10-K/A
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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, DC 20549

r

FORM 10-K/A

Amendment No. 1

(Mark One)

ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022

OR

TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from __________ to __________

Commission File Number: 001-40926

Vivid Seats Inc.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)

 

Delaware

86-3355184

(State or other jurisdiction of

incorporation or organization)

(I.R.S. Employer
Identification No.)

24 E. Washington Street

Suite 900

Chicago, Illinois

 

 

60602

(Address of principal executive offices)

(Zip Code)

(312) 291-9966

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

 

 

Title of each class

Trading

Symbol(s)

 

Name of each exchange on which registered

Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share

SEAT

The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC

Warrants to purchase one share of Class A common stock

 

SEATW

 

The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC

 

Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. YES ☐ No

Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐ NO ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Large accelerated filer

Accelerated filer

Non-accelerated filer

Smaller reporting company

Emerging growth company

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report.

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes ☐ No

 

 


 

The aggregate market value of voting and non-voting stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant, as of June 30, 2022, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, was approximately $203 million.

As of February 28, 2023, the registrant had 77,184,786 shares of Class A common stock, $0.0001 par value per share, outstanding, net of treasury shares and 118,200,000 shares of Class B common stock, $0.0001 par value per share, outstanding.

Documents incorporated by reference: Portions of the Registrant’s definitive proxy statement relating to its 2023 Annual Meeting of Stockholders are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Auditor Firm PCAOB ID:

34

Auditor Name:

Deloitte & Touche LLP

Auditor Location:

Chicago, Illinois

 

 

 


 

Explanatory Note

This Amendment No. 1 (this “Amendment”) to the annual report of Vivid Seats, Inc. ("VSI" or the “Company”) on Form 10-K/A amends our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, which was originally filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on March 7, 2023 (the “Original Form 10-K”). We are filing this Amendment to amend and restate in its entirety Part II, Item 9A of the Original Form 10-K to provide our management’s report on VSI’s internal control over financial reporting. We are also filing this Amendment for the purpose of filing revised certifications required under Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 by the Company’s principal executive officer and principal financial officer, as Exhibits 31.1 and 31.2 herewith (the “Exhibits”), to correct an inadvertent omission of certain language regarding internal control over financial reporting required to be included in such certifications by Item 601(b)(31)(i) of Regulation S-K.

In accordance with interpretation 246.13 in the Regulation S-K section of the SEC’s “Compliance & Disclosure Interpretations,” paragraph 3 of each of the certifications set forth in the Exhibits has been omitted. Because no financial statements have been included in this Amendment, we are not filing currently dated certifications pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Except as specifically noted above, this Amendment does not modify or update disclosures in the Original Form 10-K. This Amendment does not reflect events occurring after the filing of the Original Form 10-K or modify or update any related or other disclosures, other than those discussed herein. Accordingly, this Amendment should be read in conjunction with the Original Form 10-K and the Company’s other filings with the SEC subsequent to the filing of the Original Form 10-K.

 


 

 

Item 9A. Controls and Procedures

Limitations on Effectiveness of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

In designing and evaluating our disclosure controls and procedures, management recognizes that any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving the desired control objectives. In addition, the design of disclosure controls and procedures must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints and that management is required to apply judgment in evaluating the benefits of possible controls and procedures relative to their costs.

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)) are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in reports filed or submitted under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosures.

Our management, with the participation of our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, has evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act), as of the end of the period covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Based on such evaluation, our principal executive officer and principal financial officer have concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective at reasonable assurance levels as of December 31, 2022 due to the reasons described below.

Material Weakness

In connection with the audit of our consolidated financial statements as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, we identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting related to the implementation of segregation of duties as part of our control activities, establishment of clearly defined roles within our finance and accounting functions and the number of personnel in our finance and accounting functions with an appropriate level of technical accounting and SEC reporting experience, which in the aggregate, constitute a material weakness.

Remediation Activities

As part of our plan to remediate this material weakness, we are performing a full review of our internal control procedures. We have implemented, and plan to continue to implement, new controls and new processes. We have hired and plan to continue to hire additional qualified personnel and establish more robust processes to support our internal control over financial reporting, including clearly defined roles and responsibilities and appropriate segregation of duties. During the year ended December 31, 2022, we made progress in our remediation of the material weakness. While progress has been made to enhance our internal control, additional time is required to complete implementation and to assess and ensure the sustainability of these controls. The material weakness will not be considered remediated until the applicable controls operate for a sufficient period of time and management has concluded, through testing, that these controls are operating effectively.

Management's Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act). Our internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with GAAP.

Our management, under the supervision of our chief executive officer and our chief financial officer, conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022 based on the framework in Internal Control-Integrated Framework (2013), issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations

 


 

 

of the Treadway Commission. Based on this evaluation, management, including our chief executive officer and chief financial officer, concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was not effective as of December 31, 2022, due to the material weakness described above.

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

Except for the remediation efforts described above, there were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act) during the fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2022 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

 

 


 

 

PART IV

Item 15. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules

(a)(3) Exhibits.

The following is a list of exhibits filed as part of this Amendment.

Exhibits

 

 

 

Incorporated by Reference

 

Exhibit

Number

Description

Form

Exhibit

Filing Date

Filed / Furnished Herewith

31.1

Certification of Principal Executive Officer Pursuant to Rules 13a-14(a) and 15d-14(a).

 

 

 

*

31.2

Certification of Principal Financial Officer Pursuant to Rules 13a-14(a) and 15d-14(a).

 

 

 

*

104

Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the Inline XBRL document)

 

 

 

*

 

* Filed herewith.

 

 

 


 

 

Signatures

Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

VIVID SEATS INC.

 

By:

/s/ Stanley Chia

Stanley Chia

Chief Executive Officer

 

 

 

(Duly authorized representative)

 

 

Date:

May 9, 2023

 

 


EX-31

 

Exhibit 31.1

CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO

RULES 13a-14(a) AND 15d-14(a) UNDER THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934,

AS ADOPTED PURSUANT TO SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002

I, Stanley Chia, certify that:

1.
I have reviewed this Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 of Vivid Seats Inc.;
2.
Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;
3.
[Intentionally omitted];
4.
The registrant's other certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:
(a)
Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared;
(b)
Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;
(c)
Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and
(d)
Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant's most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant's fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant's internal control over financial reporting; and
5.
The registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of the registrant's board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):
(a)
All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and
(b)
Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant's internal control over financial reporting.

 

Date: May 9, 2023

By:

/s/ Stanley Chia

Stanley Chia

Chief Executive Officer

 

 

 

(Principal Executive Officer)

 

 


EX-31

 

Exhibit 31.2

CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO

RULES 13a-14(a) AND 15d-14(a) UNDER THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934,

AS ADOPTED PURSUANT TO SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002

I, Lawrence Fey, certify that:

1.
I have reviewed this Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 of Vivid Seats Inc.;
2.
Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;
3.
[Intentionally omitted];
4.
The registrant's other certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:
(a)
Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared;
(b)
Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;
(c)
Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and
(d)
Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant's most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant's fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant's internal control over financial reporting; and
5.
The registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of the registrant's board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):
(a)
All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and
(b)
Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant's internal control over financial reporting.

 

Date: May 9, 2023

By:

/s/ Lawrence Fey

Lawrence Fey

Chief Financial Officer

 

 

 

(Principal Financial Officer)