<PAGE>
3,000,000 SHARES
[LOGO]
Common Stock
The 3,000,000 shares of Common Stock, par value $.01 per share (the "Common
Stock"), offered hereby (this "Offering") are being offered by Stericycle, Inc.
("Stericycle" or the "Company"). Prior to this Offering there has been no public
market for the Common Stock. See "Underwriting" for the factors considered in
determining the initial public offering price.
The Common Stock has been approved for quotation on the Nasdaq National
Market ("Nasdaq") under the symbol "SRCL."
FOR A DISCUSSION OF CERTAIN RISKS OF AN INVESTMENT IN THE SHARES OF COMMON
STOCK OFFERED HEREBY, SEE "RISK FACTORS" ON PAGES 7-14.
-----------------
THESE SECURITIES HAVE NOT BEEN APPROVED OR DISAPPROVED BY THE
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION OR ANY STATE SECURITIES
COMMISSION NOR HAS THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION OR
ANY STATE SECURITIES COMMISSION PASSED UPON THE ACCURACY
OR ADEQUACY OF THIS PROSPECTUS. ANY REPRESENTATION
TO THE CONTRARY IS A CRIMINAL OFFENSE.
-------------------
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
UNDERWRITING
PRICE TO DISCOUNTS AND PROCEEDS TO
PUBLIC COMMISSIONS* COMPANY+
<S> <C> <C> <C>
Per Share................................. $9.00 $0.63 $8.37
Total++................................... $27,000,000 $1,890,000 $25,110,000
</TABLE>
- ------------
* The Company has agreed to indemnify the Underwriters against certain
liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933. See
"Underwriting."
+ Before deducting expenses of this Offering payable by the Company estimated
to be $800,000.
++ The Company has granted the Underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to
450,000 additional shares of Common Stock on the same terms per share solely
to cover over-allotments, if any. If such option is exercised in full, the
total price to public will be $31,050,000, the total underwriting discounts
and commissions will be $2,173,500 and the total proceeds to Company will be
$28,876,500. See "Underwriting."
-------------------
The Common Stock is being offered by the Underwriters as set forth under
"Underwriting" herein. It is expected that the delivery of certificates therefor
will be made at the offices of Dillon, Read & Co. Inc., New York, New York, on
or about August 28, 1996, against payment therefor. The Underwriters include:
DILLON, READ & CO. INC.
SALOMON BROTHERS INC
WILLIAM BLAIR & COMPANY
The date of this Prospectus is August 23, 1996.
<PAGE>
[Logo] Stericycle
[Six photographs of the Company's education, collection and treatment processes;
the following are the captions to these photographs]
Through on-site training and education programs, Stericycle helps customers
establish regulated medical waste management systems.
Stericycle helps healthcare providers protect patients and employees from the
potential hazards of regulated medical waste with puncture-resistant, leak-proof
STERI-TUB collection containers.
Regulated medical waste is readied for treatment at the beginning of the
process.
The empty STERI-TUB continues on to the wash station where it is sanitized and
prepared for re-use.
A processing vessel containing the regulated medical waste automatically enters
the dielectric oven, where it is treated using Stericycle's patented ELECTRO -
THERMAL - DEACTIVATION (ETD) treatment process.
The regulated medical waste has now been rendered noninfectious. The treated
waste can now be recycled, used as a fuel to provide energy, or safely
landfilled.
Steri-Cement-Registered Trademark-, Steri-Fuel-Registered Trademark-,
Steri-Plastic-Registered Trademark- and Steri-Tub-Registered Trademark- are
registered trademarks and Stericycle-Registered Trademark- is a registered
service mark of the Company.
IN CONNECTION WITH THIS OFFERING, THE UNDERWRITERS MAY OVER-ALLOT OR EFFECT
TRANSACTIONS WHICH STABILIZE OR MAINTAIN THE MARKET PRICE OF THE COMMON STOCK OF
THE COMPANY AT A LEVEL ABOVE THAT WHICH MIGHT OTHERWISE PREVAIL IN THE OPEN
MARKET. SUCH TRANSACTIONS MAY BE EFFECTED ON THE NASDAQ NATIONAL MARKET OR
OTHERWISE. SUCH STABILIZING, IF COMMENCED, MAY BE DISCONTINUED AT ANY TIME.
2
<PAGE>
PROSPECTUS SUMMARY
THE FOLLOWING SUMMARY IS QUALIFIED IN ITS ENTIRETY BY THE MORE DETAILED
INFORMATION AND THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS, CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND RELATED NOTES THERETO APPEARING ELSEWHERE IN THIS
PROSPECTUS. UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED, ALL INFORMATION IN THIS PROSPECTUS (I)
REFLECTS A 1-FOR-5.3089 REVERSE STOCK SPLIT EFFECTED IN AUGUST 1996 PURSUANT TO
WHICH EACH OUTSTANDING SHARE OF THE COMPANY'S CLASS A AND CLASS B COMMON STOCK
BECAME 0.1883629 SHARE OF COMMON STOCK, AND THE UNDERLYING CLASS OF STOCK AND
NUMBER OF SHARES ISSUABLE UPON EXERCISE, AND THE EXERCISE PRICE PER SHARE, OF
EACH OUTSTANDING OPTION AND WARRANT WERE ADJUSTED ACCORDINGLY, AND (II) ASSUMES
THAT THE UNDERWRITERS' OVER-ALLOTMENT OPTION IS NOT EXERCISED. SEE "DESCRIPTION
OF CAPITAL STOCK," "CAPITALIZATION" AND "UNDERWRITING." UNLESS THE CONTEXT
REQUIRES OTHERWISE, REFERENCES TO "STERICYCLE" AND THE "COMPANY" REFER TO
STERICYCLE, INC. AND ITS SUBSIDIARIES. PROSPECTIVE INVESTORS SHOULD CAREFULLY
CONSIDER THE INFORMATION UNDER "RISK FACTORS."
THE COMPANY
Stericycle is a multi-regional integrated company employing proprietary
technology to provide environmentally-responsible management of regulated
medical waste for the health care industry. Because of the Company's health care
orientation, proprietary technology and breadth of service, the Company believes
that it is in a unique position to meet the fundamental need of the health care
industry to manage regulated medical waste in a safe and cost-effective manner
and to capitalize on the current consolidation trend in the regulated medical
waste management industry. The Company believes that its exclusive focus on
regulated medical waste and the experience of its management in the health care
industry distinguish the Company from its chief competitors, most of whom
participate in multiple businesses and most of whose management experience is
primarily in the solid waste business. The Company believes that its regulated
medical waste management system, including its proprietary
ELECTRO-THERMAL-DEACTIVATION ("ETD") treatment process, is the only
commercially-proven system that provides all of the following benefits: (i) it
kills human pathogens in regulated medical waste without generating liquid
effluents or regulated air emissions; (ii) it affords certain operating cost
advantages over the principal competing technologies; (iii) it reduces the
volume of regulated medical waste by up to 85%; (iv) it renders regulated
medical waste unrecognizable; (v) it permits the recovery and recycling of
usable plastics from regulated medical waste; and (vi) it enables the remaining
regulated medical waste to be safely landfilled or used as an alternative fuel
in energy production. The Company's full-service program is designed to help to
protect its customers and their employees against potential liabilities and
injuries in connection with the handling, transportation and disposal of
regulated medical waste.
The Company's integrated services include regulated medical waste
collection, transportation, treatment, disposal, reduction, reuse and recycling
services, together with related training and education programs, consulting
services and product sales, in four geographic service areas: (i) California;
(ii) Washington, Oregon, Idaho and British Columbia; (iii) Wisconsin, Illinois,
Indiana and Michigan; and (iv) Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont,
Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York and New Jersey. As of December 31, 1995, the
Company served over 13,000 customers, consisting of two principal types of
regulated medical waste generators. Approximately 70% of the Company's 1995
revenues were derived from hospitals, blood banks and pharmaceutical
manufacturers ("Core" generators), and approximately 30% of its revenues were
derived from long-term and subacute care facilities, outpatient clinics, medical
and dental offices, industrial clinics, dialysis centers, laboratories,
biotechnology and biomedical companies, veterinary offices, municipal health
departments, ambulance, fire and police departments, correctional facilities,
schools, park districts and funeral homes ("Alternate Care" generators). The
Company's current operations are comprised of four treatment centers, one
recycling center, five transfer stations and four customer service centers.
Regulated medical waste is generally defined as any waste that can cause an
infectious disease or that reasonably can be suspected of harboring human
pathogenic organisms. Regulated medical waste includes single-use disposable
items such as needles, syringes, gloves and laboratory, surgical, emergency room
and other supplies which have been in contact with blood or bodily fluids;
cultures and stocks of infectious agents; and blood and blood products.
Generators of regulated medical waste are responsible for that waste from
its origin through its disposal. The Company seeks to offer a single-source
solution to a wide spectrum of regulated medical waste management issues
3
<PAGE>
confronting generators of regulated medical waste, thereby managing the
generators' compliance responsibilities relating to proper packaging, labeling,
handling, treatment, disposal, tracking and reporting. In addition, the Company
offers programs to assist customers in educating their employees on safety,
resource conservation and compliance issues. This full-service approach to
regulated medical waste management assists customers in dealing cost-effectively
with the increasingly complex regulatory framework in which generators of
regulated medical waste operate.
An independent study published in 1995 estimated that the size of the
regulated medical waste management market in the United States in 1995 was
approximately $1 billion. Based upon certain public information and the
Company's estimates of its competitors' revenues, the Company believes that it
is the second-largest provider of regulated medical waste management services in
the United States.
The Company believes that the demand for its services will grow as a
consequence of certain trends in the health care and regulated medical waste
industries:
- The handling and disposal of the large quantities of regulated medical
waste generated by the health care industry has attracted increasing
public awareness and regulatory attention. The Occupational Health and
Safety Administration ("OSHA") has issued regulations concerning employee
exposure to bloodborne pathogens and other potentially infectious
materials that require, among other things, special procedures for
handling regulated medical waste and annual training of all personnel who
are potentially exposed to blood and bodily fluids.
- Alternate Care generators have become an increasingly important source of
revenues in the regulated medical waste industry. Individual Alternate
Care generators, however, typically do not produce regulated medical waste
in sufficient volumes to justify substantial capital expenditures on their
own waste treatment facilities or the expense of hiring regulatory
compliance personnel. Accordingly, Alternate Care generators often rely on
a regulated medical waste management provider for a broad range of
regulated medical waste management services.
- The health care industry is under increasing pressure to reduce costs and
improve efficiency, which the Company believes can be achieved in the case
of regulated medical waste by obtaining waste management services from
outside sources.
- Governmental clean air regulations and public opposition are combining to
increase the cost and difficulty of obtaining permits to build and operate
incinerators. As a result, many hospitals have shut down their
incinerators, and the Company expects that many more will do so, with a
corresponding increase in demand for off-site alternative treatment
services such as those offered by the Company.
- Although the regulated medical waste management industry remains
fragmented, the number of competitors is rapidly decreasing as a result of
industry consolidation.
The Company believes that it has the opportunity to increase its penetration
of the geographic service areas in which it currently operates as well as to
expand into adjacent service areas and offer additional products and services to
its customers. Since August 1993, the Company has acquired eight regulated
medical waste management businesses. The Company intends to continue to expand
through business acquisitions, in which it will attempt to acquire businesses
that can be integrated into the Company's existing operations and businesses in
new geographic service areas that can be assembled in a "hub and spoke"
configuration using transfer stations and treatment facilities. Through a
combination of logistics and marketing efforts and business acquisitions, the
Company intends to improve its operating efficiency.
Stericycle, Inc. is a Delaware corporation with its principal executive
offices located at 1419 Lake Cook Road, Suite 410, Deerfield, Illinois 60015.
Its telephone number is (847) 945-6550.
4
<PAGE>
THE OFFERING
<TABLE>
<S> <C>
Common Stock offered by the Company............. 3,000,000 shares
Common Stock to be outstanding after this 9,218,455 shares (1)
Offering........................................
Use of proceeds................................. To repay bank and other debt and for
potential future acquisitions and general
corporate purposes, including capital
expenditures and working capital. See
"Use of Proceeds."
Nasdaq National Market symbol................... SRCL
</TABLE>
- ------------------------
(1) Based on the number of shares outstanding as of June 1, 1996, after giving
effect to the issuance of 98,001 shares of Common Stock in partial payment
of a note to be repaid upon completion of this Offering. Excludes 413,559
shares issuable upon the exercise of outstanding stock options exercisable
within 60 days of June 1, 1996, at a weighted average exercise price of
$0.65 per share, and 387,468 shares issuable upon the exercise of
outstanding warrants all of which were exercisable as of June 1, 1996 at a
weighted average exercise price of $5.31 per share. Also excludes 304,884
shares issuable upon the exercise of outstanding stock options, at a
weighted average exercise price of $1.42 per share, and 21,778 shares
issuable upon the exercise of outstanding warrants at a weighted average
exercise price of $34.27 per share, which either were not exercisable within
60 days of June 1, 1996 or were exercisable at prices in excess of the per
share price to public set forth on the cover page of this Prospectus. See
"Description of Capital Stock -- Options" and "-- Warrants."
5
<PAGE>
SUMMARY CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL DATA
(IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT SHARE AND PER SHARE DATA)
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
SIX MONTHS ENDED
YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, JUNE 30,
----------------------------------------------------- --------------------
1991 1992(4) 1993 1994 1995 1995 1996
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C>
STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS DATA:
Revenues................................. $ 1,563 $ 5,010 $ 9,141 $ 16,141 $ 21,339 $ 10,756 $ 11,616
Cost of revenues......................... 2,005 5,466 9,137 13,922 17,478 8,872 9,189
Selling, general and administrative
expenses................................ 3,377 11,223 5,988 7,927 8,137 4,663 3,315
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
Loss from operations..................... (3,819) (11,679) (5,984) (5,708) (4,276) (2,779) (888)
Interest expense......................... (77) (244) (245) (260) (277) (103) (206)
Interest income.......................... 243 283 201 156 9 6 --
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
Net loss................................. $ (3,653) $ (11,640) $ (6,028) $ (5,812) $ (4,544) $ (2,876) $ (1,094)
Less cumulative preferred dividends...... (1,351) (2,737) (3,733) (4,481) --(5) (3,146) --
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
Loss applicable to common stock.......... $ (5,004) $ (14,377) $ (9,761) $ (10,293) $ (4,544) $ (6,022) $ (1,094)
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
Net loss per common share (1)............ $ (2.44) $ (6.81) $ (4.63) $ (4.88) $ (0.65) $ (2.86) $ (0.16)
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
Weighted average number of common shares
outstanding............................. 2,052,221 2,111,005 2,107,991 2,108,368 6,974,820 2,108,368 6,997,197
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
Pro forma net loss per common share
(2)..................................... $ (0.62) $ (0.13)
--------- ---------
--------- ---------
Pro forma weighted average number of
common shares outstanding (3)........... 7,230,622 7,510,777
--------- ---------
--------- ---------
<CAPTION>
JUNE 30, 1996
--------------------
AS
ACTUAL ADJUSTED(6)
--------- ---------
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C>
BALANCE SHEET DATA:
Cash and cash equivalents............................................................... $ 40 $ 20,190
Total assets............................................................................ 25,834 45,984
Current portion of long-term debt....................................................... 4,306 816
Long-term debt, net of current maturities............................................... 4,399 2,241
Shareholders' equity.................................................................... 11,911 37,709
</TABLE>
- ------------------------------
(1) See Note 2 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for information
concerning the computation of net loss per share.
(2) Adjusted to give effect to the sale of a sufficient number of shares of
Common Stock offered hereby (at an initial public offering price of $9.00
per share, and after the deduction of underwriting discounts and commissions
and a pro rata portion of estimated offering expenses payable by the
Company) the net proceeds from the sale of which are used to repay certain
indebtedness of the Company, and adjusted to give effect, as of the
beginning of the period, to the elimination of the interest expense on the
indebtedness repaid ($64,000 for the year ended December 31, 1995 and
$94,000 for the six months ended June 30, 1996). The number of such shares
would be approximately 255,802 at December 31, 1995 and approximately
513,580 at June 30, 1996. See "Use of Proceeds."
(3) Adjusted to include a sufficient number of shares of Common Stock offered
hereby (at an initial public offering price of $9.00 per share, and after
the deduction of underwriting discounts and commissions and a pro rata
portion of estimated offering expenses payable by the Company) the net
proceeds from the sale of which are used to repay certain indebtedness of
the Company. The number of such shares would be approximately 255,802 at
December 31, 1995 and approximately 513,580 at June 30, 1996. See "Use of
Proceeds.".
(4) During 1992, the Company approved a restructuring plan which resulted in a
nonrecurring charge of $2,747,000, primarily to write-off assets associated
with a technology used by the Company prior to the development of the ETD
process.
(5) In August 1995 and in connection with a recapitalization of the Company, the
liquidation preference on the Company's preferred stock was eliminated and
the Company's preferred stock was reclassified as Class A common stock. See
"Description of Capital Stock -- 1995 Recapitalization."
(6) Adjusted to give effect to the sale of 3,000,000 shares of Common Stock
offered hereby (at an initial public offering price of $9.00 per share, and
after the deduction of underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated
offering expenses payable by the Company), application of the estimated net
proceeds to the Company and the issuance of 98,001 shares of Common Stock in
partial payment of a note to be repaid upon completion of this Offering. See
"Use of Proceeds."
6
<PAGE>
RISK FACTORS
IN ADDITION TO THE OTHER INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS PROSPECTUS, THE
FOLLOWING FACTORS SHOULD BE CAREFULLY CONSIDERED IN EVALUATING AN INVESTMENT IN
THE COMMON STOCK OFFERED BY THIS PROSPECTUS.
HISTORY OF LOSSES; UNCERTAINTY OF FUTURE PROFITABILITY
The Company is engaged in the regulated medical waste management business.
The Company's operations have not been profitable since the Company began
operations in 1989. As of June 30, 1996, the Company had an accumulated deficit
of approximately $38,196,000. For the year ended December 31, 1995 and the six
months ended June 30, 1996, the Company had net losses of approximately
$4,544,000, or $0.65 per share, and approximately $1,094,000, or $0.16 per
share, respectively. There can be no assurance that the Company will be able to
operate profitably in the future. The Company is subject to the risks and
uncertainties inherent in the growth of a developing business in its industry,
including, among other things, limited access to capital, difficulties and
delays in obtaining necessary government permits and authorizations, other
delays in implementing its business strategy in particular geographic service
areas and significant competition.
IMPACT OF GOVERNMENT REGULATION
The regulated medical waste management industry is subject to extensive
federal, state, local and applicable foreign laws and regulations. The
collection, transportation, treatment and disposal of regulated medical waste
require applicable government permits, authorizations and approvals ("permits"),
the nature of which may vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and continuing
compliance with required packaging, labeling, handling, treatment, disposal and
documentation procedures and notice and reporting obligations. The Company
believes that it has obtained all government permits required to operate its
existing business and that it is in compliance in all material respects with
these permits and all applicable laws and regulations. State and local laws and
regulations change with some frequency, however, and the amendment of existing
laws or regulations or the adoption of new laws or regulations could require the
Company to obtain new government permits or to modify its current methods of
operation in order to comply with these changes. There can be no assurance that
the Company would be able to obtain any such new permits or that the cost of
compliance with any such changes would not have a material adverse effect on the
Company's business, financial condition and results of operations. See "Business
- -- Governmental Regulation."
The permits that the Company requires, and in particular the permits
required to build and operate treatment and transfer facilities and transport
regulated medical waste, are difficult and time-consuming to obtain and, if and
when issued, may be subject to conditions or restrictions which limit the
Company's ability to operate efficiently in the applicable jurisdiction. There
can be no assurance that the Company will be successful in obtaining the permits
necessary in order to expand the geographic service areas in which it operates
or that any such permits will be obtained when contemplated by the Company's
expansion plans or under conditions or with restrictions acceptable to the
Company. The Company's inability to expand the geographic service areas in which
it operates, either because it is unable to obtain the necessary permits or
because they are issued under conditions or with restrictions which are not
acceptable to the Company, could have a material adverse effect on the Company's
business, financial condition and results of operations. The Company's
applications for treatment and transfer facility permits are frequently subject
to opposition by elected officials, local residents or citizen groups, and
public opposition could force the Company to delay or withdraw its application
and abandon its plans to expand into a particular geographic service area or to
locate a treatment or transfer facility at a particular site. Even after a
permit is issued, opponents may initiate administrative proceedings or
litigation to compel the applicable regulatory agency to modify the conditions
under which the permit was granted or to revoke the issuance of the permit. The
Company's withdrawal of a permit application, after incurring substantial costs
in the preparation and prosecution of the application and underlying market
studies, site selection, facility design and pre-marketing activities, could
have a material adverse effect on the Company's business, financial condition
and results of operations. See "Business -- Governmental Regulation."
The Company's failure to operate in compliance with the requirements and
limitations of any permit, or with the laws and regulations pursuant to which
the permit was issued, could jeopardize the permit. Routine compliance
inspections by the issuing regulatory agency, as well as complaints filed or
anonymously sponsored by the Company's competitors or others alleging that the
Company is not operating in compliance with a particular permit, could
7
<PAGE>
result in administrative proceedings to modify, suspend or revoke the permit.
Any such modification, suspension or revocation could have a material adverse
effect on the Company's business, financial condition and results of operations.
Some permits have to be renewed periodically, and there can be no assurance that
any existing or future permit which is required to be renewed will be renewed by
the issuing regulatory agency. The failure to obtain any such renewal could have
a material adverse effect on the Company's business, financial condition and
results of operations. Subsequent to the issuance of the Company's original
license for its Woonsocket, Rhode Island treatment facility, the State of Rhode
Island enacted legislation that required the Company to obtain an additional
license for its regulated medical waste operations. The Company has applied for
but not yet received this additional license. Until regulatory action is taken
in respect of this additional license, the Company is permitted to continue to
operate under its current license. There can be no assurance that the Company
will receive the additional license. Denial of this license could result in the
Company being required to cease treatment operations in Rhode Island and could
have a material adverse effect on the Company's business, financial condition
and results of operations. See "Business -- Governmental Regulation."
The Company's treatment technology is an alternative to the conventional
treatment technologies of incineration and autoclaving and has not been approved
in all states for the treatment of regulated medical waste. The Company has been
permitted to operate its treatment technology in 13 states with additional
applications pending. There can be no assurance, however, that the Company's
treatment technology will be approved for the treatment of regulated medical
waste in each state or other jurisdiction where the Company may seek regulatory
approval in the future to construct and operate a treatment facility. The
Company's inability to obtain any such regulatory approval could have a material
adverse effect on the Company's business, financial condition and results of
operations. Like any technology, the Company's treatment process may be subject
to certain technological limitations. Although the Company has never been denied
regulatory approval because of any technological limitation on its treatment
process, there can be no assurance that specific limitations will not be
identified by a regulatory agency as a sufficient reason to withhold a necessary
permit in a particular jurisdiction or used by competitors to encourage
customers or potential customers to engage their services rather than those of
the Company. There can be no assurance that any such actions would not have a
material adverse effect on the Company's business, financial condition and
results of operations.
In the State of Washington, the Company is subject to regulation by the
Utilities and Transportation Commission, which regulates all businesses engaged
in transportation in the state. As a regulated business, the Company must
receive approval from the Utilities and Transportation Commission for the prices
that it charges for its services in Washington. While the Commission has
approved the Company's current prices, there can be no assurance that the
Commission will approve the prices that the Company may seek to charge in the
future or that the prices approved will be adequate to enable the Company to
earn an acceptable return on its operations in Washington. There can be no
assurance that the Company will not be regulated in a similar manner in other
states or jurisdictions in the future. Any such regulation could result in the
Company's failure to attain otherwise available levels of profitability and
could have a material adverse effect on the Company's business, financial
condition and results of operations. See "Business -- Governmental Regulation."
GOVERNMENTAL ENFORCEMENT PROCEEDINGS
The Company has been and may continue to be subject from time to time to
governmental enforcement proceedings and has been and may be required to pay
fines and penalties or undertake remedial work at its facilities. The amount of
any such fines and penalties and the cost of any such remedial work could be
substantial and could have a material adverse effect on the Company's business,
financial condition and results of operations. In August 1995, the Company and
the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management ("RIDEM") entered into a
settlement agreement pursuant to which, without admitting liability, the Company
agreed to pay $400,000 over a seven-year period and to perform community
services and conduct seminars over a five-year period. The settlement arose from
certain notices of violation that RIDEM issued in September 1994 and April 1995
pursuant to which RIDEM sought penalties of $3,356,000, claiming that the
Company had violated state medical waste and solid waste regulations by, among
other things, mishandling and improperly treating medical waste and endangering
its employees' health by failing to provide proper training and protective
clothing. RIDEM has recently contacted the Company's local counsel and
informally suggested that it may issue additional notices of violation. The
Company believes that there is no basis for the issuance of any such additional
notices and that the resolution of the
8
<PAGE>
matter will be favorable to the Company. There can be no assurance, however,
that if the resolution is unfavorable to the Company, the Company's obligations
as a result of any such additional notices of violation would not have a
material adverse effect on the Company's business, financial condition or
results of operations.
The Company believes that the action by RIDEM prompted regulatory
authorities in all of the other states in which the Company does business to
investigate or inquire into the Company's operations. None of these
investigations or inquiries has resulted in any fines, penalties or remedial
work. The Company believes that the Massachusetts Attorney General inquired into
the Company's activities in Massachusetts but does not know whether the inquiry,
if any, is still pending. The Company believes, however, that if there is or was
any such inquiry, it was begun following the adverse publicity that the Company
received in connection with the notices of violation from RIDEM.
The California Department of Health Services is currently conducting a
review of the Company's compliance with applicable regulations at its San
Leandro, California transfer station. The Company does not believe that the
results of this review will have a material adverse effect on the Company's
business, financial condition or results of operations.
In 1994, when the Company still used a third party for transportation
services prior to obtaining its own California waste transportation permit, the
California Department of Health Services initiated an investigation of possible
violations of the state medical waste management act by the third party and the
Company, including delays in transport and insufficient tracking of regulated
medical waste in transit. In order to resolve this matter, the Company agreed in
April 1995 to pay $75,000 to the California Department of Health Services
Medical Waste Management Fund and to assume direct responsibility for the
transportation of regulated medical waste to the Company's treatment facilities.
In 1993 the Company resolved separate inquiries by the Federal Trade Commission
and state agencies in California and Washington by voluntarily agreeing to
clarify in its promotional materials the proportions of treated regulated
medical waste going to resource recovery and recycling.
There can be no assurance that the Company will be successful in its defense
of any future government enforcement proceeding or in obtaining a settlement of
any fines or penalties sought to be imposed on terms acceptable to the Company.
The expense and time involved in defending against any such enforcement
proceeding, the cost of any fines or penalties imposed or paid in settlement,
and the adverse publicity, loss of customers and additional investigations or
inquiries associated with any proceeding, could have a material adverse effect
on the Company's business, financial condition and results of operations. See
"Business -- Regulatory and Legal Proceedings."
IMPORTANCE OF GOVERNMENTAL ENFORCEMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS
The Company believes that its business prospects are enhanced by the
enforcement of stringent statutory and regulatory requirements relating to the
collection, transportation, treatment and disposal of regulated medical waste.
These laws and regulations are, and will continue to be, a principal factor
affecting demand for the Company's regulated medical waste management services.
In addition, the Company views laws and regulations that make it more difficult
or expensive to use competing regulated medical waste treatment technologies,
such as incineration and autoclaving, as advantageous to its business prospects.
The Company believes that legislative initiatives offering financial incentives
for or otherwise encouraging the recycling of treated medical waste similarly
enhance the Company's business prospects. Changes in the law or regulations that
relax the requirements governing regulated medical waste, including changes that
reduce incentives to landfill diversion and resource recovery or that remove
obstacles to the use of incineration and autoclaving for the treatment of
regulated medical waste, could have a material adverse effect on the Company's
business, financial condition and results of operations. The level of future
enforcement of existing and new laws and regulations, the scope of future laws
and regulations and the impact of technological changes on existing or future
laws and regulations cannot be predicted. The level of enforcement in each
jurisdiction is subject to changing political and budgetary pressures. A
significant reduction in government enforcement in one or more jurisdictions
could have a material adverse effect on the Company's business, financial
condition and results of operations.
INTENSE COMPETITION WITHIN INDUSTRY
The Company operates within the intensely competitive regulated medical
waste management industry. Competition in the industry has resulted in
substantial price reductions in virtually all geographic areas. Although
9
<PAGE>
prices have stabilized in certain areas, there can be no assurance that
competitive pressures within the regulated medical waste management industry
will not result in continued or accelerated price reductions. Substantial
continued or accelerated price reductions would have a material adverse effect
on the Company's business, financial condition and results of operations.
The Company faces competition from several national waste management
companies and many regional and local businesses in its present locations, and
will be confronted in the future with such competition in each location where it
seeks to expand. The Company's business strategy involves selling its services
to customers who may have established relationships with existing regulated
medical waste management businesses and who therefore may be reluctant to use
the Company's services. Several of the Company's competitors are larger and have
substantially greater capital resources, regulatory experience, sales and
marketing capabilities and broader product and service offerings than the
Company and are well established in their respective markets. Among these larger
competitors are Browning-Ferris Industries, Inc. ("BFI"), WMX Technologies,
Inc., Laidlaw Waste Systems, Inc. and USA Waste Services, Inc. The Company's
primary competitor is BFI. BFI or other competitors, either alone or together
with competitors having sufficient resources, could engage in a variety of
actions that may have the effect of delaying or preventing the implementation of
the Company's business strategy. These activities may include aggressive price
competition, bundling of regulated medical waste management services with other
services including solid waste management, lobbying or other government
relations initiatives designed to impede the Company's ability to obtain or
maintain necessary permits and approvals, financial support of citizens' groups
that oppose the Company's plans to locate a facility at a particular site,
offering a higher level of customer service, and efforts to recruit the
Company's customers. There can be no assurance that the Company's competitors
will not substantially increase their commitment of resources devoted to
competing aggressively with the Company or that the Company will be able to
compete profitably with BFI or other competitors. To the extent that the
Company's competitors are able to secure significant numbers of long-term
customer agreements with penalties for early termination in geographic service
areas that the Company targets for growth, the Company may be unable to meet its
growth objectives. In addition, the widespread adoption of long-term regulated
medical waste management agreements among the Company's potential customers may
increase the likelihood that the Company will be accused of wrongful
interference with the contractual rights of a competitor if and when the Company
attempts to persuade a potential customer to terminate its relationship with
that competitor and become a customer of the Company. See "Business --
Competition."
GROWTH STRATEGY DEPENDENT UPON ACQUISITIONS
The Company's growth strategy depends in significant part on its ability to
acquire other regulated medical waste management businesses. There can be no
assurance that the Company will be able to identify suitable businesses to
acquire, successfully negotiate their acquisition, improve the productivity of
their operations or integrate their operations into the Company's business. The
recent consolidation in the regulated medical waste management industry may
increase competition for the acquisition of existing businesses and result in
fewer acquisition opportunities and higher purchase prices. Some of the
Company's competitors for acquisitions are larger companies with significantly
greater resources than the Company. If the Company is successful in identifying
suitable regulated medical waste management businesses to acquire and in
negotiating terms of acquisition acceptable to the Company, there can be no
assurance that any debt or equity financing which may be necessary to complete
their acquisition could be obtained on terms satisfactory to the Company. Any
additional equity financing may be dilutive to the Company's existing
stockholders, and any debt financing, if available, may significantly increase
the Company's debt and involve restrictive covenants which limit the Company's
operations. The Company's failure to implement successfully its growth strategy
could delay the Company's achievement of profitable operations and could have a
material adverse effect on the Company's business, financial condition and
results of operations. See "Use of Proceeds" and "Business -- Growth Strategy"
and "-- Acquisition Program."
If the Company is successful in acquiring additional regulated medical waste
management businesses, the Company may experience a period of rapid growth which
could place significant additional demands on the Company's management,
resources and management information systems. The Company's failure to manage
any such rapid growth effectively could have a material adverse effect on the
Company's business, financial condition and results of operations.
10
<PAGE>
POTENTIAL INABILITY TO FUND FUTURE CAPITAL REQUIREMENTS
The Company anticipates that its future acquisitions of other regulated
medical waste management businesses will be made by the payment of cash,
including cash from the net proceeds of this Offering, the issuance of debt or
equity securities or a combination of these methods. In addition, the Company's
growth through internal expansion of its existing business as well as continuing
operations will require substantial expenditures. If the Company is unable to
use debt or equity securities to make business acquisitions after the
substantial exhaustion of the net proceeds of this Offering, there can be no
assurance that the Company will have sufficient capital resources for that
purpose, or other purposes, or that it will be able to obtain additional
resources on terms acceptable to the Company or at all. Any additional equity
financing may be dilutive to the Company's existing stockholders, and any debt
financing, if available, may involve restrictive covenants which limit the
Company's operations. The Company's failure to raise capital if and when needed
could delay or suspend the Company's growth strategy and result in a material
modification of the Company's business strategy. The Company's inability to fund
its capital requirements could have a material adverse effect on the Company's
business, financial condition and results of operations. See "Use of Proceeds"
and "Business -- Growth Strategy" and "-- Acquisition Program."
DEPENDENCE ON PATENTS AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION
The Company owns four United States patents and is the owner or licensee of
a number of United States and foreign patent applications covering aspects of
the treatment of medical waste through ELECTRO-THERMAL-DEACTIVATION and
irradiation. The Company also owns one United States patent for its
STERI-TUB-Registered Trademark- container. The Company believes that its patents
are important to its prospects for success. There can be no assurance, however,
that the Company's patent applications will issue as patents or that any issued
patents will provide competitive advantages to the Company or will not be
successfully challenged or circumvented by competitors or other third parties.
In addition, there can be no assurance that the Company's regulated medical
waste treatment processes do not infringe the patent or other proprietary rights
of third parties. Litigation may be required to enforce the Company's patents,
to defend the Company against claims of infringement by third parties and to
determine the enforceability, validity and scope of third parties' proprietary
rights. Any such litigation could involve a substantial expense to the Company
and require significant time and attention of the Company's management. The
Company also could be required to participate in interference proceedings
declared by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to determine the priority of
inventions, which also could involve a substantial expense. A determination
adverse to the Company in any such litigation or interference proceedings could
result in a substantial liability to the Company or prevent the Company from
continuing to use its regulated medical waste treatment processes. In the former
event, the liability could have a material adverse effect on the Company's
business, financial condition and results of operations. In the latter event,
the Company could seek a license from the third party or attempt to redesign its
regulated medical waste treatment processes to avoid infringement. The Company's
failure to obtain such a license on terms acceptable to the Company, or its
failure to redesign its processes to avoid infringement, similarly could have a
material adverse effect on the Company's business, financial condition and
results of operations. See "Business -- Patents and Proprietary Rights."
In addition to patent protection, the Company seeks to protect its
proprietary information through confidentiality agreements with its employees,
consultants and collaborators. There can be no assurance that such agreements
will not be breached, that the Company will have adequate remedies for any such
breach or that the Company's proprietary information will not otherwise become
known to or be independently developed by the Company's competitors. See
"Business -- Patents and Proprietary Rights."
The Company holds federal registrations of the trademarks "Steri-Fuel,"
"Steri-Plastic," "Steri-Tub" and "Steri-Cement" and the service marks
"Stericycle" and a mark consisting of a graphic that the Company uses in
association with its name and services in the United States. There can be no
assurance that the registered or unregistered trademarks or service marks of the
Company will not infringe upon the rights of third parties. The requirement to
change any trademark, service mark or trade name of the Company would result in
the loss of any goodwill associated with that trademark, service mark or trade
name, could entail significant expense and could have a material adverse effect
on the Company's business, financial condition and results of operation. See
"Business -- Patents and Proprietary Rights."
POTENTIAL RISK OF PRODUCT LIABILITY AND POTENTIAL UNAVAILABILITY OF INSURANCE
The regulated medical waste management industry involves potentially
significant risks of statutory, contractual, tort and common law liability. The
Company's failure to comply with applicable laws and regulations or to manage
regulated medical waste in an environmentally safe manner could result in
environmental contamination,
11
<PAGE>
personal injury and property damage. The Company maintains pollution liability,
general liability and workers' compensation insurance which the Company
considers adequate to protect its business and employees. An uninsured or
partially insured claim against the Company, however, could have a material
adverse effect on the Company's business, financial condition and results of
operations. The federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and
Liability Act of 1980, as amended ("CERCLA"), and similar state laws, impose
strict, joint and several liability on current and former owners and operators
of facilities from which releases of hazardous substances have occurred and on
generators and transporters of the hazardous substances that come to be located
at such facilities. Responsible parties may be liable for substantial waste site
investigation and clean-up costs and natural resource damages, regardless of
whether they exercised due care and complied with applicable laws and
regulations. If the Company were found to be a responsible party for a
particular site, it could be required to pay the entire cost of waste site
investigation and clean-up, even though other parties also may be liable. The
Company's ability to obtain contribution from other responsible parties may be
limited by the Company's inability to identify those parties and by their
financial inability to contribute to investigation and clean-up costs. There can
be no assurance that the Company will not face claims under CERCLA or similar
state laws, or under other laws, resulting in a substantial liability for which
the Company is unable to obtain contribution from other responsible parties and
for which the Company is uninsured or only partially insured. The Company's
pollution liability insurance excludes liabilities under CERCLA. The Company may
experience difficulty in the future in obtaining adequate insurance coverage on
acceptable terms. A successful claim against the Company for which it is
uninsured or only partially insured, and for which it is unable to obtain
contribution from other responsible parties, could have a material adverse
effect on the Company's business, financial condition and results of operations.
See "Business -- Potential Liability and Insurance."
ALTERNATIVE TECHNOLOGIES; TECHNOLOGICAL OBSOLESCENCE
The regulated medical waste management industry presents continuing
opportunities for the development of alternative treatment and disposal
technologies. These alternative technologies may emphasize operating cost
efficiencies, reductions in the volume of regulated medical waste generated or
other environmental factors. The development and commercialization of
alternative treatment or disposal technologies that are more cost-efficient than
the Company's technologies or that reduce the volume of regulated medical waste
generated or afford other environmental benefits could place the Company at a
competitive disadvantage. The Company is aware of certain new regulated medical
waste management technologies, including the production of reusable or
degradable medical products, which, if successfully developed and
commercialized, could have a material adverse effect on the Company's business,
financial condition and results of operations.
UNPROFITABILITY OF REUSE AND RECYCLING
One of the components of the Company's business and marketing strategy is to
reuse and recycle treated regulated medical waste. The demand for reusable and
recyclable regulated medical waste products can be volatile and subject to
changing market conditions. The Company does not currently make a profit on its
reuse and recycling operations, and there can be no assurance that the Company
will do so in the future. In the event that the cost of operating its reuse and
recycling programs increases significantly in the future, the Company may
abandon those programs. Their abandonment would deprive the Company of what it
considers to be a significant marketing and sales advantage over its competitors
who do not offer such services while increasing the Company's disposal costs
related to such waste, and thus could have a material adverse effect on the
Company's business, financial condition and results of operations.
DEPENDENCE ON KEY PERSONNEL
The Company is dependent upon a limited number of key management, technical
and sales personnel. The Company's future success will depend, in part, upon its
ability to attract and retain highly qualified personnel. The Company faces
competition for such personnel from other companies and organizations, and there
can be no assurance that the Company will be successful in hiring or retaining
qualified personnel. The Company does not have written employment agreements
with its officers providing for specific terms of employment, and officers and
other key personnel could leave the Company's employ with little or no prior
notice. The Company's loss of key personnel, especially if the loss is without
advance notice, or the Company's inability to hire or retain key personnel,
could have a material adverse effect on the Company's business, financial
condition and results of operations. The Company does not carry any key man life
insurance.
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<PAGE>
BROAD DISCRETION IN USE OF PROCEEDS
The Company intends to use approximately $6,589,000 of the estimated net
proceeds of this Offering for debt repayment, development of the Company's
transfer station in San Leandro, California as a combined treatment and transfer
facility, and a project to utilize treated regulated medical waste as a fossil
fuel substitute in cement production. The Company intends to use the remaining
estimated net proceeds of approximately $17,721,000 primarily for potential
future acquisitions of other regulated medical waste management or related
businesses and also for general corporate purposes, including capital
expenditures and working capital. As of the date of this Prospectus, the Company
has no pending agreements, commitments or understandings to acquire other
regulated medical waste management or related businesses. At the discretion of
the Company's Board of Directors, the Company could use a substantial portion of
the net proceeds of this Offering to make one or more acquisitions, or could
apply the net proceeds for other purposes, which some or even a majority of the
Company's stockholders might oppose but which would not be submitted to a vote
of the stockholders for their approval. See "Use of Proceeds."
CONTINUED CONTROL BY CURRENT OFFICERS, DIRECTORS AND AFFILIATED ENTITIES
Following completion of this Offering, the Company's current executive
officers, directors and entities affiliated with them will beneficially own, in
the aggregate, approximately 38.9% of the Company's outstanding Common Stock. If
they were to act together, these stockholders would be able to control
substantially all matters requiring approval by the Company's stockholders,
including the election of directors and the approval of mergers or other
business combination transactions. This concentration of ownership could prevent
a change in control of the Company. See "Principal Stockholders."
EFFECT OF APPLICABLE ANTI-TAKEOVER PROVISIONS OF DELAWARE LAW
The Company has not elected to be excluded from the provisions of Section
203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which imposes certain restrictions
on transactions between a corporation and "interested stockholders" (as defined
in Section 203). These restrictions could operate to delay or prevent a change
in control of the Company and to discourage, impede or prevent a merger, tender
offer or proxy contest involving the Company. See "Description of Capital Stock
- -- Anti-Takeover Provisions of Delaware Law."
NO PRIOR PUBLIC MARKET; POSSIBLE VOLATILITY OF STOCK PRICE
Prior to this Offering, there has been no public market for the Common
Stock, and there can be no assurance that an active public market for the Common
Stock will develop or, if one develops, that it will be sustained. The initial
public offering price for the shares of Common Stock offered hereby was
determined by negotiation between the Company and the Managing Underwriters
based upon several factors and may not be indicative of the market price of the
Common Stock after this Offering. See "Underwriting." The market price of the
Common Stock may be volatile. The market price of the Common Stock could be
adversely affected by fluctuations in the Company's operating results or the
operating results of the Company's competitors, the failure of the Company's
operating results to meet the expectations of market analysts and investors,
changes in regulated medical waste management laws and regulations, actions by
regulatory authorities, developments in respect of patents or proprietary
rights, changes in market analyst recommendations regarding the Company or the
regulated medical waste management industry generally, general market
conditions, or other events and factors.
SHARES ELIGIBLE FOR FUTURE SALE
Sales of substantial numbers of shares of Common Stock in the public market
following this Offering could adversely affect the market price of the Common
Stock. Such sales could also make it more difficult for the Company to sell
equity securities or equity-related securities in the future at a time and price
that the Company considers desirable.
Upon completion of this Offering, the Company will have 9,218,455 shares of
Common Stock outstanding, assuming no exercise of the Underwriters'
over-allotment option and no exercise of outstanding stock options and warrants
after June 1, 1996. Of these outstanding shares, the 3,000,000 shares of Common
Stock sold in this Offering will be freely tradeable without restriction or
further registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the
"Securities Act"), unless they are purchased by an "affiliate" of the Company as
that term is defined in Rule 144 under the Securities Act. The remaining
6,218,455 shares of Common Stock held by the Company's existing stockholders
will be "restricted securities" as that term is defined in Rule 144 under the
Securities Act, and were issued and sold by the Company in reliance on
exemptions from the registration requirements of the Securities
13
<PAGE>
Act. These shares may be sold in the public market only if they are registered
under the Securities Act or if they qualify for an exemption from registration
under Rule 144. Holders of 5,407,728 shares of Common Stock, including all of
the Company's officers and directors, have entered into "lock-up" agreements
with the Managing Underwriters pursuant to which such holders have agreed not to
offer, sell, contract to sell, grant any option to purchase or otherwise dispose
of, directly or indirectly, any of their shares of Common Stock, or any shares
that they may acquire through the exercise of stock options or warrants, or to
exercise any of their registration rights in respect of their shares of Common
Stock, for a period of 180 days after the date of this Prospectus without the
prior written consent of Dillon, Read & Co. Inc. on behalf of the Managing
Underwriters. A holder of 461,028 of such shares has certain limited redemption
rights. See "Description of Capital Stock -- Limited Redemption Rights of One
Holder." Upon the expiration of these agreements, 2,218,298 shares will be
eligible for sale without restriction pursuant to Rule 144(k), 3,354,708 shares
will be eligible for sale subject to the volume limitation and other conditions
of Rule 144, and the remaining 645,449 shares will become eligible for sale
pursuant to Rule 144 upon the expiration of their respective two-year holding
periods on various dates occurring more than 180 days after the date of this
Prospectus. In addition, holders of 5,227,608 shares of Common Stock, warrants
to purchase 21,778 shares of Common Stock and a note payable upon completion of
this Offering by, in part, the Company's issuance of 98,001 shares of Common
Stock, have certain registration rights in respect of such shares. By virtue of
the lock-up agreements, no registration rights can be exercised for a period of
180 days after the date of this Prospectus without the prior written consent of
Dillon, Read & Co. Inc. on behalf of the Managing Underwriters. The number of
shares of Common Stock sold in the public market could increase significantly if
holders of registration rights were to exercise their rights following the
expiration of the lock-up agreements. See "Description of Capital Stock --
Registration Rights of Certain Holders" and "Shares Eligible for Future Sale."
As of June 1, 1996, there were outstanding options under the Company's
Incentive Compensation Plan (the "1995 Stock Plan") to purchase 696,962 shares
of Common Stock, of which options for 397,555 shares were exercisable within 60
days of June 1, 1996, and other options outstanding to purchase 21,481 shares of
Common Stock, of which options for 16,475 shares were exercisable within 60 days
of June 1, 1996. Of the total options exercisable within 60 days of June 1,
1996, options for 286,769 shares were held by officers, directors and employees
of the Company and other parties subject to the lock-up agreements described
above. Shortly after completion of this Offering, the Company intends to
register the 1,500,000 shares of Common Stock issued or issuable under the 1995
Stock Plan and the 285,000 shares of Common Stock issuable under the Company's
Directors Stock Option Plan. The shares registered will be available for
immediate sale in the public market, subject to the volume limitation under Rule
144 in the case of sales by affiliates of the Company, except to the extent that
the shares are subject to the lock-up agreements described above. See
"Management -- Stock Option Plans" and "Shares Eligible for Future Sale."
As of June 1, 1996, there were outstanding warrants to purchase 409,246
shares of Common Stock, all of which were then exercisable. Holders of warrants
to purchase 387,829 shares of Common Stock are subject to the lock-up agreements
described above.
After completion of this Offering, the Company may issue unregistered shares
of Common Stock as full or partial consideration for future business
acquisitions and may grant registration rights to the holders of such shares.
The Company has agreed that no such grant of registration rights would permit
the rights to be exercised for a period of 180 days after the date of this
Prospectus without the prior written consent of Dillon, Read & Co. Inc. on
behalf of the Managing Underwriters. See "Business -- Acquisition Program."
IMMEDIATE AND SUBSTANTIAL DILUTION
The initial public offering price is substantially higher than the net
tangible book value per share of Common Stock. New investors purchasing Common
Stock in this Offering accordingly will incur immediate dilution of $5.91 in the
net tangible book value per share of Common Stock purchased (at an initial
public offering price of $9.00 and after the deduction of underwriting discounts
and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by the Company). See
"Dilution."
ABSENCE OF DIVIDENDS
The Company has never paid any cash dividends on its Common Stock and does
not anticipate paying cash dividends in the foreseeable future. See "Dividend
Policy."
14
<PAGE>
USE OF PROCEEDS
The net proceeds to the Company from this Offering are estimated to be
approximately $24,310,000 ($28,076,500 if the Underwriters' over-allotment
option is exercised in full), after deducting underwriting discounts and
commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by the Company.
Approximately $1,827,000 of the net proceeds will be used to repay the
Company's outstanding indebtedness under its revolving credit facility with
Silicon Valley Bank. The Company's borrowings under this credit facility were
incurred primarily to refinance other debt, to provide working capital and to
finance the Company's acquisitions of certain assets of Bio-Med of Oregon, Inc.
and WMI Medical Services of New England, Inc. in January 1996, and of Doctors
Environmental Control, Inc. ("Doctors") and Sharps Incinerator of Fort, Inc. in
May 1996, at an aggregate cost of $2,426,000, of which an aggregate of
$1,062,000 was paid in cash at the respective closings of these acquisitions.
The Company's revolving credit facility provides for borrowings of up to
$2,500,000, subject to certain limitations based upon eligible accounts
receivable, had a weighted average interest rate of 11.5% per annum at December
31, 1995 and will mature in October 1997.
Approximately $600,000 of the net proceeds will be used to repay the
Company's outstanding indebtedness under certain notes given in connection with
the Doctors acquisition in May 1996. The notes have an interest rate of 6.0% per
annum and are scheduled to mature in May 1998.
Approximately $220,000 of the net proceeds will be used to repay the
Company's outstanding indebtedness under a note to Security State Bank in
connection with a loan to acquire and equip the Company's treatment facility at
Morton, Washington. The note had an interest rate of 9.78% per annum at December
31, 1995 and is scheduled to mature in December 2007.
Approximately $992,000 of the net proceeds will be used to pay the cash
portion of a note (the "Safe Way Note") to Safe Way Disposal Systems, Inc.
("Safe Way") which was given in connection with the Company's purchase of
certain of Safe Way's assets in September 1994. The Safe Way Note is for
$2,480,000, does not bear interest, is due upon completion of this Offering and
is payable in cash for 40% of its face amount and in 98,001 shares of Common
Stock for the balance.
Approximately $1,000,000 of the net proceeds will be used to repay the
Company's outstanding indebtedness to holders of subordinated notes that the
Company issued in May 1996 in connection with a short-term loan to provide
working capital. The subordinated notes are interest-free if paid when due,
subject to certain exceptions, and are due within 30 days after completion of
this Offering. In connection with this loan, the Company issued warrants to the
lenders to purchase an aggregate of 226,036 shares of Common Stock at a price of
$7.96 per share. See "Certain Transactions."
The Company intends to use a portion of the net proceeds to complete the
construction and equipping of a treatment facility at its San Leandro,
California transfer station. The Company currently estimates the cost of
completion at approximately $1,600,000. In addition, the Company currently
intends to use approximately $350,000 of the net proceeds on a project to
utilize treated regulated medical waste as a fossil fuel substitute in cement
production. The size of the Offering is intended to facilitate the Company's
ability to take advantage of acquisition opportunities, as and when available,
so that the remainder of the net proceeds can be used primarily for potential
future acquisitions of other regulated medical waste management or related
businesses. See "Business -- Growth Strategy" and "-- Acquisition Program." The
remainder of the net proceeds also may be used for general corporate purposes,
including capital expenditures and working capital. After repayment of the
revolving credit facility, the Company also will be able to redraw on the credit
facility for capital expenditures, potential future acquisitions, working
capital and other general corporate purposes. Pending use of the net proceeds,
the Company intends to invest the net proceeds in interest-bearing,
investment-grade securities.
DIVIDEND POLICY
The Company has never paid cash dividends on its capital stock. The Company
currently expects that it will retain future earnings for use in the operation
and expansion of its business and does not anticipate paying any cash dividends
in the foreseeable future. The Company is prohibited from paying cash dividends
under the terms of its revolving credit facility with Silicon Valley Bank and is
restricted from paying cash dividends under an agreement in
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<PAGE>
connection with the industrial development revenue bonds issued to finance the
Company's construction of its treatment facility at Woonsocket, Rhode Island.
See "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of
Operations."
DILUTION
Dilution is the reduction in the value of a purchaser's investment in Common
Stock measured by the difference between the purchase price per share and the
net tangible book value per share of the Common Stock after the purchase. The
net tangible book value per share of the Common Stock represents the net
tangible book value of the Company divided by the number of shares of Common
Stock outstanding. The net tangible book value of the Company represents its
total assets less its total liabilities and intangible assets (consisting
primarily of goodwill).
As of June 30, 1996, the net tangible book value of the Company was
approximately $2,837,000, and the net tangible book value per share was
approximately $0.46. The pro forma net tangible book value of the Company as of
June 30, 1996 was approximately $28,635,000, and the pro forma net tangible book
value per share was approximately $3.09, after giving effect to (i) the sale of
the 3,000,000 shares of Common Stock offered hereby (at an initial public
offering price of $9.00 per share, and after the deduction of underwriting
discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by the
Company) and (ii) payment of the Safe Way Note, which was outstanding as of June
30, 1996 and is payable upon completion of this Offering by payment of $992,000
in cash and delivery of 98,001 shares of Common Stock. This difference
represents an immediate increase in net tangible book value per share of $2.63
to existing stockholders and an immediate dilution in net tangible book value
per share of $5.91 to new investors purchasing Common Stock in this Offering.
The following table illustrates this per share dilution:
<TABLE>
<S> <C>
Assumed initial public offering price per share.......................... $ 9.00
Net tangible book value per share before this Offering................. 0.46
Increase per share attributable to new investors (1)................... 2.63
Pro forma net tangible book value per share after this Offering.......... 3.09
---------
Dilution per share to new investors...................................... $ 5.91
---------
---------
</TABLE>
- ------------------------
(1) After deduction of underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated
offering expenses payable by the Company.
The following table summarizes, on a pro forma basis as of June 30, 1996,
the difference between the number of shares of Common Stock purchased from the
Company, the total consideration paid and the average price per share paid by
the existing stockholders (after giving effect to the issuance of 98,001 shares
of Common Stock in partial payment of the Safe Way Note) and by new investors
purchasing Common Stock in this Offering (at an initial public offering price of
$9.00 per share, before deduction of underwriting discounts and commissions and
estimated offering expenses payable by the Company):
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
TOTAL
SHARES PURCHASED CONSIDERATION
---------------------- ------------------------- AVERAGE PRICE
NUMBER PERCENT AMOUNT PERCENT PER SHARE
---------- ---------- ------------- ---------- -------------
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C>
Existing shareholders.................. 6,253,941 67.6% $ 51,624,000 65.7% $ 8.25
New investors.......................... 3,000,000 32.4 27,000,000 34.3 9.00
---------- ----- ------------- -----
Total.............................. 9,253,941 100.0% $ 78,624,000 100.0%
---------- ----- ------------- -----
---------- ----- ------------- -----
</TABLE>
Both of these tables assume no exercise of outstanding options and warrants
and no exercise of the Underwriters' over-allotment option. As of June 30, 1996,
there were outstanding options to purchase 682,957 shares of Common Stock, at a
weighted average exercise price of $0.98 per share, and outstanding warrants to
purchase 409,246 shares of Common Stock, at a weighted average exercise price of
$6.85 per share. To the extent that these options and warrants are exercised,
there will be further dilution to new investors.
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<PAGE>
CAPITALIZATION
The following table sets forth, as of June 30, 1996, the capitalization of
the Company and the capitalization of the Company as adjusted to give effect to
the receipt and application by the Company of the estimated net proceeds from
the sale of the 3,000,000 shares of Common Stock offered hereby (at an initial
public offering price of $9.00 per share, and after the deduction of
underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable
by the Company) and the issuance of 98,001 shares of Common Stock in partial
payment of the Safe Way Note. The table also gives effect to (i) a reverse
1-for-5.3089 stock split pursuant to which each outstanding share of the
Company's Class A and Class B common stock became 0.1883629 share of Common
Stock and (ii) a decrease in the Company's authorized stock from 58,000,000 to
30,000,000 shares, both of which were effected in August 1996.
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
JUNE 30, 1996
-----------------------
ACTUAL AS ADJUSTED
--------- ------------
(IN THOUSANDS)
<S> <C> <C>
Short-term debt:
Current portion of long-term debt...................................................... $ 4,306 $ 816
Long-term debt:
Industrial development revenue bonds and other......................................... 3,051 2,241
Note payable to bank................................................................... 1,348 --
--------- ------------
Total long-term debt................................................................. 4,399 2,241
Shareholders' equity:
Common Stock, $0.01 par value; 30,000,000 shares authorized; 6,155,940 shares issued
and outstanding, 9,253,941 shares issued and outstanding, as adjusted................. 62 93
Additional paid-in-capital............................................................. 50,075 75,842
Notes receivable for common stock purchases............................................ (30) (30)
Accumulated deficit.................................................................... (38,196) (38,196)
--------- ------------
Total shareholders' equity........................................................... 11,911 37,709
--------- ------------
Total capitalization............................................................... $ 20,616 $ 40,766
--------- ------------
--------- ------------
</TABLE>
17
<PAGE>
SELECTED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL DATA
The following table sets forth selected consolidated financial data of the
Company. The statements of operations data for the years ended December 31,
1991, 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1995 and the balance sheet data at December 31, 1991,
1992, 1993, 1994 and 1995 have been derived from the consolidated financial
statements of the Company (the "Consolidated Financial Statements"), which are
included elsewhere in this Prospectus and which have been audited by Ernst &
Young LLP, independent auditors. The statements of operations data for the six
months ended June 30, 1995 and 1996 and the balance sheet data at June 30, 1996
are derived from the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements of
the Company (the "Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements") included
elsewhere in this Prospectus. The Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements
include all adjustments, consisting of normal recurring adjustments and the
adjustment described in Note 1 to the Condensed Consolidated Financial
Statements, that the Company considers necessary for a fair presentation of the
financial position and results of operations for that period. Operating results
for the six months ended June 30, 1996 are not necessarily indicative of the
results that may be expected for the entire year ending December 31, 1996. The
data set forth below should be read in conjunction with "Management's Discussion
and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and the
Consolidated Financial Statements, Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements
and related Notes thereto included elsewhere in this Prospectus. The Company did
not declare any cash dividends during any of the periods for which consolidated
financial data is presented.
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
SIX MONTHS ENDED
YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, JUNE 30,
---------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------
1991 1992(2) 1993 1994 1995 1995 1996
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
(IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT SHARE AND PER SHARE DATA)
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C>
STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS DATA:
Revenues....................... $ 1,563 $ 5,010 $ 9,141 $ 16,141 $ 21,339 $ 10,756 $ 11,616
Cost of revenues............... 2,005 5,466 9,137 13,922 17,478 8,872 9,189
Selling, general and
administrative expenses....... 3,377 11,223 5,988 7,927 8,137 4,663 3,315
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Loss from operations........... (3,819) (11,679) (5,984) (5,708) (4,276) (2,779) (888)
Interest expense............... (77) (244) (245) (260) (277) (103) (206)
Interest income................ 243 283 201 156 9 6 --
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Net loss....................... (3,653) (11,640) (6,028) (5,812) (4,544) (2,876) (1,094)
Less cumulative preferred
dividends..................... (1,351) (2,737) (3,733) (4,481) --(3) (3,146) --
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Loss applicable to common
stock......................... $ (5,004) $ (14,377) $ (9,761) $ (10,293) $ (4,544) $ (6,022) $ (1,094)
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Net loss per common share
(1)........................... $ (2.44) $ (6.81) $ (4.63) $ (4.88) $ (0.65) $ (2.86) $ (0.16)
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Weighted average number of
common shares outstanding..... 2,052,221 2,111,005 2,107,991 2,108,368 6,974,820 2,108,368 6,997,197
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
</TABLE>
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
DECEMBER 31,
----------------------------------------------------- JUNE 30,
1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
(IN THOUSANDS)
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C>
BALANCE SHEET DATA:
Cash and cash equivalents..................... $ 7,046 $ 11,343 $ 7,690 $ 1,206 $ 138 $ 40
Total assets.................................. 12,720 21,368 21,355 27,809 23,491 25,834
Long-term debt, net of current maturities..... 1,256 2,935 2,293 4,838 5,622 4,399
Convertible redeemable preferred stock........ $ 20,617 $ 40,353 $ 52,078 $ 62,909 -- --
Shareholders' equity (net capital
deficiency).................................. $ (11,068) $ (25,662) $ (35,106) $ (45,363) $ 12,574 $ 11,911
</TABLE>
- ------------------------
(1) See Note 2 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for information
concerning the computation of net loss per share.
(2) During 1992, the Company approved a restructuring plan which resulted in a
nonrecurring charge of $2,747,000, primarily to write-off assets associated
with a technology used by the Company prior to the development of the ETD
process.
(3) In August 1995 and in connection with a recapitalization, the liquidation
preference on the Company's preferred stock was eliminated and the Company's
preferred stock was reclassified as Class A common stock. See "Description
of Capital Stock -- 1995 Recapitalization."
18
<PAGE>
MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF
FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
THE FOLLOWING DISCUSSION OF THE FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF
OPERATIONS OF THE COMPANY SHOULD BE READ IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE COMPANY'S
CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS, CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
AND RELATED NOTES THERETO INCLUDED ELSEWHERE IN THIS PROSPECTUS.
BACKGROUND
The Company was incorporated in March 1989. The Company provides regulated
medical waste collection, transportation, treatment, disposal, reduction, reuse
and recycling services to its customers, together with related training and
education programs and consulting services. The Company also sells ancillary
supplies and transports pharmaceuticals, photographic chemicals, lead foil and
amalgam for recycling in selected geographic service areas. As part of its
recycling services, the Company supplies recycled treated medical waste plastics
to a plastics manufacturer and supplies treated medical waste as a
refuse-derived fuel for use in the production of electricity. The Company's
regulated medical waste treatment facilities utilize its patented treatment
technology, ELECTRO-THERMAL-DEACTIVATION ("ETD"). The Company opened its first
full-scale ETD treatment facility in Morton, Washington in January 1992 and
opened additional treatment facilities in Loma Linda, California, Woonsocket,
Rhode Island, and Yorkville, Wisconsin in November 1992, December 1992 and
November 1993, respectively.
The Company's results of operations from its inception through December 31,
1995 reflect significant expenditures to develop proprietary treatment and
recycling processes, obtain required governmental permits and approvals, build
and equip the Company's treatment facilities and a recycling and research and
development center, and open its transfer stations. The Company also made
significant expenditures to develop its sales and marketing resources and to
acquire selected assets of other regulated medical waste management businesses.
The Company believes that additional revenues for its existing treatment
facilities, and in particular additional revenues derived from Alternate Care
generators (as defined below), will significantly enhance operating efficiencies
at the Company's treatment facilities, all of which currently operate at levels
below capacity.
The Company's revenues have increased from $1,563,000 in 1991 to $21,339,000
in 1995. From January 1991 to July 1993, the Company relied entirely on its
internal sales force to add new customers in existing geographic service areas
and to develop customers in new areas. The Company's sales force consisted of
sales representatives with backgrounds in the health care industry. Beginning in
1993, these direct sales enabled the Company to generate sufficient revenues to
cover its cost of revenues.
Since August 1993, the Company has acquired selected assets of eight
regulated medical waste management companies. In each of these acquisitions the
Company purchased specific assets of the seller consisting principally of
customer lists, customer contracts, vehicles and related supplies and equipment.
In some of these acquisitions the Company also assumed certain of the seller's
liabilities. The Company did not acquire any of the regulated medical waste
treatment facilities or technology of any of the sellers, and those sellers with
their own regulated medical waste treatment facilities within the service areas
of the acquired businesses subsequently closed their facilities. All of these
acquisitions were accounted for as purchases, and accordingly, the results of
operations of the acquired businesses have been included in the Company's
financial statements only from their respective dates of acquisition and have
affected period-to-period comparisons of the Company's operating results. The
Company seeks to integrate its acquisitions rapidly into its existing
operations. Accordingly, the impact of such acquisitions on the Company's
revenues, cost of revenues and expenses is measured by the Company only to the
extent that this financial information correlates to the operations of a
particular treatment facility or route, which the Company considers to be of
greater financial relevance. The Company anticipates that a significant portion
of its future growth will come from the acquisition of additional regulated
medical waste management or related businesses. Such additional acquisitions
could continue to affect period-to-period comparisons of the Company's operating
results.
19
<PAGE>
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
GENERAL
Revenues from regulated medical waste collection, transportation, treatment
and disposal accounted for approximately 95% of the Company's revenues of
$21,339,000 during the year ended December 31, 1995. Revenues from the sale of
ancillary supplies and miscellaneous products and services accounted for the
remaining 5% of the Company's 1995 revenues.
The Company derives its revenues from services to two principal types of
generators of regulated medical waste: (i) hospitals, blood banks and
pharmaceutical manufacturers ("Core" generators) and (ii) long-term and subacute
care facilities, outpatient clinics, medical and dental offices, industrial
clinics, dialysis centers, laboratories, biotechnology and biomedical companies,
veterinary offices, municipal health departments, ambulance, fire and police
departments, correctional facilities, schools and park districts and funeral
homes ("Alternate Care" generators). Substantially all of the Company's services
are provided pursuant to customer contracts specifying either scheduled or
on-call regulated medical waste management services, or both. Contracts with
hospitals and other Core generators, which may run for more than one year,
typically include price escalator provisions which allow for price increases
generally tied to an inflation index or set at a fixed percentage. Contracts
with Alternate Care generators generally provide for annual price increases and
have an automatic renewal provision unless the customer notifies the Company
prior to completion of the contract. As of December 31, 1995, the Company had
more than 13,000 customers.
In 1993, the Company began to make acquisitions of selected assets,
including customer lists and customer contracts, of competitors who were
withdrawing in whole or in part from the regulated medical waste management
business. The Company's revenues increased from $5,010,000 in 1992, before the
Company began its acquisition program, to $21,339,000 in 1995. The Company
estimates that approximately $8,500,000 of this increase in revenues was
attributable to the four acquisitions that it completed during this three-year
period. These acquisitions provided the Company with a substantial new base of
customers, principally Alternate Care generators. These new customers provided
the Company with additional volume for its treatment facilities, generally at a
higher unit pricing than the unit pricing of Core generators. Alternate Care
generators typically require greater service and support in relation to the
volume of regulated medical waste produced than do Core generators, and
accordingly, the Company can price its services at levels permitting it to
realize higher gross profit margins on Alternate Care generators than it can
realize on Core generators. The growth in the number of Alternate Care
generators that the Company serves has contributed to an improvement in the
Company's operating results. The Company believes that cost-containment
pressures in the health care industry will result in continued growth in the
number of medical procedures performed by Alternate Care generators. The Company
has continued to pursue acquisitions within the geographic areas in which it
currently operates and to focus on acquisitions that provide the desired
proportion of Core and Alternate Care generators and allow the Company to
improve the efficiency of its transportation, treatment and sales functions.
Prices for the Company's services are determined on the basis of the type
and frequency of the services required, the weight and types of regulated
medical waste to be collected, container count, container volume, type and
quantity of equipment and supplies furnished, distance to collection site, types
of medical waste, special treatments required, state tariffs and prices charged
for similar services by competitors. The Company's ability to pass on cost
increases may be limited by the terms of its contracts. Service agreements are
generally for a period of one to five years with renewal options, although
customers may terminate on written notice and typically upon payment of a
penalty.
The Company's operating expenses for the collection, transportation,
treatment and disposal of regulated medical waste include direct labor wages and
benefits, equipment lease payments, expenses for fuel, electricity, processing,
safety supplies, containers, ancillary supplies and equipment maintenance,
depreciation of plant, equipment, vehicles and containers, and disposal fees
paid to landfills and waste-to-energy facilities.
As part of the Company's marketing strategy, the Company offers reduction,
resource recovery and recycling services to customers. Accordingly, the Company
has invested funds to treat and recover the plastics from single-use products,
and as a part of that strategy, the Company has entered into an agreement with a
plastic products manufacturer to provide recycled regulated medical waste
plastics for use in a line of medical waste sharps
20
<PAGE>
containers. The Company has delivered the recycled plastics as required under
the agreement and continues to recycle plastics as part of the Company's
commitment to provide environmentally sound alternatives to other regulated
medical waste treatment methods. The demand for recycled treated regulated
medical waste plastics is currently limited. The Company continues to search for
additional uses and users of recycled plastics. See "Risk Factors -- Cost of
Reuse and Recycling."
In 1994, as a result of increasing demand for customer service from the
growing number of Alternate Care generators, the Company began implementing a
transition from the use of a national contract carrier to its own transportation
of regulated medical waste. The Company has obtained its own permits, hired and
trained its own drivers, purchased or leased its own trucks and trailers and
obtained approvals for and opened transfer stations. The Company believes that
since it has assumed control of transportation, it has been able to improve
service levels, equipment utilization and route density and provide more
efficient dispatching.
Selling, general and administrative expenses include management salaries and
benefits, clerical and administrative expenses, costs associated with the sales
force, permitting fees, research and development expenses, office rental
expenses, legal and audit expenses, travel expenses, depreciation of office
equipment and amortization of goodwill.
The Company expenses as incurred all permitting, design and start-up costs
associated with all of its facilities. The Company elects to expense rather than
to capitalize the costs of obtaining permits and approvals for each proposed
facility regardless of whether the Company is ultimately successful in obtaining
the desired permits and approvals and developing the facility. The Company
recognizes as a current expense all legal fees and other costs related to
obtaining and maintaining permits and approvals. In addition, the Company
expenses all costs related to research and development as incurred.
The Company has currently invested $1,000,000 and expensed $800,000 against
operating results in a project to utilize treated regulated medical waste as an
alternative fuel for use in the production of cement. The Company may be
required to expend approximately $350,000 or more to complete this project or
may abandon the project if it is unable to incorporate successfully the treated
medical waste into the cement production process.
As of December 31, 1995, the Company had net operating loss carryforwards
for income tax purposes of approximately $36,493,000, expiring beginning in
2004. No income tax expense has been recorded since the Company's inception.
Utilization of the Company's net operating loss carryforwards may be subject to
annual limitations under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, as a
result of changes in the Company's ownership, which could significantly restrict
or partially eliminate their utilization.
Inflation has not had a significant impact to date on the Company's
operations.
SIX MONTHS ENDED JUNE 30, 1996 COMPARED TO SIX MONTHS ENDED JUNE 30, 1995
REVENUES. Revenues increased $860,000, or 8.0%, to $11,616,000 during the
six months ended June 30, 1996 from $10,756,000 during comparable period in 1995
as the Company continued to implement its strategy of focusing on higher-margin
Alternate Care generators while simultaneously paring certain higher-revenue but
lower-margin accounts with Core generators. This increase also reflects the
inclusion of six months of revenues from the Safetech Health Care, Inc.
("Safetech") acquisition, which was completed in June 1995, five months of
revenues from the WMI Medical Services of New England, Inc. ("WMI-NE")
acquisition, which was completed in January 1996 and two months of revenues from
the Doctors Environmental Control, Inc. ("DEC") and Sharps Incinerator of Fort,
Inc. ("Sharps") acquisitions, both of which were completed in May 1996. The
increase in revenues was partially offset by a decline in revenues attributable
to a lack of any miscellaneous product sales during the six months ended June
30, 1996 and the sale in April 1995 of certain unprofitable customer accounts
and related assets obtained through acquisitions.
COST OF REVENUES. Cost of revenues increased $317,000, or 3.6%, to
$9,189,000 during the six months ended June 30, 1996 from $8,872,000 during the
comparable period in 1995. The principal reasons for the increase were higher
transportation costs as a result of the Safetech, WMI-NE, DEC and Sharps
acquisitions and start-up
21
<PAGE>
expenses related to the Company's expansion into new geographic areas where the
Company primarily serves Alternate Care generators. Cost of revenues as a
percentage of revenues decreased to 79.1% during the six months ended June 30,
1996 from 82.5% during the comparable period in 1995.
SELLING, GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES. Selling, general and
administrative expenses decreased to $3,315,000 during the six months ended June
30, 1996 from $4,663,000 during the comparable period in 1995. This decrease was
primarily attributable to a reduction in expenditures to develop treated medical
waste as an alternate fuel for the production of cement and to savings from the
integration into the Company's operations of the Safe Way Disposal Systems, Inc.
("Safe Way") acquisition in 1994. These savings resulted from the elimination of
redundant employee and staff positions and the reallocation of resources to
Alternate Care generators. In addition, corporate costs and permitting expenses
were at lower levels during the current period than they were during the
comparable period in 1995. Selling, general and administrative expenses as a
percentage of revenues decreased to 28.5% during the six months ended June 30,
1996 from 43.4% during the comparable period in 1995.
INTEREST EXPENSE AND INTEREST INCOME. Interest expense increased to
$206,000 during the six months ended June 30, 1996 from $103,000 during the
comparable period in 1995. This increase was primarily attributable to higher
indebtedness under the Company's revolving credit facility. Interest income
declined to a negligible amount during the six months ended June 30, 1996 from
$6,000 during the comparable period in 1995.
YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 1995 COMPARED TO YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 1994
REVENUES. Revenues increased $5,198,000, or 32.2%, to $21,339,000 in 1995
from $16,141,000 in 1994. This increase was attributable primarily to the
inclusion of a full year of revenues from customers acquired as a result of the
Recovery Corporation of Illinois ("RCI") acquisition, which was completed in
March 1994, and the Safe Way acquisition, which was completed in September 1994.
Revenues for 1995 reflected only a partial year of revenues from the Safetech
acquisition, which was completed in June 1995.
COST OF REVENUES. Cost of revenues increased $3,556,000, or 25.5%, to
$17,478,000 in 1995 from $13,922,000 in 1994. The principal reasons for the
increase were higher transportation costs, processing costs, disposal volumes
and container costs attributable to additional customers acquired during 1995.
Cost of revenues as a percentage of revenues decreased to 81.9% in 1995 from
86.3% in 1994. This percentage decrease was primarily due to increased
utilization of the Company's treatment facilities and transportation equipment
as a result of increased volumes.
SELLING, GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES. Selling, general and
administrative expenses increased to $8,137,000 in 1995 from $7,927,000 in 1994.
The increase was primarily attributable to an increase in amortization expense
as a result of additional goodwill from the Company's acquisitions. Selling,
general and administrative expenses as a percentage of revenues decreased to
38.1% in 1995 from 49.1% in 1994. This percentage decrease was due primarily to
lower permitting costs and reduced administrative expenses, as partially offset
by higher goodwill amortization expense.
INTEREST EXPENSE AND INTEREST INCOME. Interest expense increased to
$277,000 in 1995 from $260,000 in 1994, primarily as a result of commitment fees
and higher interest rates associated with the Company's revolving credit
facility. In addition, the Company incurred higher levels of indebtedness during
1995. Interest income decreased to $9,000 in 1995 from $156,000 in 1994.
YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 1994 COMPARED TO YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 1993
REVENUES. Revenues increased $7,000,000, or 76.6%, to $16,141,000 in 1994
from $9,141,000 in 1993. This increase was attributable primarily to the
inclusion of revenues from customers acquired as a result of the RCI and Safe
Way acquisitions, which were completed in March and September 1994,
respectively, and the addition of Core generators as new customers.
COST OF REVENUES. Cost of revenues increased $4,785,000, or 52.4%, to
$13,922,000 in 1994 from $9,137,000 in 1993. The primary reasons for this
increase were higher transportation costs, processing costs, disposal volumes
and container costs attributable to additional customers and the inclusion of a
full year's depreciation expense for the Company's Yorkville, Wisconsin
treatment facility. Cost of revenues as a percentage of revenues decreased to
86.3% in 1994 from 100.0% in 1993. This percentage decrease was primarily due to
increased utilization of the Company's treatment facilities and transportation
equipment as a result of increased volumes.
22
<PAGE>
SELLING, GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES. Selling, general and
administrative expenses increased to $7,927,000 in 1994 from $5,988,000 in 1993.
This increase was the result of an increase in sales personnel as a result of
the Safe Way acquisition, additional marketing and sales expenses for Alternate
Care generators and an increase in amortization expense as a result of
additional goodwill from the Company's acquisitions. Selling, general and
administrative expenses as a percentage of revenues decreased to 49.1% in 1994
from 65.5% in 1993. This percentage decrease was primarily due to the
integration of sales and administrative personnel resulting from the Company's
Safe Way acquisition.
INTEREST EXPENSE AND INTEREST INCOME. Interest expense increased to
$260,000 in 1994 from $245,000 in 1993 primarily as a result of additional debt
related to equipment financing at the Company's Yorkville, Wisconsin treatment
facility. Interest income decreased to $156,000 in 1994 from $201,000 in 1993.
LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
To date, the Company has been financed principally through the sale of
preferred stock to investors. Purchasers of preferred stock have invested more
than $50,137,000 in capital which has been used to fund research and
development, acquisitions, capital expenditures, ongoing operating losses and
working capital requirements. The Company has also been able to secure plant and
equipment leasing or financing in connection with some of its facilities. These
debt facilities are secured by security interests in the financed assets. In
addition, during 1995 the Company was able to obtain a $2,500,000 revolving line
of credit secured by accounts receivable and a security interest in all other
assets of the Company.
During 1995 the Company's stockholders approved a plan of recapitalization,
pursuant to which all of the Company's outstanding shares of preferred stock
were reclassified as shares of new Class A common stock. As a result, the
Company was able to eliminate any liability for accrued but unpaid dividends on
its preferred stock and the preferential rights on liquidation of holders of
preferred stock.
At June 30, 1996, the Company's working capital was $(3,032,000) compared to
$924,000 at June 30, 1995. This reduction was due to a lower cash position, an
increase in debt as a result of the May 1996 bridge loan and the
reclassification from long-term debt to current portion of long-term debt of the
Safe Way Note, which is due upon completion of this Offering. The Company
continues to use all available cash and working capital to fund current
operating losses and capital requirements. During the six months ended June 30,
1996, the Company's loss from operations of $888,000 was exceeded by its
depreciation and amortization expense of $976,000, resulting in cash flow from
operations of $88,000.
The Company is also using its line of credit to fund cash requirements of
any acquisitions. At June 30, 1996, the Company had drawn $1,348,000 on its line
of credit and had approximately $1,102,000 available. The revolving credit
facility matures in October 1997. The facility requires the Company to maintain
certain financial ratios and consult with the bank on acquisitions and also
includes a prohibition on the payment of dividends. In April 1996, the Company
used substantially all of its remaining line of credit to fund the cash portion
of two additional acquisitions, for Doctors Environmental Control, Inc. and
Sharps Incinerator of Fort, Inc. The bank agreed to revise certain financial
covenants in order to allow the Company to complete the acquisitions. The loan
agreement allows the bank to demand immediate repayment of the Company's
indebtedness if the bank, acting in a commercially reasonable manner, deems
itself insecure.
In May 1996, the Company borrowed $1,000,000 under a short-term loan from a
lending group comprised of certain officers, directors and stockholders of the
Company to provide working capital. The subordinated notes issued in connection
with this loan are interest-free if paid when due, subject to certain
exceptions, and are due within 30 days after completion of this Offering. See
"Certain Transactions."
The Company's other financial obligations include industrial development
revenue bonds issued on behalf of and guaranteed by the Company to finance its
Woonsocket, Rhode Island treatment facility and equipment. These bonds, which
had an outstanding aggregate balance of $1,560,000 as of June 30, 1996 at fixed
interest rates ranging from 5.8% to 7.4%, are due in various amounts through
June 2017. An agreement entered into by the Company in connection with the
issuance of these bonds requires the Company to maintain specified levels of
working capital and other debt and net worth ratios. As of December 31, 1995,
the Company reclassified its reusable containers as long-term assets based upon
their expected useful lives, which resulted in a violation of the Company's
requirement
23
<PAGE>
to maintain a specified current ratio on December 31, of each year. The Company
received a waiver of this requirement for December 31, 1995, to the extent of
any violation as a result of the Company's reclassification of its reusable
containers. Any violation of this or the other requirements of the Company's
agreement in connection with the issuance of the industrial development revenue
bonds would constitute a default under the Company's revolving credit facility
with Silicon Valley Bank.
In connection with the Safe Way acquisition, the Company issued the Safe Way
Note which does not bear interest and is due upon completion of this Offering.
The Safe Way Note is payable in cash for 40% of its face amount, or $992,000,
and 60% in stock, or 98,001 shares of Common Stock.
The Company has an obligation to pay the Rhode Island Air and Water
Protection Fund $35,000 each year from 1995 to 1998, $50,000 in 1999, $60,000 in
2000 and $150,000 in 2001. Without admitting liability, the Company agreed to
make these payments as part of a settlement of two notices of violations issued
by the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management in 1994 and 1995.
Although the Company disputed both the nature and extent of the alleged
violations, the Company entered into the settlement in order to resolve the
matter in the best interests of the Company and its customers in a timely
manner. The Company recorded the present value of all payments to the Air and
Water Protection Fund and the Company's legal fees relating to the matter as
expenses in 1995. Under the settlement agreement, the Company is also required
to perform certain community service and educational projects, including
conducting environmental management seminars. The Company has accrued the
expenses associated with conducting these activities. See "Risk Factors --
Governmental Enforcement Proceedings."
Capital expenditures for 1996 are currently estimated to be approximately
$2,350,000, of which approximately $1,600,000 is for the construction and
equipping of a treatment facility at the Company's San Leandro, California
transfer station and approximately $750,000 is for containers and transportation
equipment. Capital expenditures were $726,000 in 1995 and $1,910,000 in 1994.
The Company did not open any new treatment facilities during 1995. The Company
may decide to build additional treatment facilities as volumes increase in the
Company's current geographic services areas or as the Company enters new areas.
The Company also may elect to increase capacity in its existing treatment
facilities, which would require additional capital expenditures. In addition,
capital requirements for transportation equipment will continue to increase as
the Company grows. The amount and level of these expenditures cannot be
determined currently as they will depend upon the nature and extent of the
Company's growth and acquisition opportunities. The Company believes that cash
flow from operations and funds provided from this Offering will fund its capital
requirements through 1997.
Net cash used for operations decreased to $871,000 in 1995 from $6,712,000
in 1994. The reduced cash usage reflects a smaller operating loss, higher
depreciation and amortization expenses and improved collections of accounts
receivables.
Net cash used in investing activities was $393,000 in 1995 compared to
$3,440,000 in 1994. The reduction in 1995 from the prior year was due to reduced
plant requirements and fewer business acquisitions. The Company benefitted from
the sale in April 1995 of certain unprofitable customer accounts and related
assets obtained through acquisitions.
Net cash provided by financing activities decreased to $196,000 in 1995 from
$3,668,000 in 1994. The difference is primarily attributable to no issuance of
preferred stock during 1995 compared to the issuance of $3,458,000 in preferred
stock in 1994.
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BUSINESS
INTRODUCTION
Stericycle is a multi-regional integrated company employing proprietary
technology to provide environmentally-responsible management of regulated
medical waste for the health care industry. Because of the Company's health care
orientation, proprietary technology and breadth of service, the Company believes
that it is in a unique position to meet the fundamental need of the health care
industry to manage regulated medical waste in a safe and cost-effective manner
and to capitalize on the current consolidation trend in the regulated medical
waste management industry. The Company believes that its exclusive focus on
regulated medical waste and the experience of its management in the health care
industry distinguish the Company from its chief competitors, most of whom
participate in multiple businesses and most of whose management experience is
primarily in the solid waste business. The Company believes that its regulated
medical waste management system, including its proprietary
ELECTRO-THERMAL-DEACTIVATION ("ETD") treatment process, is the only
commercially-proven system that provides all of the following benefits: (i) it
kills human pathogens in regulated medical waste without generating liquid
effluents or regulated air emissions; (ii) it affords certain operating cost
advantages over the principal competing treatment methods; (iii) it reduces the
volume of regulated medical waste by up to 85%; (iv) it renders regulated
medical waste unrecognizable; (v) it permits the recovery and recycling of
usable plastics from regulated medical waste; and (vi) it enables the remaining
regulated medical waste to be safely landfilled or used as an alternative fuel
in energy production. The Company's full-service program is designed to help to
protect its customers and their employees against potential liabilities and
injuries in connection with the handling, transportation and disposal of
regulated medical waste.
The Company's integrated services include regulated medical waste
collection, transportation, treatment, disposal, reduction, reuse and recycling
services, together with related training and education programs, consulting
services and product sales, in four geographic service areas: (i) California;
(ii) Washington, Oregon, Idaho and British Columbia; (iii) Wisconsin, Illinois,
Indiana and Michigan; and (iv) Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont,
Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York and New Jersey. As of December 31, 1995, the
Company served over 13,000 customers, consisting of two principal types of
generators of regulated medical waste. Approximately 70% of the Company's 1995
revenues were derived from hospitals, blood banks and pharmaceutical
manufacturers ("Core" generators), and approximately 30% of its revenues were
derived from long-term and subacute care facilities, outpatient clinics, medical
and dental offices, industrial clinics, dialysis centers, laboratories,
biotechnology and biomedical companies, veterinary offices, municipal health
departments, ambulance, fire and police departments, correctional facilities,
schools, park districts and funeral homes ("Alternate Care" generators). The
Company's current operations are comprised of four treatment centers, one
recycling center, five transfer stations and four customer service centers.
Regulated medical waste is generally defined as any waste that can cause an
infectious disease or that can reasonably be suspected of harboring human
pathogenic organisms. Regulated medical waste includes single-use disposable
items such as needles, syringes, gloves and laboratory, surgical, emergency room
and other supplies which have been in contact with blood or bodily fluids;
cultures and stocks of infectious agents; and blood and blood products. An
independent study published in 1995 estimated that the size of the regulated
medical waste management market in the United States in 1995 was approximately
$1 billion.
Based upon certain public information and the Company's estimates of its
competitors' revenues, the Company believes that it is the second-largest
provider of regulated medical waste management services in the United States.
TRENDS IN THE HEALTH CARE AND MEDICAL WASTE INDUSTRIES
The Company believes that the demand for its services will grow as a
consequence of certain trends in the health care and regulated medical waste
industries.
INCREASED AWARENESS OF REGULATED MEDICAL WASTE. The handling and disposal
of the large quantities of regulated medical waste generated by the health care
industry has attracted increased public awareness and regulatory attention. The
proper management of potentially infectious medical waste gained national
attention in 1988 when disposable syringes and other medical waste washed ashore
on New Jersey and New York coastlines. These events
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raised concerns about the potential transmission of hepatitis B, HIV and other
infectious diseases. The Medical Waste Tracking Act of 1988 ("MWTA") was enacted
in response to this problem and established a two-year demonstration program for
the proper tracking and treatment of medical waste. Many states have enacted
legislation modeled on MWTA's requirements.
In addition, OSHA has issued regulations concerning employee exposure to
bloodborne pathogens and other potentially infectious material that require,
among other things, special procedures for the handling and disposal of
regulated medical waste and annual training of all personnel who are potentially
exposed to blood and other bodily fluids. The Company believes that the scope of
these regulations will help to expand the market for the Company's services
beyond traditional providers of health care.
As a consequence of these legislative and regulatory initiatives, the
Company believes that health care providers and other generators of regulated
medical waste have become increasingly concerned about the handling, treatment
and disposal of regulated medical waste. These concerns are reflected by their
desire to (i) reduce on-site handling of regulated medical waste in order to
minimize employee contact; (ii) assure safe transportation of regulated medical
waste to treatment sites; (iii) assure destruction of potentially infectious
human pathogens; (iv) render the treated regulated medical waste
non-recognizable in order to reduce liability and to increase disposal options;
(v) minimize the impact of the treatment process on the environment and the
volume of solid waste deposited in landfills; and (vi) participate in recycling
programs where possible.
GROWING IMPORTANCE OF ALTERNATE CARE GENERATORS. The Company believes that
in response to managed care and other health care cost-containment pressures,
patient care is increasingly shifting from higher-cost acute-care settings to
less expensive off-site treatment alternatives. According to a report published
by the U.S. Health Care Financing Authority, total alternate-site health care
expenditures in the United States increased from approximately $5 billion in
1985 to approximately $22 billion in 1994. The Company believes that
alternate-site health care expenditures will continue to grow in response to
governmental and private cost-containment initiatives. Many common diseases and
conditions, including pulmonary diseases, neurological conditions, infectious
diseases, digestive disorders, AIDS and various forms of cancer are now being
treated in alternate-site settings.
Alternate Care generators have become an increasingly important source of
revenues in the regulated medical waste industry. An independent report in 1990
estimated that approximately 23% (by weight) of regulated medical waste was
produced by Alternate Care generators. Based on the Company's experience, the
Company believes both that this percentage has increased significantly and that
Alternate Care generators account for a greater percentage of regulated medical
waste treatment revenues than the percentage of regulated medical waste volume
that they generate. Individual Alternate Care generators typically do not
produce a sufficient volume of regulated medical waste to justify substantial
capital expenditures on their own waste treatment facilities or the expense of
hiring regulatory compliance personnel. Accordingly, the Company believes that
Alternate Care generators are extremely service-sensitive, relying on their
regulated medical waste management provider for timely waste removal, creative
solutions for safer regulated medical waste handling, establishment of regulated
medical waste management protocols, education on regulated medical waste
reduction techniques and assistance with compliance and record-keeping. The
Company believes that growth in the number of Alternate Care generators will
generate growth in the overall regulated medical waste market and may provide
growth opportunities for the Company.
HEALTH CARE COST CONTAINMENT INITIATIVES. The health care industry is under
increasing pressure to reduce costs and improve efficiency. The Company believes
that its regulated medical waste management services facilitate cost containment
by health care providers by reducing their regulated medical waste tracking,
handling and compliance costs, reducing their potential liability related to
employee exposure to bloodborne pathogens and other potentially infectious
material, and significantly reducing the amount of capital invested in on-site
treatment of regulated medical waste.
SHIFT FROM ON-SITE INCINERATION TO OFF-SITE TREATMENT. The Company believes
that during the past five years, government clean air regulations have increased
both the capital costs required to bring many existing incinerators into
compliance with such regulations and the operating costs of continued
compliance. As a result, many hospitals have shut down their incinerators. This
trend is expected to accelerate when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
("EPA") adopts proposed regulations which are currently being revised and are
scheduled to be released in July 1997. These regulations are expected to limit
the discharge into the atmosphere of nine pollutants released by
26
<PAGE>
hospital waste incineration. The EPA had predicted that under the regulations as
initially proposed, many of the nation's hospital-based incinerators would be
shut down and that many planned medical waste incinerators would not be built
due to the increased costs of installing air pollution control systems. The
Company expects to benefit from this trend as former users of incinerators seek
alternatives for the treatment of their regulated medical waste.
INDUSTRY CONSOLIDATION. Although the regulated medical waste management
industry remains fragmented, the number of competitors is rapidly decreasing as
a result of industry consolidation. National attention on regulated medical
waste in the late 1980s led to rapid growth in the industry and a
highly-fragmented competitive structure. Entrants into the industry included
several large municipal waste companies and many independent haulers and
incinerator operators. Since 1990, however, government clean air regulations and
public concern about the environment have increased the costs and public
opposition to both on- and off-site regulated medical waste incineration. As a
result, the Company believes that independent haulers and incinerator operators
have encountered increasing difficulty competing with integrated companies like
Stericycle, which typically have their own low-cost treatment plants located
within the geographic areas that they serve. The Company believes that many of
these independent haulers and incinerator operators are withdrawing from the
regulated medical waste industry. The Company's internal estimates show that in
its geographic service areas, the number of competitors has fallen from
approximately 50 in 1991 to approximately 30 in 1996, a decline of 40%. As a
result of industry consolidation, the Company believes that it has increasing
opportunities to acquire regulated medical waste management businesses.
GROWTH STRATEGY
The Company believes that it is currently the second-largest provider of
regulated medical waste management services in the United States. The Company's
goals are to accelerate its revenue growth through penetration of existing
geographic service areas and expansion into new areas and to become profitable
and increase profits through the more efficient use of its existing
infrastructure. See "Use of Proceeds."
INCREASED PENETRATION OF EXISTING SERVICE AREAS. All of the Company's
treatment facilities are currently operating below capacity. Due to the high
fixed costs associated with the collection and treatment of regulated medical
waste, the Company's operating margins would increase with incremental volume
gains. Accordingly, the Company is currently implementing a number of programs
to increase customer density and penetration of its existing geographic service
areas in order to maximize operating efficiencies. The Company focuses its
telemarketing and direct sales efforts at securing agreements with new customers
among both Core and Alternate Care generators. The Company intends to acquire
competitors and enter into marketing alliances with various hospitals, health
maintenance organizations, medical suppliers and others.
GEOGRAPHIC EXPANSION. In order to expand its geographic coverage, the
Company plans, among other things, to develop additional transfer stations,
acquire independent haulers and integrated competitors, expand its telemarketing
and direct sales efforts and where appropriate construct new treatment
facilities. The Company estimates that its existing transportation and treatment
system enables it to serve effectively an area encompassing approximately 25% of
the U.S. population. The Company believes that expanding its "hub and spoke"
transportation strategy would allow it to maximize the utilization of existing
treatment facilities by channeling waste through existing and additional
transfer stations. The Company estimates that doing so would enable it to serve
effectively an area encompassing approximately 55% of the U.S. population. In
order to reach new geographic service areas, the Company is exploring acquiring
independent haulers and integrated competitors. The Company believes that
expanding telemarketing and direct sales efforts will increase customer density
in existing and new geographic service areas. A combination of these factors may
lead to the construction of additional treatment and other facilities.
OTHER GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES. The Company believes that it has the
opportunity to expand its business by increasing the range of products and
services that it offers to its existing customers and by adding new customer
categories. The Company, for example, may expand its collection, treatment,
disposal and recycling of regulated medical waste generated by health care
providers to include wastes that are currently handled by the Company only on a
limited basis, such as photographic chemicals, lead foils and amalgam used in
dental and radiology laboratories. In addition, the Company may decide to offer
single-use disposable medical supplies to its customers. The Company is
exploring marketing alliances with organizations that focus on Alternate Care
generators. The Company is also
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<PAGE>
investigating expansion into international markets. In June 1996, the Company
entered into an agreement with a Brazilian company to assist it in exploring
opportunities for the commercialization of the Company's medical waste
management technology in certain territories in South America.
ACQUISITION PROGRAM
The acquisition of other regulated medical waste management businesses,
including both independent haulers and integrated competitors, is a key element
of the Company's strategy to increase the number of customers in its current
markets and to expand its operations geographically. Many of these potential
acquisition candidates participate in both the solid waste industry as well as
the regulated medical waste industry. The Company believes that its exclusive
focus on the regulated medical waste industry makes it an attractive buyer for
the medical waste operations of these companies. The Company believes that its
expansion strategy also makes it an attractive buyer to haulers whose owners may
wish to remain active in their businesses, both as managers and as equity
holders, while participating in the growth potential inherent in an industry
consolidation. In addition, the Company believes that its customer-service focus
makes it an attractive buyer to owners who place significant importance on the
assurance that their customers will receive quality service following the sale
of their businesses.
The Company's senior management is actively involved in identifying
acquisition candidates and consummating acquisitions. In determining whether to
proceed with a business acquisition, the Company evaluates a number of factors,
including: (i) the composition and size of the seller's customer base; (ii) the
efficiencies that may be obtained when the acquisition is integrated with one or
more of the Company's existing operations; (iii) the potential for enhancing or
expanding the Company's geographic service area and allowing the Company to make
other acquisitions in the same service area; (iv) the seller's historical and
projected financial results; (v) the purchase price negotiated with the seller
and the Company's expected internal rate of return; (vi) the experience,
reputation and personality of the seller's management; (vii) the seller's
customer service reputation and relationships with the communities that it
serves; and (viii) if the acquisition involves the assumption of liabilities,
the extent and nature of the seller's liabilities, including environmental
liabilities. Following this Offering, the Company will also consider the effect
of the proposed acquisition on the Company's earnings per share as an evaluation
factor.
The Company has established a procedure for efficiently integrating
newly-acquired companies into its business while minimizing disruption of the
continuing operations of both the Company and the acquired business. Once a
medical waste management business is acquired, the Company promptly implements
programs designed to improve customer service, sales, marketing, routing,
equipment utilization, employee productivity, operating efficiencies and overall
profitability.
The Company anticipates that its future acquisitions of other regulated
medical waste management businesses will be made by the payment of cash,
including cash from the net proceeds of this Offering, the issuance of debt or
equity securities or a combination of these methods. The Company believes that
its acquisition strategy will be enhanced by the fact that the Company's Common
Stock will be publicly-traded. Historically, the Company's acquisition strategy
has been to acquire selected assets of regulated medical waste management
businesses, consisting principally of customer lists, customer contracts,
vehicles and related supplies and equipment. Some of the Company's acquisitions
have also involved the Company's assumption of certain liabilities of the
seller. The following table shows the Company's completed acquisitions since the
Company began its acquisition program in August 1993.
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ACQUISITIONS SINCE AUGUST 1993
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
STERICYCLE
SELLER ACQUISITION DATE LOCATION TREATMENT FACILITY
- -------------------------------------- ----------------- -------------------- ------------------
<S> <C> <C> <C>
Therm-Tec Destruction Service of August 1993 Portland, OR Morton, WA
Oregon, Inc.
Recovery Corporation of Illinois March 1994 Lombard, IL Yorkville, WI
Safe Way Disposal Systems, Inc. September 1994 Middletown, CT Woonsocket, RI
Safetech Health Care June 1995 Valencia, CA Loma Linda, CA
Bio-Med of Oregon, Inc. January 1996 Portland, OR Morton, WA
WMI Medical Services of New England, January 1996 Hudson, NH Woonsocket, RI
Inc.
Doctors Environmental Control, Inc. May 1996 Santa Ana, CA Loma Linda, CA
Sharps Incinerator of Fort, Inc. May 1996 Fort Atkinson, WI Yorkville, WI
</TABLE>
TREATMENT TECHNOLOGY
The three most common off-site commercial technologies for treating
regulated medical waste are incineration, autoclaving and the Company's
proprietary ETD treatment process. Alternative technologies and methods, which
have not gained wide commercial acceptance, include chemical treatment,
microwaving and certain specialized or experimental technologies, including the
development and marketing of reusable or degradable medical products designed to
reduce the generation of regulated medical waste. The Company believes that the
ETD treatment process has certain advantages over incineration and autoclaving.
PRINCIPAL TREATMENT TECHNOLOGIES
- INCINERATION. Incineration accounts for approximately 70% of permitted
off-site capacity to treat regulated medical waste. Incineration burns
regulated medical waste at elevated temperatures and reduces it to ash.
Like ETD, incineration significantly reduces the volume of waste, and it
is the recommended treatment and disposal option for certain types of
regulated medical waste such as anatomical waste or residues from
chemotherapy procedures. Incineration has come under increasing criticism
from the public and from state and local regulators, however, because of
the airborne emissions that it generates. Emissions from incinerators can
contain pollutants such as dioxins, furans, carbon monoxide, mercury,
cadmium, lead and other toxins which are subject to federal, state and, in
some cases, local regulation. The fly-ash by-product of incineration may
also constitute a hazardous substance. As a result, there is a significant
cost to construct new incineration facilities, or to improve existing
facilities, to insure that their operation is in compliance with
regulatory standards.
- AUTOCLAVING. Autoclaving accounts for approximately 22% of permitted
off-site capacity to treat regulated medical waste. Autoclaving treats
regulated medical waste with steam at high temperature and pressure to
kill pathogens. The technology is most effective if all surfaces are
uniformly exposed to the steam, but uniform exposure may not always occur,
potentially leaving some pathogens untreated. In addition, autoclaving
alone does not change the appearance of waste, and recognizable regulated
medical waste may not be accepted by landfill operators. To compensate for
this disadvantage, autoclaving may be combined with a shredding or
grinding process to render the regulated medical waste non-recognizable.
The high temperatures generated in the autoclaving process occasionally
change the physical properties of plastic waste, prohibiting its
recycling.
- ETD TREATMENT PROCESS. The Company's patented ETD treatment process
accounts for approximately 7% of permitted off-site capacity to treat
regulated medical waste. ETD also includes a proprietary system for
grinding regulated medical waste. ETD uses an oscillating energy field of
low-frequency radio waves to heat regulated medical waste to temperatures
that destroy pathogens such as viruses, vegetative bacteria, fungi and
yeast without melting the plastic content of the waste. ETD is most
effective on materials with low
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electrical conductivity that contain polar molecules, including all human
pathogens. Polar molecules are molecules that have an asymmetric
electronic structure and tend to align themselves with an imposed electric
field. When the polarity of the applied field changes rapidly, the
molecules try to keep pace with the alternating field direction, thus
vibrating and in the process dissipating energy as heat. The Company
believes that the electric field created by ETD produces high molecular
agitation and thus rapidly creates high temperatures. All of the molecules
exposed to the field are agitated simultaneously, and accordingly, heat is
produced evenly throughout the waste instead of being imposed from the
surface as in conventional heating. This phenomenon, called volumetric
heating, transfers energy directly to the waste, resulting in uniform
heating throughout the entire waste material and eliminating the inherent
inefficiency of transferring heat first from an external source to the
surface of the waste and then from the surface to the interior of the
waste material. ETD employs low-frequency radio waves because they can
penetrate deeper than high-frequency waves, such as microwaves, which can
penetrate regulated medical waste of a typical density only to a depth of
approximately five inches. ETD uses specific frequencies that match the
physical properties of regulated medical waste generally, enabling the ETD
treatment process to kill pathogens while maintaining the temperature of
the non-pathogenic waste at temperatures as low as 90 DEG. C. Although ETD
is effective in destroying pathogens present in anatomical waste, the
Company does not currently treat anatomical waste through the ETD process.
ADVANTAGES OF ETD. The Company believes that its proprietary ETD treatment
process provides certain advantages over incineration and certain advantages
over autoclaving.
- PERMITTING. It is difficult and time-consuming to obtain the permits
necessary to construct and operate any regulated medical waste treatment
facility, regardless of the treatment technology to be employed at the
proposed facility. Local residents, citizen groups and elected officials
frequently object to the construction and operation of proposed regulated
medical waste treatment facilities solely because regulated medical waste
will be transported to and stored and handled at the facility. The Company
believes, however, that the fact that the ETD treatment process does not
generate liquid effluents or regulated air emissions may enable the
Company to locate treatment facilities near dense population centers,
where greater numbers of potential customers are found, with less
difficulty than would be encountered by a competitor attempting to locate
an incinerator in the same area.
- COST. The Company believes that it is less expensive to construct and
operate an ETD treatment facility than to construct and operate either a
like-capacity incinerator or a like-capacity autoclave with shredding
capability, which may enable the Company to price its treatment services
competitively. The Company believes that the comparative advantage that it
possesses in its ability to locate treatment facilities near dense
population centers may also provide transportation and operating
efficiencies.
- VOLUME REDUCTION AND UNRECOGNIZABILITY. The Company's regulated medical
waste management program reduces the overall volume of regulated medical
waste in several ways. The Company's patented reusable container, used
under the trademark STERI-TUB-Registered Trademark-, replaces the use of
corrugated containers for many Core and Alternate Care generators of large
amounts of regulated medical waste, thus reducing waste volume by as much
as 10-15%. Once medical waste has undergone the ETD treatment process, the
original cubic volume of the waste is reduced by approximately 85%. This
reduction in the volume of regulated medical waste is comparable to the
volume reduction obtained by incineration. Autoclaving alone does not
reduce the volume of regulated medical waste or render it unrecognizable.
To reduce waste volume and to overcome the unwillingness of many landfill
operators to accept recognizable treated regulated medical waste,
autoclaving must be combined with a shredding or grinding operation,
adding to its cost. A proprietary grinding feature is a component of the
ETD treatment process. The Company believes that the ability of its ETD
treatment process both to reduce the volume of regulated medical waste and
to render it unrecognizable gives the process an advantage over autoclave
operations that do not include shredding or grinding.
- REUSE AND RECYCLING. The Company believes that its reuse and recycling
capabilities provide a marketing advantage with customers who prefer to
use a regulated medical waste management provider with a commitment to
resource conservation. The Company's customers can participate in a
voluntary recycling
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program by source-segregating their regulated medical waste. The
source-segregated regulated medical waste is treated by the ETD treatment
process and then processed through the Company's proprietary systems for
the automatic recovery of polypropylene plastics. The recovered
polypropylene plastics are used by a third party to manufacture a line of
"sharps" containers which are used by health care providers to dispose of
sharp objects such as needles and blades. In addition, in two of the
Company's geographic service areas, the Company's treated regulated
medical waste is transported to resource recovery facilities owned by
third parties where it is used as refuse-derived fuel in "waste-to-energy"
plants to produce electricity. The Company is working to develop a process
in conjunction with a cement manufacturer to utilize treated regulated
medical waste as a fossil fuel substitute in cement kilns. As a result of
grinding, reuse and recycling, only approximately 7% of the original cubic
volume of the regulated medical waste treated by the Company during 1995
was disposed of in landfills.
MARKETING AND SALES
MARKETING STRATEGY. The Company's marketing strategy is to provide
customers with a complete cost management and compliance program for their
regulated medical waste. In addition to its regulated medical waste collection,
transportation, treatment and disposal services, the Company also offers a
variety of training and education programs and consulting services to its
customers. The Company's senior management and many of its other employees are
experienced health care professionals able to convey the importance of these
issues in the healthcare marketplace.
The Company's marketing strategy recognizes that its potential customers are
generally health care providers, who approach the problem of regulated medical
waste management from a different perspective than typical generators of solid
or municipal waste. Health care personnel have become increasingly sensitive to
the risk of contracting diseases such as AIDS and hepatitis through accidental
contact with infected patient blood. In addition, patients are increasingly
demanding that practitioners demonstrate continual vigilance against such risks.
Regulations which were recently adopted by OSHA require annual training of all
personnel who potentially can come into contact with bloodborne pathogens and
other potentially infectious materials. These regulations also require
documentation of handling procedures and detailed clean-up plans. As a result,
there has been heightened awareness by health care providers of the need to
implement safeguards against such risks.
The Company has developed programs to help train employees of customers on
the proper methods of handling, segregating and containing regulated medical
waste in order to reduce their potential exposure. The Company can also advise
health care providers on the proper methods of recording and documenting their
regulated medical waste management in order to comply with federal, state and
local regulations. In addition, the Company offers consulting and review
services to such providers regarding their internal collection and control
systems and assists them in developing systems to provide for the efficient
management of their regulated medical waste from the point of generation through
treatment and disposal. The Company also offers consulting services to its
health care customers to assist them in reducing the amount of regulated medical
waste at the point of generation.
The Company's marketing and sales efforts are an integral part of its
strategy of pursuing opportunities for targeted growth. The Company attempts to
focus its marketing and sales efforts on potential customers that will yield the
greatest transportation and operating advantages.
CORE GENERATORS. The Company's marketing and sales efforts to Core
generators are conducted by account executives whose responsibilities include
identifying and attracting new customers and serving existing customers. In
addition, the Company employs customer service representatives to assist its
account executives. The Company's marketing and sales personnel are trained to
understand the issues confronting Core generators of regulated medical waste. In
addition to securing customer contracts, the Company's marketing and sales
personnel provide consulting services to its health care customers to assist
them in reducing the amount of regulated medical waste that they generate,
training their employees on safety issues and implementing programs to audit,
classify and segregate regulated medical waste in a proper manner.
The Company has secured several large and prestigious hospitals and health
care institutions as customers, including Sharp HealthCare and Stanford
University Medical Center in California; the Kaiser Permanente Medical
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<PAGE>
Care Program in California, Washington and Oregon; Northwestern Memorial
Hospital in Illinois; and VHA Healthfront in New England. The Company believes
that its relationship with these and other similarly well-known institutions
will enhance its ability to market its services to other Core generators and
surrounding Alternate Care generators.
The Company's marketing and sales efforts directed to Core generators are
supplemented by several strategic marketing alliances. In October 1993, the
Company entered into an alliance agreement with Baxter Healthcare Corporation
("Baxter"). A key component of this agreement is the expansion of Baxter's
procedure-based delivery system ("PBDS") to include regulated medical waste
disposal by the Company. Under PBDS, Baxter hospital supplies are custom-packed
in containers provided by the Company based on the requirements of a specific
hospital and, in many cases, the requirements of a specific medical provider.
Baxter's agreement to include regulated medical waste disposal as part of PBDS
was intended to assist its customers in consolidating the specific costs of a
patient procedure. The alliance agreement enables the Company potentially to
benefit from Baxter's marketing efforts and promotion of PBDS to link the sale
of the Company's regulated medical waste disposal services to Baxter's sale of
certain of its disposable hospital supplies. In connection with the alliance
agreement, Baxter paid $8,000,000 to purchase shares of the Company's preferred
stock, of which the Company was required to spend $1,000,000 for research and
development related to enhancements of the Company's technology to increase
recycling of Baxter's products. See "Description of Capital Stock -- Limited
Redemption Rights of One Holder." In November 1995, Baxter's parent corporation,
Baxter International Inc., announced that it intended to spin off its domestic
hospital supply and health care cost management businesses, which had sales of
approximately $4.58 billion in 1995, to a new company, Allegiance Corporation
("Allegiance"). The spin-off is expected to be completed later this year, and
the Company anticipates that Baxter will transfer its interest in the alliance
agreement to Allegiance in connection with the spin-off. In addition to the
Baxter alliance, the Company has entered into strategic marketing alliances with
several hospital associations pursuant to which the Company may receive
endorsements or marketing assistance.
ALTERNATE CARE GENERATORS. The Company's marketing and sales efforts for
Alternate Care generators are conducted by telemarketing representatives who use
the Company's proprietary database to identify and qualify potential customers
and set appointments for the Company's trained field sales representatives.
These field sales representatives provide follow-up customer service and
ancillary product sales. The Company has refined its telemarketing system and
believes it to be a cost-effective means to reach the numerous Alternate Care
generators of small quantities of regulated medical waste. The Company's sales
efforts are supplemented by several strategic marketing agreements with, for
example, the Massachusetts Dental Society and the Sisters of Providence Health
System in Washington and Oregon, under which the Company may receive
endorsements or marketing assistance.
SERVICE AGREEMENTS. The Company negotiates individual service agreements
with each Core and Alternate Care generator customer. Although the Company has a
standard form of agreement, terms vary depending upon the customer's service
requirements and volume of regulated medical waste generated. Service agreements
typically include provisions relating to types of containers, frequency of
collection, pricing, treatment and documentation for tracking purposes. Each
agreement also specifies the customer's obligation to pack its regulated medical
waste in approved containers. Service agreements are generally for a period of
one to five years and include renewal options, although customers may terminate
on written notice and typically upon payment of a penalty. Many payment options
are available including flat monthly or quarterly charges. The Company may set
its prices on the basis of the number of containers that it collects, the weight
of the regulated medical waste that it collects and treats, the number of
collection stops that it makes on the customer's route, the number of collection
stops that it makes for a particular multi-site customer, and other factors.
The Company has a diverse customer base, with no single customer accounting
for more than three percent of the Company's 1995 revenues. The Company does not
believe that the loss of any single customer would have a material adverse
effect on its business, financial condition or results of operations.
LOGISTICS
An important element of the Company's business strategy is to maximize the
efficiency with which it collects and transports a large volume of regulated
medical waste and directs the deployment of many collection vehicles. This
aspect of the Company's operations -- referred to as logistics -- represents the
Company's single largest
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operating cost. Accordingly, the Company considers logistics to be a critical
component of its operating plan. The Company's integrated approach to regulated
medical waste management is designed to provide it with numerous logistic
advantages in the process of managing regulated medical waste.
PRE-COLLECTION. Before regulated medical waste is collected, the Company's
integrated waste management approach can "build in" efficiencies that will yield
logistic advantages. For example, the Company's consulting services can assist
its customers in minimizing their regulated medical waste volume at the point of
generation. In addition, the Company provides customers with the documentation
necessary for regulatory compliance which, if properly completed, will minimize
interruptions in the regulated medical waste treatment cycle for verification of
regulatory compliance.
CONTAINERS. A key element of the Company's pre-collection measures is the
use of specially-designed containers by most of the Company's Core and Alternate
Care generators of large volumes of regulated medical waste. The Company has
developed and patented a reusable leak- and puncture-resistant container, called
a STERI-TUB, made from recycled plastic. The STERI-TUB enables regulated medical
waste generators to reduce costs by reducing the number of times that regulated
medical waste is handled, eliminating the cost (and weight) of corrugated boxes
and potentially reducing workers' compensation liability resulting from human
contact with regulated medical waste. The Company recently introduced two
smaller sizes of STERI-TUBS that are popular in certain areas of hospitals, such
as the laboratory, and with many Alternate Care generators. The Company has also
developed a step-on lid opener and a sliding lid that fit the various sizes of
STERI-TUB and make STERI-TUBS even safer and more convenient to use. STERI-TUBS
are designed to maximize the loads that will fit within the cargo compartments
of standard trucks and trailers. The Company believes these features to be an
improvement over its competitors' reusable "point-of-generation" containers. The
Company's customers are responsible for packing their regulated medical waste in
a STERI-TUB or approved corrugated container and placing the loaded containers
at a designated collection area on their premises. If a customer generates a
large volume of waste, the Company will place a large temporary storage
container or trailer on the customer's premises. In order to maximize regulatory
compliance and minimize potential liability, the Company will not accept medical
waste unless it is properly packaged by customers in Company-supplied or
Company-approved containers.
COLLECTION AND TRANSPORTATION. Efficiency of collection and transportation
is a critical element of the Company's logistics. The Company seeks to maximize
route density and the number of stops on each route. The Company also employs a
tracking system for its collection vehicles which is designed to maximize
logistic efficiency. The Company deploys dedicated collection vehicles of
different capacities depending upon the amount of regulated medical waste to be
collected at a particular stop or on a particular route. The Company collects
containers of regulated medical waste from its customers at intervals depending
upon customer requirements, terms of the service agreement and the volume of
regulated medical waste produced. All containers are inspected at the customer's
site prior to pickup. The waste is then transported directly to one of the
Company's treatment facilities or to one of the Company's transfer stations
where it is aggregated with other regulated medical waste and then transported
to a treatment facility. In certain circumstances, the Company transports waste
to other specially-licensed regulated medical waste treatment facilities. The
Company transports small quantities of hazardous substances, such as
photographic fixer, lead foils and amalgam, from certain of its customers to a
metals recycling operation.
TRANSFER STATIONS. The use of transfer stations is another important
component of the Company's logistics. The Company utilizes transfer stations in
a "hub and spoke" configuration which allows the Company to expand its
geographic service area and increase the volume of regulated medical waste that
can be treated at a particular facility. Smaller loads of waste containers are
stored at the transfer stations until they can be consolidated into full
truckloads and transported to a treatment facility.
INSPECTION, TREATMENT AND DISPOSAL. Upon arrival at a treatment facility,
each container of regulated medical waste is scanned to verify that it does not
contain any unacceptable materials such as hazardous substances or radioactive
material. Any container which is discovered to contain hazardous substances or
radioactive material is returned to the customer. In some cases the Company's
operating permits require that unacceptable waste be reported to the appropriate
regulatory authorities. After inspection, the regulated medical waste is loaded
into the processing system and ground, compacted and treated using the Company's
ETD treatment process. Upon completion of this process, the treated medical
waste is transported for resource recovery, recycling or disposal in a
nonhazardous waste landfill. After the STERI-TUBS have been emptied, they are
washed, sanitized and returned to customers for re-use.
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DOCUMENTATION. The Company provides complete documentation to its customers
for all regulated medical waste that it collects, including the name of the
generator, date of pick-up and date of delivery to a treatment facility. The
Company's documentation system meets all applicable federal, state and local
regulations regarding the packaging and labeling of regulated medical waste,
including, but not limited to, all relevant regulations issued by the U.S.
Department of Transportation, OSHA and state and local authorities.
FACILITIES
The Company's corporate offices occupy 7,300 square feet under a lease
expiring in April 1999. The Company owns or leases the following facilities:
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
PRINCIPAL FUNCTION LOCATION OWNED OR LEASED SIZE
- ------------------------ --------------------- -------------------------- -------------------
<S> <C> <C> <C>
Treatment facility Loma Linda, CA Leased; lease expires in 11,500 square feet
December 2001
Treatment facility Morton, WA Owned 15,000 square feet
Treatment facility Woonsocket, RI Leased; lease expires in 24,000 square feet
June 2017; option to
purchase for $2,000
Treatment facility Yorkville, WI Owned 18,000 square feet
Recycling and research West Memphis, AR Owned 10,000 square feet
development facility
Transfer station San Leandro, CA Leased; lease expires in 22,500 square feet
December 2002
Transfer station Valencia, CA Leased; month-to-month 5,900 square feet
</TABLE>
The Company also utilizes three transfer stations, in New York, New York,
Haverhill, Massachusetts and Vancouver, British Columbia, at facilities owned by
third parties licensed to operate transfer stations. In addition, all of the
Company's treatment facilities are authorized to transfer regulated medical
waste. The Company also leases sales and customer service centers in Kirkland,
Washington, Salem, New Hampshire and Middletown, Connecticut, and a depot in
Valparaiso, Indiana.
The Company's lease of its treatment facility at Woonsocket, Rhode Island
expires in June 2017 upon the maturity of the last to mature of the industrial
development revenue bonds which were issued to finance the acquisition and
equipping of the facility. The Company's leasehold interest in the facility and
the Company's machinery and equipment at the facility are pledged as collateral
to secure the Company's obligations in connection with these bonds. The Company
has an option to purchase the facility for $2,000 upon the repayment of all of
the bonds. The Company's machinery and equipment at its Yorkville, Wisconsin
treatment facility are leased under an equipment lease expiring in February 1999
and are pledged as collateral to secure the Company's obligations under the
lease. Substantially all of the Company's property and equipment provide
collateral for the Company's obligations under its revolving credit facility
with Silicon Valley Bank. The Company believes that its existing facilities are
generally adequate for its current needs.
COMPETITION
The regulated medical waste services industry is highly competitive,
fragmented, and requires substantial labor and capital resources. Intense
competition exists within the industry not only for customers but also for
businesses to acquire. The Company's largest competitor is BFI. Other
significant competitors include WMX Technologies, Inc., Laidlaw Waste Systems,
Inc. and USA Waste Services, Inc. A large number of regional and local companies
also compete in the industry. The Company faces competition from these national
waste management companies and from many regional and local businesses in its
present locations and will be confronted with such competition in the future in
each location where it intends to expand. In addition, the Company faces
competition from businesses and other organizations that are attempting to
commercialize alternate treatment technologies or products designed to reduce or
eliminate the generation of regulated medical waste, such as reusable or
degradable medical products.
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The Company competes for service agreements primarily on the basis of cost
effectiveness, quality of service, geographic location and generator-perceived
liability risks. The Company's ability to obtain new service agreements may be
limited by the fact that a potential customer's current vendor may have an
excellent service history or may reduce its prices to the potential customer.
See "Risk Factors -- Intense Competition Within Industry."
GOVERNMENTAL REGULATION
The Company operates within the regulated medical waste management industry,
which is subject to extensive and frequently changing federal, state and local
laws and regulations. This statutory and regulatory framework imposes compliance
burdens and risks on the Company, including requirements to obtain and maintain
government permits. These permits grant the Company the authority, among other
things, to construct and operate treatment and transfer facilities, to transport
regulated medical waste within and between relevant jurisdictions, and to handle
particular regulated substances. The Company's permits must be periodically
renewed and are subject to modification or revocation by the issuing regulatory
authority. In addition to the requirement that it obtain and maintain permits,
the Company is subject to extensive federal, state and local laws and
regulations that, among other things, govern the definition, generation,
segregation, handling, packaging, transportation, treatment, storage and
disposal of regulated medical waste. The Company is also subject to extensive
regulation designed to minimize employee exposure to regulated medical waste. In
addition, the Company is subject to certain foreign laws, rules and regulations.
See "Risk Factors -- Impact of Government Regulation."
FEDERAL REGULATION
There are at least four federal agencies that have authority over medical
waste. These agencies are the EPA, OSHA, Department of Transportation ("DOT")
and Postal Service. These agencies regulate medical waste under a variety of
statutory and regulatory authorities.
MEDICAL WASTE TRACKING ACT OF 1988. In the late 1980s, the EPA outlined a
two-year demonstration program pursuant to the Medical Waste Tracking Act of
1988 ("MWTA"), which was added as Subtitle J to the Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act of 1976 ("RCRA"). The MWTA was adopted in response to health and
environmental concerns over infectious medical waste after medical waste washed
ashore on beaches, particularly in New York and New Jersey during the summer of
1988. Public safety concerns were amplified by media reports of careless
management of medical waste. The MWTA was intended to be the first step in
addressing these problems. The primary objective of the MWTA was to ensure that
regulated medical wastes which were generated in a covered state and which posed
environmental (including aesthetic) problems were delivered to disposal or
treatment facilities with a minimum of exposure to waste management workers and
the public. The MWTA's tracking requirements included accounting for all waste
transported and imposed civil and criminal sanctions for violations.
In its regulations implementing the MWTA, the EPA defined regulated medical
waste and established guidelines for its segregation, handling, containment,
labeling and transport. Under the MWTA, the EPA was to deliver three reports to
Congress on different aspects of regulated medical waste management and the
success of the demonstration program for tracking regulated medical waste. Two
of these reports were completed; the third report has not yet been issued. The
third report is expected to cover the use of alternative medical waste treatment
technologies, including the Company's ETD technology. There can be no assurance
that if and when the third report is issued, it will not contain findings or
make recommendations that are adverse to the Company's medical waste treatment
technology. Any such adverse findings or recommendations could have a material
adverse effect on the Company's business, financial condition and results of
operations.
The MWTA demonstration program expired in 1991, but the MWTA established a
model followed by many states in developing their specific medical waste
regulatory frameworks.
RESOURCE CONSERVATION AND RECOVERY ACT OF 1976. In 1976, Congress passed
RCRA as a response to growing public concern about problems associated with the
handling and disposal of solid and hazardous waste. RCRA required the EPA to
promulgate regulations identifying hazardous wastes. RCRA also created standards
for the generation, transportation, treatment, storage and disposal of solid and
hazardous wastes, including a manifest program for the transportation of
hazardous wastes and a permit system for solid and hazardous waste disposal
facilities. Regulated medical wastes are currently considered non-hazardous
solid wastes under RCRA. However,
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<PAGE>
certain substances collected by the Company from some of its customers,
including photographic fixer developer solutions, lead foils and amalgam, are
considered hazardous wastes, for which the Company provides transportation
services for metals recycling.
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION REGULATIONS. The DOT has implemented
regulations under the Hazardous Materials Transportation Authorization Act of
1994 governing the transportation of hazardous materials, regulated medical
waste and infectious substances. Under these regulations, the Company is
required to package regulated medical waste in compliance with the bloodborne
pathogens standards issued by OSHA. Under these standards, the Company must
identify its packaging with a "biohazard" marking on the outer packaging, and
its regulated medical waste container must be rigid, puncture-resistant,
leak-resistant, properly sealed and impervious to moisture.
The transportation of infectious substances is subject to additional
packaging standards. However, the Company is presently party to an exemption to
these standards which authorizes the transportation of certain cultures and
stocks of infectious substances if they are described and properly packaged. The
exemption issued by DOT is scheduled to expire on December 31, 1997. The Company
believes that it would be able to fully comply with the stricter packaging
standards applicable to the infectious substances it transports if and when the
exemption expires. DOT regulations also require that a transporter of hazardous
substances be capable of responding on a 24 hour-per-day basis in the event of
an accident, spill or release to the environment of a hazardous material. The
Company has entered into an agreement with CHEMTREC, an organization that
provides 24-hour emergency spill coverage in the United States and Canada, to
provide spill cleanup services in all of the Company's service areas.
The Company's drivers are specifically trained on topics such as safety,
hazardous materials, specifically-regulated medical waste, hazardous chemicals
and infectious substances. Employees are trained to deal with emergency
situations including spills, accidents and releases in to the environment, and
the Company has a written contingency plan for these events. The Company's
vehicles are outfitted with spill control equipment and the drivers are trained
in their use.
COMPREHENSIVE ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSE, COMPENSATION AND LIABILITY ACT OF
1980. The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act
of 1980, as amended ("CERCLA"), established a regulatory and remedial program to
provide for the investigation and clean-up of facilities from which there has
been an actual or threatened release of hazardous substances into the
environment. CERCLA and similar state laws, impose strict, joint and several
liability on the current and former owners and operators of facilities from
which releases of hazardous substances have occurred and on the generators and
transporters of the hazardous substances that come to be located at such
facilities. Responsible parties may be liable for substantial waste site
investigation and clean-up costs and natural resource damages, regardless of
whether they exercised due care and complied with applicable laws and
regulations. If the Company were found to be a responsible party for a
particular site, it could be required to pay the entire cost of waste site
investigation and clean-up, even though other parties also may be liable. The
Company's ability to obtain contribution from other responsible parties may be
limited by the Company's inability to identify those parties and by their
financial inability to contribute to investigation and clean-up costs.
The Company utilizes landfills for disposal of treated regulated medical
waste from three of its facilities. Following treatment by the Company, the
waste is considered non-hazardous solid waste. Non-hazardous solid waste is not
regulated as hazardous unless it has been contaminated with a hazardous
substance. The Company employs quality control measures to check incoming
regulated medical waste for hazardous substances. Customer contracts also
require the exclusion of hazardous substances or radioactive materials from the
regulated medical waste. Separate customer contracts govern the Company's
transportation for recycling of limited quantities of its customers' hazardous
substances.
OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ACT OF 1970. The Occupational Safety and
Health Act of 1970, as amended, authorizes OSHA to promulgate occupational
safety and health standards. Various standards apply to certain aspects of the
Company's operations. These standards include rules governing exposure to
bloodborne pathogens and other potentially infectious materials, lock out/tag
out procedures, medical surveillance requirements, use of respirators and
personal protective equipment, emergency planning, hazard communication, noise,
ergonomics, and forklift safety, among others. OSHA regulations are designed to
minimize the exposure of employees to hazardous work environments. The Company
is subject to unannounced safety inspections at any time. Employees are
36
<PAGE>
required by Company policy to receive new employee training, annual refresher
training and training in their specific tasks. As part of the Company's medical
surveillance program, employees receive pre-employment physicals, including drug
testing, annually-required medical surveillance and exit physicals. The Company
also subscribes to a drug-free workplace policy.
UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE. The Company was required to obtain a permit
from the U. S. Postal Service to conduct its "mail-back" program, pursuant to
which customers mail appropriately packaged sharps containers which contain
regulated medical waste directly to the Company's treatment facilities.
STATE AND LOCAL REGULATION
The Company currently conducts some type of business activity in 17 states.
These activities include the collection, transportation, processing,
transferring or recycling of regulated medical waste and, in somes cases,
hazardous substances. Each state has its own regulations related to the
handling, treatment and storage of regulated medical waste. Although there are
many differences among the various state laws and regulation, many states have
followed the regulated medical waste model under the MWTA and are implementing
programs under RCRA. Regulations cover the Company's transportation of regulated
medical waste both intrastate and interstate. In each of the states where the
Company operates a treatment facility or transfer station, it is required to
comply with numerous state and local laws and regulations as well as its
site-specific operating plan. Agencies writing regulations at the state level
typically include departments of health and state environmental protection
agencies. In addition, many municipalities have ordinances, local laws and
regulations affecting the Company's operations, including but not limited to
zoning and health measures.
In recent years, a number of communities have instituted "flow control"
requirements, which typically require that waste collected within a particular
area be deposited at a designated facility. In May 1994, the U.S. Supreme Court
ruled that a flow control ordinance was inconsistent with the Commerce Clause of
the Constitution of the United States. A number of lower federal courts have
struck down similar measures. Although the U. S. Senate passed a bill proposing
the Interstate Transportation of Municipal Solid Waste Act of 1995, which would
have partially granted flow control authority to states under the Commerce
Clause, the U. S. House of Representatives rejected the bill in January 1996.
The Company believes that the U.S. Congress will continue to consider other
bills that could at least partially overturn these court decisions and immunize
particular governmental actions from Commerce Clause scrutiny.
Similarly, the U. S. Supreme Court has consistently held that state and
local measures that seek to restrict the importation of extraterritorial waste
or tax imported waste at a higher rate are unconstitutional. To date,
congressional efforts to enable states, under certain circumstances, to impose
differential taxes on out-of-state waste or restrict waste importation have been
unsuccessful. At present, a bill that would partially grant flow control
authority to states and authorize certain restrictions on interstate waste
disposal is being considered by a committee of the U.S. House of
Representatives.
In the absence of federal legislation, certain local laws that direct waste
flows to designated facilities may be unenforceable, and discriminatory taxes
and waste importation restrictions should continue to be subject to judicial
invalidation. If the U. S. Congress adopts legislation allowing for certain
types of flow control or restricting the importation of waste, or if legislation
affecting interstate transportation of waste is adopted at the federal or state
level, such legislation could adversely affect the Company's medical waste
collection, transport, treatment and disposal operations and hence would have a
material adverse effect on the Company's business, financial condition and
results of operations.
In 1993, the Company challenged an ordinance enacted by the City of Delavan,
Wisconsin, which sought to prohibit transporting regulated medical waste into
Delavan. The Company succeeded at trial in having the Delavan ordinance declared
unconstitutional. Despite this favorable outcome, however, the Company abandoned
its plans to construct and operate a regulated medical waste treatment facility
in Delavan. The Company incurred significant expense in its abandoned efforts,
and there can be no assurance that other municipalities will not attempt to
block or discourage the Company from locating a treatment or transfer facility
within their limits by passing similar ordinances, even though the Company may
ultimately prevail in challenging the constitutionality of such ordinances.
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<PAGE>
States predominantly regulate medical waste as a solid or "special" waste
and not as a hazardous waste under RCRA. State definitions of medical waste
include, but are not limited to, microbiological waste (cultures and stocks of
infectious agents); pathology waste (human body parts from surgical and autopsy
waste); blood and blood products; and sharps.
Most states require segregation of different types of regulated medical
waste at the point of generation. A majority of states require that the
universal biohazard symbol or related label appear on medical waste containers.
Storage regulations may apply to the generator, the treatment facility, the
transport vehicle, or all three. Storage rules center on identifying and
securing the storage area for public safety as well as setting standards for the
manner and length of storage. Many states mandate employee training for safe
environmental clean-up through emergency spill and decontamination plans. Many
states mandate that transporters carry spill equipment in their vehicles. Those
states whose regulatory framework relies on the MWTA model have tracking
document systems in place.
In the State of Washington, the Company is subject to regulation by the
Utilities and Transportation Commission, which regulates all businesses engaged
in transportation in the state. As a regulated business, the Company must
receive approval from the Utilities and Transportation Commission for the prices
it charges for its services in Washington. See "Risk Factors -- Impact of
Government Regulation."
The Company maintains numerous permits and licenses to conduct its business
from various state and local authorities. The Company's permits vary from state
to state based upon the Company's activities within that state and on the
applicable state and local laws and regulations. These permits include transport
permits for solid waste, regulated medical waste and hazardous substances,
permits to construct and operate treatment facilities, permits to construct and
operate transfer stations, permits governing discharge of sanitary water and
registration of equipment under air regulations, specific approval for the use
of ETD to treat regulated medical waste, a bulk pool irradiator operator's
license for the Company's currently inactive irradiator at its West Memphis,
Arkansas facility and various business operator's licenses. The Company believes
that it is in substantial compliance with all applicable state and local laws
and regulations.
The Company's treatment technology is an alternative to the conventional
treatment technologies of incineration and autoclaving and has not been approved
in all states for the treatment of regulated medical waste. The Company has been
permitted to operate its treatment technology in 13 states with additional
applications pending. There can be no assurance, however, that the Company's
treatment technology will be approved for the treatment of regulated medical
waste in each state or other jurisdiction where the Company may seek regulatory
approval in the future to construct and operate a treatment facility. The
Company's inability to obtain any such regulatory approval could have a material
adverse effect on the Company's business, financial condition and results of
operations.
FOREIGN REGULATION
The Company presently conducts business in only one foreign jurisdiction,
British Columbia, Canada, where it collects regulated medical waste in the
Vancouver area and transports it to the Company's Morton, Washington treatment
facility. The Company's activities in British Columbia are governed at the
federal level by the Canadian Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act, 1992, and
at the provincial level by the British Columbia Waste Management Act. The
federal Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act, 1992, regulates the movement of
dangerous goods, including infectious substances and other "specified dangerous
goods," by all modes of transportation, and imposes joint and several liability
on all persons who are responsible for, or who caused or contributed to, the
release of any "specified dangerous good" into the environment. Any business
engaged in a regulated activity is presumed to be liable for any such release,
unless the business can demonstrate that it acted reasonably. The provincial
Waste Management Act regulates the storage, transportation and disposal of
waste, including biomedical waste, and imposes strict, joint and several
liability for all clean-up costs associated with the release of hazardous
substances into the environment. The Company has obtained all permits required
by these two acts. There can be no assurance, however, that the Company will not
be required in the future to pay for waste clean-up costs incurred under either
act on a joint and several basis.
If the Company expands its operations into other foreign jurisdictions, it
will be required to comply with the laws and regulations of each such
jurisdiction.
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PERMITTING PROCESS
Each state in which the Company operates, and each state in which the
Company may operate in the future, has a specific permitting process. After the
Company has identified a geographic area in which it wishes to locate a
treatment or transfer facility, the Company will identify one or more locations
for a potential new site. Typically, the Company will develop a site contingent
on obtaining zoning approval and local and state operating authority. Most
communities rely on state authorities to provide operating rules and safeguards
for their community. Usually the state provides public notice of the project
and, if a sufficient threshold of public interest is shown, a public hearing may
be held. If the Company is successful in meeting all regulatory requirements,
the state may issue a permit to construct the treatment facility or transfer
station. Once the facility is constructed, the state may again issue public
notice of its intent to issue an operating permit and provide an opportunity for
public opposition or other action that may impede the Company's ability to
construct or operate the planned facility.
The Company has been successful in obtaining permits for its current
regulated medical waste transfer, treatment and processing facilities and for
its transportation operations. Several of the Company's past attempts to
construct and operate regulated medical waste treatment facilities, however,
have met with significant community opposition. In some of these cases, the
Company has withdrawn from the permitting process. Permitting for transportation
operations frequently involves registration of vehicles, inspection of equipment
and background investigations on the Company's officers and directors.
REGULATORY AND LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
In August 1995, the Company entered into a voluntary settlement with the
Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management ("RIDEM") pursuant to which,
without admitting liability, the Company agreed to pay $400,000 over a
seven-year period and to perform community services and conduct seminars over a
five-year period.The settlement arose from certain notices of violation that
RIDEM issued in September 1994 and April 1995 pursuant to which RIDEM sought
penalties of $3,356,000, claiming that the Company had violated state medical
waste and solid waste regulations by, among other things, mishandling and
improperly treating medical waste and endangering its employees' health by
failing to provide proper training and protective clothing. RIDEM has recently
contacted the Company's local counsel and informally suggested that it may issue
additional notices of violation. The Company believes that there is no basis for
the issuance of any such additional notices and that the resolution of the
matter will be favorable to the Company. There can be no assurance, however,
that if the resolution is unfavorable to the Company, the Company's obligations
as a result of any such additional notices of violation would not have a
material adverse effect on the Company's business, financial condition or
results of operations.
The Company believes that the Massachusetts Attorney General inquired into
the Company's activities in Massachusetts but does not know whether the inquiry,
if any, is still pending. The Company believes, however, that if there is or was
any such inquiry, it was begun following the adverse publicity that the Company
received in connection with the notices of violation from RIDEM. See "Risk
Factors -- Governmental Enforcement Proceedings."
In September 1995, the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services notified
the Company that it was being assessed for sales and use tax of $219,000 as the
successor in interest to Safe Way. The Company appealed the assessment on the
ground that, as a purchaser of assets, it was not legally obligated to pay Safe
Way's debts. The Company has been informed that its appeal has been denied by
the Department of Revenue Services. Safe Way has indemnified the Company for any
liability as a result of Safe Way's obligations arising prior to the closing of
the Safe Way acquisition in September 1994. Safe Way's indemnification
obligation is secured first by 166,153 shares of Common Stock issued to Safe Way
which are currently held in escrow (the "Safe Way Escrow") and then by off-set
rights of the Company under the Safe Way Note. See "Description of Capital Stock
- -- Common Stock."
In April 1996, Local 174, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, AFL-CIO,
filed an unfair labor practice charge against the Company with the National
Labor Relations Board. The charge arose from an attempt by the union to organize
the the Company's truck drivers in Washington and Oregon, and claimed that the
Company's elimination of certain drivers' positions shortly before a union
recognition election, which the union lost, unlawfully discriminated against
employees engaged in protected activity. The union has voluntarily withdrawn the
unfair
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<PAGE>
labor practice charge. The Company's production and maintenance employees at its
Morton, Washington facility voted to affiliate with the union. The Company will
be required to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement covering these
employees.
The Company operates in a highly competitive industry and may be exposed to
regulatory inquiries or investigations from time to time. Investigations can be
initiated for a variety of reasons. The Company has been involved in several
legal and administrative proceedings that have been settled or otherwise
resolved on terms acceptable to the Company, without having a material adverse
effect on the Company's business, financial condition or results of operations.
From time to time the Company may consider it more cost-effective to settle such
proceedings than to involve itself in costly and time-consuming administrative
actions or litigation. The Company is also a party to various legal proceedings
arising in the ordinary course of its business. The Company believes that the
resolution of these other matters will not have a material adverse effect on the
Company's business, financial condition or results of operations. See "Risk
Factors -- Governmental Enforcement Proceedings."
POTENTIAL LIABILITY AND INSURANCE
The regulated medical waste management industry involves potentially
significant risks of statutory, contractual, tort and common law liability.
Potential liability could involve, for example, claims for clean-up costs,
personal injury or damage to the environment, claims of employees, customers or
third parties for personal injury or property damages occurring in the course of
the Company's operations, or claims alleging negligence or professional errors
or omissions in the planning or performance of work. The Company could also be
subject to fines in connection with violations of regulatory requirements.
The Company carries liability insurance coverage which it considers
sufficient to meet regulatory and customer requirements and to protect the
Company's employees, assets and operations. The availability of liability
insurance within the regulated medical waste industry has been adversely
affected by the constrained market for environmental liability and other
insurance. More aggressive enforcement of environmental and management
regulations, as well as legal decisions and judgments adverse to companies
exposed to pollution damage claims, could lead to a substantial reduction in the
availability and extent of insurance coverage. In the future, available
insurance may be at significantly increased premiums with less extensive
coverage. If the Company is unable to obtain adequate insurance coverage at a
reasonable cost, it may become exposed to potential liability claims. In such
event, a successful claim of sufficient magnitude could have a material adverse
effect on the Company's business, financial condition or results of operation.
CERCLA and similar state statutes impose strict, joint and several liability
on the present and former owners and operators of facilities from which releases
of hazardous substances have occurred and on the generators and transporters of
the hazardous substances that come to be located at such facilities. Responsible
parties may be liable for waste site investigation, waste site clean-up costs
and natural resource damages, which costs could be substantial, regardless of
whether they exercised due care and complied with all relevant laws and
regulations. There can be no assurance that the Company will not face claims
under CERCLA or similar state laws resulting in substantial liability for which
the Company is uninsured and which could have a material adverse effect on the
Company's business, financial condition and results of operations. The Company's
pollution liability insurance excludes liabilities under CERCLA. See "Risk
Factors -- Potential Risk of Product Liability and Potential Unavailability of
Insurance."
PATENTS AND PROPRIETARY RIGHTS
The Company considers the protection of its technology relating to the
processing of regulated medical waste to be material to its business. The
Company's policy is to protect its technology by a variety of means, including
applying for patents in the United States and in appropriate foreign countries.
See "Risk Factors -- Dependence on Patents and Proprietary Information."
The Company holds four United States patents and has three additional patent
applications pending in the United States relating to the ETD treatment process
and other aspects of processing regulated medical waste. The Company has filed
counterpart patent applications in several foreign countries and has received
patents in Mexico and Australia. The Company also holds one United States patent
for its reusable container, used under the trademark
STERI-TUB-Registered Trademark-.
40
<PAGE>
In November 1995, the Company entered into a cross-license agreement with
IIT Research Institute ("IITRI"). Under this agreement, IITRI granted to the
Company a royalty-free exclusive license in North America, Europe, Japan and
other industrialized countries throughout the world to use and commercialize
certain patent rights and know-how held by IITRI relating to the use of
radio-frequency technology in the treatment of regulated medical waste, and the
Company issued 4,144 shares of Common Stock to IITRI and granted to IITRI a
royalty-free exclusive license in the remaining countries of the world to use
and commercialize certain corresponding patent rights and know-how held by the
Company. The agreement continues until the expiration of the last-to-expire of
any of the subject patents held by either IITRI or the Company.
An issued patent grants to the owner the right to exclude others from
practicing the inventions claimed in the patent. In the United States, a patent
filed before June 8, 1995 is enforceable for 17 years from the date of issuance
or 20 years from the effective date of filing, whichever is longer. Patents
issued on applications filed on or after June 8, 1995 expire 20 years from the
effective date of filing. The last-to-expire of the Company's existing United
States patents relating to its ETD treatment process will expire in April 2013.
In addition, the Company has additional proprietary technology relating to
the processing of regulated medical waste that the Company believes is
patentable. The Company has chosen, however, not to file for patent protection
for this technology at this time.
There can be no assurance that any claims which are included in pending or
future patent applications will be issued, that any issued patents will provide
the Company with competitive advantages or will not be challenged by third
parties or that the existing or future patents of third parties will not have an
adverse effect on the ability of the Company to carry out its business. In
addition, there can be no assurance that other companies will not independently
develop similar processes or engineer around patents that may have been issued
to the Company. Litigation or administrative proceedings may be necessary to
enforce the patents issued to the Company or to determine the scope and validity
of others' proprietary rights. Any litigation or administrative proceeding could
result in substantial cost to the Company and distraction of the Company's
management. An adverse ruling in any litigation or administrative proceeding
could have a material adverse effect on the Company's business, financial
condition and results of operations.
The commercial success of the Company will also depend in part upon the
Company's not infringing patents issued to competitors. There can be no
assurance that patents belonging to competitors will not require the Company to
alter its processes, pay licensing fees or cease development of its current or
future processes. Litigation or administrative proceedings may be necessary to
enforce the patents issued to the Company or to determine the scope and validity
of others' proprietary rights. Any litigation or administrative proceeding could
result in substantial cost to the Company and distraction of the Company's
management. An adverse ruling in any litigation or administrative proceeding
could have a material adverse effect on the Company's business, financial
condition and results of operations. In addition, there can be no assurance that
the Company would be able to license the technology rights that it may require
at a reasonable cost or at all. Failure by the Company to obtain a license to
any technology that the Company currently uses to process regulated medical
waste would have a material adverse effect on the Company's business, financial
condition and results of operations. In addition, to determine the priority of
inventions or patent applications the Company may have to participate in
interference proceedings declared by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office or in
proceedings before foreign agencies, any of which would result in substantial
costs to the Company and distraction of the Company's management.
The Company holds federal registrations of the trademarks "Steri-Fuel,"
"Steri-Plastic," "Steri-Tub" and "Steri-Cement" and the service marks
"Stericycle" and a mark consisting of a graphic the Company uses in association
with its name and services in the United States. There can be no assurance that
the registered or unregistered trademarks or service marks of the Company will
not infringe upon the rights of third parties. The requirement to change any
trademark, service mark or trade name of the Company would result in the loss of
any goodwill associated with that trademark, service mark or trade name and
could entail significant expense.
The Company has become aware that there may be a user in the State of Oregon
of the mark "Stericycle" with rights prior to those of the Company. No claim
against the Company has been asserted by this third party with respect to any
such rights. Although the Company currently is unable to evaluate whether any
such rights exist or, if
41
<PAGE>
they exist, whether they are superior to those of the Company, the Company
believes that any claims asserted by the third party would not have a material
adverse effect on the Company's business, financial condition or results of
operations.
The Company also relies on unpatented and unregistered trade secrets,
trademarks, proprietary know-how and continuing technological innovation that it
seeks to protect, in part, by confidentiality agreements with its employees,
vendors and consultants. There can be no assurance that these agreements will
not be breached, that the Company would have adequate remedies for any breach or
that the Company's trade secrets or know-how will not otherwise become known or
independently discovered by third parties.
EMPLOYEES
At December 31, 1995, the Company employed 216 full-time employees and 27
part-time employees engaged primarily in sales and marketing.
The Company considers its employee relations generally to be satisfactory.
None of the Company's employees is covered by a collective bargaining agreement.
The Company's production and maintenance employees at its Morton, Washington
facility have voted to affiliate with a union. See "-- Legal and Regulatory
Proceedings."
MANAGEMENT
EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS
The directors and executive officers of Stericycle, Inc. and their ages as
of June 1, 1996, are as follows:
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
NAME AGE POSITION
- ------------------------------ --- ------------------------------------------------------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Mark C. Miller 40 President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Anthony J. Tomasello 49 Vice President, Operations
Linda D. Lee 39 Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance
James F. Polark 46 Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer
Michael J. Bernert 42 Vice President, Eastern Region
Richard O. Shea 43 Vice President, Western Region
Jack W. Schuler (1) 55 Chairman of the Board of Directors
Patrick F. Graham (2) 56 Director
John Patience (2) 48 Director
Lloyd D. Ruth (2) 49 Director
Peter Vardy (1) 66 Director
L. John Wilkerson, Ph.D (1) 52 Director
</TABLE>
- ------------------------
(1) Member of Compensation Committee
(2) Member of Audit Committee
MARK C. MILLER has served as President and Chief Executive Officer and a
director of the Company since May 1992. From May 1989 until he joined the
Company, Mr. Miller served as Vice President for the Pacific, Asia and Africa in
the International Division of Abbott Laboratories, which he joined in 1976 and
where he held a number of management and marketing positions. He is a director
of Affiliated Research Centers, Inc., which provides clinical research for
pharmaceutical companies. Mr. Miller received a B.S. degree in computer science
from Purdue University, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa.
ANTHONY J. TOMASELLO has served as the Company's Vice President, Operations
since August 1990. For five years prior to joining Stericycle, Mr. Tomasello was
President and Chief Operating Officer of Pi Enterprises and Orbital Systems,
companies providing process and automation services. From 1980 to 1985, he
served as Vice President of Operations for Spang and Company, an operating
service firm specializing in resource recovery and recycling for manufacturing
and process industries. Mr. Tomasello received a B.S. degree in mechanical
engineering from the University of Pittsburgh.
42
<PAGE>
LINDA D. LEE has served as the Company's Vice President, Regulatory Affairs
and Quality Assurance since July 1990. She previously served as the Company's
Executive Director for Regulatory Compliance. Prior to joining the Company in
November 1989, she served for six years as Director of Environmental Health and
Safety for Medical Services at the University of Arkansas. Ms. Lee has served as
the chairperson of the American Hospital Association's Environmental Advocacy
Committee and on the American Society for Hospital Engineers' Safety Committee.
She has also served on a number of government committees, including the Arkansas
Governor's Task Force on Medical Waste, and has written several books and
articles on safety and waste disposal. Ms. Lee received a B.S. degree in
environmental health sciences from Indiana State University and an M.S. degree
in operations management from the University of Arkansas.
JAMES F. POLARK has served as the Company's Vice President, Finance and
Chief Financial Officer since July 1993. From 1980 until joining the Company, he
served in various capacities with Sara Lee Corporation, most recently as Chief
Financial Officer of Superior Coffee and Foods, Inc., one of Sara Lee'
divisions. Prior to joining Sara Lee, Mr. Polark was a member of the audit staff
at Price Waterhouse. He received a B.S. degree in accounting from the University
of Northern Iowa.
MICHAEL J. BERNERT has served as the Company's Vice President, Eastern
Region, with responsibility for sales and service in New England and the
Midwest, since February 1992. Prior to joining the Company in 1992, he held a
series of management positions with Abbott Laboratories. Mr. Bernert received a
B.A. degree in economics from Brown University and an M.B.A. degree from the
University of Dallas.
RICHARD O. SHEA has served as the Company's Vice President, Western Region,
with responsibility for sales and service in the Pacific Northwest and
California, since April 1991. From September 1989 to March 1991, he was Vice
President of Sales and Marketing for Microprobe Corporation in Bethell,
Washington. He previously held several management positions with the Diagnostics
Division of Abbott Laboratories. Mr. Shea received a B.S. degree in marketing
from Nichols College.
JACK W. SCHULER has served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the
Company since January 1990. From January 1987 to August 1989, Mr. Schuler served
as President and Chief Operating Officer of Abbott Laboratories, a diversified
health care company which he joined in 1972 and where he held a number of
management and marketing positions and served as a director from April 1985 to
August 1989. Mr. Schuler serves as a director of Chiron Corporation, Medtronic,
Inc., Somatogen, Inc. and Ventana Medical Systems, Inc., and several privately
held companies. He is a co-founder of Crabtree Partners, a private investment
partnership in Deerfield, Illinois, which was formed in June 1995. He received a
B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from Tufts University and an M.B.A. degree
from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business Administration.
PATRICK F. GRAHAM has served as a director of the Company since May 1991. He
is a co-founder of Bain & Company, Inc., a management consulting firm in Boston,
Massachusetts, where he has served in a number of positions since 1973,
including Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer. He was previously a Group
Vice President with Boston Consulting Group. Mr. Graham is a director of
WorldCorp, Inc. and several privately held companies. He received a B.A. degree
from Knox College.
JOHN PATIENCE has served as a director of the Company since its
incorporation in March 1989. He is a co-founder and partner of Crabtree
Partners, a private investment partnership in Deerfield, Illinois, which was
formed in June 1995. From January 1988 to March 1995, Mr. Patience was a general
partner of the general partner of Marquette Venture Partners, L.P., a venture
capital fund which he co-founded and which participated in the initial
capitalization of the Company. He was previously a director with McKinsey &
Company, Inc., a general management consulting firm. Mr. Patience is a director
of TRO Learning, Inc. and Ventana Medical Systems, Inc., and several privately
held companies. He received B.A. and B.L. degrees from the University of Sydney,
Sydney, Australia, and an M.B.A. degree from the Wharton School of Business of
the University of Pennsylvania.
LLOYD D. RUTH has served as a director of the Company since September 1995.
He previously served as a director of the Company from December 1989 to October
1990. Mr. Ruth is a co-founder of Marquette Venture Partners, L.P., a venture
capital fund in Deerfield, Illinois, where he has served as a general partner of
its general partner since January 1988. From 1981 until 1988 he served with the
Sprout Group, a venture capital fund affiliate of Donaldson,
43
<PAGE>
Lufkin & Jenrette Securities Corporation. Mr. Ruth received a B.S. degree in
industrial engineering from Cornell University, an M.S. degree in computer
science from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California and an M.B.A.
degree from Stanford University.
PETER VARDY has served as a director of the Company since July 1990. He is
the Managing Director of Peter Vardy & Associates, an international
environmental consulting firm in Chicago, Illinois, which he founded in June
1990. From April 1973 to May 1990, Mr. Vardy served at Waste Management, Inc.
(now WMX Technologies, Inc.), a waste management services company, where he was
Vice President, Environmental Management. He is a director of EMCON, which he
co-founded in 1971. Mr. Vardy received a B.S. degree in geological engineering
from the University of Nevada.
L. JOHN WILKERSON, PH.D., has served as a director of the Company since July
1992. He is a consultant to The Wilkerson Group, a health care products
consulting firm in New York, New York, where he has served since 1982. Dr.
Wilkerson also serves as a general partner of the general partner of Galen
Partners, L.P. and Galen Partners International, L.P., affiliated venture
capital funds. He is a director of British Biotech Plc, Gensia, Inc., TheraTx,
Incorporated and several privately held companies. Dr. Wilkerson received a B.S.
degree in biological sciences from Utah State University and a Ph.D. degree in
managerial economics and marketing research from Cornell University.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Directors are elected at the annual meeting of stockholders and hold office
until the next annual meeting or until their successors have been elected and
qualified. Members of the Board of Directors receive no cash compensation for
their services as directors. During the year ended December 31, 1995, the
Company granted options to Jack W. Schuler, Patrick F. Graham and Peter Vardy,
all of whom are members of the Board of Directors, to purchase 52,857, 32,723
and 7,120 shares of Common Stock, respectively. These options were granted
pursuant to an equity restructuring program which was intended, among other
purposes, to reverse the dilutive effect of a recapitalization pursuant to which
the Company's outstanding shares of preferred stock were reclassified as common
stock. See "-- 1995 Equity Adjustment Program" and "Description of Capital Stock
- -- 1995 Recapitalization."
Pursuant to the Company's Directors Stock Option Plan, which was adopted by
the Board of Directors in June 1996 and approved by the Company's stockholders
in July 1996, directors who are not officers or employees of the Company will be
eligible to receive periodic option grants. See "-- Stock Option Plans."
The Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors, consisting of Messrs.
Schuler and Vardy and Dr. Wilkerson, makes recommendations to the full Board of
Directors concerning salaries and incentive compensation for employees of the
Company and administers the Company's Incentive Compensation Plan. The Audit
Committee of the Board of Directors, consisting of Messrs. Graham, Patience and
Ruth makes recommendations to the full Board of Directors regarding the
selection of independent auditors, reviews the results and scope of the audit
and other services provided by the Company's independent auditors and reviews
and evaluates the Company's internal control functions.
44
<PAGE>
EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
The following table sets forth the compensation paid by the Company during
the year ended December 31, 1995 to the Company's President and Chief Executive
Officer and its four other most highly compensated executive officers
(collectively, the "Named Executive Officers"):
SUMMARY COMPENSATION TABLE
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
LONG-TERM
COMPENSATION AWARDS
ANNUAL ---------------------
COMPENSATION NUMBER OF SECURITIES
NAME AND PRINCIPAL POSITION FISCAL YEAR SALARY UNDERLYING OPTIONS
- ------------------------------------------------------------------ ----------- -------------- ---------------------
<S> <C> <C> <C>
Mark C. Miller.................................................... 1995 $ 212,083 485,620
President and Chief Executive Officer
Anthony J. Tomasello.............................................. 1995 146,875 31,816
Vice President, Operations
Linda D. Lee...................................................... 1995 127,916 28,621
Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and
Quality Assurance
Michael J. Bernert................................................ 1995 108,750 49,515
Vice President, Eastern Region
Richard O. Shea................................................... 1995 113,541 46,353
Vice President, Western Region
</TABLE>
STOCK OPTION INFORMATION
The following table sets forth certain information regarding stock options
that the Company granted to the Named Executive Officers during the year ended
December 31, 1995. In accordance with the rules of the Securities and Exchange
Commission, the following table also sets forth the potential realizable value
over the term of the options (the period from the date of grant to the date of
expiration) based upon assumed rates of stock appreciation of 5% and 10%,
compounded annually. These amounts do not represent the Company's estimate of
future appreciation of the price of its Common Stock. The Company did not grant
stock appreciation rights to any Named Executive Officer during the year ended
December 31, 1995.
OPTIONS GRANTS IN LAST FISCAL YEAR
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
INDIVIDUAL GRANTS
-------------------------- POTENTIAL REALIZABLE
% OF TOTAL VALUE AT ASSUMED
OPTIONS ANNUAL RATES OF STOCK
NUMBER OF GRANTED TO PRICE APPRECIATION FOR
SECURITIES EMPLOYEES IN OPTION TERM(4)
UNDERLYING FISCAL EXERCISE PRICE EXPIRATION ----------------------
OPTIONS(1) YEAR(2) PER SHARE(3) DATE 5% 10%
----------- ------------- --------------- ----------- ---------- ----------
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C>
Mark C. Miller........................ 485,620 52.60% $ 0.53 11/1/05 $ 161,864 $ 410,195
Anthony J. Tomasello.................. 31,816 3.4% 0.53 11/1/05 10,605 26,874
Linda D. Lee.......................... 28,621 3.1% 0.53 11/1/05 9,540 24,176
Michael J. Bernert.................... 49,515 5.4% 0.53 11/1/05 16,504 41,825
Richard O. Shea....................... 46,353 5.0% 0.53 11/1/05 15,450 39,154
</TABLE>
- ------------------------
(1) All of the options granted to the Named Executive Officers were granted
under the Company's Incentive Compensation Plan (the "1995 Stock Plan")
pursuant to an equity adjustment program which was substantially implemented
in November 1995. See "-- Stock Option Plans" and "-- 1995 Equity Adjustment
Program." The options granted were for shares of the Company's Class B
common stock. The number of options granted shown in the table has been
adjusted to reflect a 1-for-5.3089 reverse stock split effected in August
1996 pursuant to which each outstanding share of the Company's Class A and
Class B common stock became 0.1883629 share of Common Stock, and the
underlying class of stock and number of shares issuable upon exercise, and
the exercise price per share, of each outstanding option were adjusted
accordingly. See "Description of Capital Stock -- Reverse Stock Split." The
options granted to the Named Executive Officers vest in equal monthly
increments over periods of 12, 24 or 36 months.
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<PAGE>
(2) Based on an aggregate of 923,292 options granted to employees during the
year ended December 31, 1995, all of which were granted under the 1995 Stock
Plan.
(3) The exercise price per share of each option is equal to the fair market
value of the Company's Class B common stock on the date of grant as
determined by the Company's Board of Directors.
(4) The potential realizable value was calculated based on the 10-year term of
each option on its date of grant, assuming that the fair market value of the
underlying stock on the date of grant appreciates at the indicated annual
rate compounded annually for the entire term of the option and that the
option is exercised and sold on the last day of its term for the appreciated
stock price. The potential realizable value of each option was calculated
using the exercise price of the option as the fair market value of the
underlying stock on the date of grant. The actual realizable value of the
options could be considerably higher than the potential realizable values
shown in the table.
OPTION EXERCISES AND FISCAL YEAR END OPTION VALUES
The following table sets forth certain information with respect to the value
of the stock options held by the Named Executive Officers at December 31, 1995.
No Named Executive Officer exercised any stock options or stock appreciation
rights during the year ended December 31, 1995 or had any stock appreciation
rights outstanding at the end of the year.
FISCAL YEAR END OPTION VALUES
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
NUMBER OF SECURITIES
VALUE OF UNEXERCISED
UNDERLYING UNEXERCISED
OPTIONS AT FISCAL YEAR IN-THE-MONEY OPTIONS
END(1) AT FISCAL YEAR END(2)
---------------------- ----------------------
VESTED UNVESTED VESTED UNVESTED
--------- ----------- --------- -----------
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C>
Mark C. Miller....................................................... 333,275 152,345 -- --
Anthony J. Tomasello................................................. 16,383 15,433 -- --
Linda D. Lee......................................................... 12,814 15,807 -- --
Michael J. Bernert................................................... 23,567 25,948 -- --
Richard O. Shea...................................................... 30,627 15,726 -- --
</TABLE>
- ------------------------
(1) All unexercised options at December 31, 1995 were options to purchase shares
of the Company's Class B common stock. The number of unexercised options
shown in the table has been adjusted to reflect a 1-for-5.3089 reverse stock
split effected in August 1996 pursuant to which each outstanding share of
the Company's Class A and Class B common stock became 0.1883629 share of
Common Stock, and the underlying class of stock and number of shares
issuable upon exercise, and the exercise price per share, of each
outstanding option were adjusted accordingly. See "Description of Capital
Stock -- Reverse Stock Split."
(2) The value of unexercised options was calculated based on the fair market
value of the underlying shares of the Company's Class B common stock at
December 31, 1995 ($0.53 per share), as determined by the Company's Board of
Directors, less the exercise price payable for such shares ($0.53 per
share), adjusting both amounts to reflect the 1-for-5.3089 reverse stock
split effected in August 1996 pursuant to which each outstanding share of
the Company's Class A and Class B common stock became 0.1883629 share of
Common Stock, and the underlying class of stock and number of shares
issuable upon exercise, and the exercise price per share, of each
outstanding option were adjusted accordingly. See "Description of Capital
Stock -- Reverse Stock Split."
46
<PAGE>
STOCK OPTION PLANS
1995 STOCK PLAN. The Company's Incentive Compensation Plan (the "1995 Stock
Plan") was adopted by the Board of Directors in August 1995 and approved by the
Company's stockholders in September 1995 in connection with a recapitalization
of the Company. See "Description of Capital Stock -- 1995 Recapitalization." As
amended by the Board of Directors in May and July 1996 and approved by the
Company's stockholders in May 1996, the 1995 Stock Plan authorizes a total of
1,500,000 shares of Common Stock to be issued pursuant to options granted and
restricted stock awarded under the plan. If an option granted under the 1995
Stock Plan expires unexercised or is surrendered, or if the Company repurchases
shares of restricted stock awarded under the plan, the shares of Common Stock
subject to the option or repurchased by the Company once again become available
for option grants and restricted stock awards under the 1995 Stock Plan. As of
June 1, 1996, options to purchase an aggregate of 696,962 shares were
outstanding and 31,476 shares were available for future option grants or
restricted stock awards under the 1995 Stock Plan. The 1995 Stock Plan has a
10-year term, and no option may be granted or shares of restricted stock awarded
under the plan after its expiration in July 2005.
The 1995 Stock Plan provides for the grant of incentive stock options
intended to satisfy the requirements of Section 422 of the Internal Revenue Code
of 1986, as amended, nonstatutory stock options and restricted stock awards.
Incentive stock options may be granted and shares of restricted stock may be
awarded only to employees of the Company. Nonstatutory stock options may be
granted only to employees of and consultants to the Company. The 1995 Stock Plan
is administered by the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors, which
selects the eligible persons to whom options are granted or restricted stock is
awarded and, subject to the provisions of the plan, determines the terms of each
option or award, including, in the case of an option, the number of shares, type
of option, exercise price and vesting schedule, and, in the case of an award of
restricted stock, the purchase price, if any, and the restrictions applicable to
the award.
The exercise price of options granted under the 1995 Stock Plan must be at
least equal to the fair market value of the Common Stock on the date of grant,
with the exception that the exercise price of an incentive stock option granted
to an employee of the Company holding more than 10% of the outstanding stock of
the Company must be at least 110% of the fair market value. The maximum term of
any option may not exceed 10 years. An option may be exercised only when it is
vested and, in the case of options granted to employees, only while the holder
of the option remains an employee of the Company or during the 90-day period
following the termination of his or her employment. In the Compensation
Committee's discretion, this 90-day period may be extended in the case of
nonstatutory stock options to any date ending on or before the expiration date
of the option. In addition, the Compensation Committee may accelerate the
exercisability of an option at any time. With the approval of the Compensation
Committee, the holder of an option may pay the exercise price by delivering
other shares of Common Stock, or by directing the Company to withhold shares of
Common Stock otherwise issuable upon exercise of the option, having a fair
market value on the date of exercise equal to the exercise price.
DIRECTORS STOCK OPTION PLAN. The Company's Directors Stock Option Plan (the
"Directors Plan") was adopted by the Board of Directors in June 1996 and
approved by the Company's stockholders in July 1996. The Directors Plan
authorizes a total of 285,000 shares of Common Stock to be issued pursuant to
nonstatutory stock options granted under the plan to directors of the Company
other than directors who are officers or employees of the Company ("outside
directors"). Under the Directors Plan, each incumbent outside director will
automatically receive an option as of the date of closing of this Offering for a
number of shares of Common Stock determined by multiplying 7,000 shares by a
fraction, the numerator of which is $12.00 and the denominator of which is the
average of the closing bid and asked prices of a share of Common Stock (the
"closing price") on the date of grant. As of each annual meeting of the
Company's stockholders after the date of this Offering, each incumbent outside
director who is re-elected as a director at the annual meeting will
automatically receive an option for a number of shares of Common Stock
determined by multiplying 7,000 shares by a fraction, the numerator of which is
$12.00 and the denominator of which is closing price on the date of the annual
meeting, and each outside director who is elected as a director for the first
time will automatically receive an option for a number of shares of Common Stock
determined by multiplying 21,000 shares by a fraction, the numerator of which is
$12.00 and the denominator of which is closing price on the date of the annual
meeting. These option grants are subject to a maximum grant of 9,500 shares and
a minimum grant of 4,500 shares (or to a maximum grant of 28,500 shares and a
minimum grant of 13,500 shares in the case an outside director who is elected as
a director for the first time at an annual meeting). In
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<PAGE>
addition, each outside director who is elected as a director for the first time
other than at an annual meeting of the Company's stockholders will automatically
receive, as of the date of his or her election, an option for a number of shares
of Common Stock equal to three times the number of shares of Common Stock for
which each incumbent outside director received an option as of the last annual
meeting. The exercise price of each option granted under the Directors Plan will
be the closing price on the date of grant. The term of each option will be six
years from the date of grant. Each option will vest in 16 equal quarterly
installments and may be exercised only when it is vested and only while the
holder of the option remains a director of the Company or during the 90-day
period following the date that he or she ceases to serve as a director. With the
approval of the full Board of Directors, the holder of an option may pay the
exercise price by delivering other shares of Common Stock, or by directing the
Company to withhold shares of Common Stock otherwise issuable upon exercise of
the option, having a fair market value on the date of exercise equal to the
exercise price. The Directors Plan has a six-year term, and no option may be
granted under the plan after its expiration in June 2002.
1995 EQUITY ADJUSTMENT PROGRAM
In November 1995, the Company substantially implemented a program to adjust
the equity interests of the Company's officers and employees and certain of its
directors to reflect a plan of recapitalization of the Company which was adopted
by the Board of Directors in August 1995 and approved by the Company's
stockholders in September 1995 and which, among other things, authorized the
issuance of Class A and Class B common stock. See "Description of Capital Stock
- -- 1995 Recapitalization." The purpose of the program was to (i) restore the
percentages of potential ownership interests in the Company of participants in
the program to substantially the same percentages that existed prior to the
recapitalization, (ii) substantially restore the potential value of stock in the
Company that participants had previously purchased or for which they had been
granted stock options, (iii) provide additional potential ownership interests by
option grants for voluntary participation in a new salary reduction program
being adopted for the Company's management and (iv) provide the Company's
President and Chief Executive Officer, Mark C. Miller, with the opportunity
potentially to acquire a 5% ownership interest in the Company. In connection
with this equity adjustment program, the Company allowed participants to
surrender their existing options to purchase shares of Class A common stock for
options to purchase a larger number of shares of Class B common stock. The
Company also agreed to reduce the purchase price of Class A common stock being
purchased by participants under non-recourse notes to reflect the stock's
current fair market value, as determined by the Board of Directors, and to
accept shares of Class A common stock in satisfaction of the unpaid balance of
the notes and issue shares of Class B common stock in exchange for the shares of
Class A common stock for which the purchase price had been paid. The following
table sets forth certain information for the year ended December 31, 1995
regarding the Named Executive Officers and the directors of the Company who
participated in the equity adjustment program:
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
OPTIONS SHARES OF STOCK NEW OPTIONS NEW SHARES OF
NAME SURRENDERED(1) EXCHANGED(1) RECEIVED(2) STOCK RECEIVED(2)
- ------------------------------------ --------------- --------------- ------------- -----------------
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C>
Mark C. Miller...................... 37,989 38,262 485,620 3,868
Anthony J. Tomasello................ 4,031 12,244 31,816 48,974
Linda D. Lee........................ 3,014 8,288 28,621 26,465
Michael J. Bernert.................. 7,791 2,825 49,515 283
Richard O. Shea..................... 4,073 8,476 46,353 11,584
Jack W. Schuler..................... 6,404 80,768 52,857 211,429
Patrick F. Graham................... 1,601 9,306 32,723 --
Peter Vardy......................... 5,463 6,404 7,120 28,480
</TABLE>
- ------------------------
(1) All options surrendered were options to purchase, and all shares of stock
exchanged were, shares of the Company's Class A common stock. The number of
options surrendered and shares of stock exchanged have been adjusted to
reflect a 1-for-5.3089 reverse stock split effected in August 1996 pursuant
to which each outstanding share of the Company's Class A and Class B common
stock became 0.1883629 share of Common Stock, and the underlying class of
stock and number of shares issuable upon exercise, and the exercise price
per share, of each outstanding option will be adjusted accordingly. See
"Description of Capital Stock -- Reverse Stock Split."
48
<PAGE>
(2) All options received were options to purchase, and all shares of stock
received were, shares of the Company's Class B common stock. The number of
options and shares of stock received have been adjusted to reflect a
1-for-5.3089 reverse stock split effected in August 1996 pursuant to which
each outstanding share of the Company's Class A and Class B common stock
became 0.1883629 share of Common Stock, and the underlying class of stock
and number of shares issuable upon exercise, and the exercise price per
share, of each outstanding option were adjusted accordingly. See
"Description of Capital Stock -- Reverse Stock Split." Also prior to
completion of this Offering, all of the Company's outstanding shares of
Class B common stock and outstanding options to purchase shares of Class B
common stock will be converted automatically into a like number of shares of
Common Stock, or options to purchase a like number of shares of Common
Stock, as the case may be. See "Description of Capital Stock -- Reverse
Stock Split."
OTHER PLANS
The Company maintains a 401(k) plan in which employees who have completed
one year's employment and attained age 21 are eligible to participate. The plan
permits the Company to make matching contributions of a percentage of
participants' deferrals to be determined each year by the Board of Directors.
For 1993, 1994 and 1995, the Company made matching contributions of 30% of the
first $1,000 contributed by participants.
EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENTS
The Company has not entered into written employment agreements with any of
its executive officers or employees. All of the Company's executive officers and
employees have signed confidentiality agreements with the Company.
LIMITATIONS ON DIRECTORS' LIABILITY AND INDEMNIFICATION
The Company's Certificate of Incorporation provides that to the fullest
extent permitted by Delaware law, the Company's directors will not be liable for
monetary damages for breach of a director's duty of care to the Company and its
stockholders. This provision does not eliminate a director's duty of care, and
in appropriate circumstances equitable remedies such as an injunction or other
forms of non-monetary relief will remain available under Delaware law. Each
director continues to remain liable for a breach of the director's duty of
loyalty to the Company, for acts or omissions not in good faith or involving
intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of the law, for improper
distributions to stockholders and for any transaction from which the director
derives an improper personal benefit. This provision also does not affect a
director's liability under other laws, such as the federal securities laws.
The Company's By-Laws provide that the Company will indemnify its directors
and executive officers and may indemnify its other officers and employees and
other agents to the fullest extent permitted by Delaware law. The Company
believes that indemnification under its By-Laws covers at least negligence and
gross negligence on the part of indemnified parties. The Company's By-Laws also
permit it to enter into indemnification agreements with its directors and
officers and to purchase insurance on behalf of any person whom it is required
or permitted to indemnify. Prior to completion of this Offering, the Company
intends to enter into indemnification agreements with each of its executive
officers and directors, indemnifying them for certain expenses (including
attorneys' fees), judgments, fines and settlement payments in certain
circumstances, and to obtain a policy of directors' and officers' liability
insurance to insure against certain liabilities.
There is no pending litigation or proceeding involving a director or officer
of the Company for which indemnification is required or permitted, and the
Company is not aware of any pending or threatened litigation that may result in
claims for indemnification by any director or officer.
49
<PAGE>
CERTAIN TRANSACTIONS
In July 1995, the Company borrowed $830,000 under a 90-day line of credit,
at the prime rate plus 3% per annum, from a lending group comprised of Galen
Partners, L.P., Galen Partners International, L.P. and Marquette Venture
Partners, L.P., stockholders of the Company, and John Patience, Jack W. Schuler
and Peter Vardy, directors of the Company. The Company's notes to the members of
the lending group were secured by the Company's accounts receivable. In
connection with this line of credit, the Company issued warrants to members of
the lending group to purchase an aggregate of 220,559 shares of Common Stock.
These warrants expire in July 2000 and are exercisable at any time at the price
of $1.59 per share. As of June 1, 1996, warrants for 59,127 shares had been
exercised.
In May 1996, the Company borrowed $1,000,000 under a short-term loan from a
lending group comprised of Galen Partners, L.P. and Galen Partners
International, L.P., stockholders of the Company, Jack W. Schuler, Mark C.
Miller, John Patience and Peter Vardy, directors of the Company (and, in Mr.
Miller's case, also an executive officer) and Michael J. Bernert, James F.
Polark and Anthony J. Tomasello, executive officers of the Company. The
Company's notes to the members of the lending group are interest-free if paid
when due, subject to certain exceptions, and are due within 30 days after
completion of this Offering or upon the occurrence of certain other events. The
notes are unsecured and are subordinated to certain bank and other debt. In
connection with this loan, the Company issued warrants to members of the lending
group to purchase an aggregate of 226,036 shares of Common Stock. These warrants
expire in May 2001 and are exercisable at any time at a price of $7.96 per
share. The Company will record as an interest expense the excess over the
exercise price of the fair market value at the time of exercise of the shares of
Common Stock for which any warrant is exercised. Each warrant may be exercised
by the holder at any time by directing the Company to withhold in payment, from
the shares of Common Stock otherwise issuable upon the exercise of the warrant,
a number of shares of Common Stock having a fair market value on the date of
exercise equal to the exercise price. In connection with the loan, the Company
also amended the warrants issued in connection with the July 1995 line of credit
held by members of the lending group to add a similar "cashless exercise"
provision to those warrants.
In June 1996, the Company loaned $31,000 to Richard O. Shea, an executive
officer of the Company. This loan has an interest rate of 11.75% per annum. The
Company previously made two loans to Mr. Shea of $60,000 and $5,000,
respectively, which remain outstanding. These loans have interest rates of 5.54%
per annum. All three loans are due on December 2, 1998 and are secured by a
security interest in all of Mr. Shea's shares of Common Stock, including any
shares issuable upon his exercise of any stock options.
50
<PAGE>
PRINCIPAL STOCKHOLDERS
The following table sets forth certain information regarding the beneficial
ownership of the Company's Common Stock as of June 1, 1996, and as adjusted to
reflect the sale by the Company of the shares of Common Stock offered hereby, by
(i) each person known to the Company to beneficially own more than 5% of the
Company's Common Stock, (ii) each of the Company's directors, (iii) each of the
Named Executive Officers and (iv) all directors and executive officers of the
Company as a group:
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
PERCENTAGE BENEFICIALLY
OWNED (1)
------------------------
NUMBER OF BEFORE AFTER
NAME OF BENEFICIAL OWNER SHARES (1) OFFERING OFFERING
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------- ----------- -----------
<S> <C> <C> <C>
Marquette Venture Partners, L.P. (2) ............................................. 1,154,731 18.7% 12.5%
Corporate 500 Center
520 Lake Cook Road, Suite 450
Deerfield, Illinois 60015
State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company ................................... 937,521 15.3% 10.2%
One State Farm Plaza
Bloomington, Illinois 61710
Missner Venture Partners II, L.P. (3) ............................................ 466,212 7.6% 5.1%
Two First National Bank Plaza, Suite 2020
Chicago, Illinois 60603
Baxter Healthcare Corporation .................................................... 461,028 7.5% 5.0%
One Baxter Parkway
Deerfield, Illinois 60015
Galen Partners, L.P (4) .......................................................... 433,476 7.0% 4.7%
666 West Third Avenue, Suite 1400
New York, New York 10017
Jack W. Schuler (5)............................................................... 813,382 13.0% 8.7%
Mark C. Miller (6)................................................................ 558,171 9.0% 6.0%
Linda D. Lee (7).................................................................. 55,333 * *
Anthony J. Tomasello (8).......................................................... 131,003 2.1% 1.4%
Michael J. Bernert (9)............................................................ 52,590 * *
Richard O. Shea (10).............................................................. 55,315 * *
Patrick F. Graham (11)............................................................ 35,727 * *
John Patience (12)................................................................ 200,858 3.3% 2.2%
Lloyd D. Ruth (2)................................................................. -- * *
Peter Vardy (13).................................................................. 160,107 2.6% 1.7%
L. John Wilkerson, Ph.D. (14)..................................................... -- * *
All officers and directors as a group (11 persons) (15)........................... 2,120,119 31.8% 21.7%
</TABLE>
- ------------------------
* Less than 1%.
(1)Beneficial ownership is determined in accordance with the rules of the
Securities and Exchange Commission and generally includes voting or
investment power with respect to securities. Unless otherwise indicated in
the footnotes to this table and subject to applicable community property
laws, the persons named in this table have sole voting and investment power
with respect to all shares of Common Stock shown as beneficially owned by
them. Shares of Common Stock subject to options or warrants that are
currently exercisable or exercisable within 60 days of June 1, 1996 are
considered outstanding for purposes of computing the percentage of the
person holding the option or warrant but are not considered for purposes of
computing the percentage of any other person. The 98,001 shares of Common
Stock issuable under the Safe Way Note are considered outstanding after
completion of this Offering.
(2)Includes 53,811 shares issuable under a warrant exercisable within 60 days
of June 1, 1996. Lloyd D. Ruth, a director of the Company, is a general
partner of the general partner of Marquette Venture Partners, L.P.
51
<PAGE>
("Marquette"). Mr. Ruth disclaims any beneficial ownership in any of the
shares held by Marquette except to the extent of his pecuniary interest
arising from his general partnership interest in the general partner of
Marquette.
(3)Includes 35,414 shares owned by Richard H. Missner, who is a general partner
and a limited partner of Missner Venture Partners II, L.P. ("Missner
Partners"). Mr. Missner disclaims any beneficial ownership of the shares
held by Missner Partners except to the extent of his individual ownership
and his pecuniary interest arising from his general partnership and limited
partnership interests in Missner Partners.
(4)Includes 81,374 shares issuable under a warrant exercisable within 60 days
of June 1, 1996 and 40,459 shares (including 8,377 shares issuable under a
warrant exercisable within 60 days of June 1, 1996) which are owned by an
affiliate, Galen Partners International, L.P. L. John Wilkerson, Ph.D., a
director of the Company, is a general partner of the general partner of
Galen Partners, L.P. and Galen Partners International, L.P. Dr. Wilkerson
disclaims any beneficial ownership of the shares held by Galen Partners,
L.P. or Galen Partners International, L.P. except to the extent of his
individual ownership and his pecuniary interest arising from his general
partnership interest in their general partner.
(5)Includes 88,394 shares issuable under warrants exercisable within 60 days of
June 1, 1996, 39,643 shares issuable under stock options exercisable within
60 days of June 1, 1996 and 32,716 shares owned by Mr. Schuler's wife or
trusts for the benefit of his children, in respect of which Mr. Schuler
disclaims any beneficial ownership.
(6)Includes 27,509 shares issuable under stock options exercisable within 60
days of June 1, 1996 and 63,290 shares issuable under a warrant exercisable
within 60 days of June 1, 1996, and 75,345 shares owned by trusts for the
benefit of Mr. Miller's children, in respect of which Mr. Miller disclaims
any beneficial ownership.
(7)Includes 25,519 shares issuable under stock options exercisable within 60
days of June 1, 1996.
(8)Includes 29,687 shares issuable under stock options exercisable within 60
days of June 1, 1996 and 12,432 shares issuable under a warrant exercisable
within 60 days of June 1, 1996.
(9)Includes 40,041 shares issuable under stock options exercisable within 60
days of June 1, 1996 and 11,302 shares issuable under a warrant exercisable
within 60 days of June 1, 1996.
(10)Includes 43,544 shares issuable under stock options exercisable within 60
days of June 1, 1996.
(11)Includes 31,087 shares issuable under stock options exercisable within 60
days of June 1, 1996.
(12)Includes 1,627 shares issuable under stock options exercisable within 60
days of June 1, 1996 and 34,583 shares issuable under a warrant exercisable
within 60 days of June 1, 1996.
(13)Includes 22,966 shares issuable under a warrant exercisable within 60 days
of June 1, 1996, 1,780 shares issuable under options exercisable within 60
days of June 1, 1996 and 67,613 shares owned by trusts for the benefit of
Mr. Vardy's children, in respect of which Mr. Vardy disclaims any beneficial
ownership.
(14)L. John Wilkerson, Ph.D., a director of the Company, is a general partner of
the general partner of Galen Partners, L.P. and Galen Partners
International, L.P. Dr. Wilkerson disclaims any beneficial ownership of the
shares held by Galen Partners, L.P. or Galen Partners International, L.P.
except to the extent of his individual ownership and his pecuniary interest
arising from his general partnership interest in their general partner.
(15)Includes 286,769 shares issuable under stock options exercisable within 60
days of June 1, 1996 and 244,269 shares issuable under warrants exercisable
within 60 days of June 1, 1996.
52
<PAGE>
DESCRIPTION OF CAPITAL STOCK
The Company's authorized capital stock consists of 30,000,000 shares of
Common Stock, par value $.01 per share. The following description reflects a
1-for-5.3089 reverse stock split effected in August 1996 pursuant to which each
outstanding share of the Company's Class A and Class B common stock became
0.1883629 share of Common Stock, and the underlying class of stock and number of
shares issuable upon exercise, and the exercise price per share, of each
outstanding option and warrant were adjusted accordingly. See "-- Reverse Stock
Split."
COMMON STOCK
As of June 1, 1996, there were 6,120,454 shares of Common Stock outstanding
which were held of record by 160 stockholders.
Holders of Common Stock are entitled to one vote per share on all matters to
be voted upon by the stockholders but do not have cumulative voting rights in
respect of the election of directors. Holders of Common Stock are entitled to
receive ratably such dividends, if any, as may be declared from time to time by
the Company's Board of Directors out of legally available funds. In the event of
the liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the Company, holders of Common
Stock are entitled to share ratably in all of the assets of the Company
remaining after payment or provision for payment of the Company's liabilities.
Holders of Common Stock have no preemptive or other subscription rights to
purchase any securities of the Company, and there are no conversion rights or
redemption or sinking fund provisions in respect the Common Stock. All
outstanding shares of Class A and Class B common stock are, and all shares of
Common Stock to be outstanding upon completion of this Offering will be, fully
paid and non-assessable. All information in this Prospectus, including the
Consolidated Financial Statements, Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements
and related Notes thereto, relating to the number of shares of Common Stock
outstanding as of and after June 1, 1996 assumes the release to the Company from
the Safe Way Escrow, in satisfaction of certain of the Company's indemnification
claims against Safe Way, of 36,168 shares of Common Stock and the Company's
subsequent cancellation of the shares released. See "Business -- Regulatory and
Legal Proceedings."
WARRANTS
As of June 1, 1996, there were outstanding warrants to purchase 409,246
shares of Common Stock, all of which were then exercisable at a weighted average
exercise price of $6.85 per share. Of these outstanding warrants, warrants for
15,005 shares of Common Stock, at an exercise price of $18.58 per share, expire
in March 1998; warrants for 6,773 shares of Common Stock, at an exercise price
of $69.02 per share, expire in March 1999; warrants for 161,432 shares of Common
Stock, at an exercise price of $1.59 per share, expire in July 2000; and
warrants for 226,036 shares of Common Stock, at an exercise price of $7.96,
expire in May 2001. Holders of the warrants expiring in March 1998 and March
1999 are entitled to certain rights in respect of the registration under the
Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), of the shares of
Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants. See "-- Registration Rights
of Certain Holders."
OPTIONS
As of June 1, 1996, there were outstanding options to purchase 718,443
shares of Common Stock, at a weighted average exercise price of $0.97 per share,
of which options for 414,030 shares, at a weighted average exercise price of
$0.69 per share, were exercisable within 60 days of June 1, 1996. With the
exception of options for 9,943 shares, which were granted under terminated plans
and are held by former employees and vendors to the Company and options for
11,537 shares issued to consultants engaged by the Company, all of these
outstanding options were granted under the 1995 Stock Plan. See "Management --
Stock Option Plans."
REGISTRATION RIGHTS OF CERTAIN HOLDERS
Upon completion of this Offering, holders of 5,227,608 shares of Common
Stock (including 21,778 shares issuable upon the exercise of certain of the
Company's outstanding warrants and 98,001 shares to be issued in partial payment
of an outstanding note due upon completion of this Offering) (the "Registrable
Shares") will be entitled to certain rights in respect of the registration of
the Registrable Shares under the Securities Act. Under the Amended and Restated
Registration Agreement dated October 19, 1994, as amended, among the Company and
such holders, holders of a majority of the Registrable Shares have the right,
until the Company is eligible to file a registration statement on Form S-2 or
Form S-3, to request on two occasions that the Company file a registration
statement on Form S-1 to register all or a portion of their Registrable Shares.
If and when the Company is eligible to file a registration statement on Form S-2
or Form S-3, holders of at least 25% of the Registrable Shares have the
53
<PAGE>
right to request on an unlimited number of occasions that the Company file a
registration statement on Form S-2 or Form S-3 to register all or a portion of
their Registrable Shares. In addition, one holder of 937,521 Registrable Shares
has the right, which may be exercised at any time, to request on two occasions
that the Company file a registration statement on any available form to register
all or a portion of its Registrable Shares; and a second holder of 461,028
Registrable Shares has the right, which may be exercised at any time after
completion of this Offering, to request on one occasion that the Company file a
registration statement on any available form to register all or a portion of its
Registrable Shares. If the Company proposes at any time to register any of its
securities under the Securities Act, either for its own account or for the
account of other security holders exercising registration rights, all holders of
Registrable Shares are entitled to notice of the proposed registration and may
request all or a portion of their Registrable Shares to be included in the
registration. In general, the Company is required to pay all of the expenses in
connection with any registration of Registrable Shares, including the fees and
expenses of one counsel for the selling holder or holders of Registrable Shares
but excluding underwriting discounts and commissions. The rights of holders of
Registrable Shares are subject to certain conditions and limitations, including
(i) a prohibition on the registration of any Registrable Shares within six
months after the effective date of any prior registration of Registrable Shares
and (ii) in the case of any proposed registration of the Company's securities
which are to be sold in an underwritten public offering, the right of the
underwriters to limit the number of Registrable Shares that may be included in
the registration.
LIMITED REDEMPTION RIGHTS OF ONE HOLDER
Under the Company's alliance agreement with Baxter, Baxter has the right,
solely until the expiration or earlier termination of its 180-day "lock-up"
agreement with the Managing Underwriters, to require the Company to redeem all
of Baxter's 461,028 shares of Common Stock under certain limited circumstances
which are not within Baxter's control: if the Company willfully breaches or
defaults under the alliance agreement; if a competitor of Baxter's acquires
control of the Company; if the Company sells or distributes hospital or medical
products or services as part of a program like Baxter's procedure-based delivery
system; or if the Company enters into an agreement with a third party to provide
regulated medical waste management services to its customers in connection with
a program by the third party like Baxter's procedure-based delivery system. The
redemption price has not yet been renegotiated to take into account intervening
changes in the character of Baxter's equity investment in the Company. There can
be no assurance that the redemption price in the event of any such redemption
will not be substantially in excess of the initial public offering price or the
fair market value of the Common Stock at the time of redemption. See "Business
- -- Marketing and Sales -- Core Generators" and "Shares Eligible for Future
Sale."
ANTI-TAKEOVER PROVISIONS OF DELAWARE LAW
The Company is subject to Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation
Law regulating corporate takeovers. Section 203 prevents certain Delaware
corporations, including those whose securities are listed on Nasdaq, from
engaging in any "business combination" with any "interested stockholder" for a
period of three years following the date that the stockholder became an
interested stockholder, with three exceptions: (i) prior to such date, the board
of directors of the corporation approved either the business combination or the
transaction which resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested
stockholder; (ii) upon the consummation of the transaction which resulted in the
stockholder becoming an interested stockholder, the interested stockholder owned
at least 85% of the voting stock of the corporation outstanding at the time that
the transaction commenced, excluding for purposes of determining the number of
shares outstanding the shares owned by persons who are both directors and
officers of the corporation and the shares owned by employee stock plans in
which employee participants do not have the right to determine confidentially
whether shares held subject to the plan will be tendered in a tender or exchange
offer; or (iii) on or subsequent to the date that the stockholder became an
interested stockholder, the business combination is approved by the board of
directors of the corporation and authorized at an annual or special meeting of
stockholders, and not pursuant to written consent, by the affirmative vote of at
least 66 2/3% of the outstanding voting stock of the corporation, excluding
voting stock owned by the interested stockholder. The restrictions in Section
203 also do not apply to certain business combinations proposed by an interested
stockholder following the announcement or notification of one of certain
extraordinary transactions involving the corporation (for example, a proposed
tender or exchange offer for 50% or more of the corporation's outstanding voting
stock)
54
<PAGE>
which is approved or not opposed by a majority of the corporation's directors
then in office and which is with or by a person who had not been an interested
stockholder during the preceding three years or who became an interested
stockholder with the approval of the corporation's board of directors.
Section 203 defines a "business combination" as, in general: (i) any merger
or consolidation involving the corporation and the interested stockholder; (ii)
any sale, lease, transfer, pledge or other disposition to the interested
stockholder of 10% or more of the corporation's assets; (iii) subject to certain
exceptions, any transaction which results in the issuance or transfer by the
corporation to the interested stockholder of any stock of the corporation; (iv)
any transaction involving the corporation which has the effect of increasing the
proportionate share of the stock of any class or series, or of securities
convertible into the stock of any class or series, which is beneficially owned
by the interested stockholder; or (v) the receipt by the interested stockholder
of the benefit of any loans, advances, guarantees, pledges or other financial
benefits provided by or through the corporation. Section 203 defines an
"interested stockholder" as, in general, any person or entity who or which
directly or indirectly beneficially owns 15% or more of the outstanding voting
stock of the corporation and any person or entity affiliated or associated with
or controlling or controlled by that person or entity.
The provisions of Section 203 could operate to delay or prevent the removal
of incumbent directors of the Company or a change in control of the Company.
They also could discourage, impede or prevent a merger, tender offer or proxy
contest involving the Company, even if such an event would be favorable to the
interests of the Company's stockholders generally. By adopting an amendment to
the Company's certificate of incorporation or by-laws, the Company's
stockholders may elect not to have Section 203 apply to the Company effective 12
months after the adoption of the amendment. Neither the Company's Certificate of
Incorporation nor its By-Laws currently exclude the Company from the
restrictions imposed by Section 203.
1995 RECAPITALIZATION
In order to simplify the Company's capital structure and align stockholder
interests, the Board of Directors adopted a plan of recapitalization in August
1995 which was approved by the Company's stockholders in September 1995.
Pursuant to the plan of recapitalization, the Company authorized the issuance of
Class A and Class B common stock and reclassified its outstanding preferred
stock, consisting of nine classes, as shares of Class A common stock using a
reclassification formula for each class reflecting the conversion rate for that
class and certain other adjustments. The Company also reclassified its
outstanding common stock as a like number of shares of Class A common stock. The
new Class B common stock could be issued only pursuant to the exercise of
options granted and restricted stock awarded under the 1995 Stock Plan. The
Class B common stock was subject to certain first refusal rights in the event of
any proposed sale or transfer at the lower of the original exercise or purchase
price or the price to be paid by the proposed purchaser or transferee.
REVERSE STOCK SPLIT
In August 1996, the Company effected a 1-for-5.3089 reverse stock split
pursuant to which each outstanding share of Class A and Class B common stock
became 0.1883629 share of Common Stock, and the underlying class of stock and
number of shares issuable upon exercise, and the exercise price per share, of
each outstanding option and warrant were adjusted accordingly.
TRANSFER AGENT AND REGISTRAR
The transfer agent and registrar for the Common Stock is Harris Trust and
Savings Bank.
SHARES ELIGIBLE FOR FUTURE SALE
Prior to this Offering, there has been no public market for the Common Stock
of the Company. Future sales of substantial amounts of Common Stock in the
public market could adversely affect the market price of Common Stock. Aside
from the 3,000,000 shares sold in this Offering, only a limited number of shares
will be available for sale immediately following completion of this Offering
because of certain contractual and legal restrictions on resale (as described
below). Accordingly, sales of substantial amounts of Common Stock of the Company
in the public market after these restrictions lapse could adversely affect the
prevailing market price and the ability of the Company to raise equity capital
in the future.
Upon completion of this Offering, the Company will have outstanding an
aggregate of 9,218,455 shares of Common Stock, after giving effect to the
issuance of 98,001 shares of Common Stock in partial payment of the Safe Way
Note upon completion of this Offering, and assuming no exercise of the
Underwriters' over-allotment option
55
<PAGE>
and no exercise of outstanding stock options and warrants. Of these outstanding
shares of Common Stock, the 3,000,000 shares sold in this Offering will be
freely tradeable without restriction or further registration under the
Securities Act, unless purchased by an "affiliate" of the Company as that term
is defined in Rule 144 under the Securities Act.
The remaining 6,218,455 shares of Common Stock held by existing stockholders
(the "Restricted Shares") will be "restricted securities" as that term is
defined in Rule 144 under the Securities Act. The Restricted Shares may be sold
in the public market only if they are registered under the Securities Act or if
they qualify for an exemption from registration under Rule 144 under the
Securities Act (which is summarized below). Sales of the Restricted Shares in
the public market, or the availability of the Restricted Shares for sale, could
adversely affect the market price of the Common Stock.
Certain stockholders of the Company, including all executive officers and
directors and the individuals and entities named in the table under "Principal
Stockholders," who will beneficially own in the aggregate 5,407,728 Restricted
Shares after the Offering, have entered into "lock-up" agreements with the
Managing Underwriters pursuant to which they have agreed not to offer, sell,
contract to sell, grant any option to purchase or otherwise dispose of, directly
or indirectly, any of their Restricted Shares, or any shares of Common Stock
that they may acquire through the exercise of stock options or warrants, or to
exercise any of their registration rights in respect of their shares of Common
Stock, for a period of 180 days from the date of this Prospectus without the
prior written consent of Dillon, Read & Co. Inc. on behalf of the Managing
Underwriters. As a result of these contractual restrictions, shares of Common
Stock subject to the lock-up agreements are restricted from sale until the
lock-up agreements expire, notwithstanding that they otherwise may be eligible
for sale under Rule 144. Upon the expiration of the lock-up agreements, shares
will be eligible for sale pursuant to Rule 144.
In general, under Rule 144 as currently in effect, beginning 90 days after
the date of this Prospectus, a person (or persons whose shares are required to
be aggregated) who has beneficially owned Restricted Shares for at least two
years (including the holding period of any prior beneficial owner except an
affiliate of the Company) would be entitled to sell during any three-month
period a number of Restricted Shares that does not exceed the greater of (i) 1%
of the number of shares of Common Stock then outstanding or (ii) the average
weekly trading volume of the Common Stock during the four calendar weeks
preceding the filing of the required notice of sale on Form 144. Sales of
Restricted Shares under Rule 144 are also subject to compliance with certain
conditions relating to the manner of sale, the requirement to file notice of the
sale with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Form 144 and the
availability of current public information about the Company. Under Rule 144(k),
a person who is not deemed to have been an affiliate of the Company at any time
during the 90 days preceding a sale, and who has beneficially owned the
Restricted Shares proposed to be sold for at least three years (including the
holding period of any prior owner except an affiliate), may sell the Restricted
Shares under Rule 144 without regard to any volume limitation or other
conditions or requirements of the rule. Accordingly, unless otherwise
restricted, holders of Restricted Shares who are eligible to use Rule 144(k) may
sell their shares immediately upon completion of this Offering.
As of June 1, 1996, there were outstanding options under the 1995 Stock Plan
to purchase 696,962 shares of Common Stock, of which options for 397,555 shares
were exercisable within 60 days of June 1, 1996. Of the options exercisable
within 60 days of June 1, 1996, options for 286,769 shares were held by officers
and directors of the Company subject to the lock-up agreements described above.
Shortly after completion of this Offering, the Company intends to file a
registration statement on Form S-8 to register the 1,500,000 shares of Common
Stock issued or issuable under the 1995 Stock Plan and the 285,000 shares of
Common Stock issuable under the Directors Plan. This registration statement will
become effective automatically upon filing. Accordingly, shares registered under
this registration statement will be available for sale in the public market,
subject to the volume limitations under Rule 144 in the case of sales by
affiliates of the Company, except to the extent that the shares are subject to
contractual restrictions on sale under the lock-up agreements described above.
As of June 1, 1996, there were also other options outstanding to purchase
21,481 shares of Common Stock, of which options for 16,475 shares were
exercisable within 60 days of June 1, 1996.
As of June 1, 1996, there were outstanding warrants to purchase 409,246
shares of Common Stock, all of which were then exercisable. Holders of warrants
to purchase 387,829 shares of Common Stock are subject to the lock-up agreements
described above.
56
<PAGE>
UNDERWRITING
The names of the Underwriters of the shares of Common Stock offered hereby
and the aggregate number of shares of Common Stock that each of them has agreed
to purchase from the Company, subject to the terms and conditions specified in
the Underwriting Agreement, are as follows:
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
UNDERWRITERS NUMBER OF SHARES
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------
<S> <C>
Dillon, Read & Co. Inc..................................................... 570,000
Salomon Brothers Inc....................................................... 570,000
William Blair & Company L.L.C.............................................. 570,000
Advest, Inc................................................................ 30,000
Auerbach Pollak & Richardson Inc........................................... 20,000
Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc.................................................... 50,000
J. C. Bradford & Co........................................................ 30,000
Alex. Brown & Sons Incorporated............................................ 50,000
The Chicago Corporation.................................................... 30,000
Cleary Gull Reiland & McDevitt Inc......................................... 30,000
Dain Bosworth Incorporated................................................. 30,000
Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities Corporation........................ 50,000
A. G. Edwards & Sons, Inc.................................................. 50,000
Everen Securities, Inc..................................................... 30,000
Fahnestock & Co. Inc....................................................... 30,000
First Analysis Securities Corporation...................................... 50,000
Gruntal & Co., Incorporated................................................ 30,000
Hambrecht & Quist LLC...................................................... 50,000
J.J.B. Hilliard, W.L. Lyons, Inc........................................... 20,000
Janney Montgomery Scott Inc................................................ 30,000
Edward D. Jones & Co....................................................... 30,000
Lazard Freres & Co. LLC.................................................... 50,000
Lehman Brothers Inc........................................................ 50,000
McDonald & Company Securities, Inc......................................... 30,000
Montgomery Securities...................................................... 50,000
David A. Noyes & Company................................................... 20,000
Oppenheimer & Co., Inc..................................................... 50,000
Painewebber Incorporated................................................... 50,000
Parker/Hunter Incorporated................................................. 20,000
Pennsylvania Merchant Group Ltd............................................ 20,000
Piper Jaffray Inc.......................................................... 30,000
Prudential Securities Incorporated......................................... 50,000
Raymond James & Associates, Inc............................................ 30,000
Robertson, Stephens & Company LLC.......................................... 50,000
The Robinson-Humphrey Company, Inc......................................... 30,000
Rodman & Renshaw, Inc...................................................... 30,000
Roney & Co., L.L.C......................................................... 20,000
Schroder Wertheim & Co. Incorporated....................................... 50,000
Wellington (H.G.) & Co. Inc................................................ 20,000
--------
Total................................................................ 3,000,000
--------
--------
</TABLE>
The Managing Underwriters are Dillon, Read & Co. Inc., Salomon Brothers Inc
and William Blair & Company L.L.C.
57
<PAGE>
If any shares of Common Stock offered hereby are purchased by the
Underwriters, all such shares will be so purchased. The Underwriting Agreement
contains certain provisions whereby, if any Underwriter defaults in its
obligation to purchase such shares, and the aggregate obligations of the
Underwriters so defaulting do not exceed 10% of the shares offered hereby, the
remaining Underwriters, or some of them, must assume such obligations.
The Common Stock offered hereby is being initially offered severally by the
Underwriters for sale at the price set forth on the cover page of this
Prospectus, or at such price less a concession not to exceed $0.37 per share on
sales to certain dealers. The Underwriters may allow, and such dealers may
reallow, a concession not to exceed $0.10 per share on sales to certain other
dealers. The offering of shares is made for delivery when, as, and if accepted
by the Underwriters and subject to prior sale and withdrawal, cancellation or
modification of the offer without notice. The Underwriters reserve the right to
reject any order for the purchase of the shares. After the initial public
offering, the public offering price, the concession and the reallowance may be
changed by the Managing Underwriters.
The Company has granted to the Underwriters an over-allotment option to
purchase up to an aggregate of 450,000 shares of Common Stock. If the
Underwriters exercise this option, each of the Underwriters will have a firm
commitment, subject to certain conditions, to purchase approximately the same
percentage of the aggregate shares to be purchased as the number of shares to be
purchased by it shown in the above table bears to 3,000,000. The Underwriters
may exercise such option on or before the thirtieth day from the date of the
Underwriting Agreement and only to cover over-allotments made of the shares in
connection with this Offering.
The Company has agreed in the Underwriting Agreement to indemnify the
Underwriters against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the
Securities Act, or to contribute to payments that the Underwriters may be
required to make in respect thereof.
The Company and certain of its officers, directors and stockholders prior to
this Offering have agreed not to offer, sell, contract to sell, grant any option
to sell, or otherwise dispose of, directly or indirectly, any shares of Common
Stock, or securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for, any
shares of Common Stock or warrants or other rights to purchase shares of Common
Stock, or permit the registration of any shares of Common Stock for a period of
180 days after the date of this Prospectus, without the prior consent of Dillon,
Read & Co. Inc. acting on behalf of the Managing Underwriters.
Prior to this Offering, there has been no public market for the Common Stock
of the Company. Consequently, the initial public offering price was determined
by negotiation between the Company and the Managing Underwriters. Factors
considered in determining this price included, among other things, prevailing
market conditions, the state of the Company's development, the future prospects
of the Company and its industry, market valuations of securities of companies
engaged in activities deemed by the Managing Underwriters to be similar to those
of the Company, and other factors deemed relevant. Consideration was also given
to the general state of the securities market, the market conditions for new
issues of securities and the demand for similar securities of comparable
companies. The Common Stock has been approved for quotation on Nasdaq under the
symbol "SRCL."
The Underwriters do not expect to confirm sales to accounts over which they
exercise discretionary authority.
At the request of the Company, the Underwriters have reserved up to 150,000
shares of Common Stock for sale at the initial offering price to employees of
the Company and certain other parties. The number of shares available for sale
to the general public will be reduced to the extent such individuals purchase
such reserved shares. Any reserved shares not so purchased will be released for
sale by the Underwriters to the general public no later than the closing date of
this Offering (which is expected to be three business days after the date of
this Prospectus) on the same terms as the other shares offered hereby. Reserved
shares purchased by such individuals will, except as restricted by applicable
securities laws, be available for resale following this Offering.
LEGAL MATTERS
Certain legal matters in connection with the Common Stock offered hereby are
being passed upon for the Company by Johnson and Colmar, Chicago, Illinois and
for the Underwriters by Cahill Gordon & Reindel (a partnership including a
professional corporation), New York, New York.
58
<PAGE>
EXPERTS
The consolidated financial statements of Stericycle, Inc. and subsidiaries
at December 31, 1994 and 1995, and for each of the three years in the period
ended December 31, 1995, appearing in this Prospectus and in the Registration
Statement have been audited by Ernst & Young LLP, independent auditors, as set
forth in their report with respect thereto, appearing elsewhere herein and in
the Registration Statement and are included in reliance upon such report given
upon the authority of such firm as experts in accounting and auditing.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
This Prospectus forms part of a Registration Statement on Form S-1 (the
"Registration Statement") which the Company has filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission (the "Commission") under the Securities Act. In accordance
with the Commission's rules and regulations, this Prospectus omits certain of
the information in the Registration Statement and all of its exhibits, and
reference is made to the Registration Statement and its exhibits for further
information relating to the Company and the Common Stock offered hereby. Copies
of the Registration Statement and its exhibits may be inspected without charge
at the public reference facilities maintained by the Commission at 450 Fifth
Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20549, and copies of this material can be
obtained from the Public Reference Section of the Commission at 450 Fifth
Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20549 at prescribed rates. In addition, the
Commission maintains a Web site on the World Wide Web, and copies of the
Registration Statement and its exhibits may be accessed at this Web site
(http://www.sec.gov). Statements in this Prospectus concerning the provisions of
any contract or document are not necessarily complete, and each such statement
is qualified in its entirety by reference to the copy of the relevant contract
or document filed as an exhibit to the Registration Statement.
59
<PAGE>
STERICYCLE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
INDEX TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
PAGE
-----
<S> <C>
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT AUDITORS............................................................................. F-2
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS AT DECEMBER 31, 1994 AND 1995.................................................. F-3
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS FOR EACH OF THE YEARS IN THE THREE-YEAR PERIOD ENDED DECEMBER 31,
1995...................................................................................................... F-4
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY (NET CAPITAL DEFICIENCY) FOR EACH OF THE YEARS
IN THE THREE-YEAR PERIOD ENDED DECEMBER 31, 1995.......................................................... F-5
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS FOR EACH OF THE YEARS IN THE THREE-YEAR PERIOD ENDED DECEMBER 31,
1995...................................................................................................... F-6
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS................................................................. F-7
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET AT JUNE 30, 1996 (UNAUDITED).......................................... F-16
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED JUNE 30, 1995 AND 1996
(UNAUDITED)............................................................................................... F-17
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED JUNE 30, 1996
(UNAUDITED)............................................................................................... F-18
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED JUNE 30, 1995 AND 1996
(UNAUDITED)............................................................................................... F-19
NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (UNAUDITED)........................................... F-20
</TABLE>
F-1
<PAGE>
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT AUDITORS
The Board of Directors and Shareholders
Stericycle, Inc.
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Stericycle,
Inc. and Subsidiaries as of December 31, 1994 and 1995, and the related
consolidated statements of operations, changes in shareholders' equity (net
capital deficiency), and cash flows for each of the years in the three-year
period ended December 31, 1995. These consolidated financial statements are the
responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an
opinion on these consolidated financial statements based on our audits.
We conducted our audits in accordance with generally accepted auditing
standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain
reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material
misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting
the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes
assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by
management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation.
We believe our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements referred to above
present fairly, in all material respects, the consolidated financial position of
Stericycle, Inc. and Subsidiaries at December 31, 1994 and 1995, and the
consolidated results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the
years in the three-year period ended December 31, 1995, in conformity with
generally accepted accounting principles.
ERNST & YOUNG LLP
Chicago, Illinois
March 20, 1996,
except for the first paragraph of Note 7,
as to which the date is August 19, 1996
F-2
<PAGE>
STERICYCLE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
DECEMBER 31,
----------------
1994 1995
------- -------
(IN THOUSANDS)
<S> <C> <C>
ASSETS
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents................................................................. $ 1,206 $ 138
Accounts receivable, less allowance for doubtful accounts
of $150 in 1994 and $138 in 1995......................................................... 4,817 3,731
Parts and supplies........................................................................ 603 468
Prepaid expenses.......................................................................... 405 431
Other current assets...................................................................... 657 424
------- -------
Total current assets.................................................................... 7,688 5,192
Property, plant and equipment:
Land...................................................................................... 90 90
Buildings and improvements................................................................ 5,348 5,394
Machinery and equipment................................................................... 7,240 7,644
Office equipment and furniture............................................................ 390 406
Construction in progress.................................................................. 784 281
------- -------
13,852 13,815
Less accumulated depreciation and amortization............................................ (2,219) (3,587)
------- -------
Property, plant and equipment-net....................................................... 11,633 10,228
------- -------
Other assets:
Organization costs, net................................................................... 75 32
Goodwill, less accumulated amortization
of $97 in 1994 and $417 in 1995.......................................................... 7,782 7,517
Other..................................................................................... 631 522
------- -------
Total other assets...................................................................... 8,488 8,071
------- -------
Total assets.......................................................................... $27,809 $23,491
------- -------
------- -------
</TABLE>
<TABLE>
<S> <C> <C>
LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY (NET CAPITAL DEFICIENCY)
Current liabilities:
Current portion of long-term debt......................................................... $ 603 $ 297
Accounts payable.......................................................................... 1,291 1,868
Accrued liabilities....................................................................... 2,655 1,956
Deferred revenue.......................................................................... 629 632
------- -------
Total current liabilities............................................................. 5,178 4,753
------- -------
Long-term debt:
Industrial development revenue bonds and other............................................ 2,358 2,284
Note payable to bank...................................................................... -- 858
Note payable.............................................................................. 2,480 2,480
------- -------
Total long-term debt.................................................................. 4,838 5,622
------- -------
Other liabilities......................................................................... 247 542
Convertible redeemable preferred stock (par value $.01 per share; 550,200 shares
authorized,
489,079 issued and outstanding in 1994; none in 1995).................................... 62,909 --
Shareholders' Equity (net capital deficiency):
Common stock (par value $.01 per share, 30,000,000 shares authorized, 369,808 issued and
outstanding in 1994, 5,582,385 issued and outstanding in 1995)........................... 4 55
Additional paid-in capital................................................................ 811 49,621
Accumulated dividends on convertible redeemable preferred stock........................... (13,001) --
Notes receivable for common stock purchases............................................... (619) --
Accumulated deficit....................................................................... (32,558) (37,102)
------- -------
Total shareholders' equity (net capital deficiency)..................................... (45,363) 12,574
------- -------
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity (net capital deficiency)................... $27,809 $23,491
------- -------
------- -------
</TABLE>
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-3
<PAGE>
STERICYCLE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT SHARE AND PER SHARE INFORMATION)
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31,
----------------------------------
1993 1994 1995
---------- ---------- ----------
<S> <C> <C> <C>
Revenues.................................................................... $ 9,141 $ 16,141 $ 21,339
Costs and expenses:
Cost of revenues............................................................ 9,137 13,922 17,478
Selling, general and administrative expenses................................ 5,988 7,927 8,137
---------- ---------- ----------
Total costs and expenses.................................................. 15,125 21,849 25,615
---------- ---------- ----------
Loss from operations........................................................ (5,984) (5,708) (4,276)
Other income (expense):
Interest income............................................................. 201 156 9
Interest expense............................................................ (245) (260) (277)
---------- ---------- ----------
Total other income (expense).............................................. (44) (104) (268)
---------- ---------- ----------
Net loss.................................................................... (6,028) (5,812) (4,544)
Less cumulative preferred dividends......................................... (3,733) (4,481) --
---------- ---------- ----------
Loss applicable to common stock............................................. $ (9,761) $ (10,293) $ (4,544)
---------- ---------- ----------
---------- ---------- ----------
Net loss per common share................................................... $ (4.63) $ (4.88) $ (0.65)
---------- ---------- ----------
---------- ---------- ----------
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding........................ 2,107,991 2,108,368 6,974,820
---------- ---------- ----------
---------- ---------- ----------
</TABLE>
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-4
<PAGE>
STERICYCLE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY
(NET CAPITAL DEFICIENCY)
YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 1993, 1994 AND 1995
(IN THOUSANDS)
COMMON STOCK
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
ACCUMULATED
DIVIDENDS
ON NOTES TOTAL
CONVERTIBLE RECEIVABLE SHAREHOLDERS'
ISSUED AND ADDITIONAL REDEEMABLE FOR COMMON EQUITY (NET
OUTSTANDING PAID-IN PREFERRED STOCK ACCUMULATED CAPITAL
SHARES AMOUNT CAPITAL STOCK PURCHASES DEFICIT DEFICIENCY)
----------- ------ ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------- -------------
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C>
BALANCES AT DECEMBER 31, 1992........... 372 $ 4 $ 813 $ (4,787) $(974) $(20,718) $(25,662)
Issuance of common stock................ 6 35 (4) 31
Shares repurchased and retired.......... (9) (37) 46 9
Accumulated dividends................... (3,733) (3,733)
Principal payments under notes
receivable............................. 277 277
Net loss for the year ended December 31,
1993................................... (6,028) (6,028)
----- ------ ---------- ---------- ----- ----------- -------------
BALANCES AT DECEMBER 31, 1993........... 369 $ 4 $ 811 $ (8,520) $(655) $(26,746) $(35,106)
Issuance of common stock................ 1
Accumulated dividends................... (4,481) (4,481)
Principal payments under notes
receivable............................. 36 36
Net loss for the year ended December 31,
1994................................... (5,812) (5,812)
----- ------ ---------- ---------- ----- ----------- -------------
BALANCES AT DECEMBER 31, 1994........... 370 $ 4 $ 811 $(13,001) $(619) $(32,558) $(45,363)
Common stock issued in exchange for
preferred stock........................ 5,043 50 49,439 49,489
Common stock issued -- $.01 per share... 350 3 3
Accumulated dividends canceled.......... 13,001 13,001
Notes receivable canceled............... (181) (2) (629) 619 (12)
Net loss for the year ended December 31,
1995................................... (4,544) (4,544)
----- ------ ---------- ---------- ----- ----------- -------------
BALANCES AT DECEMBER 31, 1995........... 5,582 $ 55 $49,621 $ -- $ -- $(37,102) $ 12,574
----- ------ ---------- ---------- ----- ----------- -------------
----- ------ ---------- ---------- ----- ----------- -------------
</TABLE>
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-5
<PAGE>
STERICYCLE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
FOR THE YEARS ENDED
DECEMBER 31,
-------------------------------
1993 1994 1995
--------- --------- ---------
(IN THOUSANDS)
<S> <C> <C> <C>
OPERATING ACTIVITIES:
Net loss........................................................................ $ (6,028) $ (5,812) $ (4,544)
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to
net cash used in operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization................................................... 869 1,306 1,916
Settlement with regulatory agency............................................... -- -- 273
Other, net...................................................................... 100 -- 129
Change in net operating assets, net of
effect of acquisitions and divestitures:
Accounts receivable............................................................. (800) (3,126) 866
Parts and supplies.............................................................. (84) (241) 135
Prepaid expenses and other current assets....................................... (174) (486) 196
Other assets.................................................................... (185) (278) 128
Accounts payable................................................................ (464) 879 570
Accrued liabilities............................................................. (1,026) 766 (838)
Deferred revenue and other liabilities.......................................... 2 280 298
--------- --------- ---------
Net cash used in operating activities............................................. (7,790) (6,712) (871)
--------- --------- ---------
INVESTING ACTIVITIES:
Capital expenditures............................................................ (3,368) (1,910) (726)
Payments for acquisitions, net of cash acquired................................. -- (1,530) (459)
Proceeds from divestitures...................................................... -- -- 792
Restricted certificate of deposit............................................... 285 -- --
--------- --------- ---------
Net cash used in investing activities............................................. (3,083) (3,440) (393)
--------- --------- ---------
FINANCING ACTIVITIES:
Repayment of long-term debt..................................................... (220) (79) (171)
Net proceeds from note payable to bank.......................................... -- -- 858
Proceeds from sale and leaseback of equipment................................... -- 882 --
Principal payments under capital lease obligations.............................. (586) (629) (482)
Proceeds from issuance of convertible redeemable preferred stock................ 8,000 3,458 --
Repurchase of preferred stock................................................... (8) -- --
Principal payments on notes receivable for common stock purchases............... 319 36 --
Issuance of common stock........................................................ -- -- 18
Other........................................................................... -- -- (27)
--------- --------- ---------
Net cash provided by financing activities......................................... 7,505 3,668 196
--------- --------- ---------
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents....................................... (3,368) (6,484) (1,068)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year.................................... 11,058 7,690 1,206
--------- --------- ---------
Cash and cash equivalents at end of year.......................................... $ 7,690 $ 1,206 $ 138
--------- --------- ---------
--------- --------- ---------
</TABLE>
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-6
<PAGE>
STERICYCLE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
DECEMBER 31, 1995
NOTE 1 -- DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS
Stericycle, Inc. (the "Company") was incorporated in Delaware in March 1989
for the purpose of providing collection, transportation, treatment, disposal,
reduction, reuse and recycling services for regulated medical waste to hospitals
and other healthcare providers in the United States and Canada.
NOTE 2 -- SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
PRINCIPLES OF CONSOLIDATION:
The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Stericycle,
Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Stericycle of Arkansas, Inc., Stericycle
of Washington, Inc. and SWD Acquisition Corporation. All significant
intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated.
REVENUE RECOGNITION:
The Company recognizes revenue when the treatment of the infectious medical
waste is completed on-site or the waste is shipped off-site for processing and
disposal. For waste shipped off-site, all associated costs are recognized at
time of shipment.
CASH EQUIVALENTS:
The Company considers all highly liquid instruments with a maturity of less
than three months when purchased to be cash equivalents.
PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT:
Property, plant and equipment are stated at cost. Depreciation and
amortization, which includes the amortization of assets recorded under capital
leases, are computed using the straight-line method over the estimated useful
lives of the assets as follows:
Buildings and Improvements -- 10 to 30 years
Machinery and Equipment -- 3 to 10 years
Office Equipment and Furniture -- 5 to 10 years.
ORGANIZATION COSTS:
Organization costs are amortized using the straight-line method over five
years. Accumulated amortization at December 31, 1994 and 1995 was $141,000 and
$184,000, respectively.
GOODWILL:
Goodwill is amortized using the straight-line method over 15 to 25 years.
The Company periodically assesses whether a change in circumstances has occurred
subsequent to an acquisition which would indicate that the future useful life or
carrying value of goodwill should be revised. The Company considers the future
earnings potential of the acquired business in assessing the recoverability of
goodwill.
NEW PLANT DEVELOPMENT AND PERMITTING COSTS:
The Company expenses costs associated with the operations of new plants
prior to the commencement of services to customers and all initial and on-going
costs related to permitting.
STOCK OPTIONS:
The Company accounts for stock options in accordance with Accounting
Principles Board Opinion No. 25, "Accounting for Stock Issued to Employees"
("APB 25"). In accordance with APB 25, as the exercise price of the Company's
employee stock options equals the fair value, as determined by the Company's
Board of Directors, of the underlying stock on the date of grant, no
compensation expense is recorded.
F-7
<PAGE>
STERICYCLE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)
DECEMBER 31, 1995
NOTE 2 -- SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (CONTINUED)
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT COSTS:
The Company expenses costs associated with research and development as
incurred. Research and development expense for 1993, 1994, and 1995 was
$231,000, $1,082,000, and $975,000, respectively.
INCOME TAXES:
Deferred income taxes reflect the net tax effects of temporary differences
between the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities for financial reporting
purposes and the amounts used for income tax purposes. Deferred tax liabilities
and assets are determined based on the difference between the financial
statement and tax basis of assets and liabilities using enacted tax rates in
effect for the year in which the differences are expected to reverse.
LONG-LIVED ASSETS:
In March 1995, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued Financial
Accounting Standards No. 121, "Accounting for the Impairment of Long-Lived
Assets and for Long-Lived Assets to Be Disposed Of" ("FAS 121"), which requires
impairment losses to be recorded on long-lived assets used in operations when
indicators of impairment are present and the undiscounted cash flows estimated
to be generated by those assets are less than the assets' carrying amount. FAS
121 also addresses the accounting for long-lived assets that are expected to be
disposed of. The Company adopted FAS 121 in 1996, the effect of which was not
material to the Company's financial position or results of operations.
FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS:
The Company's financial instruments consist of cash and cash equivalents,
accounts receivable and payable and long-term debt. The fair values of these
financial instruments were not materially different from their carrying values,
except for long-term debt as discussed in Note 5. Financial instruments which
potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist
principally of accounts receivable. The Company performs ongoing credit
evaluations of its customers and maintains allowances for potential credit
losses. These losses, when incurred, have been within the range of management's
expectations.
USE OF ESTIMATES:
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally
accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and
assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and
accompanying notes. Actual results could differ from those estimates.
EARNINGS PER SHARE:
Earnings per share computations are based on the weighted average number of
shares of common stock outstanding and include the dilutive effect of stock
options and warrants using the treasury stock method. The computations also
reflect the effect of the stock split and the redesignation of Class A common
stock and Class B common stock as common stock as discussed in Note 7.
Pursuant to the Securities and Exchange Commission Staff Accounting Bulletin
No. 83, stock options and warrants granted by the Company during the 12 months
immediately preceding the initial filing of a registration statement have been
included as common stock equivalents as if they were outstanding for all periods
presented, whether or not dilutive, because the sale or option price per share
was below the initial public offering price per share.
NOTE 3 -- INCOME TAXES
At December 31, 1995, the Company had net operating loss carryforwards for
income tax purposes of approximately $36,493,000, expiring beginning in 2004.
Based on the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and changes in the
ownership of the Company, utilization of the net operating loss carryforwards
may be subject to annual limitations, which could significantly restrict or
partially eliminate the utilization of the net operating losses.
F-8
<PAGE>
STERICYCLE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)
DECEMBER 31, 1995
NOTE 3 -- INCOME TAXES (CONTINUED)
The Company's deferred tax liabilities and assets as of December 31, 1994
and 1995 are as follows:
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
1994 1995
-------------- --------------
<S> <C> <C>
Deferred tax liabilities:
Property, plant, and equipment.............................. $ (280,000) $ (319,000)
Goodwill.................................................... (42,000) (122,000)
-------------- --------------
Total deferred tax liabilities................................ (322,000) (441,000)
Deferred tax assets:
Accrued liabilities......................................... 395,000 298,000
Capital lease obligations................................... 146,000 --
Research and development costs.............................. -- 324,000
Other....................................................... 60,000 190,000
Net operating tax loss carryforward......................... 13,214,000 14,597,000
-------------- --------------
Total deferred tax assets..................................... 13,815,000 15,409,000
-------------- --------------
Net deferred tax assets....................................... 13,493,000 14,968,000
Valuation allowance........................................... (13,493,000) (14,968,000)
-------------- --------------
Net deferred tax assets..................................... $ -- $ --
-------------- --------------
-------------- --------------
</TABLE>
NOTE 4 -- ACQUISITIONS AND DIVESTITURES
In January 1996, the Company purchased the customer list and certain other
assets of WMI Medical Services of New England, Inc. for $100,000 in cash and
$492,000 in notes payable issued to sellers.
In July 1995, the Company sold selected customer lists and related assets
for $248,000. The Company recognized a gain of $50,000 on this transaction,
which is included in the 1995 Consolidated Statement of Operations as Selling,
General and Administrative Expense.
In June 1995 the Company purchased the customer list and transportation
equipment and assumed certain contract obligations of Safetech Health Care for
$160,000.
In April 1995, the Company sold the St. Louis portion of its business to a
competitor. The Company received $544,000 as payment for the customer list and
concurrently agreed to resolve an anti-trust lawsuit brought against this
competitor by the Company. The Company recognized a gain on this transaction of
$408,000, which is included in the 1995 Consolidated Statement of Operations as
Selling, General and Administrative Expense.
In September 1994, SWD Acquisition Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of
the Company, purchased selected assets and assumed certain liabilities of Safe
Way Disposal Systems, Inc. ("Safe Way"). The assets purchased consisted of the
customer list, containers, transportation equipment and office equipment. The
Company issued a $2,480,000 note and 25,228 shares of preferred stock with a
liquidation value of $100 per share. The Company assumed liabilities of
$2,271,000 related to this acquisition. The note payable and stock are held in
escrow (see Note 5). As part of the agreement, the Company agreed to pay up to
$575,000 of certain current liabilities of Safe Way upon its request. In
consideration for these payments, the preferred stock issued under such
agreement would be reduced. As of December 31, 1995, the Company has paid
$468,000 of additional liabilities.
As a result of the Company's 1995 recapitalization, the 25,228 shares of
preferred stock issued in connection with the Safe Way acquisition were
reclassified as 130,003 shares of common stock. See further discussion in Note
7.
F-9
<PAGE>
STERICYCLE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)
DECEMBER 31, 1995
NOTE 4 -- ACQUISITIONS AND DIVESTITURES (CONTINUED)
In March 1994, the Company purchased the customer list, containers and
transportation equipment of Recovery Corporation of Illinois for $630,000 in
cash and 5,000 shares of preferred stock with a liquidation value of $100 per
share.
For financial reporting purposes, each acquisition was accounted for as a
purchase, and the purchase price was allocated to assets acquired and
liabilities assumed based on the estimated fair market value at the date of
acquisition. The excess of the purchase price over fair market value of net
assets acquired is reflected in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets as
goodwill. The results of operations of these acquired businesses are included in
the consolidated statements of operations from the date of acquisition. The
effect of these acquisitions would not have a significant effect on the
Company's operations, except for the Safe Way acquisition.
Based on unaudited data, the following table presents selected financial
information for the Company and its subsidiaries on a pro forma basis, assuming
the Company and Safe Way had been combined since January 1, 1993:
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
YEAR ENDED YEAR ENDED
DECEMBER 31, 1993 DECEMBER 31, 1994
------------------- -------------------
<S> <C> <C>
Revenues................................................. $ 17,316 $ 20,494
Loss applicable to common stock.......................... (10,604) (10,597)
Net loss per common share................................ $ (5.03) $ (5.03)
</TABLE>
The pro forma results are not necessarily indicative of future operations or
the actual results that would have occurred had the Safe Way acquisition been
made as of January 1, 1993.
NOTE 5 -- LONG-TERM DEBT
Long-term debt consists of the following at December 31:
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
1994 1995
--------- ---------
(IN THOUSANDS)
<S> <C> <C>
Industrial development revenue bonds....................................... $ 1,753 $ 1,633
Obligations under capital leases........................................... 970 488
Note payable to bank....................................................... -- 858
Note payable............................................................... 2,480 2,480
Mortgage payable and other................................................. 238 460
--------- ---------
5,441 5,919
Less: Current portion...................................................... 603 297
--------- ---------
TOTAL.................................................................. $ 4,838 $ 5,622
--------- ---------
--------- ---------
</TABLE>
On October 31, 1995, the Company entered into a revolving line of credit
with Silicon Valley Bank. To secure this line of credit, the Company granted the
bank a lien on all of the Company's assets. Borrowings under the line of credit
are limited to the lesser of $2,500,000 or a specified percentage of the
Company's eligible receivables, as defined in the loan and security agreement.
Outstanding borrowings bear interest at the bank's prime rate (8.5% at December
31, 1995), plus 3.0%. At December 31, 1995, the outstanding loan balance was
$858,000 and the Company had unused borrowing capacity of $821,000. This
agreement has a maturity date of October 31, 1997 and is subject to automatic
renewal for additional one year periods, unless 60 days written notice is
provided by either party in advance of the maturity date. Under the terms of the
loan and security agreement, the Company is, among other things, restricted from
paying dividends and is required to maintain minimum levels of tangible net
worth and debt to tangible net worth.
In 1995, an agreement was reached with the Rhode Island Department of
Environmental Management regarding two notices of violation issued in 1994 and
1995. Although the Company believed that the allegations
F-10
<PAGE>
STERICYCLE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)
DECEMBER 31, 1995
NOTE 5 -- LONG-TERM DEBT (CONTINUED)
were meritless, the agreement was entered into in order to resolve the matter in
the best interests of the Company and its customers in a timely manner. The
Company agreed to pay $35,000 each year from 1995 to 1998, $50,000 in 1999,
$60,000 in 2000 and $150,000 in 2001 to the Rhode Island Air and Water
Protection Fund. In addition, the Company agreed to perform community services
and conduct seminars over a five-year period. The Company recorded this
obligation based on the discounted cash flows expected to be paid over the term
of agreement, using a discount rate of 11.75%. The recorded obligation of
$240,000 at December 31, 1995 has been included in mortgage payable and other
long-term debt. An expense of $458,000 is included in the 1995 Consolidated
Statement of Operations as Selling, General and Administrative Expense. This
amount reflects the recorded obligation and legal fees incurred in the
settlement.
In 1994, a non-interest bearing note in the amount of $2,480,000 was issued
as part of the purchase of the net assets of Safe Way. Upon maturity, a portion
of the note is payable in 98,001 shares of common stock (see Note 7) and a
portion is payable in cash. The note will mature on the earlier of June 25, 1997
or an initial public offering, as defined in the purchase agreement between the
Company and Safe Way.
During 1992 the Company entered into certain obligations to finance the
development of its Woonsocket, Rhode Island and Morton, Washington facilities.
The development and purchase of substantially all of the property and equipment
for the Woonsocket, Rhode Island facility was financed from the issuance of
industrial development revenue bonds. The bonds are due in various amounts
through 2017 at fixed interest rates ranging from 5.75% to 7.375% and are
collateralized by the property and equipment at the Woonsocket, Rhode Island
facility. The terms of an agreement entered into in connection with the issuance
of the bonds contain, among other provisions, requirements for maintaining
defined levels of working capital and various financial ratios including debt to
net worth.
As part of the development of the Company's Morton, Washington facility, the
Company entered into a loan agreement with a bank for $255,000. The Company is
required to make monthly payments of $2,361 for principal and interest through
2007. Interest paid is based upon a specified index plus 4.5%. The interest rate
was 9.54% and 9.78% at December 31, 1994 and 1995, respectively. The loan is
collateralized by the property and equipment at the Morton, Washington facility.
Payments due on long-term debt, excluding capital lease obligations, during
each of the five years subsequent to December 31, 1995 are as follows:
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
(IN THOUSANDS)
<S> <C>
1996................................................................ $ 159
1997................................................................ 3,514
1998................................................................ 182
1999................................................................ 208
2000................................................................ 223
</TABLE>
The Company paid interest of $282,000, $271,000 and $262,000 for the years
ended December 31, 1993, 1994 and 1995, respectively.
The fair value of the Company's long term debt was estimated using a
discounted cash flow analysis, based on the Company's current incremental
borrowing rates for similar types of borrowing arrangements. At December 31,
1995 the fair value of the Company's debt was approximately $4,275,000.
CAPITAL LEASES:
In February 1994, the Company entered into a sale and leaseback transaction
for equipment acquisitions at the Yorkville, Wisconsin facility in the amount of
$882,000. No gain or loss was recognized on the sale and leaseback.
F-11
<PAGE>
STERICYCLE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)
DECEMBER 31, 1995
NOTE 5 -- LONG-TERM DEBT (CONTINUED)
The lease arrangement has a term of 60 months and at the end of the lease, the
Company will have the option to renew the lease, return the equipment or
purchase the equipment at a fair market value not to exceed 11% of the original
purchase price.
The Company is the lessee of machinery and equipment under capital leases
expiring in 1999. At December 31, property under capital leases included with
Property, Plant and Equipment in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets is
as follows:
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
1994 1995
--------- ---------
(IN THOUSANDS)
<S> <C> <C>
Machinery and equipment................................................... $ 1,880 $ 882
Less-Accumulated depreciation and amortization............................ (345) (169)
--------- ---
$ 1,535 $ 713
--------- ---
--------- ---
</TABLE>
Minimum future lease payments under capital leases are as follows:
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
(IN THOUSANDS)
<S> <C>
1996................................................................ $ 176
1997................................................................ 176
1998................................................................ 176
1999................................................................ 26
-----
Total minimum lease payments........................................ 554
Less -- Amounts representing interest............................... (66)
-----
Present value of net minimum lease payment.......................... 488
Less -- Current portion............................................. (138)
-----
Long-term obligations under capital leases.......................... $ 350
-----
-----
</TABLE>
NOTE 6 -- LEASE COMMITMENTS
The Company leases various plant equipment, office furniture and equipment,
motor vehicles and office and warehouse space under operating lease agreements
which expire at various dates over the next seven years. The leases for most of
the properties contain renewal provisions.
Rent expense for 1993, 1994 and 1995 was $1,930,000, $1,643,000 and
$1,739,000, respectively.
Minimum future rental payments under non-cancelable operating leases that
have initial or remaining terms in excess of one year as of December 31, 1995
for each of the next five years and in the aggregate are as follows:
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
(IN THOUSANDS)
<S> <C>
1996................................................................ $ 1,324
1997................................................................ 1,132
1998................................................................ 985
1999................................................................ 591
2000................................................................ 442
Thereafter.......................................................... 462
------
Total minimum rental payments................................... $ 4,936
------
------
</TABLE>
F-12
<PAGE>
STERICYCLE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)
DECEMBER 31, 1995
NOTE 7 -- COMMON AND PREFERRED STOCK
STOCK SPLIT:
All common shares, per share, weighted average shares outstanding, stock
option and warrant data have been adjusted to reflect a 1-for-5.3089 reverse
stock split effective August 19, 1996. In connection with this reverse stock
split, each outstanding share of the Company's Class A and Class B common stock
was redesignated as a share of common stock, and the Company's authorized common
stock was reduced from 58,000,000 shares to 30,000,000 shares, also effective
August 19, 1996.
The following table details the convertible redeemable preferred stock
activities for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31,
1995:
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
SHARES
----------- AMOUNT
--------------
(IN THOUSANDS)
<S> <C> <C>
Balances at December 31, 1992........................................ 356 $ 40,353
Issuance of Class E preferred stock................................ 70 8,000
Shares retired..................................................... -- (8)
Accumulated dividends.............................................. -- 3,733
----- -------
Balances at December 31, 1993........................................ 426 $ 52,078
Issuance of Classes F, G, H & I preferred stock.................... 63 6,350
Accumulated dividends.............................................. -- 4,481
----- -------
Balances at December 31, 1994........................................ 489 $ 62,909
Canceled shares of preferred stock................................. (4) (419)
Common stock issued in exchange for preferred stock................ (485) (62,490)
----- -------
Balances at December 31, 1995........................................ $ -- $ --
----- -------
----- -------
</TABLE>
In August 1995 the Board of Directors adopted a plan of recapitalization
which was approved by the Company's stockholders in September 1995, pursuant to
which the Company reclassified its outstanding convertible redeemable preferred
stock as 5,043,418 shares of common stock and increased the authorized common
stock to 57,000,000 shares from 9,400,000 shares and in April 1996 authorized a
further increase in the authorized common stock to 58,000,000 (see Note 8).
Shares of the Company's common stock have been reserved for issuance upon
conversion of the Safe Way note payable (see Note 5) and the exercise of
warrants and options. These shares have been reserved as follows at December 31,
1995:
<TABLE>
<S> <C>
Safe Way note payable............................................ 98,001
1993 Plan options................................................ 9,943
1995 Plan options................................................ 923,292
Warrants......................................................... 242,396
---------
Total shares reserved........................................ 1,273,632
---------
---------
</TABLE>
As part of the plan of recapitalization, all conversion, redemption and
liquidation rights associated with the convertible redeemable preferred stock
were terminated in exchange for the issuance of shares of common stock. The
liquidation preference of the preferred stock as of December 31, 1994 was
$61,909,112 and was canceled by the plan of recapitalization.
F-13
<PAGE>
STERICYCLE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)
DECEMBER 31, 1995
NOTE 8 -- STOCK OPTIONS AND WARRANTS
STOCK OPTIONS:
In September 1993, the Company's shareholders approved an amended and
restated stock option plan (the "1993 Plan"), which provided for the granting of
options to purchase up to 113,018 shares of common stock. In November 1995, the
outstanding options of all current employees were canceled in conjunction with
the Company's recapitalization (see Note 7).
The following table summarizes option activity for the 1993 Plan through
December 31, 1995:
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
OPTION PRICE # SHARES EXERCISABLE
-------------- ----------- -----------
<S> <C> <C> <C>
Outstanding at December 31, 1992......................................... $ 5.31-$42.47 35,412 5,274
Granted.................................................................. $ 5.84 45,961
Granted.................................................................. $ 6.90 1,130
-----------
Outstanding at December 31, 1993......................................... $ 5.31-$42.47 82,503 15,626
Granted.................................................................. $ 5.84 377
Granted.................................................................. $ 6.90 29,254
Canceled................................................................. (2,405)
-----------
Outstanding at December 31, 1994......................................... $ 5.31-$42.47 109,729 39,864
Canceled................................................................. (99,786)
-----------
Outstanding at December 31, 1995......................................... $ 5.31-$42.47 9,943 4,938
-----------
-----------
</TABLE>
In 1995, the Company's Board of Directors and shareholders approved an
Incentive Compensation Plan (the "1995 Plan"), which provides for the granting
of additional shares of common stock in the form of stock options and restricted
stock to employees, officers, directors and consultants of the Company. The
exercise price of options granted under the 1995 Plan must be at least equal to
the fair market value of the common stock on the date of grant. The sale or
transfer of outstanding shares of common stock is subject to the right of first
refusal by the Company. As of December 31, 1995, options to purchase 923,292
shares of common stock at an exercise price of $0.53 per share had been granted
and were outstanding, of which 537,682 were exercisable.
WARRANTS:
The Company, in conjunction with a lease financing agreement, issued the
lessor warrants to purchase up to 15,005 shares of common stock at $18.58 per
share. At December 31, 1995, all of these warrants were outstanding and expire
on March 3, 1998.
The Company, in connection with the issuance of preferred stock, which was
subsequently reclassified as common stock (see Note 7), issued warrants to
purchase up to 6,773 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $69.02 per
share. At December 31, 1995, warrants to purchase 6,773 shares at $69.02 per
share were issued and outstanding. These warrants expire on March 16, 1999.
During 1995, several of the Company's shareholders and directors provided a
bridge loan to the Company. The loan totaled $830,000 with interest at prime
plus 3%. In addition to the interest, the lenders received warrants to purchase
220,559 shares of common stock at $1.59 per share. These warrants expire on July
31, 2000. The bridge loan was repaid in November 1995 with proceeds from the
Company's revolving line of credit.
NOTE 9 -- REGISTRATION AGREEMENT
The Company is a party to a Registration Agreement which gives certain
shareholders of the Company registration rights for their shares. The parties to
the Registration Agreement are the original holders of the Company's prior Class
A, B, C, D, E, F, H, and I preferred stock and a holder of a warrant to purchase
up to
F-14
<PAGE>
STERICYCLE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)
DECEMBER 31, 1995
NOTE 9 -- REGISTRATION AGREEMENT (CONTINUED)
15,005 shares of common stock which the Company issued in conjunction with a
lease financing agreement. After the Company's 1995 recapitalization, the
Registration Agreement was amended to provide that the registration rights
applied to the shares of common stock that the parties to the Registration
Agreement received pursuant to the recapitalization, shares issuable under
certain warrants issued to purchasers of the Company's prior Class F preferred
stock, shares issuable under the warrant issued in conjunction with the lease
financing agreement and the common stock to be delivered by the Company in
payment of the Safe Way Note. According to the Registration Agreement (i) at any
time, the holders of a majority of the shares which are subject to the
registration rights can request registration of their shares on Form S-1 (a
"Long-Form Registration") and the holders of at least 25% of these shares can
request registration of their shares on Form S-2 or S-3, (ii) at any time after
either an initial public offering or July 10,1996, one shareholder who is a
party to the Registration Agreement may request a Long Form registration, (iii)
at any time after an initial public offering, another shareholder who is a party
to the Registration Agreement can request a Long Form registration, and (iv) the
parties to the Registration Agreement have the right to include their shares in
any registration which is requested or in any other registration that the
Company may otherwise undertake. If any registration is requested, the Company
will use its best efforts to effect the requested registration at its own
expense.
NOTE 10 -- EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLAN
The Company has a defined contribution retirement savings plan covering
substantially all employees of the Company. Each participant may elect to defer
a portion of his or her compensation subject to certain limitations. The Company
may match up to 30% of the first $1,000 contributed to the retirement savings
plan by each employee. The Company's contributions for the years ended December
31, 1993, 1994 and 1995 were approximately $9,000, $13,000 and $14,000,
respectively.
NOTE 11 -- RELATED PARTIES
In October 1993, the Company entered into an Alliance Agreement ("Alliance")
with an investor in the Company. The purpose of the Alliance was to develop new
technologies and procedures for recycling regulated medical waste. The Company
devoted resources to the Alliance research and development program during the
first 18 months of the Alliance. The investor has rights with respect to the
development of any Alliance technology as part of the research and development
program. During the initial 18 months of the Alliance, the Company provided for
$1 million of research and development costs under this agreement. A license
agreement is effective upon the non-renewal of the Alliance and grants the
investor a license to use the Alliance technology subject to certain conditions.
The Alliance also gives the investor the right, under certain limited
circumstances which are not within the investor's control, to require the
Company to redeem the investor's 461,028 shares of the Company's common stock.
The redemption price upon any such redemption is currently not defined as the
Company and the investor are negotiating the price. This redemption right
terminates 180 days from the date of the Company's initial public offering of
common stock. Due to the limited nature and remote possibility of a redemption
of these shares, the Company has recorded the investor's investment in
shareholders' equity in the accompanying balance sheets.
Under the Alliance, the investor and the Company have an ongoing
relationship to provide services and products to the healthcare market place.
F-15
<PAGE>
STERICYCLE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET (UNAUDITED)
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
JUNE 30,
1996
--------------
(IN THOUSANDS)
<S> <C>
ASSETS
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents............................................................. $ 40
Accounts receivable, less allowance for doubtful accounts of $157..................... 4,521
Parts and supplies.................................................................... 457
Prepaid expenses...................................................................... 486
Other current assets.................................................................. 419
--------------
Total current assets................................................................ 5,923
Property, Plant and Equipment:
Land.................................................................................. 90
Buildings and improvements............................................................ 5,407
Machinery and equipment............................................................... 8,445
Office equipment and furniture........................................................ 431
Construction in progress.............................................................. 281
--------------
14,654
Less accumulated depreciation and amortization.......................................... (4,347)
--------------
Property, plant and equipment -- Net................................................ 10,307
Other Assets:
Organization costs, net............................................................... 10
Goodwill, less accumulated amortization of $596....................................... 9,064
Other................................................................................. 530
--------------
Total other assets.................................................................. 9,604
--------------
Total assets...................................................................... $ 25,834
--------------
--------------
LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY
Current liabilities:
Current portion of long-term debt..................................................... $ 4,306
Accounts payable...................................................................... 1,508
Accrued liabilities................................................................... 2,547
Deferred revenue...................................................................... 594
--------------
Total current liabilities........................................................... 8,955
Long-Term Debt:
Industrial development revenue bonds and other........................................ 3,051
Note payable to bank.................................................................. 1,348
--------------
Total long-term debt................................................................ 4,399
Other Liabilities....................................................................... 569
Shareholders' Equity:
Common stock (par value $.01 per share; 30,000,000 shares authorized, 6,155,940 issued
and outstanding)..................................................................... 62
Additional paid-in capital............................................................ 50,075
Notes receivable for common stock purchases........................................... (30)
Accumulated deficit................................................................... (38,196)
--------------
Total shareholders' equity.......................................................... 11,911
--------------
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity........................................ $ 25,834
--------------
--------------
</TABLE>
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-16
<PAGE>
STERICYCLE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (UNAUDITED)
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED
JUNE 30,
--------------------------
1995 1996
------------ ------------
(IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT
SHARE AND PER SHARE DATA)
<S> <C> <C>
Revenues.................................................................... $ 10,756 $ 11,616
Costs and expenses:
Cost of revenues.......................................................... 8,872 9,189
Selling, general and administrative....................................... 4,663 3,315
------------ ------------
Total costs and expenses................................................ 13,535 12,504
------------ ------------
Loss from operations........................................................ (2,779) (888)
Other income (expense):
Interest income........................................................... 6 --
Interest expense.......................................................... (103) (206)
------------ ------------
Total other income (expense)............................................ (97) (206)
------------ ------------
Net loss.................................................................... (2,876) (1,094)
Less cumulative preferred dividends......................................... (3,146) --
------------ ------------
Loss applicable to common stock............................................. $ (6,022) $ (1,094)
------------ ------------
------------ ------------
Net loss per common share................................................... $ (2.86) $ (0.16)
------------ ------------
------------ ------------
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding........................ 2,108,368 6,997,197
------------ ------------
------------ ------------
</TABLE>
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-17
<PAGE>
STERICYCLE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY
(UNAUDITED)
(IN THOUSANDS)
COMMON STOCK
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
NOTES
RECEIVABLE
ISSUED AND ADDITIONAL FOR COMMON TOTAL
OUTSTANDING PAID-IN STOCK ACCUMULATED SHAREHOLDERS'
SHARES AMOUNT CAPITAL PURCHASES DEFICIT EQUITY
----------- ------ ---------- ---------- ----------- -------------
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C>
BALANCES AT DECEMBER 31, 1995........... 5,582 $ 55 $49,621 $ -- $(37,102) $ 12,574
Common stock issued -- $.01 per share... 574 7 454 (30) 431
Net loss for the six months ended June
30, 1996............................... (1,094) (1,094)
----- ------ ---------- ----- ----------- -------------
BALANCES AT JUNE 30, 1996............... 6,156 $ 62 $50,075 $ (30) $(38,196) $ 11,911
----- ------ ---------- ----- ----------- -------------
----- ------ ---------- ----- ----------- -------------
</TABLE>
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-18
<PAGE>
STERICYCLE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (UNAUDITED)
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
FOR THE SIX MONTHS
ENDED JUNE 30,
--------------------
1995 1996
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(IN THOUSANDS)
<S> <C> <C>
OPERATING ACTIVITIES:
Net loss......................................................................... $ (2,876) $ (1,094)
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to
net cash used in operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization.................................................. 945 976
Asset write down............................................................... 503 --
Gain on divestiture............................................................ (408) --
Change in net operating assets,
net of effect of acquisitions and divestitures:
Accounts receivable............................................................ 910 (319)
Parts and supplies............................................................. 62 47
Prepaid expenses and other..................................................... (79) (49)
Other assets................................................................... (145) 6
Accounts payable............................................................... 554 (430)
Accrued liabilities............................................................ (719) 600
Deferred revenue and other liabilities......................................... 286 (12)
--------- ---------
Net cash used in operating activities.............................................. (967) (275)
--------- ---------
INVESTING ACTIVITIES:
Capital expenditures............................................................. (153) (235)
Proceeds from divestiture........................................................ 544 --
Payments for acquisitions, net of cash acquired.................................. (119) (1,068)
--------- ---------
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities................................ 272 (1,303)
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FINANCING ACTIVITIES:
Repayment of long-term debt...................................................... (71) (264)
Issuance of common stock......................................................... -- 431
Proceeds from bridge loan........................................................ -- 1,000
Net proceeds from note payable to bank........................................... -- 490
Principal payments under capital lease obligations............................... (263) (177)
--------- ---------
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities................................ (334) 1,480
--------- ---------
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents........................................ (1,029) (98)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period................................... 1,206 138
--------- ---------
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period......................................... $ 177 $ 40
--------- ---------
--------- ---------
Supplementary disclosure of cash flow information -- acquisition of machinery and
equipment financed with a capital lease........................................... $ -- $ 364
--------- ---------
--------- ---------
</TABLE>
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-19
<PAGE>
STERICYCLE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
(UNAUDITED)
JUNE 30, 1996
NOTE 1 -- BASIS OF PRESENTATION
The accompanying 1995 and 1996 unaudited interim consolidated financial
statements have been prepared pursuant to the rules and regulations of the
Securities and Exchange Commission. Certain information and footnote disclosures
normally included in annual consolidated financial statements prepared in
accordance with generally accepted accounting principles have been condensed or
omitted pursuant to such rules and regulations,
although the Company believes these disclosures are adequate to make the
information presented not misleading. During the six months ended June 30, 1995,
the Company recorded a write-down in the carrying value of a project to utilize
treated regulated medical waste as an alternative fuel in the production of
cement. The Company realized that the viability and completion of the project
were doubtful and that, if the project were completed, the economic cost would
not permit the Company to recover its investment. In the opinion of management,
all adjustments necessary for a fair presentation for the periods presented have
been reflected and, with the exception of the asset write-down during the six
months ended June 30, 1995, are of a normal recurring nature. These interim
consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the
consolidated financial statements and notes thereto for the three years ended
December 31, 1995. The results of operations for the six-month period ended June
30, 1996 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be achieved for
the entire year ending December 31, 1996.
NOTE 2 -- ACQUISITIONS
On April 30, 1996, the Company purchased the customer list and certain other
assets, totaling approximately $200,000, of Sharps Incinerator of Fort, Inc. for
$757,000 in cash of which $562,000 was payable at closing and the balance plus
interest (prime plus 1%) is due on November 1, 1996. This transaction was
accounted for using the purchase method of accounting.
On May 1, 1996, the Company purchased the customer list and certain other
assets of Doctors Environmental Control, Inc. for $400,000 in cash and notes
payable issued for $600,000, which are payable on May 1, 1998 and bear interest
at the rate of 6% per annum. In addition, the Company assumed two vehicle leases
totaling $77,000 and delivered four option agreements to shareholders of the
seller giving them an option to purchase up to a total of 53,816 shares of the
Company's common stock. The price for the purchase of the common stock upon
exercise of each option is (i) the surrender and cancellation of the note
payable, or (ii) in the event that any payments have been made under the notes
payable, the surrender and cancellation of the note payable and payment of cash
such that the cash payment and the outstanding balance of principal and interest
on the note payable together equal the balance of the note as if no payments had
been made on the note payable. The transaction was accounted for using the
purchase method of accounting.
These acquisitions are not significant to results of operations for the six
months ended June 30, 1996.
NOTE 3 -- BRIDGE LOAN
In May 1996, the Company obtained a $1,000,000 bridge loan from certain
shareholders, directors and officers to provide working capital and to finance
additional acquisitions. The notes are subordinated to bank debt and bear
interest at the rate of 7% per annum unless repaid prior to January 1997. The
notes are due in May 1997 or within 30 days after completion of an initial
public offering in which the Company raises at least $20,000,000. In connection
with this loan, the Company issued warrants to members of the lending group to
purchase an aggregate of 226,036 shares of common stock at $7.96 per share. The
warrants expire in May 2001.
NOTE 4 -- STOCK OPTIONS
During the quarter ended March 31, 1996 the Board of Directors granted
options to purchase 49,073 shares of common stock to key employees. The options
will vest over 12 to 36 months at an exercise price of $0.53 per share.
Additionally, during the first quarter the Board approved the options to
purchase 30,826 shares of common stock by various consultants to the Company.
The options carry an exercise price of $2.12 per share.
F-20
<PAGE>
STERICYCLE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)
(UNAUDITED)
JUNE 30, 1996
NOTE 4 -- STOCK OPTIONS (CONTINUED)
In April 1996, the Board of Directors granted options to purchase 149,984
shares of common stock to employees. The options will vest over 12 to 48 months
and carry an exercise price of $1.99 per share.
In June 1996, the Company's Board of Directors adopted a Directors Stock
Option Plan. The plan authorizes stock options for a total of 285,000 shares of
common stock to be granted to eligible directors of the Company, consisting of
directors who are neither officers nor employees of the Company. Under such
plan, each incumbent eligible director will automatically receive an option as
of the date of closing of an initial public offering of the Company's common
stock for a number of shares of common stock determined by multiplying 7,000
shares by a fraction, the numerator of which is $12.00 and the denominator of
which is the average of the closing bid and asked prices of a share of common
stock (the "closing price") on the date of grant. As of each annual meeting of
the Company's stockholders after the date of such an initial public offering,
each incumbent eligible director who is re-elected as a director at the annual
meeting will automatically receive an option for a number of shares of common
stock determined by multiplying 7,000 shares by a fraction, the numerator of
which is $12.00 and the denominator of which is closing price on the date of the
annual meeting, and each eligible director who is elected as a director for the
first time will automatically receive an option for a number of shares of Common
Stock determined by multiplying 21,000 shares by a fraction, the numerator of
which is $12.00 and the denominator of which is closing price on the date of the
annual meeting. These option grants are subject to a maximum grant of 9,500
shares and a minimum grant of 4,500 shares (or to a maximum grant of 28,500
shares and a minimum grant of 13,500 shares in the case an eligible director who
is elected as a director for the first time at an annual meeting). In addition,
each eligible director who is elected as a director for the first time other
than at an annual meeting of the Company's stockholders will automatically
receive, as of the date of his or her election, an option for a number of shares
of common stock equal to three times the number of shares of common stock for
which each incumbent eligible director received an option as of the last annual
meeting. The exercise price of each option will be the closing price on the date
of grant. The term of each option will be six years from the date of grant and
will vest in 16 equal quarterly installments and may be exercised only when it
is vested and only while the holder of the option remains a director of the
Company or during the 90-day period following the date that he or she ceases to
serve as a director. With the approval of the Company's Board of Directors, the
holder of an option may pay the exercise price by delivering other shares of
common stock, by surrendering exercisable options having a fair market value on
the date of exercise equal to the exercise price, or by directing the Company to
withhold shares of common stock otherwise issuable upon exercise of the option
having a fair market value on the date of exercise equal to the exercise price,
or by a combination of these methods.
NOTE 5 -- STOCK ISSUANCES
In May 1996, warrants to purchase 59,128 shares of common stock were
exercised at a price of $1.59 per share. In May and June 1996, options to
purchase 24,233 shares and 459,844 shares of common stock, respectively, were
exercised at prices of $2.12 per share and $0.53 per share, respectively.
NOTE 6 -- INCOME TAXES
The Company incurred a net operating loss for the six months ended June 30,
1995 and 1996. Any tax benefit resulting from these net operating losses has
been offset by a valuation allowance.
NOTE 7 -- EMPLOYEE STOCK PURCHASE PLAN
Under a plan approved by the Board of Directors, employees of Stericycle may
purchase shares of common stock at a price of $2.12 per share. Under terms of
the plan employees are allowed to purchase shares by December 31, 1995 and pay
for the stock during 1996. Employees elected to purchase a total of 30,232
shares of common stock.
F-21
<PAGE>
STERICYCLE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)
(UNAUDITED)
JUNE 30, 1996
NOTE 8 -- STOCK SPLIT
STOCK SPLIT:
All common shares, per share, weighted average shares outstanding, stock
option and warrant data have been adjusted to reflect a 1-for-5.3089 reverse
stock split effective August 19, 1996. In connection with this reverse stock
split, each outstanding share of the Company's Class A and Class B common stock
was redesignated as a share of common stock, and the Company's authorized common
stock was reduced from 58,000,000 to 30,000,000 shares, also effective August
19, 1996.
NOTE 9 -- RELATED PARTIES
In October 1993, the Company entered into an Alliance Agreement ("Alliance")
with an investor in the Company. The Alliance gives the investor the right,
under certain limited circumstances which are not within the investor's control,
to require the Company to redeem the investor's 461,028 shares of the Company's
common stock. The redemption price upon any such redemption is currently not
defined as the Company and the investor are negotiating the price. This
redemption right terminates 180 days from the date of the Company's initial
public offering of common stock. Due to the limited circumstances and remote
possibility of a redemption of these shares, the Company has recorded the
investor's investment in shareholders' equity in the accompanying balance sheet.
F-22
<PAGE>
[Logo] Stericycle
Stericycle currently has treatment facilities in California, Rhode Island,
Washington and Wisconsin. The Stericycle ETD treatment process produces no
liquid effluents or regulated air emissions.
[Picture of exterior of one of the Company's treatment facilities.]
[Picture of interior of one of the Company's treatment facilities.]
<PAGE>
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No dealer, salesperson or other person has been authorized to give any
information or to make any representations not contained in this Prospectus,
and, if given or made, such information or representation may not be relied upon
as having been authorized by the Company or any Underwriter. This Prospectus
does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy,
shares of Common Stock in any jurisdiction to any person to whom it is unlawful
to make any such offer or solicitation in such jurisdiction or in which the
person making such offer or solicitation is not qualified to do so. Neither the
delivery of this Prospectus nor any sale made hereunder shall, under any
circumstances, create an implication that there has been no change in the
affairs of the Company since the date of hereof or that the information
contained herein is correct as of any time subsequent to its date.
-------------------
TABLE OF CONTENTS
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
PAGE
----
<S> <C>
Prospectus Summary.......................................... 3
Risk Factors................................................ 7
Use of Proceeds............................................. 15
Dividend Policy............................................. 15
Dilution.................................................... 16
Capitalization.............................................. 17
Selected Consolidated Financial Data........................ 18
Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition
and Results of Operations.................................. 19
Business.................................................... 25
Management.................................................. 42
Certain Transactions........................................ 50
Principal Stockholders...................................... 51
Description of Capital Stock................................ 53
Shares Eligible for Future Sale............................. 55
Underwriting................................................ 57
Legal Matters............................................... 58
Experts..................................................... 59
Additional Information...................................... 59
Index to Consolidated Financial Statements.................. F-1
</TABLE>
-------------------
Until September 17, 1996 (25 days after the date of this Prospectus), all
dealers effecting transactions in the registered securities, whether or not
participating in this distribution, may be required to deliver a Prospectus.
This is in addition to the obligation of dealers to deliver a Prospectus when
acting as Underwriters and with respect to their unsold allotments or
subscriptions.
[LOGO]
-------------------
3,000,000 SHARES
COMMON STOCK
PROSPECTUS
AUGUST 23, 1996
------------------------
DILLON, READ & CO. INC.
SALOMON BROTHERS INC
WILLIAM BLAIR & COMPANY
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