Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk

Financial Instruments

Financial instruments that potentially subject us to concentrations of credit risk consist principally of temporary cash investments, derivatives, marketable securities and accounts receivable. We believe we had no significant concentrations of credit risk as of December 31, 2017.

We use derivative instruments as part of our risk management strategy only, and include derivatives utilized as economic hedges that are not designated as hedging instruments. By nature, all financial instruments involve market and credit risks. We enter into derivative instruments with major investment grade financial institutions and have policies to monitor the credit risk of those counterparties. We do not enter into derivative contracts for trading or other speculative purposes, nor do we use

leveraged financial instruments. Approximately 60% of our business is conducted outside of the United States, generally in foreign currencies. As a result, fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates can increase the costs of financing, investing and operating the business.

In the ordinary course of business, we enter into foreign exchange contracts for periods consistent with our committed exposures to mitigate the effect of foreign currency movements on transactions denominated in foreign currencies. The intent of these economic hedges is to offset gains and losses that occur on the underlying exposures from these currencies, with gains and losses resulting from the forward currency contracts that hedge these exposures. Transactions covered by hedge contracts include intercompany and third-party receivables and payables. The contracts are primarily in European and Asian currencies, have maturities that do not exceed 12 months, have no cash requirements until maturity, and are recorded at fair value on our consolidated balance sheets. The unrealized gains and losses on our foreign currency contracts are recognized immediately in interest and other expense, net. The cash flows related to the settlement of these hedges are included in cash flows from operating activities within our consolidated statement of cash flows.

Principal hedged currencies include the British Pound, Euro, Swedish Krona, Japanese Yen and Singapore Dollar. We held forward foreign exchange contracts, designated as economic hedges, with U.S. dollar equivalent notional amounts totaling $212.1 million at December 31, 2017, $137.5 million at January 1, 2017 and $127.3 million at January 3, 2016, and the fair value of these foreign currency derivative contracts was insignificant. The gains and losses realized on these foreign currency derivative contracts are not material. The duration of these contracts was generally 30 days or less during each of fiscal years 2017, 2016 and 2015.

In addition, in connection with certain intercompany loan agreements utilized to finance our acquisitions and stock repurchase program, we enter into forward foreign exchange contracts intended to hedge movements in foreign exchange rates prior to settlement of such intercompany loans denominated in foreign currencies. We record these hedges at fair value on our consolidated balance sheets. The unrealized gains and losses on these hedges, as well as the gains and losses associated with the remeasurement of the intercompany loans, are recognized immediately in interest and other expense, net. The cash flows related to the settlement of these hedges are included in cash flows from financing activities within our consolidated statement of cash flows.

The outstanding forward exchange contracts designated as economic hedges, which were intended to hedge movements in foreign exchange rates prior to the settlement of certain intercompany loan agreements, included combined Euro notional amounts of €57.2 million and combined U.S. Dollar notional amounts of $1.3 billion as of December 31, 2017, combined Euro notional amounts of €58.6 million, combined U.S. Dollar notional amounts of $8.7 million and combined Swedish Krona notional amounts of kr969.5 million as of January 1, 2017, and combined Euro notional amounts of €107.4 million as of January 3, 2016. The net gains and losses on these derivatives, combined with the gains and losses on the remeasurement of the hedged intercompany loans were not material for each of the fiscal years 2017 and 2016. We paid $13.8 million and $1.9 million during the fiscal years 2017 and 2016, respectively, from the settlement of these hedges.

During fiscal year 2016, we designated the 2026 Notes to hedge our investments in certain foreign subsidiaries. Realized and unrealized translation adjustments from these hedges were included in the foreign currency translation component of accumulated other comprehensive income ("AOCI"), which offsets translation adjustments on the underlying net assets of foreign subsidiaries. The cumulative translation gains or losses will remain in AOCI until the foreign subsidiaries are liquidated or sold. As of December 31, 2017, the total notional amount of foreign currency denominated debt designated to hedge investments in foreign subsidiaries was €496.1 million. The unrealized foreign exchange loss (gain) recorded in AOCI related to the net investment hedge was $73.0 million and $(23.8) million for the fiscal years 2017 and 2016, respectively. In January 2018, we removed the hedging relationship of our 2026 Notes and our investments in certain foreign subsidiaries and recognized $2.1 million of unrealized foreign exchange gain in AOCI. The translation adjustment of the 2026 Notes will be recognized in other (income) expense, net in our consolidated statement of operations prospectively.

During fiscal year 2017, we entered into several foreign currency forward contracts to purchase Euros to partly mitigate the currency exchange risk associated with the payment of the Euro-denominated purchase price for EUROIMMUN. These currency forward contracts were not designated as hedging instruments and therefore the change in the derivative fair value was marked to market through the consolidated statement of operations. The foreign currency forward contracts were settled during the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2017. We received $36.5 million from the settlement of these foreign currency forward contracts and recorded a net foreign exchange gain included in other (income) expense, net amounting to $36.5 million for the fiscal year 2017. The cash flows related to the settlement of these foreign currency forward contracts are included in cash flows from investing activities within our consolidated statement of cash flows.

Market Risk

Market Risk. We are exposed to market risk, including changes in interest rates and currency exchange rates. To manage the volatility relating to these exposures, we enter into various derivative transactions pursuant to our policies to hedge against known or forecasted market exposures.

Foreign Exchange Risk. The potential change in foreign currency exchange rates offers a substantial risk to us, as approximately 60% of our business is conducted outside of the United States, generally in foreign currencies. Our risk management strategy currently uses forward contracts to mitigate certain balance sheet foreign currency transaction exposures. The intent of these economic hedges is to offset gains and losses that occur on the underlying exposures, with gains and losses resulting from the forward contracts that hedge these exposures. Moreover, we are able to partially mitigate the impact that fluctuations in currencies have on our net income as a result of our manufacturing facilities located in countries outside the United States, material sourcing and other spending which occur in countries outside the United States, resulting in natural hedges.

Although we attempt to manage our foreign currency exchange risk through the above activities, when the U.S. dollar weakens against other currencies in which we transact business, sales and net income will in general be positively but not proportionately impacted. Conversely, when the U.S. dollar strengthens against other currencies in which we transact business, sales and net income will in general be negatively but not proportionately impacted.

Foreign Currency Risk—Value-at-Risk Disclosure. We utilize a Value-at-Risk model to determine the potential earning/fair value exposures presented by our foreign currency related financial instruments. As discussed above, we seek to minimize this exposure through our hedging program. Our Value-at-Risk computation is based on the Monte Carlo simulation, utilizing a 95% confidence interval and a holding period of 30 days. As of December 31, 2017, this computation estimated that there is a 5% chance that the market value of the underlying exposures and the corresponding derivative instruments either increase or decrease due to foreign currency fluctuations by more than $0.4 million. This Value-At-Risk measure is consistent with our financial statement disclosures relative to our foreign currency hedging program. Specifically, during each of the four quarters ended in fiscal year 2017, the Value-At-Risk ranged between $0.1 million and $0.7 million, with an average of approximately $0.4 million.

Interest Rate Risk. As of December 31, 2017, we had $625.0 million outstanding borrowings under our senior unsecured revolving credit facility, and $200.0 million of outstanding borrowings under our senior unsecured term loan credit facility. As described above in “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations-Liquidity and Capital Resources,” amounts drawn under our senior unsecured revolving credit facility and our senior unsecured term loan credit facility bear interest at variable rates. Our cash and cash equivalents, for which we receive interest at variable rates, were $202.1 million at December 31, 2017. Fluctuations in interest rates can therefore have a direct impact on both our short-term cash flows, as they relate to interest, and our earnings. To manage the volatility relating to these exposures, we periodically enter into various derivative transactions pursuant to our policies to hedge against known or forecasted interest rate exposures.

Interest Rate Risk—Sensitivity. Our current earnings exposure for changes in interest rates can be summarized as follows:

(i) Changes in interest rates can cause our cash flows to fluctuate. An increase of 10%, or approximately 26 basis points, in current interest rates would cause our cash outflows to increase by $2.2 million for fiscal year 2018.

(ii) Changes in interest rates can cause our interest income and cash flows to fluctuate.