Item 1. Business
Item 1. Business
OVERVIEW
Who We Are
ANGI Homeservices Inc. connects quality home service professionals across 500 different categories, from repairing and remodeling to cleaning and landscaping, with consumers. Over 240,000 domestic service professionals actively sought consumer matches, completed jobs or advertised work through ANGI Homeservices’ platforms and consumers turned to at least one of our brands to find a professional for approximately 32 million projects during the year ended December 31, 2020. ANGI Homeservices has established category-transforming products with brands such as HomeAdvisor, Angie’s List, and Handy.
The Company has two operating segments: (i) North America (United States and Canada), which primarily includes the operations of HomeAdvisor, Angie’s List, Handy, and HomeStars, and (ii) Europe, which includes the operations of Travaux, MyHammer, MyBuilder, Werkspot and Instapro.
As used herein, “ANGI Homeservices,” the “Company,” “we,” “our,” “us” and similar terms refer to ANGI Homeservices Inc. and its subsidiaries (unless the context requires otherwise).
History
We have been incorporated in the State of Delaware since 2017 and operate under the name ANGI Homeservices Inc. We are a publicly traded holding company that was formed to facilitate the combination of IAC/InterActiveCorp’s (“IAC”) HomeAdvisor business and Angie’s List, Inc. (the “Combination”), which was completed on September 29, 2017.
We acquired Handy Technologies, Inc. (“Handy”), a leading platform in the United States for connecting individuals looking for household services (primarily cleaning and handyman services) with top-quality, pre-screened independent service professionals, on October 19, 2018. Prior to its sale on December 31, 2018, we also operated Felix, a pay-per-call advertising service business, which was included in our North America segment. ANGI also owns and operates Fixd Repair, a home warranty and service company, mHelpDesk, a provider of cloud-based field service software for small to mid-size businesses, and CraftJack, a third-party lead generation service that connects home service professionals with consumers looking to complete home projects.
DESCRIPTION OF OUR BUSINESSES
Marketplace
Overview
The HomeAdvisor digital marketplace service (“HomeAdvisor”) connects consumers with service professionals nationwide for home repair, maintenance and improvement projects. HomeAdvisor provides consumers with tools and resources to help them find local, pre-screened and customer-rated service professionals, as well as instantly book appointments online. HomeAdvisor also connects consumers with service professionals instantly by telephone, as well as offers several home services-related resources, such as cost guides for different types of home services projects. Handy connects consumers looking for household services (primarily cleaning and handyman services) with top-quality, pre-screened independent service professionals. Consumers request and pay for household services directly through the Handy platform and Handy fulfills the request through the use of independently established home services providers engaged in a trade, occupation and/or business that customarily provides such services. Together, we refer to the HomeAdvisor and Handy businesses in the United States as the “Marketplace.” All Marketplace matching and pre-priced booking services and related tools and directories are provided to consumers free of charge.
As of December 31, 2020, the Marketplace had a network of approximately 208,000 transacting service professionals, each of whom paid for consumer matches and/or performed a job sourced or booked through HomeAdvisor and/or Handy. Collectively, this service professional network provided services in more than 500 categories, ranging from cleaning and installation services to simple home repairs and larger home remodeling projects, and 400 discrete geographic areas in the United States. The Marketplace generated approximately 32 million service requests during the year ended December 31, 2020. Service requests consist of fully completed domestic service requests submitted to HomeAdvisor and completed jobs sourced through the HomeAdvisor and Handy platforms.
Consumer Services
Consumers can submit a request to be matched with a Marketplace service professional through the HomeAdvisor and Handy platforms, as well as through certain paths on the Angie’s List, Inc. (“Angie’s List”) platform and various third-party
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affiliate platforms. Depending on the nature of the service request and the path through which it was submitted, consumers are generally matched with up to four HomeAdvisor service professionals, a Handy service professional or a combination of HomeAdvisor service professionals and service professionals from the Angie’s List nationwide directory (as and if available for the given service request).
Matches made through HomeAdvisor platforms and paths and various third-party affiliate platforms are made by way of HomeAdvisor’s proprietary algorithm, based on several factors (including the type of services desired, location and the number of service professionals available to fulfill the request). Matches made through Handy platforms and paths are based on the type of service desired, location and the date and time the consumer wants the service to be provided.
In all cases, service professionals may contact consumers with whom they have been matched directly and consumers can generally review profiles, ratings and reviews of presented service professionals and select the service professional whom they believe best meets their specific needs. Consumers are under no obligation to work with any service professional(s) referred by or found through any of our branded or third-party affiliate platforms.
For matches described above, in the case of HomeAdvisor service professionals, consumers are responsible for booking the service and paying the service professional directly either separately or via the HomeAdvisor Pro-Pay App. Our mobile payments platform on our app allows consumers to pay service professionals directly through our mobile app. In 2020, we expanded our mobile payment platform with the launch of a financing payment option, administered by a third party, to provide consumers a convenient, contactless alternative to pay for any home improvement job, no matter the project type or size. In the case of Handy service professionals, consumers request services and pay for such services directly through the Handy platform and then Handy fulfills the request with independently established home services providers engaged in a trade, occupation and/or business that customarily provides such services.
In addition to the general matching services described above, HomeAdvisor also provides several on-demand services, including Instant Booking and Instant Connect. Also, in the case of certain tasks, HomeAdvisor provides a pre-priced booking service, pursuant to which consumers can request services through a HomeAdvisor platform and pay HomeAdvisor for the services directly. HomeAdvisor then fulfills the request with independently established home services providers engaged in a trade, occupation and/or business that customarily provides such services. Lastly, consumers can also access the online HomeAdvisor True Cost Guide, which provides project cost information for more than 400 project types nationwide, as well as a library of home services-related content consisting primarily of articles about home improvement, repair and maintenance, tools to assist consumers with the research, planning and management of their projects and general advice for working with service professionals.
In addition to the general matching services described above, in certain markets, consumers can also submit a request to book a specific Handy service professional for a given job. Also, consumers who purchase furniture, electronics, appliances and other home-related items from select third-party retail partners online (and in certain markets, in store) can simultaneously purchase assembly, installation and other related services to be fulfilled by Handy service professionals, which are then paid for directly through the applicable third-party retail partner platform.
Service Professional Services
HomeAdvisor service professionals pay fees for consumer matches and membership subscription fees for HomeAdvisor memberships, which are available for purchase through our sales force. The basic HomeAdvisor annual membership package includes membership in the HomeAdvisor network of service professionals, as well as access to consumer matches through HomeAdvisor platforms and a listing in the HomeAdvisor online directory and certain other affiliate directories. Membership also includes a business profile page on HomeAdvisor.com, a mobile application and access to various online tools designed to help service professionals more effectively market to, manage and connect with, consumers with whom they are matched. In addition to the commercial membership terms, in order to be admitted into the HomeAdvisor network, service professionals must satisfy certain criteria, including verification of any required state-level licensing and the owner or principal passing certain criminal background checks. Once in the network, the service professional must maintain at least a three-star customer rating. If a service professional in the HomeAdvisor network fails to meet any eligibility criteria during the term of its contract, refuses to participate in our complaint resolution process, or engages in what we determine to be prohibited behavior through any of our service channels, the service professional is subject to being removed from our network.
Service professionals on the Handy platform are provided with access to a pool of consumers seeking service professionals. Professionals must validate their home service experience as well as satisfy credential verification and a background check, either as an individual professional or as the owner or principal of the business. Service professionals must maintain an acceptable rating to remain on the Handy platform. Access to the Handy platform will be revoked for repeatedly receiving low customer satisfactions ratings.
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Angie’s List
Overview
Angie’s List connects consumers with service professionals for local services through a nationwide online directory of service professionals in over 700 service categories, as well as provides consumers with valuable tools, services and content (including verified reviews of local service professionals), to help them research, shop and hire for local services. Consumers can access the Angie’s List nationwide online directory and related basic tools and services free of charge, as well as via purchased membership packages. Angie’s List also sells time-based website, mobile and call center advertising to service professionals.
Consumer Services
Through Angie’s List, consumers can currently register and search for a service professional in the Angie’s List nationwide online directory and/or be matched with a service professional. Consumers who register can access ratings and reviews and search for service professionals, as well as access certain promotions. Free registration is required in order to access the directory and related basic tools and services. Two premium membership packages are available for a fee, which include varying degrees of online and phone support, access to exclusive promotions and features and the award-winning Angie’s List print magazine.
Consumers can rate service professionals listed in the Angie’s List nationwide online directory on an “A” to “F” grading scale based on a variety of criteria, including overall experience, availability, price, quality, responsiveness, punctuality and professionalism and other criteria, depending on the type of service provided. Ratings on each applicable criterion are weighted across all reviews submitted for the service professional to produce such professional’s grade on Angie’s List. Consumers can also provide a detailed description of (and commentary regarding) their service experience. Ratings and reviews cannot be submitted anonymously and there are processes in place to prevent service professionals from reporting on themselves or their competitors, as well as to detect fraudulent or otherwise problematic reviews.
Service Professional Services
Angie’s List provides service professionals with a variety of services and tools. Generally, service professionals with an overall member grade below a “B” are not eligible for certification. Service professionals must satisfy certain criteria for certification, including retaining the requisite member grade, and the owner passing certain criminal background checks and attesting to applicable licensure requirements.
Once eligibility criteria are satisfied, service professionals must purchase term-based advertising to obtain certification. As of December 31, 2020, we had approximately 39,000 certified service professionals under contract for advertising. If a certified service professional fails to meet any eligibility criteria during the term of his or her contract, refuses to participate in our complaint resolution process or engages in what we determine to be prohibited behavior through any of our service channels, we suspend any existing advertising and exclusive promotions and the related advertising contract is subject to termination.
Certified service professionals rotate among the first service professionals listed in directory search results for an applicable category (together with their company name, overall rating, number of reviews, certification badge and basic profile information), with non-certified service professionals appearing below certified service professionals in directory search results. Certified service professionals can also provide exclusive promotions to members. When consumers choose to be matched with a service professional, HomeAdvisor’s proprietary algorithm will determine where a given service professional appears within related results.
Our International Businesses
We also operate several international businesses that connect consumers with home service professionals. These international businesses include: (i) Travaux, MyHammer and Werkspot, the leading home services marketplaces in France, Germany and the Netherlands, respectively, (ii) MyBuilder, HomeStars and Instapro, leading home services marketplaces in the United Kingdom, Canada and Italy, respectively, and (iii) the Austrian operations of MyHammer. We own controlling interests in MyHammer and MyBuilder and wholly-own HomeStars, Travaux, Werkspot and Instapro. The business models of our international businesses vary by jurisdiction and differ in certain respects from the HomeAdvisor and Handy business models.
Revenue
Our revenue is primarily derived from consumer connection revenue, which consists of fees paid by HomeAdvisor service professionals for consumer matches (regardless of whether the service professional ultimately provides the requested service) and revenue from completed jobs sourced through the HomeAdvisor and Handy platforms. Consumer connection revenue varies based upon several factors, including the service requested, product experience offered and geographic location of service.
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Revenue is also derived from: (i) sales of time-based website, mobile and call center advertising to service professionals by Angie’s List, (ii) HomeAdvisor service professional membership subscription fees, (iii) membership subscription fees from consumers and (iv) service warranty subscription and other services revenue.
Marketing
We market our various products and services to consumers primarily through digital marketing (primarily paid search engine marketing, display advertising and third-party affiliate agreements) and traditional offline marketing (national television and radio campaigns), as well as through e-mail. Pursuant to third-party affiliate agreements, third parties agree to advertise and promote our products and services (and those of our service professionals) on their platforms. In exchange for these efforts, these third parties are paid a fixed fee when visitors from their platforms click through and submit a valid service request through our platforms, or when visitors submit a valid service request on the affiliate platform and the affiliate transmits the service request to us. We also market our products and services to consumers through relationships with select third-party retail partners and, to a lesser extent, through partnerships with other contextually related websites and direct mail.
We market HomeAdvisor matching services and membership subscriptions to service professionals primarily through our sales forces based in the Denver, Colorado area; Lenexa, Kansas; New York, New York; Indianapolis, Indiana; and Chicago, Illinois; as well as remotely based sales representatives. These products and services are also marketed, together with our Handy products and services and our pre-priced bookings and various directories, through paid search engine marketing, digital media advertising and direct relationships with trade associations and manufacturers. Term-based advertising and related products are marketed to service professionals primarily through our Indianapolis based sales force.
We have made, and expect to continue to make, substantial investments in digital and traditional offline marketing (with continued expansion into new and existing digital platforms) to consumers and service professionals to promote our products and services and drive visitors to our various platforms and service professionals.
Technology
Each of our brands and businesses develops its own technology to support its products and services, leveraging both open-source and vendor supported software technology. Each of our various brands and businesses has dedicated engineering teams responsible for software development and the creation of new features to support our products and services across a full range of devices (desktop, mobile web, native mobile applications and digital voice assistant platforms). Our engineering teams use an agile development process that allows us to deploy frequent iterative releases for product and service features.
Competition
The home services industry is highly competitive and fragmented, and in many important respects, local in nature. We compete with, among others: (i) search engines and online directories, (ii) home and/or local services-related platforms, (iii) providers of consumer ratings, reviews and referrals and (iv) various forms of traditional offline advertising (primarily local in nature), including radio, direct marketing campaigns, yellow pages, newspapers and other offline directories. We also compete with local and national retailers of home improvement products that offer or promote installation services. We believe our biggest competition comes from the traditional methods most people currently use to find service professionals, which are by word-of-mouth and through referrals.
We believe that our ability to compete successfully will depend primarily upon the following factors:
• the size, quality, diversity and stability of our network of service professionals and the breadth of our online directory listings;
• our ability to consistently generate service requests and pre-priced bookings through the Marketplace and leads through our online directories that convert into revenue for our service professionals in a cost-effective manner;
• our ability to increasingly engage with consumers directly through our platforms, including our various mobile applications (rather than through search engine marketing or via free search engine referrals);
• the functionality of our websites and mobile applications and the attractiveness of their features and our products and services generally to consumers and service professionals, as well as our continued ability to introduce new products and services that resonate with consumers and service professionals generally;
• our ability to continue to build and maintain awareness of, and trust in and loyalty to, our various brands, particularly our Angie’s List, HomeAdvisor and Handy brands; and
• the quality and consistency of our service professional pre-screening processes and ongoing quality control efforts, as well as the reliability, depth and timeliness of customer ratings and reviews.
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Intellectual Property
We regard our intellectual property rights as critical to our success generally, with our trademarks, service marks and domain names being especially critical to the continued development and awareness of our brands and our marketing efforts.
We protect our intellectual property rights through a combination of trademarks, trade dress, domain name registrations, trade secrets and patent applications, as well as through contractual restrictions and reliance on federal, state and common law. We enter into confidentiality and proprietary rights agreements with employees, consultants, contractors and business partners, and employees and contractors are also subject to invention assignment provisions.
We have several registered trademarks in the United States (the most significant of which relate to our Angie’s List and HomeAdvisor brands), as well as other trademarks in Canada and Europe, and several pending trademark applications in the United States and certain other jurisdictions. We have also registered a variety of domestic and international domain names, the most significant of which relate to our HomeAdvisor and Angie’s List brands. In addition, we have one patent in the United States that expires in November 2035 and six patent applications pending in the United States.
Government Regulation
We are subject to laws and regulations that affect companies conducting business on the Internet generally and through mobile applications, including laws relating to the liability of providers of online services for their operations and the activities of their users. As a result, we could be subject to claims based on negligence, various torts and trademark and copyright infringement, among other actions.
In addition, because we receive, transmit, store and use a substantial amount of information received from or generated by consumers and service professionals, we are also impacted by laws and regulations governing privacy, the storage, sharing, use, processing, disclosure and protection of personal data and data breaches. See “Item 1A-Risk Factors-Risks Related to Our Business and Industry-The processing, storage, use and disclosure of personal data could give rise to liabilities and increased costs.”
We are particularly sensitive to laws and regulations that adversely impact the popularity or growth in use of the Internet and/or online products and services generally, restrict or otherwise unfavorably impact the ability or manner in which we provide our products and services, regulate the practices of third parties upon which we rely to provide our products and services and undermine open and neutrally administered Internet access. For example, in April 2019, the United Kingdom published proposed legislation that would create a new regulatory body responsible for establishing duties of care for Internet companies and for assessing related compliance. As proposed, failure to comply with the legislation could result in fines, blocking of services and personal liability for senior management. To the extent our businesses are required to implement new measures and/or make changes to our products and services to ensure compliance, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected. Compliance with this legislation or similar or more stringent legislation in other jurisdictions could be costly, and the failure to comply could result in service interruptions and negative publicity, any or all of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, in December 2017, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (the “FCC”) adopted an order reversing net neutrality protections in the United States, including the repeal of specific rules against blocking, throttling or “paid prioritization” of content or services by Internet service providers. To the extent Internet service providers take such actions, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected. Similarly, there have been various legislative efforts to restrict the scope of the protections available to online platforms under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, and our current protections from liability for third-party content in the United States could decrease or change as a result. Any future adverse changes to Section 230 could result in additional compliance costs for us and/or exposure for additional liabilities.
We are also generally sensitive to the adoption of new tax laws. The European Commission and several European countries have recently adopted (or intend to adopt) proposals that would change various aspects of the current tax framework under which our European businesses are taxed, including proposals to change or impose new types of non-income taxes (including taxes based on a percentage of revenue). For example, France enacted a Digital Services Tax in 2019, which is applicable to revenues over specified thresholds generated by businesses that provide intermediary services (any digital interface that enables users to contact and interact with others) to, and/or publish advertising-based user data linked to, users residing in France. The proposal, which is applicable retroactively to revenues earned from and after January 1, 2019, would likely apply to our operations in France. The United Kingdom previously enacted a similar proposal, the Digital Services Tax, which is applicable to revenues of social media platforms, online marketplaces and search engines linked to users residing in the United Kingdom and earned from and after April 1, 2020, which applies to certain of our operations in United Kingdom. One or more of these or similar proposed tax laws could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
As a provider of products and services with a membership-based element, we are also sensitive to the adoption of laws and regulations affecting the ability of our businesses to periodically charge for recurring membership or subscription
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payments. For example, the European Union Payment Services directive, which became effective in 2018, could impact the ability of our businesses to process auto-renewal payments for, as well offer promotional or differentiated pricing to, users who reside in the European Union, and similar new (and proposed changes to similar existing) legislation or regulations, are being considered in many U.S. states. The adoption of any law that adversely affects revenue from recurring membership or subscription payments could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We are also subject to laws governing marketing and advertising activities conducted by/through telephone, e-mail, mobile devices and the Internet, including the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, the Telemarketing Sales Rule, the CAN-SPAM Act and similar state laws, as well as federal, state, and local laws and agency guidelines governing background screening.
Human Capital Management
As of December 31, 2020, we employ approximately 5,100 full-time employees worldwide, the substantial majority of which provided services to our brands and businesses located in the United States. We also retain consultants, independent contractors, and temporary and part-time workers.
Talent and Development
The development, attraction and retention of employees is critical to our success. We strive to provide an atmosphere that fosters teamwork and growth. We are investing in a more productive, engaged, diverse and inclusive workforce. To support the advancement of our employees, we offer training and development programs and encourage advancement from within. In 2020, we launched a Learning Management system for broader facilitation of training resources. We leverage both formal and informal programs to identify, foster, and retain top talent. We believe that our rich culture enables us to create, develop and fully leverage the strengths of our workforce to exceed consumer expectations and meet our growth objectives. We also place a high value on inclusion, engaging employees in our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council, or DEI, which is staffed by employees with diverse backgrounds, experiences or characteristics who share a common interest in professional development, improving corporate culture and delivering sustained business results. Recent DEI initiatives include unconscious bias training and a women in leadership program.
Total Rewards and Benefits
As part of our compensation philosophy, we believe that we must offer and maintain market competitive total rewards programs for our employees in order to attract and retain superior talent. These programs include base wages and incentives in support of our pay for performance culture, as well as health, welfare, and retirement benefits, vision, dental, life, prescription, and long-term disability insurance plans. We also provide employee paid supplemental life and accident insurance plans. To help employees cover medical expenses pre-tax, we offer employees a Flexible Spending Account. We also focus many programs on employee wellness and have implemented solutions including mental health support access, telemedicine, and fitness programs. We also offer our US-based full-time employees a 401(k) retirement plan with a Company match.
Community
We encourage our employees to become involved in their communities by providing full-time employees eight hours of paid-time off to volunteer in local community-based programs.
COVID Response
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we quickly implemented safety and health standards and protocols for our employees to ensure a safe work environment. Employees in our offices have been working remotely since March 2020. When our employees return to the office, we will adhere to the recommended protocols of the Centers for Disease Control or local regulations.
Ethics
Our employees are required to annually agree to comply with our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics and any deviations by our directors and executive officers are required to be approved by our Board. We also maintain an Ethics Hotline that is available to all of our employees to report (anonymously if desired) any matter of concern. Communications to the hotline (which is facilitated by an independent third party) are routed to appropriate functions (whether Human Resources, Legal or Finance) for investigation and resolution. In addition, any shareholder or other interested party may send communications to the Board of Directors, either individually or as a group, through a process that is outlined in the Investor Relations section of our website.
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Additional Information
Company Website and Public Filings
We maintain a website at www.angihomeservices.com . Neither the information on this website, nor the information on the websites of any of our brands and businesses, is incorporated by reference into this annual report, or into any other filings with, or into any other information furnished or submitted to, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).
We also make available, free of charge through our website, our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K (including related amendments) as soon as reasonably practicable after they have been electronically filed with (or furnished to) the SEC.
Code of Ethics
Our code of ethics applies to all of our employees (including our principal executive officer, principal financial officer and principal accounting officer) and directors and is posted on our website at http://ir.angihomeservices.com under the heading “Code of Ethics.” This code of ethics complies with Item 406 of SEC Regulation S-K and the rules of The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC. Any changes to this code of ethics that affect the provisions required by Item 406 of Regulation S-K (and any waivers of such provisions of the code of ethics for our executive officers, senior financial officers or directors) will also be disclosed on our website.
RELATIONSHIP WITH IAC
Equity Ownership and Vote
We have two classes of capital stock outstanding, Class A common stock and Class B common stock, with one vote and ten votes per share, respectively. Our shares of Class B common stock are convertible into shares of Class A common stock on a share for share basis. As of December 31, 2020, IAC owned 421,861,990 shares of Class B common stock, representing 100% of our outstanding Class B common stock, and did not own any shares of our Class A common stock. As of that date, IAC’s Class B common stock holdings represented approximately 84.3% of our total outstanding shares of capital stock and approximately 98.2% of the total combined voting power of our outstanding capital stock.
Intercompany Agreements
In connection with the Combination, we and IAC entered into certain agreements to govern our relationship following the Combination. These agreements include the following:
Contribution Agreement
Under the contribution agreement: (i) we agreed to assume all of the assets and liabilities related to the HomeAdvisor business and indemnify IAC against any losses arising out of any breach by us of the contribution agreement or any other transaction related agreement described below and (ii) IAC agreed to indemnify us against losses arising out of any breach by IAC of the contribution agreement or any other transaction related agreement described below.
Investor Rights Agreement
Under the investor rights agreement, IAC has certain registration, preemptive and governance rights related to us and the shares of our capital stock it holds. The investor rights agreement also provides certain governance rights for the benefit of stockholders other than IAC.
Services Agreement
The services agreement currently governs services that IAC has agreed to provide to us through September 29, 2021, with automatic renewal for successive one-year terms, subject to IAC’s continued ownership of a majority of the total combined voting power of our voting stock and any subsequent extension(s) or truncation(s) agreed to by us and IAC. Services currently provided to us by IAC pursuant this agreement include: (i) assistance with certain legal, M&A, human resources, finance, risk management, internal audit and treasury functions, health and welfare benefits, information security services and insurance and tax affairs, including assistance with certain public company and unclaimed property reporting obligations; (ii) accounting, controllership and payroll processing services; (iii) investor relations services and (iv) tax compliance services. The scope, nature and extent of services may be changed from time to time as we and IAC may agree.
Tax Sharing Agreement
The tax sharing agreement governs our and IAC’s rights, responsibilities and obligations with respect to tax liabilities and benefits, entitlements to refunds, preparation of tax returns, tax contests and other tax matters regarding U.S. federal, state, local and foreign income taxes. Under the tax sharing agreement, we are generally responsible and required to indemnify IAC for: (i) all taxes imposed with respect to any consolidated, combined or unitary tax return of IAC or its subsidiaries that includes us or
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any of our subsidiaries (to the extent attributable to us or any of our subsidiaries, as determined under the tax sharing agreement) and (ii) all taxes imposed with respect to any consolidated, combined, unitary or separate tax returns of us or our subsidiaries.
Employee Matters Agreement
The employee matters agreement addresses certain compensation and benefit issues related to the allocation of liabilities associated with: (i) employment or termination of employment; (ii) employee benefit plans and (iii) equity awards. Under the employee matters agreement, our employees participate in IAC’s U.S. health and welfare plans, 401(k) plan and flexible benefits plan and we reimburse IAC for the costs of such participation. In the event IAC no longer retains shares representing at least 80% of the aggregate voting power of shares entitled to vote in the election of our board of directors, we will no longer participate in IAC’s employee benefit plans, but will establish our own employee benefit plans that will be substantially similar to the plans sponsored by IAC.
In addition, under the employee matters agreement, we are required to reimburse IAC for the cost of any IAC equity awards held by our current and former employees, with IAC electing to receive payment either in cash or shares of our Class B common stock. This agreement also provides that IAC may require stock appreciation rights granted prior the closing of the Combination and equity awards in our subsidiaries to be settled in either shares of our Class A common stock or IAC common stock. To the extent shares of IAC common stock are issued in settlement of these awards, we are obligated to reimburse IAC for the cost of those shares by issuing shares of our Class A common stock in the case of stock appreciation rights granted prior to the closing of the Combination and shares of our Class B common stock in the case of equity awards in our subsidiaries.
Lastly, pursuant to the employee matters agreement, in the event of a distribution of ANGI capital stock to IAC stockholders in a transaction intended to qualify as tax-free for U.S. federal income tax purposes, the Compensation Committee of the IAC board of directors has the exclusive authority to determine the treatment of outstanding IAC equity awards. Such authority includes (but is not limited to) the ability to convert all of part of IAC equity awards outstanding immediately prior to the distribution into equity awards denominated in shares of ANGI Class A Common Stock, which ANGI would be obligated to assume and which would be dilutive to ANGI's stockholders.