10-K/A

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K/A

(Amendment No. 1)

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

For the fiscal year ended January 2, 2021

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

For the transition period from to

Commission file number: 001-38854

KONTOOR BRANDS, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

North Carolina	83-2680248
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)	(I.R.S. employer identification number)

400 N. Elm Street

Greensboro, North Carolina 27401

(Address of principal executive offices)

(336) 332-3400

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of each class	Trading symbol(s)	Name of each exchange on which registered
Common Stock, no par value	KTB	New York Stock Exchange

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.

Large accelerated filer ☑ Accelerated filer ☐ Non-accelerated filer ☐ Smaller reporting company ☐ Emerging growth company ☐

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

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

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

The aggregate market value of Common Stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant on June 27, 2020, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, was approximately $940,000,000 based on the closing price of the registrant's Common Stock on the New York Stock Exchange.

As of February 26, 2021, there were 57,372,046 shares of Common Stock of the registrant outstanding.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Kontoor Brands, Inc. (the “Company”) is filing this Amendment No. 1 on Form 10-K/A (this “Amendment”) to the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 2, 2021, which was originally filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on March 3, 2021 (the “Original Filing”), to file revised certifications of its principal executive officer and principal financial officer pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Section 302 Certifications”). Because no financial statements are contained within this Amendment, paragraph 3 of the Section 302 Certifications has been omitted. The revised Section 302 Certifications are attached to this Amendment as Exhibits 31.1 and 31.2.

Except as described above, no other changes have been made to the Original Filing. Except as otherwise indicated herein, this Amendment continues to refer to the date of the Original Filing. Accordingly, this Amendment should be read in conjunction with the Original Filing and the Company's other filings with the SEC.

ITEM 15. EXHIBITS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES.

Exhibits:

The following exhibits are filed as part of this Amendment.

31.1*	Certification of Scott H. Baxter, President and Chief Executive Officer, pursuant to 15 U.S.C. Section 10A, as adopted pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
31.2*	Certification of Rustin Welton, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, pursuant to 15 U.S.C. Section 10A, as adopted pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
Exhibit 104	Cover Page Interactive Data File - The cover page interactive data file does not appear in the Interactive Data File because its XBRL tags are embedded within the Inline XBRL document
*	Filed herewith.

SIGNATURES

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

		KONTOOR BRANDS, INC.
May 12, 2021	By:	/s/ Scott H. Baxter
		Scott H. Baxter<br>President and Chief Executive Officer<br>(Principal Executive Officer)

Document

Exhibit 31.1

CERTIFICATION OF PRINCIPAL EXECUTIVE OFFICER

PURSUANT TO 15 U.S.C. SECTION 10A, AS ADOPTED PURSUANT TO

SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002

I, Scott H. Baxter, certify that:

I have reviewed this Annual Report on Form 10-K of Kontoor Brands, Inc.;
Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;
[Intentionally omitted];
The registrant’s other certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:

(a)Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared;

(b)Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;

(c)Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and

(d)Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant’s most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant’s fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting; and

The registrant’s other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the registrant’s auditors and the audit committee of the registrant’s board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

(a)All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and

(b)Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting.

May 12, 2021	/s/ Scott H. Baxter
	Scott H. Baxter
	President and Chief Executive Officer