adversely affected if our products contain errors.

Software products contain known and undetected errors or “bugs” that result in product failures. The existence of bugs could result in loss of or delay in revenue, loss of market share, diversion of product development resources, injury to reputation or damage to efforts to build brand awareness, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.

Acquisitions, including our recent acquisitions of Global Knowledge, Pluma, and Codecademy, may not produce the benefits we anticipate and could harm our current operations.

One aspect of our business strategy is to pursue acquisitions of businesses or technologies that will contribute to our future growth. However, we may not be successful in identifying or consummating attractive acquisition opportunities. Moreover, any acquisitions we do consummate may not produce benefits commensurate with the purchase price we pay or our expectations for the acquisition. Finally, acquisitions involve numerous risks, including:

We depend on senior leadership to manage and operate the business, and if we fail to retain and attract highly qualified employees our business could be harmed.

Our success is largely dependent on the personal efforts and abilities of our senior management. Failure to retain these executives, or the loss of certain additional senior management personnel or other key employees, could have a material adverse effect on our business and future prospects. We have recently made significant changes to our management team, including the appointment of multiple new executive officers.

Ours is a global business, and our success is also dependent, in part, on our ability to attract and retain qualified sales, marketing, and operational personnel capable of supporting a larger and more diverse worldwide customer base. The loss of a significant number of our technology, content or sales personnel and their services could be disruptive to our development efforts or customer relationships. In addition, if any of our key employees joins a competitor or decides to otherwise compete with us, we may experience a material disruption of our operations and business strategy, which may

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cause us to lose customers or increase operating expenses and may divert our attention as we seek to recruit replacements for the departed employees.

Our directors may encounter conflicts of interest involving us and other organizations with which they may be affiliated, including matters that involve corporate opportunities.

Certain of our directors are, and future directors may be, affiliated with other entities or businesses that may be complementary, competitive, or potentially competitive to our company. They may also in the future become affiliated with entities that are engaged in business or other activities similar to our business. Additionally, our officers and directors may become aware of investments, business opportunities, or information that may be appropriate for presentation to us as well as to other entities to which they owe a fiduciary duty. As a result, directors and officers may encounter a perceived or actual conflict of interest involving us and other entities with which they are or become affiliated.

Global Knowledge’s corporate training services business may be disproportionately impacted by an economic downturn.

Global Knowledge’s business of providing corporate training services is particularly sensitive to general economic conditions, as its corporate customers often defer or eliminate training services to control costs when facing financial pressure. Challenging economic conditions may therefore have a disproportionately negative impact on revenue from Global Knowledge’s corporate training services, which constitutes a significant portion of its revenue.

The market for instructor led, synchronous, in-classroom learning may continue to decline.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant and negative impact on in-classroom learning, as schools and other physical learning facilities were shut down in response to the global pandemic. As a result, the delivery of in-classroom learning has either been greatly curtailed or has pivoted to synchronous or asynchronous remote learning.

Global Knowledge’s future success will depend on its ability to offer clients the learning solutions they need in the format they desire and trust. It remains unclear what the lasting impact of the COVID-19 pandemic will be on the in-classroom learning market.

The growth of Global Knowledge’s on-demand subscription skills platform, GK Polaris, makes it difficult to evaluate the future prospects of the platform.

Global Knowledge launched its on-demand subscription skills platform GK Polaris in May 2020 and, as a result, forecasting Global Knowledge’s future results of operations for this platform is subject to a number of uncertainties, including Global Knowledge’s ability to effectively plan for and model future growth. Beginning in early 2020, Global Knowledge extended its offering to include GK Polaris, which enabled Global Knowledge to expand its addressable market, attract new users, and broaden its relationships with corporate customers. As such, any predictions about Global Knowledge’s future revenue and expenses with respect to this platform may not be as accurate as they could be if Global Knowledge had a longer operating history with its on-demand subscription platform or operated in a more predictable market. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we may not be able to properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors and we may not have adequate time to complete due diligence. Global Knowledge encountered in the past, and may encounter in the future, risks and uncertainties frequently experienced by growing companies in rapidly changing industries. If Global Knowledge’s assumptions regarding these risks and uncertainties, which Global Knowledge uses to plan and operate its business, are incorrect or change, or if Global Knowledge does not address these risks adequately, its results of operations could differ materially from its expectations, as growth rates may slow, and its business may suffer.

A loss of Global Knowledge’s status as an authorized training provider with one or more key technology vendors could adversely affect the Global Knowledge business.

Global Knowledge derives a large portion of its consolidated revenue in any financial reporting period from delivering corporate training as an authorized training provider for certain technology companies and has a concentrated portfolio of relationships with these technology companies. Global Knowledge’s status as an authorized training partner for certain key technology companies provides certain benefits, including, among others, the ability to use official curricula created

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by key technology vendors, subsidies and other financial incentives provided by these technology vendors to support training on their products, representation on official training websites operated by the technology vendors, and the ability to issue certified training certificates from the technology vendors. Global Knowledge’s operating results depend to a significant degree on its ability to maintain its status as an authorized training partner with such key technology vendors, and an inability to retain such status, or a significant change in Global Knowledge’s relationship with one or more of its technology vendors, could significantly reduce Global Knowledge’s revenue.

We may be unable to protect our proprietary rights. Unauthorized use of our intellectual property may result in development of products or services that compete with ours. Claims that we infringe upon the intellectual property rights of others could result in costly litigation or royalty payments to third parties, or require us to reengineer or cease sales of our products or services.

Our success depends to a degree upon the protection of our rights in intellectual property. We rely upon a combination of patent, trade secret, copyright, and trademark laws to protect our proprietary rights. We have also entered into, and will continue to enter into, confidentiality agreements with our employees, consultants and third parties to seek to limit and protect the distribution of confidential information. However, we may not have signed protective agreements in every case.

Although we have taken steps to protect our proprietary rights, these steps may be inadequate. Existing patent, trade secret, copyright, and trademark laws offer only limited protection. Moreover, the laws of other countries in which we market our products may afford little or no effective protection of our intellectual property. Additionally, unauthorized parties may copy aspects of our products, services, or technology or obtain and use information that we regard as proprietary. Other parties may also breach protective contracts we have executed or will in the future execute. We may not become aware of, or have adequate remedies in the event of, a breach related to such agreements. Litigation may be necessary in the future to enforce or to determine the validity and scope of our intellectual property rights or to determine the validity and scope of the proprietary rights of others. Even if we were to prevail, such litigation could result in substantial costs and diversion of management and technical resources.

Additionally, third parties have in the past and could in the future claim that our current or future products infringe their intellectual property rights. Any claim, with or without merit, could result in costly litigation or require us to reengineer or cease sales of our products or services, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business. Infringement claims could also result in an injunction barring the sale of our products or require us to enter into royalty or licensing agreements. Licensing agreements, if required, may not be available on terms acceptable to the combined company or at all. From time to time we learn of parties that claim broad intellectual property rights in the learning and talent development area that might implicate our offerings. These parties or others could initiate actions against us in the future.

Our worldwide operations are subject to risks that could negatively impact our future operating results.

We expect that international operations will continue to account for a large portion of our revenue and are subject to inherent risks, including:

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Any of these factors could have a material adverse effect on our future operations outside of the United States, which could negatively impact our future operating results.

We intend to expand our international operations and continue to establish a worldwide partner and learner base. Our expansion efforts into international markets may not be successful.

We might require additional capital to support our growth, and this capital might not be available on acceptable terms, if at all.

We intend to continue to make investments to support our growth and may require additional funds to respond to business challenges, including the need to develop new features or enhance our existing platform or acquire complementary businesses, technologies, and content. Accordingly, we may need to engage in equity or debt financings to secure additional funds. If we raise additional funds through further issuances of equity or convertible debt securities, our existing stockholders could suffer dilution, and any new equity securities we issue could have rights, preferences, and privileges superior to those of holders of our ordinary shares. Any debt financing secured by us in the future could involve restrictive covenants relating to our capital-raising activities and other financial and operational matters, which may make it more difficult for us to obtain additional capital and to pursue business opportunities, including potential acquisitions. In addition, we may not be able to obtain additional financing on terms favorable to us, if at all. If we are unable to obtain adequate financing or financing on terms satisfactory to us when we require it, our ability to continue to support our growth and to respond to business challenges could be significantly impaired.

Increasing scrutiny and evolving expectations from customers, partners, regulators, investors, and other stakeholders with respect to our environmental, social and governance practices may impose additional costs on us, expose us to new or additional risks, or harm our reputation.

Companies are facing increasing scrutiny from customers, partners, regulators and investors related to their environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) practices and disclosure. Additionally, public interest and legislative pressure related to public companies’ ESG practices continues to grow. If our ESG practices fail to meet regulatory requirements or investor or other industry stakeholders’ evolving expectations as they relate to the environment, health and safety, diversity, labor conditions and human rights, product quality, supply chain management, corporate governance and transparency and employing ESG strategies in our operations, our reputation and employee retention may be negatively impacted, and customers may be unwilling to do business with us. Additionally, any disclosure we make may include our policies and practices on a variety of ESG matters, including corporate governance, environmental compliance, employee health and safety practices, human capital management, and workforce inclusion and diversity. It is possible that stakeholders may not be satisfied with our ESG reporting, our ESG practices or our speed of adoption. We could also incur additional costs and devote additional resources to monitor, report and implement various ESG practices. If we fail, or are perceived to be failing, to meet the standards included in any sustainability disclosure or the expectations of our various stakeholders, it could negatively impact our reputation, customer and learner acquisition and retention, access to capital, and employee retention.

Climate change may have an adverse impact on our business.

Risks related to rapid climate change may have an increasingly adverse impact on our business and those of our customers, partners and learners in the longer term. Any of our primary locations and the locations of our customers, partners, vendors, and learners may be vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change. Furthermore, it is more difficult to mitigate the impact of these events on our employees while they work from home as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Changing market dynamics, global policy developments, and the increasing frequency and impact of extreme weather events on critical infrastructure in the U.S. and elsewhere have the potential to disrupt our business and the business of our customers, partners and learners, and may cause us to experience higher attrition, losses and additional costs to maintain our operations. Further, the effects of climate change may negatively impact regional and local economic activity, which could lead to an adverse effect on our customers, partners, and learners and impact the communities in which we operate. Overall, climate change, its effects and the resulting, unknown impact could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

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Legal, Regulatory and Related Risks

Our business could be affected by new governmental regulations regarding the Internet as well as by changes impacting the speed and reliability of the Internet.

Various laws and regulations could impede the growth of the Internet or other online services, and new laws and regulations may be adopted in the future. These laws and regulations could limit internet neutrality, involve taxation, tariffs, privacy, data protection, information security, content, copyrights, distribution, electronic contracts and other communications, consumer protection, and the characteristics and quality of services, any of which could decrease the demand for, or the usage of, our platform. To date, government regulations have not materially restricted use of the Internet in most parts of the world. However, the legal and regulatory environment pertaining to the internet is uncertain and governments may impose regulation in the future. New laws may be passed, courts may issue decisions affecting the Internet, existing but previously inapplicable or unenforced laws may be deemed to apply to the Internet, regulatory agencies may begin to more rigorously enforce such formerly unenforced laws, or existing legal safe harbors may be narrowed, both by U.S. federal or state governments or by governments of foreign jurisdictions.

Any factors that adversely affect Internet usage could disrupt the ability of those users to access our learning and talent development solutions, which would adversely affect customer satisfaction and therefore our business. In addition, such changes in laws could increase our costs of doing business or prevent us from delivering our services over the internet or in specific jurisdictions, which could harm our business and our results of operations.

Our ability to increase the effectiveness and scope of our services to customers is ultimately limited by the speed and reliability of both the Internet and our customers’ internal networks. Consequently, the emergence and growth of the market for our products and services depends upon the improvements being made to the entire Internet as well as to our individual customers’ networking infrastructures to alleviate overloading and congestion. If these improvements are not made, and the quality of networks degrades, the ability of our customers to use our products and services will be hindered and our revenue may suffer.

Failure or perceived failure to comply with regulations relating to some career training services could result in the imposition of penalties or the interruption of our ability to provide services in certain jurisdictions.

In many jurisdictions in which we operate, some career training services are subject to licensing requirements. We do not believe that the services we provide are subject to such licensing requirements. Regulators could disagree with our assessment regarding the applicability of licensure requirements and take enforcement action against us, including by imposing penalties or prohibiting us from offering career- related training services in a relevant jurisdiction until we are able to obtain the requisite license. For example, regulatory action has in the past been taken against Global Knowledge in respect of licensing requirements applicable to providers of career training services in certain jurisdictions and regulatory inquiries have occasionally been made about Global Knowledge’s licensure.

Existing or future laws and regulations relating to privacy or data security could increase the cost of our products, limit their use and adoption, and subject us or our customers to litigation, regulatory investigations and penalties, and other potential liabilities.

The U.S. and various state governments have adopted or proposed laws governing the collection, use, storage, sharing and processing of personal data. Several foreign jurisdictions, including but not limited to the EU and its member states, the UK, Korea, Japan, Singapore, Australia, and India, have adopted legislation (including directives or regulations) that increase or change the requirements governing the personal data of individuals in these jurisdictions. In some cases, these laws impose obligations not only on many of our customers, but also directly on us. These laws and regulations are complex and change frequently, at times due to differing economic conditions and changes in political climate, with new laws and regulations proposed frequently and existing laws and regulations subject to different and conflicting interpretations. These laws have the potential to increase costs of compliance, risks of noncompliance and penalties for noncompliance, and the cost and complexity of selling and delivering our solutions.

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For example, the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR) imposes obligations on our customers and directly on us. Among other obligations under the GDPR, we are required to give more detailed disclosure about how we collect, use, and share personal data; contractually commit to data protection measures in our contracts with customers; maintain adequate data security measures; notify regulators and affected individuals of certain personal data breaches; meet extensive privacy governance and documentation requirements; and honor individuals’ expanded data protection rights, including their rights to access, correct and delete their personal data. Companies that violate the GDPR can face fines of up to the greater of 20 million euros or 4% of their worldwide annual revenue, and restrictions on data processing. Our customers’ or our vendors’ failure to comply with the GDPR could lead to significant fines imposed by regulators or restrictions on our ability to process personal information as needed to provide our services. We may also be obligated to assist our customers with their own compliance obligations under the GDPR.

In addition, the mechanisms allowing companies to transfer personal data outside of the European Economic Area (“EEA”) face ongoing legal challenges in the EU and threaten our ability to lawfully process personal data where we operate outside of the EEA. These challenges have been brought against the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses for transfers of personal data, on which we rely to transfer personal data from the EEA. Loss of our ability to lawfully transfer personal data out of the EEA to any other jurisdictions may cause reluctance or refusal by current or prospective European customers to use our products. Additionally, other countries outside of the EEA have passed or are considering passing laws requiring local data residency, which could increase the cost and complexity of delivering our services.

In addition, the California legislature passed the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”). The CCPA gives California residents certain rights similar to the individual rights given under the GDPR, including the right to access and delete their personal information, opt-out of certain personal information sharing, and receive detailed information about how their personal information is used. The CCPA prohibits discrimination against individuals who exercise their privacy rights, provides for civil penalties for violations, and creates a private right of action for data breaches that is expected to increase data breach litigation. Additionally, a new privacy law, the California Privacy Rights Act (“CPRA”), was approved by California voters in the November 2020 election. The CPRA will significantly modify the CCPA, and goes into effect and fully supersedes CCPA on January 1, 2023. The CPRA will significantly modify the CCPA, including by expanding consumers’ rights and establishing a new state agency that will be vested with authority to implement and enforce the CPRA. Since the enactment of the CCPA, new privacy and data security laws have been proposed in more than half of the U.S. states (and were enacted in Virginia and Colorado) and in the U.S. Congress, reflecting a trend toward more stringent privacy legislation in the United States. The CPRA may lead other states to pass comparable legislation, with potentially greater penalties, and more rigorous compliance requirements relevant to our business,

The costs of compliance with, and other burdens imposed by, privacy and data security laws and regulations may limit the use and adoption of our services, lead to negative publicity, reduce overall demand for our services, make it more difficult to meet expectations of or commitments to customers, require us to take on more onerous obligations in our contracts with customers, lead to significant fines, penalties or liabilities for noncompliance, or slow the pace at which we close sales transactions, any of which could harm our business. These laws could also impact our ability to offer, or our customers’ ability to deploy, our services in certain locations. The costs, burdens, and potential liabilities imposed by existing privacy laws could be compounded if other jurisdictions in the United States or abroad begin to adopt similar or more stringent laws.

Furthermore, concerns regarding data privacy and security may cause our customers’ customers to resist providing data that allows our customers to use our services more effectively. Even the perception that the privacy of personal information is not satisfactorily protected or does not meet regulatory requirements could inhibit sales of our products or services and could limit adoption of our cloud-based solutions.

Any of these matters could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, or operational results.

Failure to comply with anti-bribery, anti-corruption, and anti-money laundering laws and regulations relating to our international operations could subject us to penalties and other adverse consequences.

We are subject to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”), the UK Bribery Act, and other anti-corruption, anti-bribery, and anti-money laundering laws in various jurisdictions both domestic and abroad. We leverage third parties,

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including channel partners, to sell subscriptions to our solution and conduct our business abroad. We and our third-party intermediaries may have direct or indirect interactions with officials and employees of government agencies or state-owned or affiliated entities and may be held liable for the corrupt or other illegal activities of these third-party business partners and intermediaries, our employees, representatives, contractors, channel partners, and agents, even if we do not explicitly authorize such activities. While we have policies and procedures to address compliance with such laws, we cannot guarantee that all of our employees and agents will not take actions in violation of our policies and applicable law, for which we may be ultimately held responsible. Any violation of the FCPA, the UK Bribery Act, or other applicable anti-bribery, anti-corruption laws, and anti-money laundering laws could result in whistleblower complaints, adverse media coverage, investigations, loss of export privileges, severe criminal or civil sanctions, or suspension or debarment from U.S. or other government contracts, all of which may have an adverse effect on our reputation, business, operating results, and prospects.

We could also be affected by nationalization of our international operations, unstable governments, unfamiliar or biased legal systems, intergovernmental disputes or animus against the United States. Any determination that our operations or activities did not comply with applicable U.S. or foreign laws or regulations could result in the imposition of fines and penalties, interruptions of business, terminations of necessary licenses and permits, and other legal and equitable sanctions.

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Changes in tax laws, unfavorable resolution of tax examinations, or exposure to additional tax liabilities could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition, and liquidity.

We operate in a number of tax jurisdictions globally, including in the U.S., Ireland and Luxembourg. Governments in the jurisdictions in which we operate implement changes to tax laws and regulations periodically. Any implementation of tax laws that fundamentally change the taxation of corporations in the U.S., Ireland, or Luxembourg and other applicable jurisdictions could materially impact our effective tax rate and could have a significant adverse impact on our financial results. In addition, our effective tax rate could fluctuate due to changes in the mix of earnings and losses in countries with differing statutory tax rates. Our tax expense could also be impacted by changes in non-deductible expenses, changes in the tax treatment of equity-based compensation, changes in the valuation of deferred tax assets and liabilities and our ability to utilize them, the applicability of withholding taxes, effects from acquisitions, and the evaluation of new information that results in a change to a tax position taken in a prior period.

We are also subject to examinations of our tax returns by tax authorities in various jurisdictions around the world. We regularly assess the likelihood of adverse outcomes resulting from ongoing tax examinations to determine the adequacy of our provision for taxes. These assessments can require a high degree of judgment and estimation. Intercompany transactions associated with the sale of services and intellectual property and cost share arrangements are complex and affect our tax liabilities. The calculation of our tax liabilities involves dealing with uncertainties in the application of complex tax laws and regulations in multiple jurisdictions. Successful unilateral or multi-jurisdictional actions by various tax authorities, including in the context of our current or future corporate operating structure and third-party and intercompany arrangements (including transfer pricing and the manner in which we develop, value and use our intellectual property), may increase our worldwide effective tax rate, result in additional taxes or other costs or have other material consequences, which could harm our operations, financial results and condition. A difference in the ultimate resolution of tax uncertainties from what is currently estimated could have an adverse effect on our financial results and condition.

We could be subjected to legal actions based upon the content we include in our courseware or learning assets.

It is possible that we could become subject to legal actions based upon claims that our course content or other learning assets infringe the rights of others or is erroneous. Any such claims, with or without merit, could subject us to costly litigation and the diversion of our financial resources and management personnel. The risk of such claims is exacerbated by the fact that certain learning content is provided by third parties over whom we exert limited control. Further, if such claims are successful, we may be required to alter the content, pay financial damages, or obtain content from others.

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Risks Related to our Indebtedness and Certain Other Obligations

Our degree of leverage could adversely affect our ability to raise additional capital to fund our operations, limit our ability to react to changes in the economy or our industry, expose us to interest rate risk, and prevent us from meeting obligations on our indebtedness.

Our degree of leverage could have potentially adverse consequences, including: making it more difficult for us to make payments on our indebtedness; increasing our vulnerability to general economic and industry conditions; requiring a substantial portion of cash flow from operations to be dedicated to the payment of principal and interest on our indebtedness, thereby reducing our ability to use our cash flow to fund our operations, capital expenditures, research and development and future business opportunities; exposing us to the risk of increased interest rates under our credit facilities to the extent such facilities have variable rates of interest; limiting our ability to make strategic acquisitions and investments; limiting our ability to refinance our indebtedness as it becomes due; and limiting our ability to adjust quickly or at all to changing market conditions and placing us at a competitive disadvantage compared to our competitors who are less highly leveraged.

Our debt agreements contain restrictions that limit our flexibility in operating our business.

Our financing agreements contain various covenants that limit our ability to engage in specific types of transactions. These covenants limit our and our subsidiaries’ ability to incur or guarantee additional debt and issue or sell certain preferred stock; pay dividends on, redeem or repurchase our capital stock; make certain acquisitions or investments; incur or assume certain liens; enter into transactions with affiliates; and sell assets to, or merge or consolidate with, another company. A breach of any of these covenants could result in a default under our debt instruments.

We may not be able to generate sufficient cash to service all of our indebtedness, and we may be forced to take other actions to satisfy our obligations under our indebtedness, which may not be successful.

Our ability to make scheduled payments on or to refinance our debt obligations depends on our financial condition and operating performance, which is subject to prevailing economic and competitive conditions and to certain financial, business and other factors beyond our control. We cannot assure you that we will maintain a level of cash flow from operating activities sufficient to permit us to pay the principal, premium, if any, and interest on our indebtedness.

Additionally, our subsidiaries may not be able to, or may not be permitted to, make distributions or debt repayments to enable us to make payments in respect of our indebtedness. Each such subsidiary is a distinct legal entity and, under certain circumstances, legal and contractual restrictions may limit our ability to obtain cash from them. While our existing credit agreements limit the ability of our guarantor subsidiaries to incur consensual encumbrances and include restrictions on their ability to pay dividends or make other intercompany payments to us, these limitations are subject to certain qualifications and exceptions. In the event that we do not receive cash from our subsidiaries, we will be unable to make required principal and interest payments on our indebtedness.

If our cash flow and capital resources are insufficient to fund our debt service obligations and operating lease obligations, we may be forced to reduce or delay investments and capital expenditures, or to sell assets, seek additional capital or restructure or refinance our indebtedness. These alternative measures may not be successful and may not permit us to meet our scheduled debt service obligations. In the absence of such operating results and resources, we could face substantial liquidity problems and might be required to dispose of material assets or operations to meet our debt service and other obligations. Resources could be wasted in researching initial business combinations that are not completed, which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. Our existing credit agreements restrict our ability to dispose of assets and use the proceeds from the disposition. We may not be able to consummate those dispositions or to obtain the proceeds that we could otherwise realize from such dispositions and any such proceeds that are realized may not be adequate to meet any debt service obligations then due.

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Risks Related to our Previous Capital Structure and Resulting Chapter 11 Cases

The ongoing effects of our prior capital structure, including our emergence from the Chapter 11 Cases, could adversely affect our business and relationships.

The level of prior indebtedness impacted us in several ways, including our ability to invest in the business. This indebtedness led to filing the Chapter 11 Cases. Our ability to change the public perception relating to our prior capital structure and Chapter 11 Cases may have an impact on our ability to continue to attract our customers, which is critical to our ability to achieve long-term profitability, and a negative public perception of our business due to our recently consummated bankruptcy proceedings may have a materially adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

We may not be able to achieve or sustain profitability in the future.

Due principally to our prior capital structure, we incurred operating losses in each of our last five fiscal years. As noted in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations  —  Non-GAAP Financial Measures,” our Adjusted EBITDA has also declined over this period. While we believe we are taking the right steps to improve profitability over the long-term, we may not be able to achieve or sustain profitability on a consistent quarterly or annual basis. Failure to maintain profitability in future periods may materially and adversely affect our ability to make payments on our outstanding debt obligations.

Information contained in our historical financial statements will not be comparable to the information contained in our financial statements after the application of fresh-start accounting.

Following our emergence from Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code, our financial condition and results of operations from and after August 27, 2020 will not be comparable to the financial condition or results of operations in our historical financial statements. This will make it difficult for our stockholders and others to assess our performance in relation to prior periods. As a result of our restructuring, our financial statements are subject to the fresh-start accounting provisions of GAAP. In the application of fresh-start accounting, an allocation of the reorganization value is made to the fair value of assets and liabilities in conformity with the guidance for the acquisition method of accounting for business combinations. Adjustments to the carrying amounts could be material and could affect prospective results of operations as balance sheet items are settled, depreciated, amortized or impaired. We test goodwill and indefinite lived intangible assets for impairment annually or whenever events occur or circumstances change that would more likely than not reduce the fair value of a reporting unit below its carrying amount. We evaluate other long-lived assets for impairments whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying value may not be recoverable. Impairments could occur in the future if our expected future cash flows decline, market or interest rate environments deteriorate, or if carrying values change materially compared with changes in their respective fair values.

Risks Related to our Critical Accounting Policies

If our judgments or estimates relating to our critical accounting policies are based on assumptions that change or prove to be incorrect, our results of operations could fall below expectations of securities analysts and investors, resulting in a decline in our stock price.

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make judgments, estimates, and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, as provided in the section entitled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets, liabilities, and equity, and the amount of revenue and expenses that are not readily apparent from other sources. Our results of operations may be adversely affected if our assumptions change or if actual circumstances differ from those in our assumptions, which could cause our results of operations to fall below the expectations of securities analysts and investors, resulting in a decline in the trading price of our ordinary shares. Significant judgments, estimates, and assumptions used in preparing our consolidated financial statements include, or may in the future include, those related to revenue

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recognition, fresh-start accounting, sales commissions costs, long-lived assets and accounting for income taxes including deferred tax assets and liabilities.

Risks Related to the Codecademy Merger

The market price for shares of Class A common stock following the Codecademy Merger may be affected by factors different from, or in addition to, those that historically have affected or currently affect the market prices of shares of Class A common stock.

Skillsoft’s businesses differ in some regards from those of Codecademy and, accordingly, the results of operations of Skillsoft following completion of the Codecademy Merger will be affected by some factors that are different from those currently or historically affecting the results of operations of Skillsoft. The results of operations of Skillsoft following the Codecademy Merger may also be affected by factors different from those that have historically affected Skillsoft. In addition, following the Codecademy Merger, Skillsoft may seek to raise additional equity financing through one or more underwritten offerings, private placements and/or rights offerings, or issue stock in connection with acquisitions, which may result in downward pressure on the share price of the Class A common stock.

Skillsoft has incurred significant transaction costs in connection with the Codecademy Merger.

Skillsoft has incurred and is expected to continue to incur a number of non-recurring costs associated with the Codecademy Merger, combining the operations of Codecademy with Skillsoft’s and achieving desired synergies. These costs have been, and will continue to be, substantial. A substantial portion of non-recurring expenses incurred consist of transaction costs and include, among others, fees paid to financial, legal, accounting and other advisors and employee retention, severance, and benefit costs. Skillsoft will also incur costs related to formulating and implementing integration plans. Although Skillsoft expects that the elimination of duplicative costs, as well as the realization of synergies and efficiencies related to the integration of the assets and operations of Codecademy, should allow Skillsoft to offset these transaction costs over time, this net benefit may not be achieved in the near term or at all.

Securities class action lawsuits and a derivative lawsuit have been brought against Skillsoft in connection with the Codecademy Merger, which could result in substantial costs.

Securities class action lawsuits and derivative lawsuits are often brought against public companies that have entered into acquisition, merger or other business combination agreements that could result in significant costs to Skillsoft, including any costs associated with the indemnification of directors and officers. Even if such a lawsuit is without merit, defending against these claims can result in substantial costs and divert management time and resources. An adverse judgment could result in monetary damages, which could have a negative impact on Skillsoft’s liquidity and financial condition.

Skillsoft will record goodwill and other intangible assets that could become impaired and result in material non-cash charges to the results of operations of Skillsoft in the future.

Skillsoft will account for the Codecademy Merger as an acquisition of a business in accordance with GAAP. Under the acquisition method of accounting, the assets and liabilities of Codecademy will be recorded, as of completion, at their respective fair values (except for deferred revenue which, pursuant to Skillsoft’s adoption of ASU 2021-08 — Business Combinations (Topic 805): Accounting for Contract Assets and Contract Liabilities from Contracts with Customers effective June 11, 2021, will be recognized using the revenue recognition guidance in Accounting Standards Codification Topic 606 rather than fair value) and added to Skillsoft’s. Skillsoft’s reported financial condition and results of operations for periods after completion of the Codecademy Merger will reflect Codecademy’s balances and results after completion of the Codecademy Merger but will not be restated retroactively to reflect the historical financial position or results of operations of Codecademy for periods prior to the Codecademy Merger.

Under the acquisition method of accounting, the total purchase price will be allocated to Codecademy’s tangible assets and liabilities and identifiable intangible assets based on their fair values as of the date of completion of the Codecademy Merger. The excess of the purchase price over those fair values, if any, will be recorded as goodwill. To the extent the value of goodwill or intangibles, if any, becomes impaired in the future, Skillsoft may be required to incur material non-

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cash charges relating to such impairment. Skillsoft’s operating results may be significantly impacted from both the impairment and the underlying trends in the business that triggered the impairment.

Skillsoft may be unable to successfully integrate Codecademy’s business into its business or achieve the anticipated benefits of the Codecademy Merger.

The success of the Codecademy Merger will depend, in part, Skillsoft’s ability to realize the anticipated benefits and cost savings from combining Skillsoft’s and Codecademy’s businesses, and there can be no assurance that Skillsoft will be able to successfully integrate or otherwise realize the anticipated benefits of the Codecademy Merger. Difficulties in integrating Codecademy into Skillsoft may result in Skillsoft performing differently than expected, in operational challenges, or in the failure to realize anticipated expense-related efficiencies.

Potential difficulties that may be encountered in the integration process include, among others:

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Skillsoft’s results may suffer if it does not effectively manage its expanded operations following the Codecademy Merger.

Following completion of the Codecademy Merger, the size of Skillsoft’s business increased significantly. Skillsoft’s future success will depend, in part, on Skillsoft’s ability to manage this expanded business, which poses numerous risks and uncertainties, including the need to integrate the operations and business of Codecademy into Skillsoft’s existing business in an efficient and timely manner, to combine systems and management controls, and to integrate relationships with customers, vendors, and business partners.

Risks Related to Ownership of Our Class A common stock

If the benefits of the recent transactions completed by Skillsoft do not meet the expectations of financial analysts, the market price of the Class A common stock of the Skillsoft may decline.

The market price of our Class A common stock of the Skillsoft may decline as a result of the Codecademy Merger if Skillsoft does not achieve the perceived benefits of the Codecademy Merger as rapidly, or to the extent anticipated by, financial analysts or the effect of the Codecademy Merger on the financial results of Skillsoft is not consistent with the expectations of financial analysts. Accordingly, holders of our Class A common stock of Skillsoft may experience a loss as a result of a decline in the market price of our Class A common stock. In addition, a decline in the market price of our Class A common stock of Skillsoft could adversely affect the ability of Skillsoft to issue additional securities and to obtain additional financing in the future.

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Our Derivative Instruments are accounted for as liabilities and the changes in value of our Derivative Instruments could have a material effect on our financial results.

On April 12, 2021, the Staff at the SEC issued a statement (the “SEC Statement”) discussing the accounting implications of certain terms that are common in warrants issued by special purpose acquisition companies. In light of the SEC Statement and guidance in Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 815-40, “Derivatives and Hedging  —  Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity,” Churchill Capital Corp. management evaluated the terms of the warrant agreement entered into in connection with Skillsoft’s initial public offering and concluded that the warrant agreement governing public warrants and the private placement warrants (together, the “warrants”) include provisions that, based on the SEC Statement, preclude the warrants from being classified as components of equity. As a result, Churchill Capital Corp. classified the warrants, the 2020 note, and that certain Subscription Agreement, dated as of October 12, 2020, by and among Skillsoft, Churchill Sponsor II, LLC, and Prosus (the “Prosus Subscription Agreement”) (together, the “Derivative Instruments”) as liabilities. Under this accounting treatment, Churchill Capital Corp. was required to measure the fair value of the Derivative Instruments at the end of each reporting period and recognize changes in the fair value from the prior period in their operating results for the current period. As a result of the recurring fair value measurement, our financial statements and results of operations may fluctuate quarterly based on factors which are outside our control. We expect that we will recognize non-cash gains or losses due to the quarterly fair valuation of the Derivative Instruments and that such gains or losses could be material.

The price of our Class A common stock may change significantly and you could lose all or part of your investment as a result.

The trading price of shares of our Class A common stock is likely to continue to be volatile. The stock market, including our industry, recently has experienced extreme volatility. This volatility often has been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of particular companies. You may not be able to resell your shares at an attractive price due to a number of factors such as those listed in the risk factors above and below and the following:

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These broad market and industry fluctuations may adversely affect the market price of our Class A common stock, regardless of Skillsoft’s actual operating performance. In addition, price volatility may be greater if the public float and trading volume of our Class A common stock is low.

In the past, following periods of market volatility, stockholders have instituted securities class action litigation. If Skillsoft was involved in securities litigation, it could have a substantial cost and divert resources and the attention of executive management from Skillsoft’s business regardless of the outcome of such litigation.

Because there are no current plans to pay cash dividends on our Class A common stock for the foreseeable future, you may not receive any return on investment unless you sell your Class A common stock for a price greater than that which you paid for it.

Skillsoft intends to retain future earnings, if any, for future operations, expansion and debt repayment and there are no current plans to pay any cash dividends for the foreseeable future. The declaration, amount and payment of any future dividends on shares of Class A common stock will be at the sole discretion of Skillsoft’s Board. Skillsoft’s Board may take into account general and economic conditions, our financial condition and results of operations, our available cash and current and anticipated cash needs, capital requirements, contractual, legal, tax, and regulatory restrictions, implications on the payment of dividends by us to our stockholders or by our subsidiaries to us and such other factors as our Board may deem relevant. In addition, our ability to pay dividends is limited by covenants of Skillsoft’s existing and outstanding indebtedness and may be limited by covenants of any future indebtedness Skillsoft incurs. As a result, stockholders must rely on their sales of Class A common stock after appreciation, which may never occur, as the only way to realize any future gains on their investments.

If securities analysts do not publish research or reports about Skillsoft’s business or if they downgrade the Class A common stock or Skillsoft’s sector, the price of the Class A common stock and trading volume could decline.

The trading market for our Class A common stock is influenced in part by the research and reports that industry or financial analysts publish about Skillsoft or its business. Skillsoft does not control these analysts. In addition, some financial analysts may have limited expertise with Skillsoft’s model and operations. Furthermore, if one or more of the analysts who do cover Skillsoft downgrade the Class A common stock or industry, or the stock of any of its competitors, or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about its business, the price of the Class A common stock could decline. If one or more of these analysts ceases coverage of Skillsoft or fails to publish reports on it regularly, Skillsoft could lose visibility in the market, which in turn could cause the price of the Class A common stock or trading volume to decline.

Future sales, or the perception of future sales, by Skillsoft or its stockholders in the public market could cause the market price for our Class A common stock to decline.

The sale of shares of our Class A common stock in the public market, or the perception that such sales could occur, could harm the prevailing market price of shares of Class A common stock. These sales, or the possibility that these sales may occur, also might make it more difficult for Skillsoft to sell equity securities in the future at a time and at a price that it deems appropriate.

As of April 11, 2022, Skillsoft had a total of 162,911,755 shares of Class A common stock outstanding and warrants to purchase an aggregate of 61,966,667 shares of Class A common stock outstanding.

In addition, pursuant to the that certain amended and restated registration rights agreement, which became effective upon the consummation of the transactions contemplated by the Skillsoft Merger Agreement (the “Existing Registration Rights Agreement”), as well as the Registration Rights Agreement entered into at the closing of the Codecademy Merger (together with the Existing Registration Rights Agreement, the “Registration Rights Agreements”), certain stockholders have the right, subject to certain conditions, to require us to register the sale of their shares of our Class A common stock under the Securities Act. By exercising their registration rights under the Registration Rights Agreements and selling a large number of shares, these stockholders could cause the prevailing market price of our Class A common stock to decline.

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As restrictions on resale end or if these stockholders exercise their registration rights under the Registration Rights Agreements, the market price of shares of Class A common stock could drop significantly if the holders of these shares sell them or are perceived by the market as intending to sell them. These factors could also make it more difficult for Skillsoft to raise additional funds through future offerings of shares of Class A common stock or other securities.

In addition, the shares of Class A common stock reserved for future issuance under Skillsoft’s equity incentive plans will become eligible for sale in the public market once those shares are issued, subject to provisions relating to various vesting agreements, lock-up agreements and, in some cases, limitations on volume and manner of sale applicable to affiliates under Rule 144, as applicable. The compensation committee of our Board may determine the exact number of shares to be reserved for future issuance under its equity incentive plans at its discretion. On August 17, 2021, Skillsoft filed a registration statement on Form S-8 under the Securities Act to register shares of Class A common stock or securities convertible into or exchangeable for shares of Class A common stock issued pursuant to Skillsoft’s equity incentive plans. Skillsoft will file an additional registration statement on Form S-8 under the Securities Act to (i) register shares of Class A common stock or securities convertible into or exchangeable for shares of Class A common stock issued pursuant to Skillsoft’s equity incentive plans in connection with the issuance of Skillsoft RSUs upon closing of the Codecademy Merger and (ii) to register shares of the Company’s Class A common stock issuable under the Company’s 2020 Omnibus Incentive Plan (“2020 Plan”) pursuant to Section 6(a) of the 2020 Plan, which provides for an automatic annual increase of the number of shares issuable under the 2020 Plan. Form S-8 registration statements automatically become effective upon filing.

The Codecademy equity holders may wish to dispose of some or all of their interests in Skillsoft, and as a result may seek to sell their shares of Class A common stock. These sales (or the perception that these sales may occur), coupled with the increase in the outstanding number of shares of Class A common stock, may affect the market for, and the market price of, the Class A common stock in an adverse manner.

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Sales of substantial amounts of our Class A common stock in the open market by the Codecademy equity holders following the closing of the Codecasdemy Merger could depress the price of the Class A common stock.

If Skillsoft’s stockholders, including former Codecademy equity holders, sell substantial amounts of Class A common stock in the public market following the closing of the Codecademy Merger, the market price of the Class A common stock may decrease. These sales might also make it more difficult for Skillsoft to raise capital by selling equity or equity-related securities at a time and price that it otherwise would deem appropriate.

Future issuances of debt securities and equity securities, including in connection with the completion of the Codecademy transaction, may adversely affect us, including the market price of shares of Class A common stock, and may be dilutive to existing stockholders.

In the future, we may incur debt or issue equity that could rank senior to the shares of Class A common stock. Those securities will generally have priority upon liquidation. Such securities also may be governed by an indenture or other instrument containing covenants restricting its operating flexibility. Additionally, any convertible or exchangeable securities that we issue in the future may have rights, preferences and privileges more favorable than those of the shares of Class A common stock. Because our decision to issue debt or equity in the future will depend on market conditions and other factors beyond our control, we cannot predict or estimate the amount, timing, nature or success of our future capital raising efforts. As a result, future capital raising efforts may reduce the market price of the shares of Class A common stock and be dilutive to existing stockholders.

We may also issue securities in connection with investments or acquisitions, as we did in the Codecademy transaction. The amount of shares of Class A common stock issued in connection with an investment or acquisition could constitute a material portion of our then-outstanding shares of Class A common stock. Any issuance of additional securities in connection with investments or acquisitions may result in additional dilution to our stockholders.

Anti-takeover provisions in our organizational documents could delay or prevent a change of control.

Certain provisions of our Charter and bylaws may have an anti-takeover effect and may delay, defer or prevent a merger, acquisition, tender offer, takeover attempt or other change of control transaction that a stockholder might consider in its best interest, including those attempts that might result in a premium over the market price for the shares held by our stockholders. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any defective provision, but requires the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders of public warrants.

These provisions provide for, among other things:

These anti-takeover provisions could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire Skillsoft, even if the third-party’s offer may be considered beneficial by many of our stockholders. As a result, our stockholders may be limited in their ability to obtain a premium for their shares. As a result, our stockholders may not have access to certain information they may deem important. These provisions could also discourage proxy contests and make it more difficult for you and other stockholders to elect directors of your choosing and to cause Skillsoft to take other corporate actions you desire.

The Charter designates the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with Skillsoft or its directors, officers, employees or stockholders. Accordingly, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, it is more likely that the necessary stockholder approval will be received than would be the case if our initial stockholders and their permitted transferees agreed to vote their founder shares in accordance with the majority of the votes cast by our public stockholders.

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The Charter provides that, subject to limited exceptions, any (1) derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of Skillsoft, (2) action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer, stockholder or employee to Skillsoft or its stockholders, (3) action asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL or the Charter or our bylaws or (4) action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be exclusively brought in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware or, if such court does not have subject matter jurisdiction thereof, another state or federal court located within the State of Delaware. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of Skillsoft’s capital stock shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the provisions of the Charter described above. This choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with Skillsoft or its directors, officers or other employees, which may discourage such lawsuits against Skillsoft and its directors, officers and employees. Alternatively, if a court were to find these provisions of the Charter inapplicable to, or unenforceable in respect of, one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, the Skillsoft may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could adversely affect Skillsoft’s business and financial condition. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Charter will not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act, or any other claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America shall be the sole and exclusive forum. While Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder, Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder.

Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any shares of our capital stock shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum provisions in the Charter. If any action the subject matter of which is within the scope of the forum provisions is filed in a court other than a court located within the State of Delaware (a “foreign action”) in the name of any stockholder, such stockholder shall be deemed to have consented to: (x) the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located within the State of Delaware in connection with any action brought in any such court to enforce the forum provisions (an “enforcement action”); and (y) having service of process made upon such stockholder in any such enforcement action by service upon such stockholder’s counsel in the foreign action as agent for such stockholder.

This choice-of-forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with Skillsoft or its directors, officers, stockholders, agents or other employees, which may discourage such lawsuits. We note that there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce this provision, and the enforceability of similar choice of forum provisions in other companies’ charter documents has been challenged in legal proceedings. The price per share paid in any such transaction may be different than the amount per share a public stockholder would receive if it elected to redeem its shares in connection with our initial business combination. Further, investors cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. It is possible that a court could find these types of provisions to be inapplicable or unenforceable, and if a court were to find this provision of the Charter inapplicable or unenforceable with respect to one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and result in a diversion of the time and resources of our management and board of directors. As a result, we may be able to complete our initial business combination even though a substantial majority of our public stockholders do not agree with the transaction and have redeemed their shares or, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, have entered into privately negotiated agreements to sell their shares to our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or any of their respective affiliates.

The NYSE may not continue to list our securities, which could limit investors’ ability to make transactions in our securities and subject us to additional trading restrictions.

Our Class A common stock and Public Warrants are currently listed on the NYSE. There can be no assurance that we will be able to comply with the continued listing standards of NYSE. If the NYSE delists our Class A common stock from trading on its exchange for failure to meet the listing standards, our stockholders could face significant material adverse consequences including:

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A market for our securities may not continue, which would adversely affect the liquidity and price of our securities.

The price of our securities may fluctuate significantly due to the market’s reaction to the Codecademy Merger and general market and economic conditions. An active trading market for our securities may not be sustained. In addition, the price of our securities can vary due to general economic conditions and forecasts, our general business condition and the release of our financial reports. Additionally, if our securities become delisted from the NYSE for any reason, and are quoted on the OTC Bulletin Board, an inter-dealer automated quotation system for equity securities that is not a national securities exchange, the liquidity and price of our securities may be more limited than if we were quoted or listed on the NYSE or another national securities exchange. You may be unable to sell your securities unless a market can be established or sustained.

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Prosus and its affiliates may have interests that differ from those of other stockholders.

As of April 11, 2022, following the completion of the Codecademy Merger, Prosus holds approximately 37.5% of the number of shares and voting power of Skillsoft’s outstanding Class A common stock.

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Pursuant to the terms of the Prosus Subscription Agreement, and subject to any required approval of Skillsoft’s stockholders pursuant to the applicable rules and listing standards of the NYSE (which Skillsoft will use reasonable best efforts to obtain), if Skillsoft intends to issue New Securities (as defined in the Prosus Subscription Agreement) to any person, then, at least fifteen (15) business days prior to the issuance of the New Securities, Skillsoft shall deliver Prosus an offer (the “Offer”) to issue New Securities to Prosus for cash in an aggregate amount, on a pro forma basis after giving effect to the issuance of the New Securities, that would result in Subscriber maintaining beneficial ownership (within the meaning of Rule 13d-3 under the Exchange Act) of at least the percentage of the issued and outstanding shares of Class A common stock that it beneficially owns immediately prior to the issuance of such New Securities on a fully-diluted and as- converted basis but, solely prior to the expiration of the earlier of (i) June 11, 2024 and (ii) the occurrence of a Significant Event (as defined in the Prosus Subscription Agreement), not to the extent such issuance would result in Prosus having beneficial ownership of more than thirty-five percent (35%) of the issued and outstanding shares of Class A common stock on a fully-diluted and as converted basis (excluding any warrants issued to Prosus pursuant to the Prosus Subscription Agreement). The Offer shall state that Skillsoft proposes to issue the New Securities and shall specify their number and terms (including the cash purchase price or the fair market value of any non-cash consideration as reasonably determined by the Board). The Offer shall remain open and irrevocable for a period of 15 business days from the date of its delivery.

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Following the Codecademy Merger, so long as Prosus and its affiliates continue to directly or indirectly own a significant amount of Skillsoft’s outstanding Class A common stock, Prosus may be able to exert substantial influence on Skillsoft and may be able to exercise its influence in a manner that is not in the interests of Skillsoft’s other stakeholders. Additionally, Prosus and its affiliates are in the business of making investments in companies and owning real estate, and may from time to time acquire and hold interests in businesses that compete directly or indirectly with Skillsoft or that supply Skillsoft with goods and services. Prosus or its affiliates may also pursue acquisition opportunities that may be complementary to (or competitive with) Skillsoft’s business, and as a result those acquisition opportunities may not be available to Skillsoft.

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Stockholders should consider that the interests of Prosus may differ from their interests in material respects.

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Skillsoft’s consultant, the Klein Group, has an interest in the Codecademy Merger.

Michael Klein, a member of our Board, is the Chief Executive Officer of The Klein Group, LLC (the “Klein Group”). Skillsoft engaged the Klein Group to act as a consultant in respect of a potential transaction with Codecademy, particularly to assist management in its evaluation of the business opportunity and structuring and negotiation of a potential transaction. Pursuant to this engagement, Skillsoft paid the Klein Group a transaction fee equal to $2.0 million in connection with the Codecademy Merger.

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Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments

None.