Item 1. BUSINESS

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:

			Percent of workforce			Percent of leadership roles***
Minorities*			41.5%			24.8%
Women**			31.4%			27.6%

• 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.