Company: GHC
Filing Date: 2025-02-26
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0000104889-25-000022
Chunk: 211

Company: Graham Holdings Co
Filing Date: 2025-02-26
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1A
Chunk 211
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 well as health and workplace safety, including those set forth by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and state and local regulatory authorities in the U.S. as well as similar laws and regulations internationally where the Company operates. Such laws and regulations affect operations and require compliance with various environmental registrations, licenses, permits, inspections and other approvals. In the U.K., the Company will be subject to new registration requirements under the U.K. Building Safety Act in 2022 with respect to its dormitories as well as compliance with existing U.K. and local legislation regarding licensing occupancy of such dormitories. The Company incurs substantial costs to comply with these regulations, and any failure to comply may expose the Company to civil, criminal and administrative fees, fines, penalties and interruptions in operations that could have a material adverse impact on the Company’s results of operations, financial position or cash flows. 

Environmental laws and regulations to which the Company is subject include those governing discharges into the air and water; the operation and removal of above-ground and underground storage tanks; the use, handling, storage and disposal of hazardous substances and other materials; and the investigation and remediation of environmental contamination at facilities that are owned or operated by the Company. The Company may be subject to liability, for example, in the automotive business, because the business involves the generation, use, handling and contracting for recycling or disposal of hazardous or toxic substances or wastes, including environmentally sensitive materials such as motor oil, filters, transmission fluid, antifreeze, refrigerant, batteries, solvents, lubricants, tires and fuel. In addition, climate change could cause increases in hurricanes, floods, wildfires, and other risks that could produce losses affecting the Company’s businesses. Although in connection with certain acquisitions, the Company has obtained indemnification for certain environmental liabilities and insurance policies, such rights and policies may not be sufficient to reimburse the Company for all losses that it might incur. The Company has incurred, and will continue to incur, capital and operating expenditures and other costs to comply with such laws and regulations and changes to such regulations, including any new regulations related to climate change, could give rise to additional compliance or remedial costs.

•    Failure to Successfully Integrate Acquired Businesses Could Negatively Affect the Company’s Operating Results.

Acquisitions involve various inherent risks and uncertainties, including difficulties in efficiently integrating the service offerings, accounting and other administrative systems of an acquired business; the challenges of assimilating and retaining key personnel; the consequences of