Pentair 2020 10-K Annual Report

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2020

OR

Commission file number 001-11625

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: 44-74-9421-6154

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

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☑

No ☐

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Aggregate market value of voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates of the Registrant, based on the closing price of $37.99 per share as reported on the New York Stock Exchange on June 30, 2020 (the last business day of Registrant’s most recently completed second quarter): $6,245,419,948.

The number of shares outstanding of Registrant’s only class of common stock on December 31, 2020 was 166,063,551.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Parts of the Registrant’s definitive proxy statement for its annual general meeting to be held on May 4, 2021, are incorporated by reference in this Form 10-K in response to Part III, ITEM 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14.

Pentair plc

Annual Report on Form 10-K

For the Year Ended December 31, 2020

PART I

Unless the context otherwise indicates, references herein to “Pentair,” the “Company,” and such words as “we,” “us,” and “our” include Pentair plc and its consolidated subsidiaries.

GENERAL

Pentair makes the most of life’s essential resources. From our residential and business solutions that help people move, improve and enjoy their water, to our sustainable innovations and applications, we deliver smart, sustainable solutions for life.

Pentair strategy

Our vision is to be the leading residential and commercial water treatment company. As a pure play water company, we are:

• Focused on strategies to advance pool growth and accelerate residential and commercial water treatment;

• Accelerated by innovation and digital transformation; and

• Grounded in Win Right values and utilizing the Pentair Integrated Management System (“PIMS”) consisting of lean enterprise, growth and talent management to drive sustained and consistent performance.

HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT

We are an Irish public limited company that was formed in 2014. We are the successor to Pentair Ltd., a Swiss corporation formed in 2012, and Pentair, Inc., a Minnesota corporation formed in 1966 and our wholly-owned subsidiary, under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). Although our jurisdiction of organization is Ireland, we manage our affairs so that we are centrally managed and controlled in the United Kingdom (the “U.K.”) and therefore have our tax residency in the U.K.

On April 30, 2018, Pentair completed the separation of its Electrical business from the rest of Pentair (the “Separation”) by means of a dividend in specie of the Electrical business, which was effected by the transfer of the Electrical business from Pentair to nVent Electric plc (“nVent”) and the issuance by nVent of ordinary shares directly to Pentair shareholders (the “Distribution”). On May 1, 2018, following the Separation and Distribution, nVent became an independent publicly traded company, trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “NVT.” The Company did not retain any equity interest in nVent. nVent’s historical financial results are reflected in the Company’s consolidated financial statements as a discontinued operation. Refer to Note 2 for further discussion.

Our registered principal office is located at Regal House, 70 London Road, Twickenham, London, TW13QS United Kingdom. Our management office in the United States (“U.S.”) is located at 5500 Wayzata Boulevard, Suite 900, Golden Valley, Minnesota.

BUSINESS AND PRODUCTS

Pentair is comprised of two reportable business segments: Consumer Solutions and Industrial & Flow Technologies. The following is a brief description of each of the Company’s reportable segments and business activities.

Consumer Solutions

The Consumer Solutions segment designs, manufactures and sells energy-efficient residential and commercial pool equipment and accessories, and commercial and residential water treatment products and systems. Residential and commercial pool equipment and accessories include pumps, filters, heaters, lights, automatic controls, automatic cleaners, maintenance equipment and pool accessories. Water treatment products and systems include pressure tanks, control valves, activated carbon products, conventional filtration products, and point-of-entry and point-of-use systems. Applications for our pool business’s products include residential and commercial pool maintenance, repair, renovation, service and construction. Our water treatment products and systems are used in residential whole home water filtration, drinking water filtration and water softening solutions in addition to commercial total water management and filtration in food service operations. The primary focus of this segment is business-to-consumer.

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020, our pool business comprised 60% of the Consumer Solutions sales. The pool business is a leader in North American pool equipment, serving a market that is primarily replacement. The other 40% of sales were from the water treatment businesses, which sell residential and commercial components, residential systems and commercial systems.

Consumer Solutions brand names include Everpure, Kreepy Krauly, Pelican, Pentair Water Solutions, RainSoft and Sta-Rite.

Customers

Consumer Solutions customers include businesses engaged in wholesale and retail distribution in the residential & commercial verticals. Customers also include end-users, consumers and original equipment manufacturers.

One customer of the Consumer Solutions segment, Pool Corporation, represented approximately 15% of our consolidated net sales in 2020 and 2019.

Seasonality

We experience seasonal demand with several end customers and end-users within Consumer Solutions. End-user demand for pool equipment follows warm weather trends and is at seasonal highs from April to August. The magnitude of the sales increase is mitigated by employing some advance sale “early buy” programs (generally including extended payment terms and/or additional discounts).

Competition

Consumer Solutions faces numerous domestic and international competitors, some of which have substantially greater resources directed to the verticals in which we compete. Competition focuses on brand names, product performance (including energy-efficient offerings and required specifications), quality, service and price. We compete by offering a wide variety of innovative and high-quality products, which are competitively priced. We believe our distribution channels and reputation for quality also provide us a competitive advantage.

Industrial & Flow Technologies

The Industrial & Flow Technologies segment manufactures and sells a variety of fluid treatment products (advanced membrane filtration, separation systems, membrane bioreactors), pumps (water supply pumps, water disposal pumps, solid handling pumps, fluid transfer pumps, turbine pumps), valves, and spray nozzles as well as systems combining these products (process filtration systems, gas recovery solutions). These products and systems serve the global residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural and infrastructure verticals. They are used in a range of applications, food and beverage, fluid separation technologies (oil and gas and other industries), water and wastewater treatment, water wells, pressure boosting, fire suppression, flood control, agricultural irrigation, crop spray and fluid circulation and transfer. The primary focus of this segment is business-to-business.

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020, our residential and irrigation flow businesses comprised 40% of the Industrial & Flow Technologies sales. The residential and irrigation flow businesses sell pumps focused on residential and agriculture. Another 30% of sales were from the commercial & infrastructure flow businesses, which sell larger pumps focused on fire suppression, waste water and flood control. The remaining 30% of sales were from the industrial filtration business, comprised of applications focused on industrial process filtration and sustainable gas.

Industrial & Flow Technologies brand names include Pentair, Aurora, Berkeley, Codeline, Fairbanks-Nijhuis, Haffmans, Hydromatic, Hypro, Jung Pumpen, Myers, Sta-Rite, Shurflo, Südmo and X-Flow.

Customers

Industrial & Flow Technologies customers include businesses engaged with end users, and wholesale and retail distribution in the residential, commercial, food & beverage and industrial verticals.

Seasonality

We experience increased demand for residential water supply and irrigation pumps following weather trends, which are at seasonal highs from April to August. Seasonal effects may vary from year to year and are impacted by weather patterns, particularly by temperatures, heavy flooding and droughts.

Competition

Industrial & Flow Technologies faces numerous domestic and international competitors, some of which have substantially greater resources directed to the verticals in which we compete. Competition focuses on brand names, product performance (including energy-efficient offerings and required specifications), quality, service and price. We compete by offering a wide variety of innovative and high-quality products, which are competitively priced.

INFORMATION REGARDING ALL REPORTABLE SEGMENTS

Research and development

We conduct research and development activities primarily in our own facilities. These efforts consist primarily of the development of new products, product applications and manufacturing processes.

Raw materials

The principal materials we use in manufacturing our products are electric motors, mild steel, stainless steel, electronic components, plastics (resins, fiberglass, epoxies), copper and paint (powder and liquid). In addition to the purchase of raw materials, we purchase some finished goods for distribution through our sales channels.

We purchase the materials we use in various manufacturing processes on the open market, and the majority are available through multiple sources which are in adequate supply. We have not experienced any significant work stoppages to date due to shortages of materials. We have certain long-term commitments, principally price commitments, for the purchase of various component parts and raw materials and believe that it is unlikely that any of these agreements would be terminated prematurely. Alternate sources of supply at competitive prices are available for most materials for which long-term commitments exist, and we believe that the termination of any of these commitments would not have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

Certain commodities, such as metals and resin, are subject to market and duty-driven price fluctuations. We manage these fluctuations through several mechanisms, including long-term agreements with price adjustment clauses for significant commodity market movements in certain circumstances. Prices for raw materials, such as metals and resins, may trend higher in the future.

Intellectual property

Patents, non-compete agreements, proprietary technologies, customer relationships, trademarks, trade names and brand names are important to our business. However, we do not regard our business as being materially dependent upon any single patent, non-compete agreement, proprietary technology, customer relationship, trademark, trade name or brand name.

Patents, patent applications and license agreements will expire or terminate over time by operation of law, in accordance with their terms or otherwise. We do not expect the termination of patents, patent applications or license agreements to have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

Human capital resources

We believe our success depends on our ability to attract, develop and retain strong employees. We believe a deep-rooted culture energizes our employees to make a difference within and beyond the workplace. We strive to be the destination for top talent, and work hard to develop and retain high performers throughout their career. We also believe our Win Right values, positive culture and commitment to inclusion and diversity foster innovation and curiosity, which, in turn, contribute to us being an industry leader.

As of December 31, 2020, we had approximately 9,750 employees worldwide, of which approximately 52% are located in the U.S. A small portion of our U.S. employees are unionized, while outside the U.S., we have employees in certain countries, particularly in Europe, that are represented by an employee representative organization, such as a union, works council or employee association.

Refer to "COVID-19 Pandemic" included in ITEM 7, "Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" for information on human capital management actions we have taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Employee engagement and development

Engaging our employees and developing their careers is important to our long-term success and ties directly to our Win Right culture and values. We engage with our employees and gather feedback about our employee programs, practices and policies through various approaches that include: town hall meetings where Pentair leaders share strategies and perspectives; quarterly leadership webcasts to help ensure our results and expectations are clearly communicated; an annual global leadership meeting to help drive growth and productivity initiatives and share best practices; and a feedback feature on our employee intranet.

Training and development

To support employees in their career journey, we have developed and shared through our employee intranet a number of new tools and resources. These resources include: live training sessions; on-demand eLearning and virtual classrooms; and downloadable materials.

Our talent development efforts span across all levels of our organization, including our Leadership Development Program, a 36-month program in which future leaders participate in cross-functional rotations intended to develop their capabilities throughout organization-wide exposure.

Inclusion and diversity

Our commitment to inclusion and diversity is part of living our Win Right values. Our success also depends on our ability to attract, engage and retain a diverse group of employees. We believe an inclusive and diverse workforce contributes different perspectives and innovative ideas that enable us to improve every day. We believe that every employee should be provided the same opportunity to be heard, respected, have a sense of belonging and contribute to our mission. Race, gender, ethnicity, country of origin, age, personal style, sexual orientation, physical ability, religion, life experiences and many more factors contribute to this diversity.

Our statistics are a measure of our performance, and we are committed to advancing a diverse workplace. The following sets forth information regarding the diversity of our workforce as of December 31, 2020:

• Inclusive of the following racial minority groups: Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, American Indian/Alaskan Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander. Data for U.S. employee population only.

** Global data.

*** Leadership roles are those of employees who are director level and above.

We take an integrated approach to supporting and promoting workplace inclusion and diversity including: ensuring leadership involvement and ownership; attracting and retaining diverse talent at all levels; fostering a globally aware, inclusive culture; and ensuring our practices are fair and nondiscriminatory. In addition, we promote an inclusive and diverse workplace through: a training called the “The Power of Inclusion”; business resource groups led by employees; Pentair’s Code of Business Conduct and Ethics; and an Inclusion and Diversity Hub on our employee intranet.

Health, safety and wellness

We are committed to providing a safe workplace for all of our employees. We encourage employees to “Stop Work” anytime there is a potential concern regarding worker safety, and promote an open door policy so that all of our employees feel free to speak to their manager if there are any potential health, safety, compliance or sustainability concerns. Additionally, each site maintains a confidential reporting process, and we encourage the use of the Ethics Hotline for employees to report anonymously potential safety concerns. All locations, enterprise wide, must meet and/or exceed regulatory agency standards as applicable to each plant’s location.

Compensation and benefits

In the U.S., all non-union full-time employees are eligible to receive the following benefits: short-term and long-term disability insurance; flexible and health savings accounts and wellness programs; health insurance (medical, pharmacy, dental); eight weeks paid parental leave for birth, adoptive and foster parents; two weeks paid caregiver leave; legal services; retirement provision; stock ownership; tuition reimbursement; holidays; vacation and sick time. Union employee benefits vary by contract.

ESG Activities

As a leading provider of water treatment and sustainable solutions and with a foundation of Win Right values, we recognize that the work we do and the products and services we provide improve lives and the environment around the world. Pentair strives to be a positive influence on the social and environmental issues of today. As we progress, we are committed to building on our Win Right values and culture by further contributing to the development of a sustainable and responsible society that we believe will also drive our future growth. We are focused on further integrating our environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) goals throughout our business by creating broad accountability for our social responsibility strategy and creating shared commitments and targets. In 2020, Pentair completed a formal ESG assessment to identify ESG topics of importance to our shareholders, customers, suppliers, employees and communities. Through engagement with these stakeholders, internal business leaders and subject matter experts, we identified ESG goals designed to culminate into targets to further our commitment to social responsibility.

We have published an annual corporate responsibility that has reported on our ESG activities and accomplishments, which can be found on our corporate website, and which is not incorporated by reference into this Annual Report on Form 10-K. In addition, we have established a formal social responsibility program to further advance our social responsibility goals.

Environmental Matters

See ITEM 1A “Risk Factors - We are exposed to potential environmental laws, liabilities and litigation.”

Captive insurance subsidiary

A portion of our property and casualty insurance program is insured through our regulated wholly-owned captive insurance subsidiary, Penwald Insurance Company (“Penwald”). Reserves for policy claims are established based on actuarial projections of ultimate losses. Accruals with respect to liabilities insured by third parties, such as liabilities arising from acquired businesses, pre-Penwald liabilities and those of certain non-U.S. operations are established.

Matters pertaining to Penwald are discussed in ITEM 8, Note 1 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements – Insurance subsidiary, included in this Form 10-K.

Available information

We make available free of charge (other than an investor’s own Internet access charges) through our Internet website (http://www.pentair.com) our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and if applicable, amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). Reports of beneficial ownership filed by our directors and executive officers pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act are also available on our website. We are not including the information contained on our website as part of or incorporating it by reference into, this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

You should carefully consider all of the information in this document and the following risk factors before making an investment decision regarding our securities. Any of the following risks could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows and the actual outcome of matters as to which forward-looking statements are made in this document.

Risks Relating to the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic is expected to have a material negative impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Our business and financial results have been and are expected to continue to be negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The severity, magnitude and duration of the current COVID-19 pandemic is uncertain, rapidly changing and hard to predict. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted economic activity and markets around the world and our business, and it is expected to negatively impact our business in numerous ways, including but not limited to those outlined below:

• The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a global economic slowdown that may last for a potentially extended duration, and it is possible that it could cause a global recession. Deteriorating economic and political conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, such as increased unemployment, decreases in capital spending, declines in consumer confidence, or economic slowdowns or recessions, could cause a decrease in demand for our products.

• Due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have experienced and expect to continue to experience reductions in customer demand for certain of our products and in several of our end-markets, including commercial filtration, commercial flow, industrial filtration and food and beverage.

• The COVID-19 pandemic is adversely affecting, and is expected to continue to adversely affect, certain elements of our business (including certain elements of our operations, supply chains and distribution systems), including as a result of impacts associated with required, preventive and precautionary measures that we, other businesses, our communities and governments are taking. These impacts include requiring employees to work from home or not go into their offices or facilities, limiting the number of employees attending meetings, reducing the number of people in our sites at any one time, reducing employee travel and adopting other employee safety measures. These measures also may impact our ability to meet production demands or requests and may delay our new product introductions depending on employee attendance or ability to continue to work. In addition, we have experienced disruptions at some of our facilities with higher absenteeism due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

• If the COVID-19 pandemic continues and economic conditions worsen, we expect to experience additional adverse impacts on our operational and commercial activities, customer orders and our collections of accounts receivable, which may be material, and it remains uncertain the impact on future operational and commercial activities, customer orders, and collections even if economic conditions begin to improve.

• Government or regulatory responses to the COVID-19 pandemic have and are likely to continue to negatively impact our business. During the first and second quarters of 2020, mandatory lockdowns or other restrictions on operations in

some countries temporarily disrupted our ability to manufacture or distribute our products in some of these markets. A reoccurrence of these disruptions could materially adversely impact our operations and results. In addition, the current resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic and government restrictions related thereto in the fourth quarter of 2020 and first quarter of 2021 may negatively impact demand in certain of our commercial and industrial businesses. In addition to existing travel restrictions, jurisdictions may continue to close borders, impose prolonged quarantines and further restrict travel and business activity, and other related supply chain delays may develop, which could significantly impact our ability to support our operations and customers, meet demand, develop new products, ship our backlog and also impact the ability of our employees to get to their workplaces to produce products and services, or significantly hamper our products from moving through the supply chain.

• The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic may limit our ability to reduce our overall operating costs. We have experienced increased costs relating to our efforts to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic through, among other things, enhanced sanitization procedures and social-distancing measures we have enacted and will likely continue to enact at our locations around the world in an effort to protect our employees’ health and well-being.

• The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted and is expected to continue to disrupt our operations, global supply chain and routes to market or those of our suppliers or their suppliers. These disruptions or our failure to effectively respond to them have increased and may continue to increase product, distribution or labor costs or cause delays in delivering our backlog or may cause an inability to deliver products to our customers or meet customer demand.

• While we have experienced high demand in our pool business as consumers sheltered-in-place and have spent more time at home as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic that contributed to growth in our sales during 2020, such growth may not be sustainable and may not be repeated in future periods. Furthermore, even if growth in demand continues, we may not be able to meet that demand due to production and capacity challenges.

• Disruptions or uncertainties related to the COVID-19 pandemic for a sustained period of time could result in delays or modifications to some of our strategic plans and initiatives and hinder our ability to achieve our growth targets.

• The COVID-19 pandemic has increased volatility and pricing in and disrupted the capital markets and commercial paper markets, and volatility is likely to continue. We might not be able to continue to access preferred sources of liquidity when we would like, and our borrowing costs could increase.

• Actions we have taken or may take, or decisions we have made or may make, as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, may result in legal investigations or claims, regulatory actions, or litigation against us.

We might not be able to predict or respond to all impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on a timely basis to prevent near- or long-term adverse impacts to our results. Due to the speed with which the COVID-19 situation continues to develop, the global breadth of its spread and the range of governmental and community reactions thereto, there is uncertainty around its duration and ultimate impact and uncertainty regarding the availability and distribution of vaccines to address the COVID-19 virus; therefore, any negative impact on our business, financial condition (including without limitation our liquidity), results of operations and cash flows cannot be reasonably estimated at this time, but the COVID-19 pandemic could lead to extended disruption of economic activity and the impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows could be material. The ultimate impact of these disruptions also depends on events beyond our knowledge or control, including the duration and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic and actions taken by parties other than us to respond to them. The foregoing and other impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic could have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described below and any of these impacts could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Risks Relating to Our Business

**General global economic and business conditions affect d

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None.

Our principal office is located in leased premises in London, U.K., and our management office in the U.S. is located in leased premises in Golden Valley, Minnesota.

Our operations are conducted in facilities throughout the world. These facilities house manufacturing and distribution operations, as well as sales and marketing, engineering and administrative offices. The following is a summary of our principal properties as of December 31, 2020, including manufacturing, distribution, sales offices and service centers:

We believe that our production facilities as well as the related machinery and equipment, are well maintained and suitable for their purpose and are adequate to support our businesses.

We have been, and in the future may be, made parties to a number of actions filed or have been, and in the future may be, given notice of potential claims relating to the conduct of our business, including those relating to commercial, contractual or regulatory disputes with suppliers, customers, authorities or parties to acquisitions and divestiture; intellectual property matters; environmental, asbestos, safety and health matters; product liability; the use or installation of our products; consumer matters; and employment and labor matters. Refer to “Legal proceedings” and “Environmental Matters” within Note 15 “Commitments and Contingencies”, of the consolidated financial statements included in ITEM 8 of Part II of this Form 10-K for information regarding legal and regulatory proceedings we are involved in. In addition, see Item 1A “Risk Factors - Our subsidiaries are party to asbestos-related product litigation that could adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows” related to asbestos matters.

Not applicable.

INFORMATION ABOUT OUR EXECUTIVE OFFICERS

Current executive officers of Pentair plc, their ages, current position and their business experience during at least the past five years are as follows:

PART II

Our ordinary shares are listed for trading on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the symbol “PNR.” As of December 31, 2020, there were 13,931 shareholders of record.

Pentair has paid 180 consecutive quarterly cash dividends, including most recently a dividend of $0.19 per share in the fourth quarter of 2020. On December 8, 2020, Pentair’s Board of Directors approved a 5 percent increase in the Company’s regular quarterly cash dividend rate (from $0.19 per share to $0.20 per share) that was paid on February 5, 2021 to shareholders of record at the close of business on January 22, 2021. 2021 marks the 45th consecutive year that Pentair has increased its dividend.

The timing, declaration and payment of future dividends to holders of our ordinary shares will depend upon many factors, including our financial condition and results of operations, the capital requirements of our businesses, industry practice and any other relevant factors.

Share Performance Graph

The following information under the caption “Share Performance Graph” in this ITEM 5 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K is not deemed to be “soliciting material” or to be “filed” with the SEC or subject to Regulation 14A or 14C under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), or to the liabilities of Section 18 of the Exchange Act and will not be deemed to be incorporated by reference into any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act, except to the extent we specifically incorporate it by reference into such a filing.

The following graph sets forth the cumulative total shareholder return on our ordinary shares for the last five years, assuming the investment of $100 on December 31, 2015 and the reinvestment of all dividends since that date to December 31, 2020. The graph also contains for comparison purposes the S&P 500 Index and the S&P 500 Industrials Index, assuming the same investment level and reinvestment of dividends.

By virtue of our market capitalization, we are a component of the S&P 500 Index. On the basis of our size and diversity of businesses, we believe the S&P 500 Industrials Index is an appropriate published industry index for comparison purposes.

Purchases of Equity Securities

The following table provides information with respect to purchases we made of our ordinary shares during the fourth quarter of 2020:

(a)The purchases in this column include 714 shares for the period October 1 – October 24, 17,083 shares for the period October 25 – November 21, and 68 shares for the period November 22 – December 31 deemed surrendered to us by participants in our equity incentive plans to satisfy the exercise price or withholding of tax obligations related to the exercise of stock options and vesting of restricted and performance shares.

(b)The average price paid in this column includes shares repurchased as part of our publicly announced plans and shares deemed surrendered to us by participants in the Plans to satisfy the exercise price for the exercise price of stock options and withholding tax obligations due upon stock option exercises and vesting of restricted and performance shares.

(c)The number of shares in this column represents the number of shares repurchased as part of our publicly announced plans to repurchase our ordinary shares up to a maximum dollar limit authorized by the Board of Directors, discussed below.

(d)In May 2018, the Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of our ordinary shares up to a maximum dollar limit of $750.0 million (the “2018 Authorization”). The 2018 Authorization expires on May 31, 2021. On December 8, 2020, the Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of our ordinary shares up to a maximum dollar limit of $750.0 million (the “2020 Authorization”). The 2020 Authorization expires on December 31, 2025. The 2020 Authorization supplements the 2018 Authorization. We have $99.7 million and $750.0 million remaining availability for repurchases under the 2018 Authorization and 2020 Authorization, respectively. From time to time, we may enter into a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan for the purpose of repurchasing shares under this authorization.

OPERATIONS**

Forward-looking statements

This report contains statements that we believe to be “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. Without limitation, any statements preceded or followed by or that include the words “targets,” “plans,” “believes,” “expects,” “intends,” “will,” “likely,” “may,” “anticipates,” “estimates,” “projects,” “should,” “would,” “could,” “positioned,” “strategy,” “future” or words, phrases or terms of similar substance or the negative thereof, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors, some of which are beyond our control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These factors include the overall impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business; the duration and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic; actions that may be taken by us, other businesses and governments to address or otherwise mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, including those that may impact our ability to operate our facilities, meet production demands, and deliver products to our customers; the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy, our customers and suppliers, and customer demand; overall global economic and business conditions impacting our business, including the strength of housing and related markets; demand, competition and pricing pressures in the markets we serve; volatility in currency exchange rates; failure of markets to accept new product introductions and enhancements; the ability to successfully identify, finance, complete and integrate acquisitions; the ability to achieve the benefits of our restructuring plans and cost reduction initiatives; risks associated with operating foreign businesses; the impact of material cost and other inflation; the impact of seasonality of sales and weather conditions; our ability to comply with laws and regulations; the impact of changes in laws, regulations and administrative policy, including those that limit U.S. tax benefits or impact trade agreements and tariffs; the outcome of litigation and governmental proceedings; and the ability to achieve our long-term strategic operating goals. Additional information concerning these and other factors is contained in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), including this Annual Report on Form 10-K. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this report. Pentair assumes no obligation, and disclaims any obligation, to update the information contained in this report.

Overview

Pentair plc and its consolidated subsidiaries (“we,” “us,” “our,” “Pentair” or the “Company”) is a pure play water industrial manufacturing company comprised of two reporting segments: Consumer Solutions and Industrial & Flow Technologies. We classify our operations into business segments based primarily on types of products offered and markets served. For the year ended December 31, 2020, the Consumer Solutions and Industrial & Flow Technologies segments represented approximately 58% and 42% of total revenues, respectively.

Although our jurisdiction of organization is Ireland, we manage our affairs so that we are centrally managed and controlled in the United Kingdom (the “U.K.”) and therefore have our tax residency in the U.K.

On April 30, 2018, we completed the separation of our Electrical business from the rest of Pentair (the “Separation”) by means of a dividend in specie of the Electrical business, which was effected by the transfer of the Electrical business from Pentair to nVent and the issuance by nVent of nVent ordinary shares directly to Pentair shareholders (the “Distribution”). We did not retain an equity interest in nVent. The results of the Electrical business have been presented as discontinued operations for all periods presented. The Electrical business was previously disclosed as a stand-alone reporting segment.

In February 2019, as part of Consumer Solutions, we completed the acquisitions of Aquion, Inc. (“Aquion”) and Pelican Water Systems (“Pelican”) for $163.4 million and $121.1 million, respectively, in cash, net of cash acquired and final working capital true-ups. Aquion offers a diverse line of water conditioners, water filters, drinking-water purifiers, ozone and ultraviolet disinfection systems, reverse osmosis systems and acid neutralizers for the residential and commercial water treatment industry. Pelican provides residential whole home water treatment systems.

COVID-19 Pandemic

In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread throughout the United States (“U.S.”) and the world, with the continued potential for significant impact. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in governments around the world implementing increasingly stringent measures to help control the spread of the virus, including quarantines, “shelter-in-place” and “stay-at-home” orders, travel restrictions, business curtailments, limits on gatherings, and other measures. In addition, governments and central banks in several parts of the world have enacted fiscal and monetary stimulus measures to counteract the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have had and may continue to have an unfavorable impact on certain parts of our business.

Health and safety

From the earliest signs of the outbreak, we have taken proactive action to protect the health and safety of our employees, customers, and suppliers. We have enacted rigorous safety measures in our sites, including implementing social distancing protocols, implementing working from home arrangements for those employees who do not need to be physically present on the manufacturing floor and do not provide manufacturing-support activities, suspending travel, extensively and frequently disinfecting our workspaces, conducting temperature monitoring at our facilities, and providing or accommodating the wearing of facial coverings to those employees who must be physically present in their workplace and where facial coverings are required by local government orders. We expect to continue to implement these measures until we determine that the COVID-19 pandemic is adequately contained for purposes of our business, and we may take further actions as government authorities require or recommend or as we determine to be in the best interests of our employees, customers, and suppliers. For the year ended December 31, 2020, we incurred $10.4 million of costs related to providing for the health and safety of our employees specific to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Operations

We have important manufacturing operations in the U.S. and around the world that have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and we have taken certain actions to help curb its spread. Government-mandated measures providing for business curtailments or shutdowns generally exclude certain essential businesses and services, including businesses that manufacture and sell products that are considered essential to daily lives or otherwise operate in essential or critical sectors. While substantially all of our manufacturing facilities are considered essential and have remained operational, we have experienced intermittent partial or full factory closures at certain facilities as a result of these measures or the need to sanitize the facilities and address employee well-being. We also experienced brief interruptions in operations due to government-mandated shutdowns at our sites in India, Italy, and New Zealand during the year ended December 31, 2020. While sanitation-related closures or governmental shutdowns may occur ag

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Market risk is the potential economic loss that may result from adverse changes in the fair value of financial instruments. We are exposed to various market risks, including changes in interest rates and foreign currency rates. Periodically, we use derivative financial instruments to manage or reduce the impact of changes in interest rates and foreign currency rates. Counterparties to all derivative contracts are major financial institutions. All instruments are entered into for other than trading purposes. The major accounting policies and utilization of these instruments is described more fully in ITEM 8, Note 1 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

Interest rate risk

Our debt portfolio as of December 31, 2020, was comprised of debt predominantly denominated in U.S. dollars. This debt portfolio is comprised of 72% fixed-rate debt and 28% variable-rate debt. Changes in interest rates have different impacts on the fixed and variable-rate portions of our debt portfolio. A change in interest rates on the fixed portion of the debt portfolio impacts the fair value, but has no impact on interest incurred or cash flows. A change in interest rates on the variable portion of the debt portfolio impacts the interest incurred and cash flows but does not impact the net financial instrument position.

Based on the fixed-rate debt included in our debt portfolio, as of December 31, 2020, a 100 basis point increase or decrease in interest rates would result in a $37.6 million decrease or $40.9 million increase in fair value, respectively.

Based on the variable-rate debt included in our debt portfolio as of December 31, 2020, a 100 basis point increase or decrease in interest rates would result in a $2.4 million increase or decrease in interest incurred.

Foreign currency risk

We conduct business in various locations throughout the world and are subject to market risk due to changes in the value of foreign currencies in relation to our reporting currency, the U.S. dollar. Periodically, we use derivative financial instruments to manage these risks. The functional currencies of our foreign operating locations are generally the local currency in the country of domicile. We manage these operating activities at the local level and revenues, costs, assets and liabilities are generally denominated in local currencies, thereby mitigating the risk associated with changes in foreign exchange. However, our results of operations and assets and liabilities are reported in U.S. dollars and thus will fluctuate with changes in exchange rates between such local currencies and the U.S. dollar.

From time to time, we may enter into short duration foreign currency contracts to hedge foreign currency risks. As the majority of our foreign currency contracts have an original maturity date of less than one year, there is no material foreign currency risk. At December 31, 2020, we had outstanding foreign currency derivative contracts with gross notional U.S. dollar equivalent amounts of $12.4 million. Changes in the fair value of all derivatives are recognized immediately in income unless the derivative qualifies as a hedge of future cash flows. Gains and losses related to a hedge are deferred and recorded in the Consolidated Balance Sheets as a component of Accumulated other comprehensive loss and subsequently recognized in the Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income when the hedged item affects earnings.

At December 31, 2020, we had outstanding cross currency swap agreements with a combined notional amount of $855.1 million. The cross currency swap agreements are accounted for as either cash flow hedges to hedge foreign currency fluctuations on certain intercompany debt, or as net investment hedges to manage our exposure to fluctuations in the Euro-U.S. Dollar exchange rate. The currency risk related to the cross currency swap agreements is measured by estimating the potential impact of a 10% change in the value of the U.S. dollar relative to the Euro. A 10% appreciation of the U.S. dollar relative to the Euro would result in a $63.7 million net increase in accumulated other comprehensive income. Conversely, a 10% depreciation of the U.S. dollar relative to the Euro would result in an $57.0 million net decrease in accumulated other comprehensive income. However, these increases and decreases in other comprehensive income would be offset by decreases or increases in the hedged items on our balance sheet.

MANAGEMENT’S REPORT ON INTERNAL CONTROL OVER FINANCIAL REPORTING

Management of Pentair plc and its subsidiaries (the “Company”) is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting, as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The Company’s internal control over financial reporting is designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. The Company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the Company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of the financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and that receipts and expenditures of the Company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the Company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of the Company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting to future periods are subject to the risk that the controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

Management assessed the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2020. In making this assessment, management used the criteria for effective internal control over financial reporting described in Internal Control-Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. Based on this assessment, management believes that, as of December 31, 2020, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting was effective based on those criteria.

Our independent registered public accounting firm, Deloitte & Touche LLP, has issued an attestation report on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2020. That attestation report is set forth immediately following this management report.

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

To the shareholders and the Board of Directors of Pentair plc

Opinion on Internal Control over Financial Reporting

We have audited the internal control over financial reporting of Pentair plc and subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2020, based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). In our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2020, based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework (2013) issued by COSO.

We have also audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the consolidated financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2020, of the Company and our report dated February 16, 2021 expressed an unqualified opinion on those financial statements.

Basis for Opinion

The Company’s management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in the accompanying Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk, and performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Definition and Limitations of Internal Control over Financial Reporting

A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

/s/ Deloitte & Touche LLP

Minneapolis, Minnesota

February 16, 2021

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

To the shareholders and the Board of Directors of Pentair plc

Opinion on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Pentair plc and subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, the related consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income, cash flows, and changes in equity, for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2020, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2020, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

We have also audited, in accordance with the standards of

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None.

Our management, with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer and our Chief Financial Officer, evaluated the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the year ended December 31, 2020, pursuant to Rule 13a-15(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“the Exchange Act”). Based upon their evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and our Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of the year ended December 31, 2020 to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports we file or submit under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported, within the time periods specified in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s rules and forms and to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports we file or submit under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our principal executive and principal financial officers, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosures.

Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

The report of management required under this ITEM 9A is contained in ITEM 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K under the caption “Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting.”

Attestation Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

The attestation report required under this ITEM 9A is contained in ITEM 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K under the caption “Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm.”

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

There was no change in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the quarter ended December 31, 2020 that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

None.

PART III

Information required under this item with respect to directors is contained in our Proxy Statement for our 2021 annual general meeting of shareholders under the captions “Corporate Governance Matters” and “Proposal 1 Re-elect Director Nominees” and is incorporated herein by reference.

Information required under this item with respect to executive officers is contained in Part I of this Form 10-K under the caption “Information About Our Executive Officers.”

Our Board of Directors has adopted Pentair’s Code of Business Conduct and Ethics and designated it as the code of ethics for the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and senior financial officers. The Code of Business Conduct and Ethics also applies to all employees and directors in accordance with New York Stock Exchange Listing Standards. We have posted a copy of Pentair’s Code of Business Conduct and Ethics on our website at http://pentair.com/en/about-us/leadership/corporate-governance. We intend to satisfy the disclosure requirements under Item 5.05 of Form 8-K regarding amendments to or waivers from, Pentair’s Code of Business Conduct and Ethics by posting such information on our website at http://pentair.com/en/about-us/leadership/corporate-governance.

We are not including the information contained on our website as part of, or incorporating it by reference into, this report.

Information required under this item is contained in our Proxy Statement for our 2021 annual general meeting of shareholders under the captions “Compensation Discussion and Analysis,” “Compensation Committee Report,” “Executive Compensation Tables” and “Corporate Governance Matters - Director Compensation” and is incorporated herein by reference.

Information required under this item with respect to security ownership is contained in our Proxy Statement for our 2021 annual general meeting of shareholders under the caption “Security Ownership” and is incorporated herein by reference.

The following table summarizes, as of December 31, 2020, information about compensation plans under which our equity securities are authorized for issuance:

(1)Consists of 86,233 shares subject to restricted stock units.

(2)Represents the weighted average exercise price of outstanding stock options and does not take into account outstanding restricted stock units or performance share units.

(3)Represents securities remaining available for issuance under the 2020 Share and Incentive Plan.

(4)Consists of 3,059,184 shares subject to stock options, 588,399 shares subject to restricted stock units, and 359,208 shares subject to performance share awards.

(5)The 2012 Stock and Incentive Plan was terminated in 2020. Stock options, restricted stock units and performance share awards previously granted under the 2012 Stock and Incentive Plan remain outstanding, but no further options or shares may be granted under this plan.

(6)Consists of 15,616 shares subject to stock options.

(7)The 2008 Omnibus Stock Incentive Plan was terminated in 2012. Stock options previously granted under the 2008 Omnibus Stock Incentive Plan remain outstanding, but no further options or shares may be granted under this plan.

Information required under this item is contained in our Proxy Statement for our 2021 annual general meeting of shareholders under the captions “Proposal 1 Re-elect Director Nominees - Director Independence” and “Corporate Governance Matters - The Board’s Role and Responsibilities - Policies and Procedures Regarding Related Person Transactions” and is incorporated herein by reference.

Information required under this item is contained in our Proxy Statement for our 2021 annual general meeting of shareholders under the caption “Proposal 3 Ratify, by Nonbinding, Advisory Vote, the Appointment of Deloitte & Touche LLP as the Independent Auditor of Pentair plc and to Authorize, by Binding Vote, the Audit and Finance Committee of the Board of Directors to Set the Auditor’s Remuneration” and is incorporated herein by reference.

PART IV

(a) List of documents filed as part of this report:

(1) Financial Statements

Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018

Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2020 and 2019

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018

Consolidated Statements of Changes in Equity for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

(2) Financial Statement Schedule

None.

All other schedules for which provision is made in the applicable accounting regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission have been omitted because they are not applicable or the required information is shown in the financial statements or notes thereto.

(3) Exhibits

The exhibits of this Annual Report on Form 10-K included herein are set forth below.

None.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, on February 16, 2021.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the Registrant and in the capacities indicated, on February 16, 2021.