Item 1A. Risk Factors

Investing in us involves a variety of risks and uncertainties, known and unknown, including, among others, those discussed below. Each of the following risks should be carefully considered. Based on the information currently known to us, we believe the following information identifies the most significant risk factors affecting us. However, the risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones related to our businesses and are not necessarily listed in the order of their importance. Additional risks and uncertainty not presently known to us or that we currently believe to be immaterial may also adversely affect our business.

Risks Relating to the Company

We operate in a highly competitive industry and we may be unable to compete effectively.

We compete in both the therapeutic and diagnostic medical markets in approximately 160 countries throughout the world. These markets are characterized by rapid change resulting from technological advances and scientific discoveries. In the product lines in which we compete, we face a mixture of competitors ranging from large manufacturers with multiple business lines to small manufacturers that offer a limited selection of niche products. Development by other companies of new or improved products, processes, technologies, or the introduction of reprocessed products or generic versions when our proprietary products lose their patent protection may make our products or proposed products less competitive. In addition, we face competition from providers of alternative medical therapies such as pharmaceutical companies.

Competitive factors include:

•	product reliability,

•	product performance,

•	product technology,

•	product quality,

•	breadth of product lines,

•	product services,

•	customer support,

•	price, and

•	reimbursement approval from health care insurance providers.

We also face competition for marketing, distribution, and collaborative development agreements, for establishing relationships with academic and research institutions, and for licenses to intellectual property. In addition, academic institutions, governmental agencies and other public and private research organizations also may conduct research, seek patient protection and establish collaborative arrangements for discovery, research, clinical development and marketing of products similar to ours. These companies and institutions compete with us in recruiting and retaining qualified scientific and management personnel, as well as in acquiring necessary product technologies.

Major shifts in industry market share have occurred in connection with product problems, physician advisories, safety alerts, and publications about our products; reflecting the importance of product quality, product efficacy, and quality systems in our industry. In the current environment of managed care, consolidation among health care providers, increased competition, and declining reimbursement rates, we have been increasingly required to compete on the basis of price. In order to continue to compete effectively, we must continue to create, invest in, or acquire advanced technology, incorporate this technology into our proprietary products, obtain regulatory approvals in a timely manner, and manufacture and successfully market our products. Given these factors, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to compete effectively or continue our level of success in our industry.

Reduction or interruption in supply and an inability to develop alternative sources for supply or other manufacturing difficulties, may adversely affect our manufacturing operations and related product sales.

The manufacture of our products requires the timely delivery of sufficient amount of quality components and materials and is highly exacting and complex, due in part to strict regulatory requirements. We manufacture most of our products at numerous manufacturing facilities located throughout the world. We purchase many of the components and raw materials used in manufacturing these products from numerous suppliers in various countries. We have generally been able to obtain adequate supplies of such raw materials and components. However, for reasons of quality assurance, cost effectiveness, or availability, we procure certain components and raw materials from a sole supplier. We work closely with our suppliers to try to ensure continuity of supply while maintaining high quality and reliability. However, we cannot guarantee that these efforts will be successful. In addition, due to the stringent regulations and requirements of the U.S. FDA regarding the manufacture of our products, we may not be able to quickly establish additional or replacement sources for certain components or materials. A reduction or interruption in supply, and an inability to develop alternative sources for such supply, could adversely affect our ability to manufacture our products in a timely or cost-effective manner and to make our related product sales.

Other problems in the manufacturing process, including equipment malfunction, failure to follow specific protocols and procedures, defective raw materials and environmental factors, could lead to launch delays, product shortage, unanticipated costs, lost revenues and damage to our reputation. A failure to identify and address manufacturing problems prior to the release of products to our customers may also result in quality or safety issues.

In addition, several of our key products are manufactured at a single manufacturing facility, with limited alternate facilities. If an event occurs that results in damage to one or more of such facilities, we may be unable to manufacture the relevant products at

the previous levels or at all. Because of the time required to approve and license a manufacturing facility, a third-party manufacturer may not be available on a timely basis to replace production capacity in the event manufacturing capacity is lost.

Moreover, pursuant to the conflict minerals requirements promulgated by the SEC as a part of Dodd-Frank, we are required to report on the source of any conflict minerals used in our products, as well as the process we use to determine the source of such materials. We will continue to incur expenses as we work with our suppliers to evaluate the source of any conflict minerals in our products, and compliance with these requirements could adversely affect the sourcing, supply, and pricing of our raw materials.

Our industry is experiencing greater scrutiny and regulation by governmental authorities, which may lead to greater regulation in the future.

Our medical devices and technologies and our business activities are subject to a complex regime of regulations and an aggressive enforcement environment, including by the U.S. FDA, U.S. Department of Justice, Health and Human Services-Office of the Inspector General, and numerous other federal, state, and non-U.S. governmental authorities. These authorities and members of Congress have been increasing their scrutiny of our industry. In addition, certain state governments and the federal government have enacted legislation aimed at increasing transparency of our interactions with health care providers. As a result, we are required by law to disclose payments and other transfers of value to health care providers licensed by certain states and to all U.S. physicians and U.S. teaching hospitals at the federal level. Any failure to comply with these legal and regulatory requirements could impact our business. In addition, we will continue to devote substantial additional time and financial resources to further develop and implement policies, systems, and processes to comply with enhanced legal and regulatory requirements, which may also impact our business. We anticipate that governmental authorities will continue to scrutinize our industry closely, and that additional regulation may increase compliance and legal costs, exposure to litigation, and other adverse effects to our operations.

We are subject to costly and complex laws and governmental regulations and any adverse regulatory action may materially adversely affect our financial condition and business operations.

Our medical devices are subject to regulation by numerous government agencies, including the U.S. FDA and comparable agencies outside the U.S. To varying degrees, each of these agencies requires us to comply with laws and regulations governing the development, testing, manufacturing, labeling, marketing, and distribution of our products. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to obtain or maintain marketing clearance for our new products or enhancements or modifications to existing products, and the failure to maintain approvals or obtain approval or clearance could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial conditions and cash flows. Even if we are able to obtain such approval or clearance, it may:

•	take a significant amount of time,

•	require the expenditure of substantial resources,

•	involve stringent clinical and pre-clinical testing, as well as increased post-market surveillance,

•	involve modifications, repairs, or replacements of our products, and

•	result in limitations on the proposed uses of our products.

Both before and after a product is commercially released, we have ongoing responsibilities under U.S. FDA regulations. Many of our facilities and procedures and those of our suppliers are also subject to periodic inspections by the U.S. FDA to determine compliance with the U.S. FDA’s requirements, including primarily the quality system regulations and medical device reporting regulations. The results of these inspections can include inspectional observations on U.S. FDA’s Form-483, warning letters, or other forms of enforcement. Since 2009, the U.S. FDA has significantly increased its oversight of companies subject to its regulations, including medical device companies, by hiring new investigators and stepping up inspections of manufacturing facilities. If the U.S. FDA were to conclude that we are not in compliance with applicable laws or regulations, or that any of our medical devices are ineffective or pose an unreasonable health risk, the U.S. FDA could ban such medical devices, detain or seize adulterated or misbranded medical devices, order a recall, repair, replacement, or refund of such devices, refuse to grant pending pre-market approval applications or require certificates of non-U.S governments for exports, and/or require us to notify health professionals and others that the devices present unreasonable risks of substantial harm to the public health. The U.S. FDA may also assess civil or criminal penalties against us, our officers or employees and impose operating restrictions on a company-wide basis, or enjoin and/or restrain certain conduct resulting in violations of applicable law. The U.S. FDA may also recommend prosecution to the U. S. Department of Justice. Any adverse regulatory action, depending on its magnitude, may restrict us from effectively marketing and selling our products and limit our ability to obtain future pre-market clearances or approvals, and could result in a substantial modification to our business practices and operations.

In addition, the U.S. FDA has taken the position that device manufacturers are prohibited from promoting their products other than for the uses and indications set forth in the approved product labeling. A number of enforcement actions have been taken against manufacturers that promote products for “off-label” uses, including actions alleging that federal health care program reimbursement of products promoted for “off-label” uses constitute false and fraudulent claims to the government. The failure to

comply with “off-label” promotion restrictions can result in significant civil or criminal exposure, administrative obligations and costs, and/or other potential penalties from, and/or agreements with, the federal government.

Pursuant to Dodd-Frank, the SEC promulgated final rules regarding disclosure of the use of certain minerals, known as "conflict minerals" (tantalum, tin, tungsten (or their ores), and gold) which are mined from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and adjoining countries. Under the rules, we are now required to disclose the procedures we employ to determine the sourcing of such minerals and metals produced from those minerals. There are costs associated with complying with these disclosure requirements, including for diligence in regards to the sources of any conflict minerals used in our products, in addition to the cost of remediation and other changes to products, processes, or sources of supply as a consequence of such verification activities. In addition, the implementation of these rules could adversely affect the sourcing, supply, and pricing of materials used in our products. As of the date of our conflict minerals report for the 2016 calendar year, we were unable to obtain the necessary information on conflict minerals from all of our suppliers and were unable to determine that all of our products are conflict free. In addition, we may continue to face difficulties in gathering this information in the future. We may face reputational challenges if we determine that certain of our products contain minerals not determined to be conflict free or if we are unable to sufficiently verify the origins for all conflict minerals used in our products through the procedures we implement.

Governmental regulations outside the U.S. have become increasingly stringent and more common, and we may become subject to more rigorous regulation by governmental authorities in the future. In the European Union, for example, a new Medical Device Regulation was published in 2017 which, when it enters into full force, will impose significant additional premarket and post-market requirements. Penalties for a company’s non-compliance with governmental regulation could be severe, including fines and revocation or suspension of a company’s business license, mandatory price reductions and criminal sanctions. Any governmental law or regulation imposed in the future may have a material adverse effect on us.

We are subject to environmental laws and regulations and the risk of environmental liabilities, violations and litigation.

We are subject to numerous U.S. federal, state, local and non-U.S. environmental, health and safety laws and regulations concerning, among other things, the health and safety of our employees, the generation, storage, use and transportation of hazardous materials, emissions or discharges of substances into the environment, investigation and remediation of hazardous substances or materials at various sites, chemical constituents in medical products and end-of-life disposal and take-back programs for medical devices. Our operations involve the use of substances regulated under such laws and regulations, primarily those used in manufacturing and sterilization processes. If we violate these environmental laws and regulations, we could be fined, criminally charged or otherwise sanctioned by regulators. Furthermore, environmental laws outside of the U.S. are becoming more stringent, resulting in increased costs and compliance burdens.

In addition, certain environmental laws assess liability on current or previous owners or operators of real property for the costs of investigation, removal or remediation of hazardous substances or materials at their properties or at properties which they have disposed of hazardous substances. Liability for investigative, removal and remedial costs under certain U.S. federal and state laws are retroactive, strict and joint and several. In addition to cleanup actions brought by governmental authorities, private parties could bring personal injury or other claims due to the presence of, or exposure to, hazardous substances. The ultimate cost of site cleanup and timing of future cash outflows is difficult to predict, given the uncertainties regarding the extent of the required cleanup, the interpretation of applicable laws and regulations, and alternative cleanup methods.

We may in the future be subject to additional environmental claims for personal injury or cleanup based on our past, present or future business activities (including the past activities of companies we have acquired). The costs of complying with current or future environmental protection and health and safety laws and regulations, or liabilities arising from past or future releases of, or exposures to, hazardous substances, may exceed our estimates, or have a material adverse effect on our business, consolidated earnings, financial condition, and/or cash flow.

Our failure to comply with laws and regulations relating to reimbursement of health care goods and services may subject us to penalties and adversely impact our reputation, business, financial condition and cash flows.

Our devices, products and therapies are purchased principally by hospitals or physicians that typically bill various third-party payers, such as governmental programs (e.g., Medicare, Medicaid and comparable non-U.S. programs), private insurance plans and managed care plans, for the healthcare services provided to their patients. The ability of our customers to obtain appropriate reimbursement for products and services from third-party payers is critical because it affects which products customers purchase and the prices they are willing to pay. As a result, our devices, products and therapies are subject to regulation regarding quality and cost by HHS, including the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as well as comparable state and non-U.S. agencies responsible for reimbursement and regulation of health care goods and services. The principal U.S. federal laws implicated include those that prohibit (i) the filing of false or improper claims for federal payment, known as the false claims laws, (ii) unlawful inducements for the referral of business reimbursable under federally-funded health care programs, known as the anti-kickback laws, and (iii) health care service providers from seeking reimbursement for providing certain services to a patient who

was referred by a physician who has certain types of direct or indirect financial relationships with the service provider, known as the Stark law. Many states have similar laws that apply to reimbursement by state Medicaid and other funded programs as well as in some cases to all payers. Insurance companies can also bring a private cause of action claiming treble damages against a manufacturer for causing a false claim to be filed under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, RICO. In addition, as a manufacturer of U.S. FDA-approved devices reimbursable by federal healthcare programs, we are subject to the Physician Payments Sunshine Act, which requires us to annually report certain payments and other transfers of value we make to U.S.-licensed physicians or U.S. teaching hospitals.

Our profitability and international operations are subject to risks relating to changes in government and private medical reimbursement programs and policies, and changes in legal regulatory requirements in the U.S. and around the world. Implementation of further legislative or administrative reforms to the reimbursement system in the U.S. and outside of the U.S., or adverse decisions relating to our products by administrators of these systems in coverage or reimbursement, could significantly reduce reimbursement or result in the denial of coverage, which could have an impact on the acceptance of and demand for our products and the prices that our customers are willing to pay for them.

The laws and regulations of health care goods and services that are applicable to us, including those described above, are subject to evolving interpretations and enforcement discretion. If a governmental authority were to conclude that we are not in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, we and our officers and employees could be subject to severe criminal and civil penalties, including, for example, exclusion from participation as a supplier of product to beneficiaries covered by CMS. Any failure to comply with laws and regulations relating to reimbursement and health care goods and services could adversely affect our reputation, business, financial condition and cash flows.

We are substantially dependent on patent and other proprietary rights and failing to protect such rights or to be successful in litigation related to our rights or the rights of others may result in our payment of significant monetary damages and/or royalty payments, negatively impact our ability to sell current or future products, or prohibit us from enforcing our patent and other proprietary rights against others.

We are substantially dependent on patent and other proprietary rights and rely on a combination of patents, trade secrets, and non-disclosure and non-competition agreements to protect our proprietary intellectual property. We also operate in an industry characterized by extensive patent litigation. Patent litigation against us can result in significant damage awards and injunctions that could prevent our manufacture and sale of affected products or require us to pay significant royalties in order to continue to manufacture or sell affected products. At any given time, we are generally involved as both a plaintiff and a defendant in a number of patent infringement actions, the outcomes of which may not be known for prolonged periods of time. While it is not possible to predict the outcome of patent litigation, we believe the results associated with any such litigation could result in our payment of significant monetary damages and/or royalty payments, negatively impact our ability to sell current or future products, or prohibit us from enforcing our patent and proprietary rights against others, which would generally have a material adverse impact on our consolidated earnings, financial condition, and/or cash flows.

While we intend to defend against any threats to our intellectual property, our patents, trade secrets, or other agreements may not adequately protect our intellectual property. Further, pending patent applications owned by us may not result in patents being issued to us, patents issued to or licensed by us in the past or in the future may be challenged or circumvented by competitors and such patents may be found invalid, unenforceable or insufficiently broad to protect our technology or to provide us with any competitive advantage. Third parties could obtain patents that may require us to negotiate licenses to conduct our business, and the required licenses may not be available on reasonable terms or at all. We also rely on non-disclosure and non-competition agreements with certain employees, consultants, and other parties to protect, in part, trade secrets and other proprietary rights. We cannot be certain that these agreements will not be breached, that we will have adequate remedies for any breach, that others will not independently develop substantially equivalent proprietary information, or that third parties will not otherwise gain access to our trade secrets or proprietary knowledge.

In addition, the laws of certain countries in which we market some of our products do not protect our intellectual property rights to the same extent as the laws of the U.S., which could make it easier for competitors to capture market position in such countries by utilizing technologies that are similar to those developed or licensed by us. Competitors also may harm our sales by designing products that mirror the capabilities of our products or technology without infringing our intellectual property rights. If we are unable to protect our intellectual property in these countries, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Quality problems with, and product liability claims in connection with, our processes, products, and services, could lead to recalls or safety alerts, harm to our reputation, or adverse verdicts or costly settlements, and could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and our cash flows.

Quality is extremely important to us and our customers due to the serious and costly consequences of product failure and our business exposes us to potential product liability risks that are inherent in the design, manufacture, and marketing of medical devices. In addition, many of our products are often used in intensive care settings with seriously ill patients and some of the medical devices we manufacture and sell are designed to be implanted in the human body for long periods of time or indefinitely. Component failures, manufacturing defects, design flaws, off-label use, or inadequate disclosure of product-related risks or product-related information with respect to our products could result in an unsafe condition or injury to, or death of, a patient. These problems could lead to recall of, or issuance of a safety alert relating to, our products, and could result in product liability claims and lawsuits, including class actions, which could ultimately result, in certain cases, in the removal from the body of such products and claims regarding costs associated therewith. Due to the strong name recognition of the Medtronic and Covidien brands, a material adverse event involving one of our products could result in reduced market acceptance and demand for all products within that brand, and could harm our reputation and ability to market products in the future.

Strong product quality is critical to the success of our goods and services. If we fail to meet these standards and our products are the subject of recalls or safety alerts, our reputation could be damaged, we could lose customers, and our revenue and results of operations could decline. Our success also depends generally on our ability to manufacture to exact tolerances precision-engineered components, subassemblies, and finished devices from multiple materials. If our components fail to meet these standards or fail to adapt to evolving standards, our reputation, competitive advantage and market share could be harmed. In certain situations, we may undertake a voluntary recall of products or temporarily shut down production lines based on performance relative to our own internal safety and quality monitoring and testing data.

Further, we have elected to self-insure with respect to product liability risks and any product liability claim brought against us, with or without merit, could be costly to defend and resolve. See "Our insurance program may not be adequate to cover future losses." Any of the foregoing problems, including product liability claims or product recalls in the future, regardless of their ultimate outcome, could harm our reputation and have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition, and cash flows.

Health care policy changes, including U.S. health care reform legislation, may have a material adverse effect on us.

In response to perceived increases in health care costs in recent years, there have been and continue to be proposals by the federal government, state governments, regulators, and third-party payers to control these costs and, more generally, to reform the U.S. health care system. Certain of these proposals could limit the prices we are able to charge for our products or the amounts of reimbursement available for our products and could limit the acceptance and availability of our products. The adoption of some or all of these proposals could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the “ACA”) and the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010 (together "the law" or "the legislation") provide for a number of healthcare policy changes that are or will be applicable to us. However, there are many programs and requirements under the law for which the consequences are not fully understood, and it is unclear what the full impacts will ultimately be from the law. The legislation provides for significant new taxes on medical device makers in the form of a 2.3 percent excise tax on all U.S. medical device sales that commenced in January 2013. Although the excise tax has been suspended by Congress until the end of 2017, its status is unclear for 2018 and subsequent years. Under the legislation, the total cost to the medical device industry is expected to be approximately $20 billion over 10 years. The law also focuses on a number of Medicare provisions aimed at improving quality and decreasing costs. It is uncertain at this point what negative unintended consequences these provisions will have on patient access to new technologies. The Medicare provisions include value-based payment programs, increased funding of comparative effectiveness research, reduced hospital payments for avoidable readmissions and hospital acquired conditions, and pilot programs to evaluate alternative payment methodologies that promote care coordination (such as bundled physician and hospital payments). Additionally, the law includes a reduction in the annual rate of inflation for Medicare payments to hospitals that began in 2011 and the establishment of an independent payment advisory board to recommend ways of reducing the rate of growth in Medicare spending.

Currently, the U.S. Congress is considering legislation to repeal and replace the ACA. We cannot predict whether the ACA will be repealed, replaced, or modified or how such repeal, replacement or modification may be timed or structured. As a result, we cannot quantify or predict the effect of such repeal, replacement, or modification might have on our business and results of operations. However, any changes that lower reimbursement for our products or reduce medical procedure volumes could adversely affect our business and results of operations.

Our insurance program may not be adequate to cover future losses.

We have elected to self-insure most of our insurable risks across the company, and we made this decision based on cost and availability factors in the insurance marketplace. We manage and maintain a portion of our self-insured program through a wholly-owned captive insurance company. We continue to maintain a directors and officers liability insurance policy with a third party insurer that provides coverage for the directors and officers of the company. We continue to monitor the insurance marketplace to evaluate the value of obtaining insurance coverage for other categories of losses in the future. Although we believe, based on historical loss trends, that our self-insurance program accruals and our existing insurance coverage will be adequate to cover future losses, historical trends may not be indicative of future losses. The absence of third-party insurance coverage for other categories of losses increases our exposure to unanticipated claims and these losses could have a material adverse impact on our consolidated earnings, financial condition and/or cash flows.

If we experience decreasing prices for our goods and services and we are unable to reduce our expenses, our results of operations will suffer.

We may experience decreasing prices for our goods and services due to pricing pressure experienced by our customers from managed care organizations and other third-party payers, increased market power of our customers as the medical device industry consolidates, and increased competition among medical engineering and manufacturing services providers. If the prices for our goods and services decrease and we are unable to reduce our expenses, our results of operations will be adversely affected.

We may experience higher costs to produce our products as a result of changes in prices for oil, gas and other commodities.

We use resins, other petroleum-based materials and pulp as raw materials in some of our products. Prices of oil and gas also significantly affect our costs for freight and utilities. Oil, gas and pulp prices are volatile and may increase, resulting in higher costs to produce and distribute our products. New laws or regulations adopted in response to climate change could also increase energy costs and the costs of certain raw materials and components. Due to the highly competitive nature of the healthcare industry and the cost-containment efforts of our customers and third-party payers, we may be unable to pass along cost increases through higher prices. If we are unable to fully recover these costs through price increases or offset these increases through cost reductions, we could experience lower margins and profitability and our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows could be materially and adversely affected.

Economic and political instability around the world could adversely affect our revenues, financial condition or results of operations.

There can be no assurance that economic and political instability around the world will not adversely affect our revenues, financial condition or results of operations. Our customers and vendors may experience financial difficulties or be unable to borrow money to fund their operations which may adversely impact their ability to purchase our products or to pay for our products on a timely basis, if at all. As with our customers and vendors, these economic conditions make it more difficult for us to accurately forecast and plan our future business activities. In addition, a significant amount of our trade receivables are with national health care systems in many countries. Repayment of these receivables is dependent upon the political and financial stability of those countries. In light of these global economic fluctuations, we continue to monitor the creditworthiness of customers located outside the U.S. Failure to receive payment of all or a significant portion of these receivables could adversely affect our results of operations.

We are subject to a variety of market and financial risks due to our international operations that could adversely affect those operations or our profitability and operating results.

Although our stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange, we are a global company. Operations in countries outside of the U.S., which account for approximately 44 percent of our net sales for fiscal year 2017, are accompanied by certain financial and other risks that would not be faced by a company operating purely within the U.S. We intend to continue to pursue growth opportunities in sales outside the U.S., especially in emerging markets, which could expose us to greater risks associated with international sales and operations. Our profitability and international operations are, and will continue to be, subject to a number of risks and potential costs, including:

•	fluctuations in currency exchange rates,

•	healthcare reform legislation,

•	multiple non-U.S. regulatory requirements that are subject to change and that could restrict our ability to manufacture and sell our products,

•	local product preferences and product requirements,

•	longer-term receivables than are typical in the U.S.,

•	trade protection measures, tariffs and other border taxes, and import or export licensing requirements,

•	less intellectual property protection in some countries outside the U.S. than exists in the U.S.,

•	different labor regulations and workforce instability,

•	political instability,

•	the potential payment of U.S. income taxes on earnings of certain controlled foreign subsidiaries subject to U.S. taxation upon repatriation,

•	the expiration and non-renewal of foreign tax rulings and/or grants,

•	potentially negative consequences from changes in or interpretations of tax laws, and

•	economic instability and inflation, recession or interest rate fluctuations.

There are recent legislative proposals to tax profits of U.S. affiliates which are earned abroad. While it is impossible for us to predict whether these and other proposals will be implemented, or how they will ultimately impact us, they may materially impact our results of operations if, for example, our profits earned abroad are subject to U.S. income tax, or we are otherwise disallowed deductions as a result of these profits.

On June 23, 2016, the United Kingdom (U.K.) held a referendum in which voters approved an exit from the E.U., commonly referred to as “Brexit”. As a result of the referendum, it is expected that the British government will begin negotiating the terms of the U.K.’s future relationship with the E.U. Although it is unknown what those terms will be, it is possible that there will be greater restrictions on imports and exports between the U.K. and E.U. countries and increased regulatory complexities. Similarly, from time to time proposals are made in the U.S. to significantly change existing trade agreements and relationships between the U.S. and other countries, although we cannot currently predict whether or how these changes will be implemented. Changes to trade policy may adversely affect our operations and financial results.

Finally, changes in currency exchange rates may reduce the reported value of our revenues outside the U.S, net of expenses, and cash flows. We cannot predict changes in currency exchange rates, the impact of exchange rate changes, nor the degree to which we will be able to manage the impact of currency exchange rate changes.

The failure to comply with U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and similar anti-bribery laws in non-U.S. jurisdiction could materially adversely affect our business and result in civil and/or criminal sanctions.

The U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and similar anti-bribery laws in non-U.S. jurisdictions generally prohibit companies and their intermediaries from making improper payments to non-U.S. government officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. Because of the predominance of government-sponsored healthcare systems around the world, many of our customer relationships outside of the U.S. are with governmental entities and are therefore potentially subject to such laws.

Global enforcement of anti-corruption laws has increased substantially in recent years, with more frequent voluntary self-disclosures by companies, aggressive investigations and enforcement proceedings by U.S. and non-U.S. governmental agencies, and assessment of significant fines and penalties against companies and individuals. Our international operations create the risk of unauthorized payments or offers of payments by one of our employees, consultants, sales agents, or distributors, because these parties are not always subject to our control. It is our policy to implement safeguards to educate our employees and agents on these legal requirements and prohibit improper practices. However, our existing safeguards and any future improvements may not always be effective, and our employees, consultants, sales agents, or distributors may engage in conduct for which we might be held responsible. In addition, the government may seek to hold us liable for successor liability FCPA violations committed by any companies in which we invest or that we acquire. Any alleged or actual violations of these regulations may subject us to government scrutiny, severe criminal or civil sanctions and other liabilities, including exclusion from government contracting, and could disrupt our business, and result in a material adverse effect on our reputation, results of operations, financial condition, and cash flows.

Laws and regulations governing the export of our products could adversely impact our business.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), and the Bureau of Industry and Security at the U.S. Department of Commerce (BIS), administer certain laws and regulations that restrict U.S. persons and, in some instances, non-U.S. persons, in conducting activities, transacting business with or making investments in certain countries, governments, entities and individuals subject to U.S. economic sanctions. Due to our international operations, we are subject to such laws and regulations, which are complex, restrict our business dealings with certain countries and individuals, and are constantly changing. Further restrictions may be enacted, amended, enforced or interpreted in a manner that materially impacts our operations.

From time to time, certain of our subsidiaries have limited business dealings in countries subject to comprehensive sanctions, including Iran, Sudan, Syria, Cuba and those in the region of Crimea. Certain of our subsidiaries sell medical devices and surgical tools, and may provide related services, to distributors and other purchasing bodies in such countries. These business dealings represent an insignificant amount of our consolidated revenues and income, but expose us to a heightened risk of violating applicable sanctions regulations. Violations of these regulations are punishable by civil penalties, including fines, denial of export privileges, injunctions, asset seizures, debarment from government contracts and revocations or restrictions of licenses, as well as criminal fines and imprisonment. We have established policies and procedures designed to assist with our compliance with such laws and regulations. However, there can be no assurance that our policies and procedures will effectively prevent us from violating these

regulations in every transaction in which we may engage, and such a violation could adversely affect our reputation, business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Consolidation in the health care industry could have an adverse effect on our revenues and results of operations.

In response to a variety of actions by legislators, regulators, and third party payers to reduce the perceived rise in healthcare costs, many health care industry companies, including health care systems, are consolidating to create new companies with greater market power. As the health care industry consolidates, competition to provide goods and services to industry participants will become more intense. These industry participants may try to use their market power to negotiate price concessions or reductions for medical devices that incorporate components produced by us. If we are forced to reduce our prices because of consolidation in the health care industry, our revenues would decrease and our consolidated earnings, financial condition, and/or cash flows would suffer.

Our business is indirectly subject to health care industry cost-containment measures that could result in reduced sales of medical devices and medical devices containing our components.

Most of our customers, and the health care providers to whom our customers supply medical devices, rely on third-party payers, including government programs and private health insurance plans, to reimburse some or all of the cost of the procedures in which medical devices that incorporate components we manufacture or assemble are used. The continuing efforts of governmental authorities, insurance companies, and other payers of health care costs to contain or reduce these costs could lead to patients being unable to obtain approval for payment from these third-party payers. If third-party payer payment approval cannot be obtained by patients, sales of finished medical devices that include our components may decline significantly and our customers may reduce or eliminate purchases of our components. The cost-containment measures that health care providers are instituting, both in the U.S. and outside of the U.S., could harm our ability to operate profitably. For example, managed care organizations have successfully negotiated volume discounts for pharmaceuticals.

In an effort to reduce costs, many existing and potential customers for our products within the U.S. have become members of GPOs and IDNs. GPOs and IDNs negotiate pricing arrangement with healthcare product manufacturers and distributors and offer the negotiated prices to affiliated hospitals and other members. GPOs and IDNs typically award contracts on a category-by-category basis through a competitive bidding process. Bids are generally solicited from multiple manufacturers with the intention of driving down pricing. Due to the highly competitive nature of the GPO and IDN contracting processes, we may not be able to obtain or maintain contract positions with major GPOs and IDNs across our product portfolio. Furthermore, the increasing leverage of organized buying groups may reduce market prices for our products, thereby reducing our profitability.

While having a contract with a GPO and IDN for a given product category can facilitate sales to members of that GPO or IDN, such contract positions can offer no assurance that sales volumes of those products will be maintained. GPOs and IDNs increasingly are awarding contracts to multiple suppliers for the same product category. Even when we are the sole contracted supplier of a GPO or IDN for a certain product category, members of the GPO or IDN generally are free to purchase from other suppliers. Furthermore, GPO and IDN contracts typically are terminable without cause upon 60 to 90 days’ notice. Accordingly, although we have multiple contracts with many major GPOs and IDNs, the members of such groups may choose to purchase from our competitors due to the price or quality offered by such competitors, which could result in a decline in our sales and profitability.

Our research and development efforts rely upon investments and investment collaborations, and we cannot guarantee that any previous or future investments or investment collaborations will be successful.

Our strategy to provide a broad range of therapies to restore patients to fuller, healthier lives requires a wide variety of technologies, products, and capabilities. The rapid pace of technological development in the medical industry and the specialized expertise required in different areas of medicine make it difficult for one company alone to develop a broad portfolio of technological solutions. In addition to internally generated growth through our research and development efforts, historically we have relied, and expect to continue to rely, upon investments and investment collaborations to provide us access to new technologies both in areas served by our existing businesses as well as in new areas.

We expect to make future investments where we believe that we can stimulate the development or acquisition of new technologies and products to further our strategic objectives and strengthen our existing businesses. Investments and investment collaborations in and with medical technology companies are inherently risky, and we cannot guarantee that any of our previous or future investments or investment collaborations will be successful or will not materially adversely affect our consolidated earnings, financial condition, and/or cash flows.

The continuing development of many of our products depends upon us maintaining strong relationships with health care professionals.

If we fail to maintain our working relationships with health care professionals, many of our products may not be developed and marketed in line with the needs and expectations of the professionals who use and support our products, which could cause a decline in our earnings and profitability. The research, development, marketing, and sales of many of our new and improved products is dependent upon our maintaining working relationships with health care professionals. We rely on these professionals to provide us with considerable knowledge and experience regarding the development, marketing, and sale of our products. Physicians assist us as researchers, marketing and product consultants, inventors, and public speakers. If we are unable to maintain our strong relationships with these professionals and continue to receive their advice and input, the development and marketing of our products could suffer, which could have a material adverse effect on our consolidated earnings, financial condition, and/or cash flows.

Cyber-attacks or other disruptions to our information technology systems could lead to reduced revenue, increased costs, liability claims, or harm to our competitive position.

We are increasingly dependent on sophisticated information technology systems to operate our business, and many of our products and services include integrated software and information technology. We rely on information technology systems to collect and process customer orders, manage product manufacturing and shipping, and support regulatory compliance, and we routinely process, store, and transmit large amounts of data, including sensitive personal information, protected health information, and business information. Many of our products and services incorporate software and information technology that allow patients and physicians to be connected and collect data regarding a patient and the therapy he or she is receiving, or that otherwise allow the products or services to operate as intended. We could experience, and in the past have experienced, attempted or actual interference with the integrity of, and interruptions in, our technology systems, as well as data breaches. We could also experience attempted or actual interference with the integrity of our products and data. These incidents could materially harm our business and our reputation.

As is the case with other large enterprises, the size and complexity of our products, services, and information technology systems can make them vulnerable to cyber-attacks, breakdown, interruptions, destruction, loss or compromise of data, obsolescence or incompatibility among systems, or other significant disruptions. Unauthorized persons may attempt to inappropriately access our products or systems in order to disrupt, disable or degrade such products or services, or to obtain proprietary or confidential information. Such unauthorized access or interference with our products or services could create issues with product functionality which could pose a risk to patient safety, and a risk of product recall or field activity.

We have programs, processes and technologies in place to prevent, detect, contain, respond to and mitigate security related threats and potential incidents. We undertake considerable ongoing improvements to our systems, connected devices and information-sharing products in order to minimize vulnerabilities, in accordance with industry and regulatory standards. Because the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access change frequently and can be difficult to detect, anticipating, identifying or preventing these intrusions or mitigating them if and when they occur, may be challenging.

We also rely on third party vendors to supply and/or support certain aspects of our information technology systems. Third party systems may contain defects in design or manufacture or other problems that could result in system disruption or unexpectedly compromise the information security of our own systems, and we are dependent on these third parties to provide reliable systems and software and to deploy appropriate security programs to protect their systems.

In addition, we continue to grow in part through new business acquisitions. As a result of acquisitions, we may face risks due to implementation, modification, or remediation of controls, procedures, and policies relating to data privacy and cybersecurity at the acquired company. We continue to consolidate and integrate the number of systems we operate, and to upgrade and expand our information system capabilities for stable and secure business operations.

If we are unable to maintain reliable information technology systems and prevent disruptions, outages, or data breaches, we may suffer regulatory consequences in addition to business consequences. Our worldwide operations mean that we are subject to laws and regulations, including data protection and cyber security laws and regulations, in many jurisdictions. The variety of U.S. and international privacy and cybersecurity laws and regulations impacting our operations are described in "Item 1. Business - Other Factors Impacting Our Operations - Data Privacy and Cybersecurity Laws and Regulations." We have programs to ensure compliance with such laws and regulations. However, there is no guarantee that we will avoid enforcement actions by governmental bodies. Enforcement actions may be costly and interrupt regular operations of our business. In addition, there has been a developing trend of civil lawsuits and class actions relating to breaches of consumer data held by large companies or incidents arising from other cyber attacks. While Medtronic has not been named in any such suits, if a substantial breach or loss of data were to occur, we could become a target of such litigation.

Our information technology systems require an ongoing commitment of significant resources to maintain, protect, and enhance existing systems and develop new systems to keep pace with continuing changes in information processing technology, evolving legal and regulatory standards, the increasing need to protect patient and customer information, and the information technology needs associated with our changing products and services. There can be no assurance that our process of consolidating, protecting, upgrading and expanding our systems and capabilities, continuing to build security into the design of our products, and developing new systems to keep pace with continuing changes in information processing technology will be successful or that additional systems issues will not arise in the future. Any significant breakdown, intrusion, interruption, corruption, or destruction of these systems, as well as any data breaches, could have a material adverse effect on our business. If our information technology systems, products or services or sensitive data are compromised, patients or employees could be exposed to financial or medical identity theft or suffer a loss of product functionality, and we could lose existing customers, have difficulty attracting new customers, have difficulty preventing, detecting, and controlling fraud, be exposed to the loss or misuse of confidential information, have disputes with customers, physicians, and other health care professionals, suffer regulatory sanctions or penalties under federal laws, state laws, or the laws of other jurisdictions, experience increases in operating expenses or an impairment in our ability to conduct our operations, incur expenses or lose revenues as a result of a data privacy breach, product failure, information technology outages or disruptions, or suffer other adverse consequences including lawsuits or other legal action and damage to our reputation.

Negative conditions in global credit markets may impair our ability to issue debt securities and impact the liquidity and/or market value of investments in marketable debt securities, which may cause us losses and liquidity issues.

We have investments in marketable debt securities that are classified and accounted for as available-for-sale. Our debt securities include government and agency securities, corporate debt securities, certificates of deposit, debt funds, and mortgage-backed and other asset-backed securities. Market conditions over the past several years have included periods of significant economic uncertainty and at times general market distress. During these periods, we may experience reduced liquidity across the fixed-income investment market, including the securities in which we invest. In the event we need to sell these securities, we may not be able to do so in a timely manner or for a value that is equal to the underlying principal. In addition, we may be required to adjust the carrying value of the securities and record an impairment charge. If we determine that the fair value of such securities is temporarily impaired, we would record a temporary impairment as a component of accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income within shareholders’ equity. If it is determined that the fair value of these securities is other-than-temporarily impaired, we would record a loss in our consolidated statements of earnings, which could materially adversely impact our results of operations and financial condition.

Negative market conditions may also impair our ability to access the capital markets through the issuance of commercial paper or other debt securities or may negatively impact our ability to borrow from financial institutions.

Our products are continually the subject of clinical trials conducted by us, our competitors, or other third parties, the results of which may be unfavorable, or perceived as unfavorable, and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

As a part of the regulatory process of obtaining marketing clearance for new products and new indications for existing products, we conduct and participate in numerous clinical trials with a variety of study designs, patient populations, and trial endpoints. Unfavorable or inconsistent clinical data from existing or future clinical trials conducted by us, by our competitors, or by third parties, or the market’s or U.S. FDA’s perception of this clinical data, may adversely impact our ability to obtain product approvals, our position in, and share of, the markets in which we participate, and our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Failure to integrate acquired businesses into our operations successfully could adversely affect our business.

As part of our strategy to develop and identify new products and technologies, we have made several acquisitions in recent years, including the 2015 acquisition of Covidien, and may make additional acquisitions in the future. Our integration of the operations of acquired businesses requires significant efforts, including the coordination of information technologies, research and development, sales and marketing, operations, manufacturing, and finance. These efforts result in additional expenses and involve significant amounts of management’s time that cannot then be dedicated to other projects. Our failure to manage and coordinate the growth of the combined company successfully could also have an adverse impact on our business. In addition, we cannot be certain that the businesses we acquire will become profitable or remain so. Factors that will affect the success of our acquisitions include:

•	the presence or absence of adequate internal controls and/or significant fraud in the financial systems of acquired companies,

•	our ability or inability to integrate information technology systems of acquired companies in a secure and reliable manner,

•	adverse developments arising out of investigations by governmental entities of the business practices of acquired companies, including potential liability imposed by FCPA,

•	any decrease in customer loyalty and product orders caused by dissatisfaction with the combined companies’ product lines and sales and marketing practices, including price increases,

•	our ability to retain key employees, and

•	the ability of the combined company to achieve synergies among its constituent companies, such as increasing sales of the combined company’s products, achieving cost savings, and effectively combining technologies to develop new products.

We also could experience negative effects on our results of operations, cash flows, and financial condition from acquisition-related charges, amortization of intangible assets and asset impairment charges. These effects, individually or in the aggregate, could cause a deterioration of our credit rating and result in increased borrowing costs and interest expense.

We may not complete the planned disposition of the Patient Care, Deep Vein Thrombosis, and Nutritional Insufficiency businesses within the Patient Monitoring & Recovery division of our Minimally Invasive Therapies Group on the anticipated timeline or at all, and, even if completed, we may not achieve the benefits we anticipate.

In April 2017, we announced that we had entered into a definitive agreement to sell the Patient Care, Deep Vein Thrombosis, and Nutritional Insufficiency businesses within the Patient Monitoring & Recovery division of our Minimally Invasive Therapies Group to Cardinal Health, Inc. for $6.1 billion in cash, subject to certain adjustments, with total after-tax proceeds estimated to be approximately $5.5 billion. We expect the transaction to close in the second quarter of our 2018 fiscal year, subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions. In connection with the transaction, we announced that we anticipate a number of benefits from the disposition, including improvements in our revenue growth rate and operating margin, a lower debt leverage ratio, and an increased ability to fund potential investments in higher growth and higher margin opportunities.

The disposition transaction is complex in nature, subject to various conditions, and may be adversely affected by unanticipated developments and unexpected changes in market or other conditions. If any closing conditions are not met, the closing of the disposition transaction may be delayed or fail to occur, and we may not achieve the intended benefits we anticipate. Moreover, if the disposition is not completed on the anticipated timeline or at all, our ongoing operation of the Patient Monitoring & Recovery division may be harmed.

Even if the disposition transaction is completed, we may not achieve some or all of the anticipated benefits, including the financial and operational benefits described above, and our future investments and other business opportunities that we anticipate will be facilitated by the disposition may not be successful and may prove not to be superior alternatives to the continued operation of our current Patient Monitoring & Recovery division. Further, execution of the proposed disposition will require significant time and attention from management and other employees, including following the closing of the disposition transaction, which may divert the attention of our management and other employees from the execution of our other initiatives and could affect our financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows.

The expansion of our services and solutions business may not yield the revenue we expect and will expose us to new risks.

We are increasingly focusing on our services and solutions businesses and the creation of comprehensive value-based healthcare offerings, in which payment is based on measurable patient outcomes over a specific time horizon. These offerings include care management services, cath lab and operating room managed services, and solutions for chronic disease management. We intend to expand our services and solutions model across all of our business groups and across geographic regions. However, we remain in the relatively early stages of developing and implementing this business model. As a result, we will need to invest significant expense and management resources into developing our expertise and executing our strategies, and our efforts may not be profitable.

In addition, the expansion of our services and solutions business model will expose us to, or increase our exposure to, a variety of regulations in the various countries we provide services and solutions, including regulations related to government payments, fraud and abuse, patient privacy, and the corporate practice of medicine. Compliance with these regulations may prove to be more costly than we anticipate, and we may not successfully comply with such regulations. These regulatory costs may slow our expansion into these business areas and may have a negative effect on our results of operations, cash flows, and financial condition.

The medical device industry is the subject of numerous governmental investigations into marketing and other business practices. These investigations could result in the commencement of civil and/or criminal proceedings, substantial fines, penalties, and/or administrative remedies, divert the attention of our management, and have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

We are subject to rigorous regulation by the U.S. FDA and numerous other federal, state, and non-U.S. governmental authorities. These authorities have been increasing their scrutiny of our industry. We occasionally receive subpoenas or other requests for information from state and federal governmental agencies, including, among others, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Office

of Inspector General of HHS. These investigations typically relate primarily to financial arrangements with health care providers, regulatory compliance, and product promotional practices.

We cooperate with these investigations and respond to such requests. However, when an investigation begins, we cannot predict when it will be resolved, the outcome of the investigation, or its impact on us. An adverse outcome in one or more of these investigations could include the commencement of civil and/or criminal proceedings, substantial fines, penalties, and/or administrative remedies, including exclusion from government reimbursement programs, entry into Corporate Integrity Agreements (CIAs) with governmental agencies and amendments to existing CIAs. In addition, resolution of any of these matters could involve the imposition of additional and costly compliance obligations. Finally, if these investigations continue over a long period of time, they could divert the attention of management from the day-to-day operations of our business and impose significant administrative burdens, including cost, on us. These potential consequences, as well as any adverse outcome from these investigations or other investigations initiated by a government at any time, could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Our substantial leverage and debt service obligations could adversely affect our business.

At April 28, 2017, our total consolidated external debt was approximately $33.4 billion. We may also incur additional indebtedness in the future. Our substantial indebtedness could have adverse consequences, including:

•	making it more difficult for us to satisfy our financial obligations;

•	increasing our vulnerability to adverse economic, regulatory and industry conditions, and placing us at a disadvantage compared to our competitors that are less leveraged;

•	limiting our ability to compete and our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business and the industry in which we operate;

•	limiting our ability to borrow additional funds for working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions and general corporate or other purposes; and

•	exposing us to greater interest rate risk since the interest rate on borrowings under our floating rate notes and revolving credit facility is variable.

Our debt service obligations will require us to use a portion of our operating cash flow to pay interest and principal on indebtedness instead of for other corporate purposes, including funding future expansion of our business, acquisitions, and ongoing capital expenditures, which could impede our growth. If our operating cash flow and capital resources are insufficient to service our debt obligations, we may be forced to sell assets, seek additional equity or debt financing or restructure our debt, which could harm our long-term business prospects. Our failure to comply with the terms of our revolving credit facility and other indebtedness could result in an event of default which, if not cured or waived, could result in the acceleration of all of our debt. Our ability to generate cash in the future is subject to general economic, financial, competitive, legislative, regulatory and other factors, many of which are beyond our control.

Changes in tax laws or exposure to additional income tax liabilities could have a material impact on our financial condition and results of operations.

We are subject to income taxes as well as non-income based taxes, in both the U.S. and various jurisdictions outside the U.S. We are subject to ongoing tax audits in various jurisdictions. Tax authorities may disagree with certain positions we have taken and assess additional taxes. We regularly assess the likely outcomes of these audits in order to determine the appropriateness of our tax provision. However, there can be no assurance that we will accurately predict the outcomes of these audits, and the actual outcomes of these audits could have a material impact on our consolidated earnings and financial condition. Additionally, changes in tax laws or tax rulings could materially impact our effective tax rate. For example, legislation in 2010 imposed a 2.3 percent excise tax on medical device manufacturers for U.S. sales of medical devices beginning in January 2013. Proposals for fundamental U.S. corporate tax reform, if enacted, could have a material impact on our financial condition and results of operations.

Medtronic, Inc. tax court proceeding outcome could have a material adverse impact on our financial condition.

In March 2009, the IRS issued its audit report for Medtronic Inc. for fiscal years 2005 and 2006. Medtronic, Inc. reached agreements with the IRS on some, but not all matters related to these fiscal years. On December 23, 2010, the IRS issued a statutory notice of deficiency with respect to the remaining issues. Medtronic, Inc. filed a petition with the U.S. Tax Court on March 21, 2011 objecting to the deficiency. During October and November 2012, Medtronic, Inc. reached a resolution with the IRS on various matters, including the deductibility of a settlement payment. Medtronic, Inc. and the IRS agreed to hold one issue, the calculation of amounts eligible for the one-time repatriation holiday, because that issue was being addressed by other taxpayers in litigation with the IRS. The remaining unresolved issue for fiscal years 2005 and 2006 relates to the allocation of income between Medtronic, Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiary operating in Puerto Rico, which is one of the Company's key manufacturing sites. The U.S. Tax Court proceeding with respect to this issue began on February 3, 2015 and ended on March 12, 2015. On June 9, 2016, the U.S. Tax court issued its opinion with respect to the allocation of income between Medtronic, Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiary operating in Puerto Rico for fiscal years 2005 and 2006. The U.S. Tax Court generally rejected the IRS’s position, but also made certain modifications to the Medtronic, Inc. tax returns as filed. During November 2016, Medtronic and the IRS entered into a Stipulation of Settled Issues with the Tax Court which resolved the one-time repatriation holiday as an outstanding issue unless either party decided to appeal the Tax Court Opinion and a final decision is inconsistent with the U.S. Tax Court Opinion. The U.S. Tax Court entered their final decision on January 25, 2017. On April 21, 2017 the IRS filed their Notice of Appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit regarding the Tax Court Opinion. A hearing date for the Appeal has not been set. A decision by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals overturning the Tax Court Opinion could have a material adverse impact on our financial condition.

Examination and audits by tax authorities could result in additional tax payments, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flow.

The Company has provided reserves for potential payments of tax to various tax authorities related to uncertain tax positions. However, the calculation of such tax liabilities involves the application of complex tax regulations in many jurisdictions. Therefore, any dispute with a tax authority may result in a payment that is significantly different from current estimates. If payment of these amounts ultimately proves to be less than the recorded amounts, the reversal of the liabilities generally would result in tax benefits being recognized in the period when we determine the liabilities are no longer necessary. If the Company’s estimate of tax liabilities proves to be less than the amount for which it is ultimately liable, we would incur additional charges to expense and such charges could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

If the distribution of Mallinckrodt ordinary shares to Covidien shareholders in 2013, or certain internal transactions undertaken in anticipation of the 2013 separation, are determined to be taxable for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we could incur significant U.S. federal income tax liabilities.

Covidien received an IRS ruling substantially to the effect that, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, (i) certain transactions effected in connection with its 2013 separation of Mallinckrodt qualify as transactions under Sections 355 and/or 368(a) of the Code, and (ii) the distribution qualifies as a transaction under Sections 355 and 368(a)(1)(D) of the Code. In addition to obtaining the IRS ruling, Covidien received a tax opinion from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, in form and substance acceptable to Covidien, which relied on the effectiveness of the IRS ruling, substantially to the effect that, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, the distribution and certain transactions entered into in connection with the distribution qualify as transactions under Sections 355 and/or 368(a) of the Code.

The private letter rulings and the opinions relied on certain facts and assumptions, and certain representations and undertakings in the case of the 2013 separation, from Covidien and Mallinckrodt, regarding the past and future conduct of their respective businesses and other matters. Notwithstanding the private letter rulings and the tax opinions, the IRS could determine on audit that the 2013 distribution or the related internal transactions should be treated as taxable transactions if it determines that any of the respective facts, assumptions, representations or undertakings is not correct or has been violated, or that the distributions should be taxable for other reasons, including as a result of significant changes in stock or asset ownership after the distributions, or if the IRS were to disagree with the conclusions of the tax opinions that are not covered by the IRS rulings.

We could incur significant U.S. federal income tax liabilities or tax indemnification obligations, whether under applicable law or the tax matters agreement that was entered into with Mallinckrodt, if it is ultimately determined that certain related transactions undertaken in anticipation of the 2013 distribution are taxable.

Our tax position may be adversely affected by changes in tax law relating to multinational corporations.

Recent legislative proposals have aimed to expand the scope of U.S. corporate tax residence, limit the ability of foreign-owned corporations to deduct interest expense, tax the accumulated unrepatriated earnings of foreign subsidiaries of U.S. corporations, impose a minimum tax on the future offshore earnings of U.S. multinational groups, and to make other changes in the taxation of multinational corporations.

Additionally, the U.S. Congress, government agencies in non-U.S. jurisdictions where we and our affiliates do business, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development have recently focused on issues related to the taxation of multinational corporations. One example is in the area of “base erosion and profit shifting,” where profits are claimed to be earned for tax purposes in low-tax jurisdictions, or payments are made between affiliates from a jurisdiction with high tax rates to a jurisdiction with lower tax rates. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has released several components of its comprehensive plan to create an agreed set of international rules for fighting base erosion and profit shifting. As a result, the tax laws in the U.S., Ireland and other countries in which we and our affiliates do business could change on a prospective or retroactive basis, and any such changes could materially adversely affect our business.

Moreover, tax authorities may carefully scrutinize companies that result from a cross-border business combination (such as us), which may lead such authorities to assert that we owe additional taxes, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition, and cash flows.

Risks Relating to Our Jurisdiction of Incorporation

Irish law differs from the laws in effect in the U.S. and may afford less protection to holders of our securities.

It may not be possible to enforce court judgments obtained in the U.S. against us in Ireland based on the civil liability provisions of the U.S. federal or state securities laws. In addition, there is some uncertainty as to whether the courts of Ireland would recognize or enforce judgments of U.S. courts obtained against us or our directors or officers based on the civil liabilities provisions of the U.S. federal or state securities laws or hear actions against us or those persons based on those laws. We have been advised that the U.S. currently does not have a treaty with Ireland providing for the reciprocal recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters. Therefore, a final judgment for the payment of money rendered by any U.S. federal or state court based on civil liability, whether or not based solely on U.S. federal or state securities laws, would not automatically be enforceable in Ireland.

As an Irish company, we are governed by the Irish Companies Act 2014, which differs in some material respects from laws generally applicable to U.S. corporations and shareholders, including, among others, differences relating to interested director and officer transactions and shareholder lawsuits. Likewise, the duties of directors and officers of an Irish company generally are owed to the company only. Shareholders of Irish companies generally do not have a personal right of action against directors or officers of the company and may exercise such rights of action on behalf of the company only in limited circumstances. Accordingly, holders of our securities may have more difficulty protecting their interests than would holders of securities of a corporation incorporated in a jurisdiction of the U.S.

As an Irish public limited company, certain capital structure decisions require shareholder approval, which may limit Medtronic's flexibility to manage its capital structure.

Under Irish law, our authorized share capital can be increased by an ordinary resolution of our shareholders and the directors may issue new ordinary or preferred shares up to a maximum amount equal to the authorized but unissued share capital, without shareholder approval, once authorized to do so by our articles of association or by an ordinary resolution of our shareholders. Additionally, subject to specified exceptions, Irish law grants statutory preemption rights to existing shareholders where shares are being issued for cash consideration but allows shareholders to disapply such statutory preemption rights either in our articles of association or by way of special resolution. Such disapplication can either be generally applicable or be in respect of a particular allotment of shares. Accordingly, our articles of association contain, as permitted by Irish company law, provisions authorizing the board to issue new shares, and to disapply statutory preemption rights. The authorization of the directors to issue shares and the disapplication of statutory preemption rights must both be renewed by the shareholders at least every five years, and we cannot provide any assurance that these authorizations will always be approved, which could limit our ability to issue equity and thereby adversely affect the holders of our securities.

A transfer of our shares, other than ones effected by means of the transfer of book-entry interests in the Depository Trust Company, may be subject to Irish stamp duty.

Transfers of our shares effected by means of the transfer of book entry interests in the Depository Trust Company (DTC) will not be subject to Irish stamp duty. However, if you hold our shares directly rather than beneficially through DTC, any transfer of your shares could be subject to Irish stamp duty (currently at the rate of 1% of the higher of the price paid or the market value of the shares acquired). Payment of Irish stamp duty is generally a legal obligation of the transferee. The potential for stamp duty could adversely affect the price of your shares.

In certain limited circumstances, dividends we pay may be subject to Irish dividend withholding tax and dividends received by Irish residents and certain other shareholders may be subject to Irish income tax.

In certain limited circumstances, dividend withholding tax (currently at a rate of 20%) may arise in respect of dividends paid on our shares. A number of exemptions from dividend withholding tax exist such that shareholders resident in the U.S. and other specified countries may be entitled to exemptions from dividend withholding tax.

Shareholders resident in the U.S. that hold their shares through DTC will not be subject to dividend withholding tax, provided the addresses of the beneficial owners of such shares in the records of the brokers holding such shares are recorded as being in the U.S. (and such brokers have further transmitted the relevant information to a qualifying intermediary appointed by us). However, other shareholders may be subject to dividend withholding tax, which could adversely affect the price of their shares.

Shareholders entitled to an exemption from Irish dividend withholding tax on dividends received from us will not be subject to Irish income tax in respect of those dividends unless they have some connection with Ireland other than their shareholding in our Company (for example, they are resident in Ireland). Shareholders who receive dividends subject to Irish dividend withholding tax will generally have no further liability to Irish income tax on those dividends.

Our shares received by means of a gift or inheritance could be subject to Irish capital acquisitions tax.

Irish capital acquisitions tax (CAT) could apply to a gift or inheritance of our shares irrespective of the place of residence, ordinary residence or domicile of the parties. This is because our shares will be regarded as property situated in Ireland. The person who receives the gift or inheritance has primary liability for CAT. Gifts and inheritances passing between spouses are exempt from CAT. Children have a tax-free threshold which Irish Revenue typically updates annually in respect of taxable gifts or inheritances received from their parents.

Risks Relating to the Covidien Acquisition (the Transaction)

We may not realize all of the anticipated benefits of the Transactions or those benefits may take longer to realize than expected. We may also encounter significant unexpected difficulties in integrating Medtronic, Inc. and Covidien.

Our ability to realize the anticipated benefits of the Transaction will depend, to a large extent, on our ability to integrate the Medtronic, Inc. and Covidien businesses. The combination of two independent businesses is a complex, costly and time-consuming process. As a result, we will be required to devote significant management attention and resources to integrating the business practices and operations of Medtronic, Inc. and Covidien. The integration process may disrupt the businesses and, if implemented ineffectively or if impacted by unforeseen negative economic or market conditions or other factors, we may not realize the full anticipated benefits of the transaction. Our failure to meet the challenges involved in integrating the two businesses to realize the anticipated benefits of the transaction could cause an interruption or a loss of momentum in, our activities and could adversely affect our results of operations.

In addition, the overall integration of the businesses may result in material unanticipated problems, expenses, liabilities, competitive responses, loss of customer relationships, and diversion of management’s attention. The difficulties of combining the operations of the companies include, among others:

•	the diversion of management’s attention to integration matters;

•	difficulties in achieving anticipated cost savings, synergies, business opportunities and growth prospects from combining the businesses;

•	difficulties in the integration of operations and systems;

•	difficulties in the assimilation of employees;

•	difficulties in managing the expanded operations of a significantly larger and more complex company;

•	challenges in keeping existing customers and obtaining new customers; and

•	challenges in attracting and retaining key personnel.

Many of these factors will be outside of our control and any one of them could result in increased costs, decreases in the amount of expected revenues and diversion of management’s time and energy, which could materially impact our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, even if the operations of the businesses of Medtronic, Inc. and Covidien are integrated successfully, we may not realize the full benefits of the Transaction, including the synergies, cost savings or sales or growth opportunities that we expect. These benefits may not be achieved within the anticipated time frame, or at all. Furthermore, additional unanticipated costs may be incurred in the integration of the businesses of Medtronic, Inc. and Covidien. All of these factors could negatively impact our earnings per share, decrease or delay the expected accretive effect of the transaction, and negatively impact the price of our ordinary shares. As a result, we cannot assure you that the combination of the Medtronic, Inc. and Covidien businesses will result in the realization of the full benefits anticipated from the transaction.

Future potential changes to the U.S. tax laws could result in us being treated as a U.S. corporation for U.S. federal tax purposes, and the IRS may not agree with the conclusion that we should be treated as a foreign corporation for U.S federal income tax purposes.

Because we are an Irish incorporated entity, we would generally be classified as a foreign corporation under the general rule that a corporation is considered tax resident in the jurisdiction of its organization or incorporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Even so, the IRS may assert that we should be treated as a U.S. corporation (and, therefore, a U.S. tax resident) for U.S. federal income tax purposes pursuant to Section 7874 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the Code).

Under Section 7874 of the Code, if Medtronic Inc.’s shareholders immediately prior to the Transaction hold 80% or more of the vote or value of our shares by reason of holding stock in Medtronic, Inc. immediately after the Transaction (the ownership test), and our expanded affiliated group after the Transaction does not have substantial business activities in Ireland relative to its worldwide activities (the substantial business activities test), we would be treated as a U.S. corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Based on the rules for determining share ownership under Section 7874 of the Code, Medtronic, Inc.’s shareholders received approximately 70% of our ordinary shares (by both vote and value) by reason of holding stock in Medtronic, Inc. Therefore, under current law, we should not be treated as a U.S. corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes. However, there is limited guidance regarding the application of Section 7874, including the application of the ownership test.

In addition, changes to Section 7874 or the U.S. Treasury regulations promulgated thereunder could affect our status as a foreign corporation for U.S. federal tax purposes. Any such changes could have prospective or retroactive application.

Since Section 7874 was enacted, there have been various legislative proposals to broaden its scope. Such proposals could, among other things, treat a foreign acquiring corporation as a U.S. corporation under Section 7874 if the former shareholders of the U.S. corporation own more than 50% of the shares of the foreign acquiring corporation after the transaction, or if the foreign corporation’s affiliated group has substantial business activities in the U.S. and the foreign corporation is primarily managed and controlled in the U.S. Accordingly, if enacted in their present form and retroactively effective to apply to the Transactions, such proposals could cause us to be treated as a U.S. corporation for U.S. federal tax purposes.

If we were to be treated as a U.S. corporation for federal tax purposes, based on our existing expected cash flows, we could be subject to substantially greater U.S. tax liability than currently contemplated as a non-U.S. corporation.

Specifically, if we were to be treated as a U.S. corporation for federal tax purposes, we would be subject to U.S. corporate income tax on our worldwide income, and the income of our foreign subsidiaries would be subject to U.S. tax when repatriated or when deemed recognized under the U.S. tax rules for controlled foreign corporations (CFC's). Additionally, Covidien's foreign corporations, which are not currently CFC's, would become CFC's making them potentially subject to current or future U.S. taxation, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition, and cash flows.

The U.S. Treasury Department and the IRS may promulgate rules that would adversely affect our tax position.

The U.S. Treasury Department could make changes in the regulatory rules affecting companies that move their tax domicile outside the U.S. In the event the U.S. Treasury Department and the IRS were to change the applicable regulatory rules, we could face potentially substantial tax costs as a result of the Transactions. We cannot assess the potential impact of any such possible changes, if adopted, until they are announced.

On April 4, 2016, the U.S. Treasury Department and the IRS issued proposed and temporary regulations interpreting multiple sections of the Code, including Section 7874, to address inversion transactions and transactions that Treasury and the IRS characterize as “post-inversion tax avoidance transactions.” Such regulations generally apply to transactions completed on or after September 22, 2014, although in some cases they have a later effective date of April 4, 2016. The regulations expand the set of circumstances under which Section 7874 applies to cause the foreign acquirer of a U.S. corporation to be treated as a U.S. corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Such regulations also impose additional U.S. taxes on certain transactions involving the acquired U.S. corporation’s CFC’s. The regulations do not cause us to be treated as a U.S. corporation for U.S. federal tax purposes. However, if ultimately upheld by a reviewing court, the regulations limit our ability to engage in various intercompany transactions involving non-U.S. subsidiaries. In addition, the U.S. Treasury Department and the IRS issued final and temporary regulations on October 1, 2016, which might limit our ability to deduct interest expense on certain intercompany debt for U.S federal income tax purposes.

The Transaction may not allow us to maintain competitive global cash management and a competitive effective corporate tax rate.

While we believe that being incorporated in Ireland should help us maintain a competitive worldwide effective corporate tax rate and provide flexible global cash management, we are unable to give any assurance as to what our effective tax rate nor global cash accessibility will be, however, because of, among other things, uncertainty regarding the tax policies of the jurisdictions where we will operate. Additionally, the tax laws of Ireland and other jurisdictions could change in the future, and such changes could cause a material change in our effective tax rate or global cash accessibility.

Legislative or other governmental action relating to the denial of U.S. federal or state governmental contracts to U.S. companies that redomicile abroad could adversely affect our business.

Various U.S. federal and state legislative proposals that would deny governmental contracts to U.S. companies that move their corporate location abroad may affect us. We are unable to predict the likelihood that, or final form in which, any such proposed legislation might become law, the nature of the regulations that may be promulgated under any future legislative enactments, or the effect such enactments and increased regulatory scrutiny may have on our business.