Item 1. Business
ITEM 1. Business
Unless the context otherwise requires, “we,” “us,” “our” and the “Company” refers to WillScot Mobile Mini Holdings Corp. ("WillScot Mobile Mini") and its subsidiaries.
Our Company
Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, we are a leading business services provider specializing in innovative flexible work space and portable storage solutions. We service diverse end markets across all sectors of the economy from a network of approximately 275 branch locations and additional drop lots throughout the United States (“US”), Canada, Mexico, and the United Kingdom ("UK"). We are also a leading provider of specialty containment solutions in the US.
With roots dating back more than 60 years, we lease modular space and portable storage units (our “lease fleet”) to customers in the commercial and industrial, construction, education, energy and natural resources, government, and other end markets. We offer our customers an extensive selection of “Ready to Work” solutions. As part of our "Ready to Work" solutions, we offer value-added products and services, such as the rental of steps, ramps, and furniture packages, damage waivers, and other amenities to improve the overall customer experience. These turnkey solutions offer customers flexible, low-cost, and timely solutions to meet their flexible work space and storage needs on an outsourced basis.
On July 1, 2020, WillScot Corporation ("WillScot") combined with Mobile Mini, Inc. ("Mobile Mini") in a stock-for-stock merger (the "Merger"), and WillScot changed its name to WillScot Mobile Mini Holdings Corp. WillScot Mobile Mini is the holding company for the Williams Scotsman and Mobile Mini families of companies. The Company operates in four reportable segments as follows: North America Modular Solutions ("NA Modular"), North America Storage Solutions ("NA Storage"), United Kingdom Storage Solutions ("UK Storage"), and Tank and Pump Solutions ("Tank and Pump"). Prior to the third quarter of 2021, the NA Modular segment aligned with the WillScot legacy business prior to the Merger, and the NA Storage, UK Storage, and Tank and Pump segments aligned with the Mobile Mini segments prior to the Merger. During the third quarter of 2021, the majority of the portable storage product business within the NA Modular segment was transitioned to the NA Storage segment, and associated revenues, expenses, and operating metrics beginning in the third quarter of 2021 were transferred to the NA Storage segment. Within this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we have presented certain financial information on a pro forma basis and supplemental pro forma financial statements within Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations to include Mobile Mini's results as if the Merger and related financing transactions had occurred on January 1, 2019, as we believe this is a better representation of the go-forward operations of the combined company, and we believe this information is useful to investors in order for them to better understand the combined historical financial results of the legacy businesses for comparative purposes.
Products and Services
Modular Space Solutions
Our modular space units meet a broad range of customer needs. Our modular units are typically made of steel and aluminum frames, as well as traditional building materials, and range from standalone portable units as small as 24 square feet to large complex units that can be coupled together or stacked to create versatile work spaces in excess of 10,000 square feet. In all cases, we deploy modular units to customers rapidly from our extensive branch network using our hybrid in-house and outsourced logistics and service infrastructure. We specialize in turnkey ‘Ready to Work’ solutions, which means our units can arrive fully equipped with air conditioning, heating, and filtration units, electrical and Ethernet ports, plumbing and utility hookups, as well as our proprietary line of furnishings and appliances, which we together refer to as Value-Added Products and Services (“VAPS”). Our units are transported by truck, either towed (if fitted with axles and hitches) or mounted on flat-bed trailers.
Modular space units have attractive economic characteristics, and our ability to lease and maintain our assets’
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profitability over economic lives, which often exceed 20 years, is a unique capability and competitive advantage. We utilize standard fleet maintenance procedures across the branch network, monitor fleet condition and allocate capital expenditures centrally, and ensure all units meet consistent quality and condition requirements, regardless of unit age, prior to delivery to a customer. Modular leasing is complemented by new unit sales and sales of rental units. In connection with our leasing and sales activities, we provide services including delivery and installation, maintenance and ad hoc services, and removal services at the end of lease transactions.
Panelized and Stackable Offices. O ur Flex TM p anelized and stackable offices are the next generation of modular space technology and offer maximum flexibility and design configurations. These units provide a modern, innovative design, smaller footprint, ground level access, and interchangeable panels, including all glass panels that allow customers to configure the space to their precise requirements. These units have the ability to expand upwards (up to three stories) and outwards, providing maximum versatility.
Single-Wide Modular Space Units. Single-wide modular space units include mobile offices and sales offices. These units offer maximum ease of installation and removal and are deployed across the broadest range of applications in our fleet. These units typically have “open interiors,” which can be modified using movable partitions, and include tile floors, air conditioning, heating, and filtration units, partitions and toilet facilities.
Section Modulars and Redi-Plex. Section modulars are two or more units combined into one structure. Redi-Plex complexes offer advanced versatility for large, open floor plans or custom layouts with private offices. Redi-Plex is built with clearspan construction, which eliminates interference from support columns and allows for up to sixty feet of open building width and building lengths that increase in twelve-foot increments based on the number of units coupled together. Our proprietary design meets a wide range of national and state building, electrical, mechanical, and plumbing codes, which creates versatility in fleet management. Examples of section modular units include hospital diagnostic annexes, special events headquarters, temporary data centers, and larger general commercial offices.
Classrooms. Classroom units are generally double-wide units or Flex panelized units adapted specifically for use by school systems or universities. Classroom units usually feature teaching aids, air conditioning, heating, and filtration units, windows and, if requested, toilet facilities.
Ground Level Offices and Container Offices. We also offer steel ground level offices from 10 to 40 feet in length and 8 or 10 feet in width. Many of these units are converted to office use from International Organization for Standardization ("ISO") certified shipping containers. These offices are available in various configurations, including all-office floor plans or office and storage combination units that provide a 10‑ or 15‑foot office with the remaining area available for storage. Ground level offices provide the advantage of ground accessibility for ease of access and high security in an all‑steel design. These office units are equipped with electrical wiring, air conditioning, heating, filtration units, phone jacks, carpet or tile, high security doors, and windows with security bars or shutters. Some of these offices are also equipped with sinks, hot water heaters, cabinets, and toilet facilities .
Other Modular Space. We offer a range of other specialty products that vary across regions and provide flexibility to serve demands for local markets. Examples include workforce accommodation units with dining facilities used to house workers, often in remote locations, blast-resistant units, and toilet facilities to complement office and classroom units.
Portable Storage Solutions
Portable Storage Containers. Our portable storage containers offer an assortment of differentiated features such as patented locking systems, premium and multiple door options, optional climate control, and numerous configuration options. Standard portable storage containers are made from weather‑resistant corrugated steel and are available in lengths ranging from 5 to 48 feet, widths of either 8 feet or 10 feet, and a variety of configuration options. Doors can be placed at the front, front and back, or the sides of containers. Other options include partitions and shelving. Storage containers can be equipped with our patented Tri‑Cam Locking System®, which features a waist‑level opening lever and interlocking bars to provide easy access for the owner without sacrificing security. We also offer ContainerGuardLock®, an optional security device, which features a hidden six‑pin tumbler system and is made from drill‑resistant hardened steel. We believe these steel storage containers are a cost‑effective alternative to mass warehouse storage, with a high level of security to protect our customers' goods.
Steel containers have a long useful life with no technical obsolescence. Our portable storage containers generally have estimated useful lives of 30 years from the date we build or acquire and remanufacture them, with average residual values in excess of 50%. We maintain our steel containers on a regular basis by removing rust, painting them with rust inhibiting paint, plug‑welding holes, and occasionally replacing the wooden floor or a rusted steel panel. Repainting the outside of storage units is the most common maintenance item. A properly maintained container is essentially in the same condition as when it was initially remanufactured.
The remanufacturing process begins with the purchase of used ISO containers from leasing companies, shipping lines, and brokers. These containers were originally built to ISO standards and are 8 feet wide, up to 9.5 feet high and 20, 40 or 45 feet long. After acquisition, we remanufacture and modify these ISO containers. Remanufacturing typically involves cleaning, removing rust and dents, repairing floors and sidewalls, painting, adding our signs, and further customizing units by adding our proprietary easy opening door system and our patented locking system. Modification typically involves splitting some containers into differing lengths.
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VAPS
We offer a thoughtfully curated portfolio of VAPS that make modular space and portable storage units more productive, comfortable, secure, and “Ready to Work” for our customers. We lease furniture, steps, ramps, basic appliances, internet connectivity devices, and other items to our customers for use in connection with our products. We also offer our lease customers a damage waiver program that protects them in case the leased unit is damaged. For customers who do not select the damage waiver program, we bill them for the cost of repairs above and beyond normal wear and tear. Importantly, management believes that our scale, branch network, supply chain, and sales performance management tools give us a significant advantage in delivering “Ready to Work” solutions and growing VAPS revenue relative to our competitors.
Delivery, Installation and Removal
We operate a hybrid in-house and outsourced logistics and service infrastructure that provides delivery, site work, installation, disassembly, unhooking and removal, and other services to our customers for an additional fee as part of our leasing and sales operations. Revenue from delivery, site work, and installation results from the transportation of units to a customer's location, as well as site work required prior to installation, and installation of the units which have been leased or sold. Typically, modular units are placed on temporary foundations constructed by our in‑house service technicians or subcontractors. These in‑house service technicians or subcontractors also generally install any ancillary products and VAPS. We also derive revenue from disassembling, unhooking, and removing units once a lease expires. We believe that our logistics and service capabilities are unrivaled in the industry, differentiate us from competitors, and enhance our value proposition to our customers.
Tank and Pump Solutions
Our Tank and Pump Solutions business offers a broad range of liquid and solid specialty containment equipment and services complemented by an assortment of pumps, filtration units, and waste hauling services. In addition, ancillary products for rental and for sale are available, such as hoses, pipes, filters, and spill containment. Our principal products and services within our Tank and Pump Solutions business include steel tanks, stainless steel tank trailers, roll‑off boxes, vacuum boxes, dewatering boxes, pumps and filtration equipment, and value‑added services.
Our fleet of steel tanks offers flexible sizes and other options such as weir, gas buster, and open top steel tanks for applications ranging from temporary storage of chemicals, water, and other liquids, thorough mixing, agitation, and circulation of stored liquids with other products, and removal of gas from fluids circulated in the wellbore—such as mud used during drilling operations and settling of solids in liquids prior to filtration or discharge. Our stainless-steel tankers meet Department of Transportation specifications for use in the storage and transportation of chemical, caustics, and other liquids and are offered insulated or non‑insulated with level indication and vapor recovery capability. Roll‑off boxes provide simple, leak‑proof storage and transportation of solid industrial byproducts and are utilized for a variety of containment applications where it is necessary to maintain the homogeneity of the contents. Roll-tarps or rolling metal lids are available to protect the contents from the elements during transport or storage. Vacuum roll‑off boxes are also offered to pair with a vacuum truck for containment, storage, or transportation of pressurized contents. Dewatering boxes are configured to provide for the draining of excess liquid from slurry or sludge which reduces storage, transportation, and disposal costs. Upon completion of dewatering, the container is generally picked up by a roll‑off truck for content disposal. Vacuum dewatering boxes are also offered. In addition, we offer a variety of pumps and filtration equipment that can be used primarily for liquid circulation and filtration in municipal and industrial applications.
Additional services performed by our specialty containment employees include transportation of containers for waste management between multiple locations or in-plant, waste management oversight and service provision by an on-site dedicated team, system design including assessment of pumping, filtration and temporary storage needs, and field services to correctly install and connect customer containment equipment.
Product Leases
We primarily lease, rather than sell, our modular and portable storage units to customers, which results in a highly diversified and predictable recurring revenue stream. For the year ended December 31, 2021, over 90% of new lease orders were on our standard lease agreement, pre-negotiated master lease, or national account agreements. The initial lease periods vary, and our leases are customarily renewable on a month-to-month basis after their initial term. For the year ended December 31, 2021, the average effective duration of our consolidated lease portfolio for modular space and portable storage units was over 31 months. As a result, our lease revenue is highly predictable due to its recurring nature and the underlying stability and diversification of our lease portfolio.
For the year ended December 31, 2021, our average minimum contractual lease term at the time of delivery in our NA Modular segment for modular space units was 11 months. However, given that our customers value flexibility, they consistently extend their leases or renew on a month-to-month basis such that the average effective duration of our NA Modular segment lease portfolio was over 35 months. Customers are responsible for the costs of delivery and set-up, dismantling and pick-up, customer-specified modifications, costs to return custom modifications back to standard configuration at end of lease, and any loss or damage beyond normal wear and tear. Our leases generally require customers to maintain liability and property insurance covering the units during the lease term and to indemnify us from losses caused by the negligence of the customer or their employees.
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Rental contracts with customers within our NA Storage and UK Storage segments are generally based on a 28‑day rate and billing cycle. The rental continues until cancelled by the customer or us. On average, steel storage containers on rent in our NA Storage and UK Storage segments for the year ended December 31, 2021 had been in place for over 31 months, and the steel ground level offices on rent for the year ended December 31, 2021 had been in place for over 15 months. Rental contracts provide that the customer is responsible for the cost of delivery and pickup and specify that the customer is liable for any damage done to the unit beyond ordinary wear and tear. Customers may purchase a damage waiver to avoid damage liability in certain circumstances, which provides an additional source of recurring revenue. Customer possessions stored within a portable storage unit are the responsibility of that customer.
Rental contracts with Tank and Pump Solutions customers typically offer daily, weekly, or monthly rates. Certain larger customers have multi-year agreements that limit rate increases during the term of the contract. The rental duration varies widely by application, and the rental continues until the unit is returned in clean condition to us. On average, contracts in our Tank and Pump Solutions segments for the year ended December 31, 2021 had been in place for over 8 months. Rental contracts specify that the customer is responsible for carrying commercial general liability insurance, is liable for any damage to the unit beyond ordinary wear and tear, and for all materials the customer contains in rented equipment. The customer is contractually responsible for the cost of delivery and pickup, as well as thoroughly emptying and cleaning the equipment before return.
Demand for our products varies by end market. Construction customers typically reflect higher demand during months with more temperate weather, while demand from large retailers is stronger from September through December, when more space is needed to store holiday inventories. Retail customers usually return these rented units in December and early in the following year, but also undertake ongoing rolling store renovations which present consistent recurring demand throughout the year. In our Tank and Pump Solutions business, demand from customers is typically higher in the middle of the year from March to October, driven by the timing of customer maintenance projects.
As of December 31, 2021, we had approximately 390,000 total units including over 162,000 modular space units, over 213,000 portable storage units, over 13,000 tank and pump units, and other value-added products representing fleet net book value of $3.1 billion. Approximately 111,000 of our modular space units, or 68% and 180,000 of our portable storage units, or 84% were on rent as of December 31, 2021, and tank and pump Original Equipment Cost ("OEC") utilization was 73.5% as of December 31, 2021.
Product Sales
We complement our core leasing business by selling both new and used units, allowing us to leverage our scale, achieve purchasing benefits, and redeploy capital employed in our lease fleet. Generally, we purchase new units from a broad network of third-party manufacturers. We only purchase new modular space units for resale when we have obtained firm purchase orders (which normally are non-cancelable and include up-front deposits) for such units. Buying units directly for resale adds scale to our purchasing, which is beneficial to our overall supplier relationships and purchasing terms. New unit sales are a natural extension of our leasing operations in situations where customers have long-lived or permanent projects, making it more cost-effective to purchase rather than to lease a standard unit, and our customers benefit from our product expertise and delivery and installation capabilities.
In the normal course of managing our business, we also sell idle, used rental units at fair market value and units that are already on rent if the customer expresses interest in owning, rather than continuing to rent, the unit. The sale of units from our rental equipment has historically been both a profitable and cost-effective method to finance the replenishment and upgrade of our lease fleet, as well as to generate free cash flow during periods of lower rental demand and utilization. Our sales business may include modifying or customizing units to meet customer requirements. We also offer delivery, installation, and removal-related services for an additional fee as part of our sales operations.
Customers
Our customers operate in a diversified set of end markets, including construction, commercial and industrial, retail and wholesale trade, energy and natural resources, education, government and institutions, and healthcare. Core to our operating model is the ability to redeploy standardized assets across end markets, as we did in 2020 and 2021 to service emerging demand in the healthcare and government sectors related to COVID‑19, as well as expanded space requirements related to social distancing. We track several market leading indicators in order to predict demand, including those related to our two largest end markets, the commercial and industrial segment and the construction segment, which collectively accounted for approximately 47% and 40% of our revenues, respectively, for the year ended December 31, 2021. In order to optimize the use of fleet assets across our branch network, we centrally manage fleet rebalancing across our end markets. This allows us to serve 15 distinct end markets in which no one customer accounted for more than 2% of revenues for the year ended December 31, 2021.
For the year ended December 31, 2021, our top 10 customers accounted for approximately 5% of revenues, and our top 50 customers accounted for less than 13% of revenues, reflecting low customer concentration and significant project diversification within our portfolio.
Our logistics and service infrastructure is designed to meet or exceed our customers’ expectations by reacting quickly, efficiently, and with consistent service levels. As a result, we have established strong relationships with a diverse customer
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base, ranging from large multinational companies to local sole proprietors. We served over 85,000 unique customers in 2021. We believe that our customers prefer our modular space and portable storage products over fixed, on-site built space because they are a quick, flexible, cost-effective, and low-risk solution for temporary or permanent expansion or storage.
Our strategy involves operating standardized rental equipment and "Ready to Work" solutions that can be redeployed across our diversified customer base and branch network in 15 discrete end markets. Key customer end markets include:
Construction and Infrastructure
We provide office and storage space to a broad array of contractors associated with non-residential buildings and non-building infrastructure. Our client portfolio includes many of the largest general contractors and engineering, architecture, procurement, and construction companies in North America, as well as home builders, developers, and subcontractors. Examples include highway, street, bridge, and tunnel contractors; water, sewer, communication, and power line contractors; and special construction trades, including glass, glazing, and demolition. Our construction and infrastructure customer base is characterized by a wide variety of contractors that are associated with original construction as well as capital improvements in the private, institutional, and municipal arenas. Units are used as offices, break rooms, accommodations, security offices, and other applications.
Commercial and Industrial
Customers in this category use our products as their primary office or retail space, to expand their existing commercial workspace, to increase their storage capabilities, or as temporary space for festivals, sporting, and other events. Customers in this category span a variety of industries ranging from commercial offices; chemicals and other manufacturing; agriculture, forestry and fishing; arts, media, hotels, and entertainment; and other industrial end markets.
The commercial and industrial segment also includes customers in retail and wholesale trade. These include department, drug, grocery, and strip mall stores, logistics, warehousing and distribution services, as well as restaurants, service stations, and dry cleaners. Our customers in retail and wholesale trade include big‑box retailers who have storage needs during renovations or other large on-site projects. On a stand‑alone basis, retail and wholesale trade customers comprised approximately 11% of fiscal year 2021 rental revenue.
Energy and Natural Resources
Our products are leased to companies involved in electricity generation and transmission, utilities, up- mid- and down-stream oil and gas, mining exploration and extraction, and other related sectors. Units are used as temporary offices, break rooms, accommodations, security offices, and other applications.
Education
Rapid shifts in populations within regions, as well as recent needs to expand square footage per student in in-person education settings, often necessitate quick expansion of education facilities, particularly in elementary and secondary schools and universities and colleges. Regional and local governmental budgetary pressures, classroom size reduction legislation, refurbishment of existing facilities, and the expansion of charter schools have made modular classrooms a convenient and cost-effective way to expand capacity in education settings. In addition, our products are used as classrooms when schools are undergoing large scale modernization, which allows continuous operation of a school while modernization progresses.
Government and Institutions
Government customers consist of national, state, provincial, and local public sector organizations. Modular space and portable storage solutions are particularly attractive to focused niches such as healthcare facilities, small municipal buildings, courthouses, military installations, national security buildings, and offices during building modernization, as well as disaster relief.
Competitive Strengths
We believe that the following competitive strengths have been instrumental to our success and position us for future growth:
North American Leader in Turnkey Modular Space and Portable Storage Solutions
The Mobile Mini Merger brought together WillScot’s leading modular space capabilities and Mobile Mini’s leading portable storage solutions to create an industry-leading business services provider specializing in innovative flexible work space and portable storage solutions. We benefit from complementary capabilities, a diverse customer base with over 85,000 customers across different end markets, and a geographic footprint of approximately 275 branch locations and additional drop lots.
Our broad and complementary network serves the largest North American metropolitan areas with local teams who are experts in their respective markets. Our cost‑effective coverage model serves smaller customers at the local and regional level, while also addressing the needs of larger national customers looking for a full suite of high-quality services that can be provided on a consistent basis throughout North America. Since geographic proximity to customers is a competitive advantage in the modular space and portable storage industry, we believe that our extensive branch network allows us to better serve existing customers and attract new customers.
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We believe our extensive scale results in significant operational benefits, such as optimization of fleet yield and utilization, efficient capital allocation, superior service capabilities, and the ability to offer consistent "Ready to Work" solutions across all of our branch locations.
VAPS
We deliver "Ready to Work" solutions through our growing offering of VAPS, such as the rental of steps, ramps, furniture packages, damage waivers, and other amenities. This thoughtfully curated portfolio of VAPS makes modular space and portable storage units more productive, comfortable, and secure for our customers and allows us to generate higher revenue per transaction and return on capital, and differentiates us from our competitors. These turnkey solutions offer customers flexible, low‑cost, capital efficient, and timely solutions to meet their space needs on an outsourced basis.
VAPS have been a substantial source of revenue growth in our NA Modular segment. We have been able to successfully drive a material increase in customer VAPS spend into our recently acquired businesses, which generates highly tangible revenue synergies. We believe our ability to drive VAPS growth following our historical acquisitions highlights the value proposition our VAPS provide to our customers.
During 2021, we introduced a similar cross-selling opportunity within ground level offices in the NA Storage segment. We are also introducing an innovative "Ready to Work" storage solution with VAPS such as integral tool racking, storage desks and charging stations, shelving, lighting and locks.
Sophisticated Logistics and Service Capabilities
Building from the largest branch network in the industry, we operate a sophisticated hybrid in-house and outsourced logistics and service infrastructure that we believe is highly differentiated from our competitors and enhances the value proposition we provide to customers. Precise scheduling of installations and removals, same-day delivery capabilities on certain products, and ability to mobilize large volumes of equipment in any geography serviced by our branch network are all unique capabilities that differentiate WillScot Mobile Mini, particularly among more demanding customer segments. We believe that continuing to further optimize our logistics and service capabilities through the deployment of technology and in-sourcing our services is an opportunity for further cost efficiency and differentiation with our customers.
Investments in Technology
We believe our technology serves as a primary differentiator relative to our competition and is a key component of our customer value proposition. Initiatives underway to further leverage our state of the art SAP enterprise resource planning platform will result in further operating efficiencies and enhance the overall customer experience. Effective use of real‑time information allows us to monitor and optimize the utilization of our fleet, allocate our fleet to the highest demand markets, optimize pricing, and determine the best allocation of our capital to invest in fleet and branches.
We are able to dynamically price and approach customer accounts in a strategic and statistically informed manner. We also believe our ability to leverage this data helps us to increase our market share and effectively manage supply and demand dynamics in our fleet in order to maximize cash flow in all phases of the economic cycle, including identifying opportunities where underutilized lease fleet can be sold to generate cash.
Similarly, technology is continuing to develop related to our fleet to offer an enhanced experience for our customers. Unit tracking, customer service portals, and other customer‑facing technological benefits differentiate our offering from competitors who have not invested in these capabilities. We believe we possess superior technology infrastructure relative to our competition and we intend to extend this advantage further by leveraging our infrastructure investments.
Diversified Revenue Base by End Market, Product, Service and Geography
We have established strong relationships with a diverse customer base, ranging from large national accounts to small local businesses. Our customers operate in a diversified set of end markets, including commercial and industrial, construction, education, energy and natural resources, government, and other end markets. For the year ended December 31, 2021, the top 50 customers for WillScot Mobile Mini accounted for less than 13% of total revenues. We believe that the diversity of our customer end markets reduces our exposure to changes related to a given customer, shifts within an industry or geographic region, and end market industry seasonality, while also providing significant opportunities to grow our business. Furthermore, the nature of our products is such that their use is generally agnostic to industry. This flexibility insulates utilization from exposure to industry‑specific shocks, provided there are other needs and applications for these products within a reasonable distance. Accordingly, our business has been able to support front‑line workers and other essential businesses during the COVID‑19 crisis by providing temporary testing sites, treatment centers, exam rooms, hospital swing space, temperature screening checkpoints, office space to support social distancing, and storage for related supplies.
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The following chart illustrates the breakdown of our customers and revenue by end markets as of December 31, 2021. In order to optimize the use of fleet assets across our branch network, we centrally manage fleet rebalancing across our end markets. This allows us to serve 15 distinct end markets in which no customer accounted for more than 2% of revenue for the year ended December 31, 2021.
REVENUE MIX BY END MARKET CUSTOMER CONCENTRATION
Proven Track Record Realizing Acquisition Synergies and Deploying Best Practices
We have a strong track record of integrations generating significant synergies with our acquisitions of Mobile Mini, Modular Space Holdings, Inc. ("ModSpace"), Onsite Space LLC ("Tyson"), and Acton Mobile Holdings LLC ("Acton"). During the year ended December 31, 2021, the Company acquired certain assets and liabilities of seven regional modular space and storage businesses and quickly integrated these assets into our leasing portfolio and branch network. Opportunities such as these allow us to reach new customers, expand our product and service offering, and provide further opportunities for revenue and cost synergies. See “Risk Factors—We may be unable to successfully acquire and integrate new operations, which could cause our business to suffer."
Our Asset Base Provides Highly Attractive Asset-Level Returns with Long Useful Lives
The combination of long, predictable lease durations, long asset lives, and attractive unit economics underpins the compelling cash generation capability in our business model. As such, we have made significant investments in our lease fleet and consolidated several competitors. For the year ended December 31, 2021, our modular space and portable storage lease fleet consisted of over 129 million square feet of relocatable space, comprising over 162,000 office units and over 213,000 steel container units.
We generate an attractive internal rate of return ("IRR") in our modular space portfolio driven by the long economic life of our fleet, exceeding 20 years on average, inclusive of any capital expenditure ("capex") required to maintain the fleet to its value maximizing earning potential. On average, the IRR for a modular unit, including VAPS, is over 25%.
Similarly, portable storage containers are able to generate an IRR of approximately 30%. These units require minimal maintenance capex. The stability of cash flows combined with strong economic returns make both modular space and portable storage containers highly attractive specialty rental asset classes, and our logistics and service capabilities and investments in technology further enhance the returns we can generate from these assets.
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The following chart illustrates the breakdown of the net book value ("NBV") of our rental equipment between the various modular space product types, portable storage and VAPS as of December 31, 2021.
Our Business Generates Predictable Recurring Cash Flow Due to Our Long-Term Leases and Flexible Capex Requirements
Our recurring revenue, combined with our flexible capex requirements and efficient use of working capital has allowed us to generate substantial free cash flow, both in periods of growth and economic downturn. The long term nature of our leases, with average lease durations in excess of 31 months as of December 31, 2021, produces strong operating income and predictable cash flow.
We exercise control and discretion over capex, due to the longevity and relative simplicity of our products, the ability to invest only where needed and when needed to meet demand, and the ability to sell excess fleet during lower utilization periods. During periods of economic stress, we have the ability to substantially reduce capex throughout the portfolio in order to maximize cash flow, resulting in a counter‑cyclical free cash flow profile. See discussion of “COVID‑19 impact on business" within our "Recent Developments" section below.
Our Industry
We primarily operate within the modular space, portable storage, and specialty containment markets. Our services also span across a variety of related sectors, including furniture rental, transportation and logistics, facilities rental services, job site services and commercial real estate.
Modular Space Market
The modular space market is fragmented. Modular space units are non-residential structures designed to meet federal, provincial, state, and local building codes and, in most cases, are designed to be relocatable. Modular space units are constructed offsite, utilizing manufacturing techniques to prefabricate single or multi-story whole building solutions in deliverable modular sections. Units are typically constructed of steel, wood and conventional building materials and can be permanent or relocatable.
The modular space market has evolved in recent years as businesses and other potential customers increasingly recognize the value of modular space. The key growth drivers in this market are similar to portable storage and include:
Growing need and demand for space: driven by general economic activity, including gross domestic product growth, industrial production, mining and natural resources activity, non-residential construction, urbanization, public and education spending, and the scale and frequency of special events.
Shift from traditional fixed, on-site built space to modular space solutions: driven by several advantages as compared with fixed, on-site built space, including:
• Quick to install: the pre-fabrication of modular space units allows them to be put in place rapidly, providing potential long-term solutions to needs that may have materialized quickly.
• Flexibility: flexible assembly design allows modular space units to be built to suit a customer’s needs while offering customers the ability to adjust their space as their needs change.
• Cost effectiveness: modular space units provide a cost-effective solution for temporary and permanent space requirements and allow customers to improve returns on capital in their core business.
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• Quality: the pre-fabrication of modular space units is based on a repeatable process in a controlled environment, resulting in more consistent quality.
• Mobility: modular space units can easily be disassembled, transported to a new location and re-assembled.
• Environmentally friendly: relocatable buildings promote the reuse of facilities, on an as-needed basis, by the occupants.
Portable Storage Market
The portable storage market, like the modular space market, is highly fragmented and remains primarily local in nature. Portable storage units are typically ground‑level entry, windowless storage containers made of heavy exterior metals for secure storage and water tightness. Portable storage units can be built to specification or can be remanufactured from existing storage products, such as ISO shipping containers. Remanufacturing typically involves cleaning, removing rust and dents, repairing floors and sidewalls, painting, and adding company logos or signs as well as our patented Tri‑Cam Locking System®.
Portable storage units continue to find new applications as business needs change and develop. Demand for portable storage is driven by a number of factors, including:
• Versatility: portable storage units can be easily customized to suit customer specifications. While standard applications include locking double‑door systems to facilitate loading. However, custom entrances, such as rolling or sliding doors, can be added for personnel access.
• Affordability: portable storage provides customers with a flexible and low‑cost storage alternative to permanent warehouse space and fixed‑site self‑storage.
• Safety: units can be easily outfitted with fire and water‑resistant surfaces and materials. ISO containers are often wind and leak‑proof by virtue of their uses in logistics and shipping. Nearly all units are made from steel, which is a low‑cost, durable material.
• Security: a variety of enhanced locking mechanisms are available for portable storage units, including our patented Tri‑Cam Locking System® and ContainerGuardLock®. These features offer additional protection for high‑value goods and inventory.
• Convenience: portable storage units provide immediate ground‑level access for consumers and can be easily transported in large quantities via truck, rail, or cargo ship.
• Aesthetics: portable storage units can be easily painted and decorated with company colors and logos and are less conspicuous than other portable storage alternatives.
Specialty Containment Market
This market is served by our Tank and Pump Solutions business. In the specialty containment sector, we service different markets: the industrial market, comprised mainly of chemical facilities and refineries, also known as the “downstream” market and, to a lesser extent, companies engaged in the exploration and production of oil and natural gas, or the “upstream” market. Additionally, we serve a diversified group of customers engaged in projects in the construction, pipeline, and mining markets. Downstream customers utilize tank and pump equipment and services to manage and remove liquid and solid waste generated by ongoing operating activities as well as turn‑around projects and large‑scale expansion projects. Upstream customers, who we estimate represent approximately 2% of tank and pump revenues for the year ended December 31, 2021, tend to rent steel tanks to store and transport water and propellant used in well hydraulic fracturing. Other customers utilize a wide variety of our products differentiated by the type of project in which they are engaged.
Other Related Markets
In the normal course of providing our “Ready to Work” solutions, we perform services that are characteristic of activities in other industries. For example, we coordinate a broad network of third-party and in-house transportation and service resources to support the timely movement of our products to, as well as maintenance on, customer sites. Additionally, we design, source, lease, and maintain a broad offering of ancillary products, including furniture, which render our modular units immediately functional in support of our customers’ needs. We have developed networks of third‑party service providers that we coordinate to expand the breadth of capabilities that our customers can source through us. These third‑party‑managed services represent incremental revenue and margin opportunities for us and simplify the number of vendor touchpoints for our customers.
We also provide technical expertise and oversight for customers regarding building design and permitting, site preparation, and expansion or contraction of installed space based on changes in project requirements. Further, we have the capability to compete in adjacent markets, such as commercial and institutional housing, which have received less focus historically in the modular space market. We believe that this broad service capability differentiates us from other rental and business services providers and clearly differentiates us in the marketplace.
Competition
Although our competition varies significantly by local market, the modular space and portable storage industry is highly competitive and fragmented as a whole. We believe that participants in our industry compete on the basis of customer
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relationships, product quality and availability, delivery speed, VAPS and service capabilities, pricing, and overall ease of doing business. We typically compete with one or more local providers in all of our markets, as well as with a limited number of national and regional companies.
Our competitors include lessors of storage units, mobile offices, van trailers, and other structures used for portable storage, as well as traditional commercial office space and conventional fixed self-storage facilities. Some of our competitors may have greater market share in certain geographic regions. Significant modular space and portable storage competitors include McGrath RentCorp, PODS, United Rentals, ATCO Structures & Logistics, BOXX Modular, and 1-800-PACK-RAT in North America, and Wernick Hire and Elliott in the UK. Numerous other regional and local companies compete in individual markets.
Our Tank and Pump Solutions business offers liquid and solid containment products. The liquid and solid containment industry is also highly fragmented, consisting principally of local providers, with a handful of regional and national providers. We compete based on factors including quality and breadth of equipment, technical applications expertise, knowledgeable and experienced sales and service personnel, on‑time delivery and proactive logistics management, geographic areas serviced, rental rates, and customer service. Our competitors include United Rentals, Rain For Rent, Adler Tanks, Sprint/Republic Services, and numerous other smaller competitors.
Our Business and Growth Strategies
We intend to maintain a leading market position and increase our revenue and profitability by pursuing the following strategies, all of which we have demonstrated in our historical operating performance:
Expand Penetration of Value-Added Products and Services
As of December 31, 2021, we estimate that we have an organic revenue growth opportunity of over $150 million as the average VAPS rate of our units on rent in our NA Modular segment converges over time to the VAPS price and penetration levels achieved on our most recently delivered units. We believe this growth opportunity could be substantially larger if we successfully penetrate more of our modular space orders, and expand our VAPS offering for portable storage units.
Optimize Rate Across Fleet
We continue to advance multiple pricing strategies across our fleet to drive revenue growth. Leveraging our expertise developed in NA Modular, we plan to implement dynamic pricing, customer segmentation, and contract standardization in our other segments. Our long history of success, demonstrated by 17 consecutive quarters of double-digit rate growth as of December 31, 2021 in the US within our NA Modular segment, gives us confidence that we can successfully deploy this strategy. The turnover of our fleet, with average lease durations of nearly three years, creates natural and recurring opportunities to capture incremental price increases. As the market leader in our industry, we offer the broadest fleet portfolio, the most differentiated turnkey VAPS, and the most consistent service capabilities across the largest branch network to help our customers be 'Ready to Work'.
Enhance Market Penetration Between Segments
The combination of WillScot and Mobile Mini created a leading business services provider specializing in innovative flexible work space and portable storage solutions. At the outset of the Merger, we recognized that there was 80% end-market overlap and 40% customer overlap, a clear strategic opportunity for our complementary product lines. By offering a combined product suite, we simplify our customers' procurement needs and enable productivity from start to finish for projects. We believe cross-selling will also increase utilization and yield of our combined fleet. Our sales force is optimally positioned to improve efficiency by leveraging our management information systems and using real-time information to monitor and optimize conversion of customer opportunities across our core segments. In turn, we expect that our broadened and enhanced fleet will attract new customers, increase customer retention, and increase margins and return on invested capital.
Generate Cash Flow Through Operational Efficiencies, Cost Reductions, and Technology
We are implementing many initiatives designed to improve operations and increase profitability. We continually assess our branch operating footprint, vendor base, and operating structure to maximize revenue generation while minimizing costs. The Merger provides us with increased scale, numerous operational best practices from both the legacy WillScot and legacy Mobile Mini businesses, and a state-of-the-art SAP ERP platform, all of which we believe will significantly improve our operating efficiency over time. We have a proven track record of efficiently integrating acquisitions and quickly eliminating operational redundancies while maintaining acquired customer relationships.
Deploy Capital to Strategically Support Organic Growth and Optimize Returns
We maintain a disciplined focus on our return on capital and invest opportunistically across multiple uniquely attractive asset classes, prioritizing our investments to where we see the strongest potential returns. We continually assess both our existing lease fleet and customer demand for opportunities to deploy capital more efficiently. We manage our maintenance capex and growth capex to align with the economic conditions in which we operate. Within our existing lease fleet, we examine the potential cash and earnings generation of an asset sale versus continuing to lease the asset. In addition, we examine the relative benefits of organic expansion opportunities versus expansion through acquisition to obtain a favorable return on capital.
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Leverage Scale and Organic Initiatives with Accretive Acquisitions
Our markets for modular space and portable storage solutions are fragmented. We estimate that approximately 55% of the modular market and approximately 70% of the portable storage market in North America are supplied by regional and local competitors. We have the broadest network of operating branches in North America, as well as a scalable corporate center and information technology systems, which position us to continue to acquire and integrate other companies while expanding the products and services available and offered to acquired customers. During 2021, the Company acquired certain assets and liabilities of several smaller entities, which consisted primarily of 15,700 storage units and 5,800 modular units. We expect to pursue acquisitions opportunistically that will provide further scale efficiencies and allow us to improve returns generated by the acquired assets.
Use Free Cash Flow to Drive Value Creation
Our free cash flow generation has accelerated rapidly in recent years, and we expect this trend to continue as we execute our strategy. While we see numerous organic and inorganic opportunities to re-invest in our core businesses, we believe we can generate surplus free cash flow with which we can both reduce leverage and return capital to shareholders over time. We view this as an additional powerful value creation lever, and we are committed to deploying this capital as productively as possible in the interests of our shareholders.
Human Capital Management
As of December 31, 2021, we employed approximately 4,700 people worldwide, the majority of which are full time. Of these employees, approximately 4,320 are employed in North America (the US, Canada and Mexico), and approximately 380 are employed in the UK. We have collective bargaining agreements in portions of our Mexico-based operations representing approximately 1% of our worldwide employees. Approximately 87% of employees work in our approximately 275 branch locations and additional drop lots, while 13% of employees serve in various corporate functions. We have not experienced a strike or significant work stoppage, and we consider our relations with the labor unions and employees to be good.
Our Chief Human Resources Officer ("CHRO") along with other members of our executive leadership team, and with guidance from our board of directors, develops and executes our human capital strategy. This includes attracting, hiring, developing, retaining and engaging talent to deliver our strategy, designing employee compensation and benefits programs, and developing and integrating our inclusion and diversity ("I&D") initiatives.
Whether at a branch location or onsite with our customer s, our people give us a competitive advantage versus our peers and competitors in the industry. That differentiation begins with o ur values. Our values are lived through our employees, acknowledged by our vendors and aligned to the needs of our customers and communities. Our values provide the basis for our approach to human capital management as well as how we treat our stakeholders.
Company Values
• Dedicated to Health & Safety: We are subject to certain environmental, health and safety regulations as well as other laws and regulations in countries, states or provinces, and localities in which we operate. Our health and safety programs are designed around global standards with appropriate variations addressing the multiple jurisdictions and regulations, specific hazards and unique working environments of our operations. We take responsibility for our own well being and for those around us.
• Committed to Inclusion & Diversity: We are stronger together when we celebrate our differences and strive for inclusiveness. We believe that a rich culture of inclusion and diversity enables us to create, develop and fully leverage the strengths of our workforce to exceed customer expectations and meet our growth objectives. We encourage collaboration and support the diverse voices and thoughts of our employees and communities.
• Driven to Excellence: We measure success through our results and achievement of our goals. We continuously improve ourselves and our products and services in pursuit of maximizing shareholder value.
• Trustworthy & Reliable: We hold ourselves accountable to do the right thing.
• Devoted to Our Customers: We anticipate the growing needs of our customers and strive to exceed their expectations and make it easy to do business with us.
• Community Focused: We actively engage in the communities we serve and deliver sustainable solutions.
Elements of Our Human Capital Strategy
The disruption in the labor force in 2020 continued into 2021. Many of our industry competitors have met these changes with little more than short-term compensation increases. We have taken a more holistic approach designed to meet our employees where they are at any stage within their lives. Our employee value proposition is simple: every day our employees deliver excellent service to our customers, and we are committed to delivering an employee experience that creates opportunity and ensures dignity for every employee.
Our involuntary turn over remains manageable at 23%, and the average tenure of our drivers remains strong at five years, during a period where demand for drivers is increasingly high. We believe that our strategy with the cornerstones of opportunity and personal dignity gives us an advantage over other companies. Our offerings are designed to benefit employees and their families, and we continue to develop best in class programs and services that are aligned to deliver
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targeted business outcomes that best fuel our growth trajectory. Through our acquisitions, we believe that we have extended these benefits to a broader employee population while raising the operating standards in our industry. The following highlights a few of our programs.
Employee Engagement
We are committed to keeping our employees informed and engaged in Company news and events, while helping them connect to our strategy and values. We share information through a range of channels including direct email and text capabilities, an employee intranet, televisions in our branches and quarterly all-employee town halls. We actively engage with our employees in topics that impact their experiences at work. We work with an outside vendor to administer an annual employee engagement survey along with regular pulse surveys to give our teams an active voice on topics that impact them directly. Their feedback is leveraged to shape policies, processes and other aspects of our workplace.
Learning and Development
Human capital development underpins our efforts to execute our strategy and continue to develop our people, products and services. We continually invest in our employees’ career growth and provide all employees with a wide range of personal and professional development experiences, both formal and informal, for all stages of their career journey.
Our formal offerings include tuition reimbursement, a diverse curriculum of over 6,000 learning courses, vocational training, and leadership development experiences. We have organized a proprietary foundational leadership development program, which combines skill building with an opportunity to put skills into practice. Since 2015, over 500 of our team members have participated in this program. In 2019, we partnered with a leading graduate business school to launch a targeted executive education program. And in 2021, we launched our new driver apprentice program to provide development opportunities to employees interested in becoming a Commercial Driver's License ("CDL") Class A driver for the Company. This new program also created internal development opportunity for current employees to become trainers.
Continual learning and career development is advanced through our in-depth succession planning process where we look across the organization to ensure diversity and inclusion are at the forefront of our human capital management. We then transition into goal planning and development conversations with employees that are supported by our library of personal and professional development courses, customized training engagements and seminars, conferences, and other training events where employees are encouraged to attend in connection with their job duties and developmental goals.
Inclusion and Diversity
We encourage and empower the diverse voices and contributions of our stakeholders to drive increased market share and global value. In 2021, we established and held the first meeting of our Inclusion & Diversity Council and launched five Inclusiveness Resource Teams ("IRTs"): Women of WSMM ("WOW"), Black Organization for Leadership & Direction ("BOLD"), Veterans United, Hispanos, and People Respecting that Identity and Sexuality Matters ("PRISM"). IRTs are voluntary, employee-led groups that foster an inclusive and diverse workplace aligned with our values and strategy. These groups were established to support our employees and provide opportunities for exposure, development and contribution to the organization.
The tone for I&D in our Company starts at the top with our executives and is bolstered with support from our board of directors. The Inclusion & Diversity Council is a cross-functional team of leaders, including our CEO, CHRO, and divisional senior vice presidents, that acts as a steering committee to help guide our I&D efforts globally. We expect to achieve the Company’s aspirations by (i) having regular board oversight of the Company’s I&D efforts, and (ii) improving I&D initiatives throughout the complete lifecycle of employee engagement (from recruitment, through development and advancement). We have trained hundreds of leaders in our organization on unconscious bias and provided I&D e-learning opportunities to our employees. Our CEO and CFO have I&D metrics as part of their compensation and performance targets.
Rewards, Health & Well Being
We crafted our total rewards strategy with a strategic focus on the health and well being of our employees. We do this, in part, by ensuring competitive pay at every level of the organization. We employ human capital consultant data to set and maintain pay ranges and pay levels across the organization. Incentives are designed to reward eligible employees commensurate with Company performance. Depending on the position, incentives may be either individually based (sales commissions), group-based (regional performance bonuses), or Company-based (corporate and executive employees).
Executive compensation is reviewed and analyzed via an independent third-party consultant and approved by the compensation committee of our board of directors. The consultant takes peer group data and general market data into account, when providing pay guidance, to ensure executive pay is both competitive and reasonable, based on the prevailing market standards.
Our approach to our benefits begins with a centralized focus on the employee. We use high deductible healthcare plans to promote positive consumer behaviors and pay approximately 70% of the cost of the employee premiums. We mitigate the burden to the employee from these plans by seeding their health savings accounts (“HSA”) at the beginning of each year, covering between 35% and 50% of employee deductibles. We also provide a biometric screening incentive in the form of an additional HSA contribution. HSA incentives are used to promote behaviors as needed, such as compliance with federal, state and local COVID-19 requirements and guidance. We have an employee assistance program to provide counseling sessions for every employee as they are needed.
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Wellness does not end with physical and mental health. We also offer several ways for our employees to feel prepared financially. Along with our 401(k) matching, we offer several educational services employees can use to strengthen their financial acumen. Additionally, we provide short-term disability pay at 100% of annualized wages for approved cases, and support can last up to 26 weeks. We offer paid parental leave for those employees who expand their families, as well. Regardless of the hurdles our employees face we are prepared to support them through their major life events and times of need.
Our employees are doing their part to support each other as well. The Minions of Kindness Fund is an employee-led 501(c)(3) organization that uses employee donations to support WillScot Mobile Mini employees in times of distress.
Our Approach to Environmental, Social and Governance
We are committed to upholding high standards when it comes to our environmental, social and governance ("ESG") responsibilities, as well as the safety of our employees and our business partners. The principal products we provide to our customers are long-lived, reusable and relocatable assets that produce minimal waste. For decades, we have committed ourselves to circular economic practices to reuse as many of the assets as possible. Our board of directors, at the direction of its nominating and corporate governance committee, is actively involved in the development of our ESG strategy and approach. Over the next several years, we will focus on numerous goals in the areas of ESG:
Focus Areas
• Environmental - Our commitment to environmentally sound business practices includes three key areas of focus:
◦ reducing greenhouse gas emissions as part of our operations;
◦ reducing the amount of waste we deliver to landfills; and
◦ improving the energy efficiency of our products.
• Social - We are committed to socially responsible business practices throughout our operations. We have focused especially on improving diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout our organization, and on improving the communities in which we work. Our five areas of focus in this regard are to:
◦ improve inclusion and diversity across the organization (as described above);
◦ focus on community partnering across all of our locations;
◦ remain diligent in placing safety first, always;
◦ improve health and wellness opportunities for all our employees (as described above); and
◦ improve customer engagement and relations.
• Governance
◦ Continue to align our corporate governance structure with our ESG strategy
◦ Improve the diversity of our Board and management
In the near term, we are pursuing the following five key strategic initiatives to drive increased benefits for our stakeholders.
• Materials: Reduce, reuse, recycle with our modular and storage units and VAPS
• Climate: Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from our owned trucking and yard fleet
• Health & Safety: Health & Safety First at our branches, on the road and at our customer sites
• Inclusion: Ensuring every employee has the opportunity to thrive and seek upward mobility
• Community: Leveraging our scale to lift up all 275+ of our communities and amplify our impact
Environmental
Circular Business Model (Materials)
We lease commercial grade office and storage units that are designed to be reused, relocated and reconfigured and have refurbishment capabilities for our office units. These assets are cycled to different customers seven times over their 20-year lifetime with a minimal refresh or get ready before each new cycle. We then layer on refurbishment, which can extend the asset life by another 10 years. With the cost of refurbishment at only 20-30% of the cost of a new unit, it’s more capital efficient to refurbish our units and it extends the life significantly. Our newest office space, called FLEX, is a panelized product which means that the panels, or walls, can be reconfigured and reused, thus eliminating wood waste.
We also have modernization facilities to put our storage assets, which we acquire used, into service as a storage unit.
Value Added Products (“VAPs”) adds another dimension to our circular story because we are able to reuse, repair, and maintain VAPs that come off rent, which helps drive better margins and growth. In addition, putting VAPs into our circular business model significantly reduces material usage both for us and for our customers, who otherwise buy and dispose of their VAPs at the end of the project.
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Circular by design, our lease and renew business model helps us to reduce material usage, emissions and costs, while helping our customers with their ESG goals.
GHG Emissions (Climate)
Compared to other industrial companies, our greenhouse gas footprint and risk is small, but we can still produce positive impacts that directly align with cost efficiency and customer benefits. To reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other air quality impacts from our diesel-fueled delivery and setup fleet, we have begun replacing older diesel truck engines with modern, efficient engines, and are working to test delivery trucks fueled by renewable natural gas. Over time, these efforts will help to reduce our fuel costs and risks, while also helping us secure contracts with like-minded customers.
Social
Safety
Protection of people and the environment is a core value at WillScot Mobile Mini. It is a key component of our Sales, People and Operational Excellence priorities. These priorities are the driving force that shapes who we are and what we do. WillScot Mobile Mini fosters an environment in which our employees feel empowered and choose to make the safest and best decisions possible. Safety extends beyond our branches and yards and includes travel on roads and highways and our activities at customer sites.
Today, we are operating at high levels of safety and low levels of injury. Our Total Recordable Incident Rate (“TRIR”) is 0.82 incidents per labor hour, compared to the 2.5 incidents per labor hour rate for the construction industry as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. We are using technology to assist our drivers and other team members in the safety arena. In 2020, we created an assessment tool, our “Safety Save” application, that tracks leadership safety engagement and measures the number of safety engagements as our team members complete them. Any employee is encouraged to complete a safety assessment on an observation of a task, tool, behavior or other condition during working duties. Use of the Safety Save application is just one manner we use to manage safety leadership at all levels. Further, we use and are expanding a vehicle/truck-based camera system used to improve driving behaviors.
Lastly, we maintain a safety assessment program that drives increased focus to our Health & Safety core value, by providing increased visibility. Our goal is to help each team member succeed and enjoy a safe working experience. We know no business can exist without people. Who we are as people ultimately defines what we are as a business, and safety is everyone’s responsibility.
COVID-19 Safety Protocols
We remain dedicated to protecting the health and safety of our employees and customers and have adjusted our business to meet various country, state, and local requirements. We are considered an “essential business” and our employees are considered “essential workers.” We have continued to service our customers throughout the pandemic, while implementing robust health and safety protocols to protect our visitors, employees and customers.
We follow US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, OSHA and/or applicable country, state and local guidelines at the locations where we operate. To comply with public health guidance and reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission, unvaccinated visitors, customers and employees are required, prior to commencing work at our facilities and offices each day, to check their temperature and complete a daily symptom certification that is documented and reviewed by our COVID team members. We provide masks and hand sanitizer to our visitors, customers, and employees, as well as require adherence to appropriate social distancing practices. We have also enhanced cleaning/sanitization protocols at our locations.
COVID-19 testing for employees is covered by our health insurance and we actively track key COVID metrics. Additionally, we are providing an incentive to our employees that choose to get vaccinated, as well as paid time off for vaccination and any side effects. We also meet all client requirements for site access or general compliance with their required COVID protocols. We remain flexible to the situation, and keep our employees informed of the current best guidance, as provided by professionals and experts.
Community
Community engagement is at the heart of our business. Due to our scale, we bring new engagement opportunities to our entire workforce in two ways. We recently launched our giving platform called "Give Where You Live" where employees can partner with the local charity of their choice across all 275 of our locations in the way that is most meaningful to them. We encourage our employees to give their time, talent and/or treasure locally to our core four causes of Shelter, Hunger, Education, and Health & Wellness. We have expanded our existing Company match program and have created a volunteer rewards program to encourage increased volunteerism globally. Our IRTs support our community-focused values through volunteer opportunities that are meaningful to the populations that they represent. We also have Company-wide partnerships like Habitat for Humanity, where we are able to provide giving opportunities in the normal course of business, like the temporary use of our storage containers at Habitat build sites. We know that when we give where we live, we can make a difference.
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Governance
Good governance enables everything we do. After the WillScot Mobile Mini merger, our combined board of directors created a roadmap to transition the company’s governance practices. We modified our charter to establish an ESG initiative, and to provide oversight for that initiative. Our audit committee and enterprise risk management committee each review the board of directors’ and the Company’s activities to assess risks and develop plans to mitigate those risks. These committees consider a variety of potential risks that may affect the Company over the next three years, including climate change, truck fleet emissions, labor law changes, diversity, and zoning laws.
Intellectual Property
We operate primarily under the WillScot and Mobile Mini brands. We protect our products and services through the use of trademarks and patents, none of which are individually material to our business. Our trademarks and patents are registered or pending applications for registrations in the US Patent and Trademark Office and various non‑US jurisdictions. On our Modular fleet, we maintain a patent for the design of our Flex units in the US and other patents in the US and non-US jurisdictions concerning various assembly and panel components. We believe that Flex represents innovative and versatile purpose built modular space solutions in the industry, which has helped us expand commercially into new end markets. On our Storage fleet, we have patented our proprietary Tri‑Cam Locking System®, ContainerGuardLock® and other continued improvements in locking technology in the markets in which we operate, as well as in Europe and China. We believe that continued innovation differentiates WillScot Mobile Mini with our customers and represents a source of long-term competitive advantage.
Significant Developments
Mobile Mini Merger
On July 1, 2020, we closed the Merger at which time Mobile Mini became a wholly-owned subsidiary of WillScot. Concurrent with the closing of the Merger, we changed our name to WillScot Mobile Mini Holdings Corp. We believe that the Merger is resulting in strategic and financial benefits by combining the two industry leaders in the complementary modular space and portable storage solutions markets. During the second quarter of 2021, we executed the successful integration of the two companies' enterprise resource planning ("ERP") operating and financial systems.
Reportable Segments
We operate in four reportable segments as follows: North America Modular Solutions ("NA Modular"), North America Storage Solutions ("NA Storage"), United Kingdom Storage Solutions ("UK Storage") and Tank and Pump Solutions ("Tank and Pump"). The reporting segments are aligned with how we operate and analyze our business results. Prior to the third quarter of 2021, the NA Modular segment represented the activities of WillScot historical segments prior to the Merger, and the NA Storage, UK Storage and Tank and Pump segments represented the segments reported by Mobile Mini prior to the Merger. During the third quarter of 2021, the majority of the portable storage product business within the NA Modular segment was transitioned to the NA Storage segment, and associated revenues, expenses, and operating metrics were transferred to the NA Storage segment beginning in the third quarter of 2021.
Asset Acquisitions
During the third and fourth quarters of 2021, we acquired the assets and liabilities of seven regional storage and modular companies, which consisted primarily of 15,700 storage units and 5,800 modular units for $ 147.2 million in cash. We recorded rental equipment of $ 142.1 million as a result of these acquisitions.
Financing Activities
On March 26, 2021, we redeemed $ 65.0 million of our 6.125% senior secured notes due 2025 (the "2025 Secured Notes") at a redemption price of 103.0%, plus accrued and unpaid interest. This repayment was funded by internally generated cash flow and lower cost borrowings under the ABL Credit Agreement, dated July 1, 2020, by and among Williams Scotsman Holdings Corp. (“Holdings”), Williams Scotsman International, Inc. (“WSII”), the guarantors party thereto, the lenders party thereto, and Bank of America, N.A., as administrative agent and collateral agent (as amended from time to time, the “2020 ABL Facility”). Upon redemption in the first quarter of 2021, we recorded a loss on extinguishment of debt in the consolidated statement of operations of $ 3.2 million comprised of a redemption premium of $ 1.9 million and write off of unamortized deferred financing fees of $ 1.3 million.
On June 16, 2021, we redeemed an additional $ 58.5 million of our 2025 Secured Notes at a redemption price of 103.0%, plus accrued and unpaid interest. This repayment was funded by internally generated cash flow and lower cost borrowings under the 2020 ABL Facility. Upon redemption in the second quarter of 2021, we recorded a loss on extinguishment of debt in the consolidated statement of operations of $ 2.8 million comprised of a redemption premium of $ 1.8 million and write off of unamortized deferred financing fees of $ 1.0 million.
Share and Warrant Repurchases
On March 1, 2021, in connection with an underwritten secondary offering of shares of our Common Stock offered by Sapphire Holding S.à r.l. (“Sapphire Holdings”), our largest shareholder at that time and an entity controlled by TDR Capital
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LLP (“TDR Capital”), we repurchased and cancelled 2,750,000 shares of our Common Stock directly from Sapphire Holdings for $73.7 million at a per share price equal to the per share price paid by the underwriters in the concurrent offering. On June 29, 2021, in connection with a second underwritten secondary offering of shares of our Common Stock offered by Sapphire Holdings, we repurchased and cancelled an additional 3,900,000 shares of our Common Stock directly from Sapphire Holdings for $108.2 million at a per share price equal to the per share price paid by the underwriters in the concurrent offering. On September 9, 2021, in connection with a third underwritten secondary offering of shares of our Common Stock offered by Sapphire Holdings, we repurchased and cancelled an additional 2,379,839 shares of our Common Stock directly from Sapphire Holdings for $67.1 million at a per share price equal to the per share price paid by the underwriters in the concurrent offering.
During the year ended December 31, 2021, we repurchased and cancelled 3,055,000 of the 2015 Private Warrants (as defined below) for $25.5 million. In addition, during the year ended December 31, 2021, 9,655,000 of the 2015 Private Warrants were exercised on a cashless basis, resulting in the issuance of 2,939,898 shares of Common Stock. As a result of these transactions, no 2015 Private Warrants were outstanding as of December 31, 2021.
During the year ended December 31, 2021, we repurchased and cancelled 254,373 of the 2018 Warrants for $ 2.9 million. In addition, during the year ended December 31, 2021, 5,397,695 of the 2018 Warrants were exercised on a cashless basis, resulting in the issuance of 2,835,968 shares of Common Stock. At December 31, 2021, 4,078,173 of the 2018 Warrants were outstanding.
During the year ended December 31, 2021, we repurchased and cancelled 12,878,490 shares of Common Stock and stock equivalents for $ 365.9 million, including the shares repurchased from Sapphire Holdings and all repurchased warrants. In October 2021, our Board of Directors replaced the existing share repurchase program with a new share repurchase program that authorizes us to repurchase up to $ 1.0 billion of our outstanding shares of Common Stock and stock equivalents. As of December 31, 2021, we had $ 956.7 million of the $1.0 billion share repurchase authorization remaining. Given the predictability of our free cash flow, we believe that repurchases will be a reoccurring capital allocation priority.
Amendment to 2020 ABL Facility and Supplemental Indentures
In connection with an internal tax-related reorganization (the "Reorganization") involving indirect wholly-owned subsidiaries of the Company, on December 23, 2021, WSII merged with and into its direct wholly-owned subsidiary, Williams Scotsman, Inc., a Maryland corporation (“WSI”), with WSI as the surviving entity of such merger. The purpose of the Reorganization was to simplify the Company's legal entity structure following numerous acquisitions and to reduce related franchise taxes and other administrative costs and had no impact on our underlying business operations.
In connection with the Reorganization, on December 23, 2021, WSI, the guarantors party thereto and Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, as trustee and as collateral agent (in such capacities, the “Trustee”), entered into (i) a Supplemental Indenture (the “2025 Notes Supplemental Indenture”) in relation to that certain Indenture, dated as of June 15, 2020, (as amended, amended and restated, supplemented or otherwise modified from time to time, the “2025 Notes Indenture”), by and among WSII (as successor to Picasso Finance Sub, Inc.), as issuer, the guarantors from time to time party thereto and the Trustee in respect of WSII’s 6.125% Senior Secured Notes due 2025 and (ii) a Supplemental Indenture (the “2028 Notes Supplemental Indenture” and together with the 2025 Notes Supplemental Indenture, the “Supplemental Indentures”) in relation to that certain Indenture, dated as of August 25, 2020, (as amended, amended and restated, supplemented or otherwise modified from time to time, the “2028 Notes Indenture” and together with the 2025 Notes Indenture, the “Indentures”), by and among WSII (as successor to Picasso Finance Sub, Inc.), as issuer, the guarantors from time to time party thereto and the Trustee in respect of WSII’s 4.625% Senior Secured Notes due 2028, pursuant to which WSI assumed all of WSII’s obligations and rights under each Indenture, and the guarantors party to each Supplemental Indenture confirmed their respective guarantees under each Indenture. Prior to its entry into the Supplemental Indentures, WSI was a guarantor under each Indenture and jointly and severally liable for WSII’s obligations under each Indenture.
Additionally, in connection with the Reorganization, on December 16, 2021, WSII and certain other subsidiaries of the Company entered into a third amendment (the “Third Amendment”) to the 2020 ABL Facility which, among other things, permits (i) the merger of WSII with and into WSI, and (ii) WSI to assume the duties and obligations of the Administrative Borrower (as defined in the 2020 ABL Facility) under the Loan Documents (as defined in the 2020 ABL Facility) in connection with the Reorganization.
Following the Reorganization and the entry into the Supplemental Indentures and the Third Amendment, there is no change to the consolidated operating cash flows of the obligors under the Indentures and the 2020 ABL Facility or the consolidated assets of such obligors pledged as collateral under the Indentures and the 2020 ABL Facility.
COVID-19 impact on business
Since the outbreak of COVID‑19 was designated as a global pandemic by the World Health Organization (the “WHO”) in March 2020, our operations have generally continued to operate normally with additional safety protocols in place as we have been considered an essential business in most jurisdictions. The global macroeconomic backdrop and impact on our end markets has evolved rapidly since the beginning of 2020. However, overall our lease portfolio and financial results have proven to be durable and consistent despite the severity of the economic contraction in 2020 and the current expansion in 2021.
Importantly, because of the long durations of our leases, the majority of our gross profit in any given period is from units already out on rent. This gives us significant visibility into our future cash flows, which allows us to plan ahead and adjust
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our capital expenditures and cost structure for varying demand levels. Our portfolio of units already out on rent at the onset of the pandemic was resilient and largely not impacted, despite the unprecedented swings in economic activity in 2020.
Activity levels in the fourth quarter of 2020 and the first half of 2021 stabilized, and our volume of new lease activations grew significantly in the second quarter of 2021 as economic activity rebounded sharply with modular deliveries across our NA Modular and NA Storage segments up a combined 9% over pro forma 2020 levels and storage product deliveries across these two segments up a combined 39% over pro forma 2020 levels and on par with 2019 pro forma activity levels. This recovery continued in the third quarter of 2021 and for the three months ended September 30, 2021, both modular and storage product deliveries across our NA Modular and NA Storage segments were up a combined 6% over 2020 levels. Economic activity for the three months ended December 31, 2021 remained strong against a more stable fourth quarter of 2020 with storage product deliveries across our NA Modular and NA Storage segments up a combined 6% over 2020 levels and modular product deliveries essentially flat with 2020 levels. Overall, while new lease activation volumes over the past eight quarters were impacted in line with the swings in economic activity, our lease revenue streams were stable and remain on an attractive upward long-term trajectory, a result of the diversification in our end markets, our long lease durations, and the success of the organic growth initiatives that we are executing.
Available Information
Our website address is www.willscotmobilemini.com. We make available, free of charge through our website, our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) as soon as reasonably practicable after such documents are electronically filed with, or furnished to, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). The SEC maintains an internet website at www.sec.gov that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding WillScot Mobile Mini.
Regulatory and Environmental Compliance
We are subject to certain environmental, transportation, anti-corruption, import control, health and safety, and other laws and regulations in countries, states or provinces, and localities in which we operate. We incur significant costs in our business to comply with these laws and regulations. However, from time to time we may be subject to additional costs and penalties as a result of non-compliance. The discovery of currently unknown matters or conditions, new laws and regulations, or different enforcement or interpretation of existing laws and regulations could materially harm our business or operations in the future.
We are subject to laws and regulations that govern and impose liability for activities that may have adverse environmental effects, including discharges into air and water and handling and disposal of hazardous substances and waste. As of the date of this filing, no environmental matter has been material to our operations. Based on our management’s assessment, we believe that any environmental matters relating to us of which we are currently aware will not be material to our overall business or financial condition.
The jurisdictions in which we operate are also subject to anti-bribery laws and regulations, such as the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended (the “FCPA”). These regulations prevent companies and their officers, employees, and agents from making payments to officials and public entities of foreign countries to facilitate obtaining new contracts. Violations of these laws and regulations may result in criminal sanctions and significant monetary penalties.
Certain of our units are subject to regulation in certain states under motor vehicle and similar registrations and certificate of title statutes. Management believes that the Company has complied, in all material respects, with all motor vehicle registration and similar certificate of title statutes in states where such statutes clearly apply to modular space units. We have not taken actions under such statutes in states where we have determined that such statutes do not apply to modular space units. However, in certain states, the applicability of such statutes to modular space units is not clear beyond doubt. If additional registration and related requirements are deemed to be necessary in such states or if the laws in such states or other states were to change to require us to comply with such requirements, we could be subject to additional costs, fees, and taxes as well as administrative burdens in order to comply with such statutes and requirements. Management does not believe that the effect of such compliance will be material to our business or financial condition.
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