As filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on April 25, 2025.

Registration No. 333-282862

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

AMENDMENT NO. 3

TO

FORM S-1

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER

THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

 

 

PHOENIX ENERGY ONE, LLC

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

 

 

Delaware		1311		83-4526672
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)		(Primary Standard Industrial Classification Code Number)		(I.R.S. Employer Identification Number)

18575 Jamboree Road, Suite 830

Irvine, California 92612

(303) 749-0074

(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant’s principal executive offices)

 

 

David Wheeler

Chief Legal Officer

18575 Jamboree Road, Suite 830

Irvine, California 92612

(303) 749-0074

(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)

 

 

With a copy to:

Christopher J. Clark, Esq.

Ross McAloon, Esq.

Latham & Watkins LLP

555 Eleventh Street, NW, Suite 1000

Washington, District of Columbia 20004-1304

(202) 637-2200

 

 

Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public: From time to time after the effectiveness of this Registration Statement.

If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, check the following box. ☒

If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, please check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐

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 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act. ☐

 

 

The registrant hereby amends this registration statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this registration statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or until the registration statement shall become effective on such date as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.

 

The information in this prospectus is not complete and may be changed. These securities may not be sold until the registration statement filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities and it is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any state where the offer or sale is not permitted.

SUBJECT TO COMPLETION, DATED APRIL 25, 2025

PROSPECTUS

 

PHOENIX ENERGY ONE, LLC

$750,000,000 Senior Subordinated Notes

Comprising

 

$140,000,000 9.0% Three-Year Cash Interest Notes		$110,000,000 9.0% Three-Year Compound Interest Notes
$40,000,000 10.0% Five-Year Cash Interest Notes		$40,000,000 10.0% Five-Year Compound Interest Notes
$30,000,000 11.0% Seven-Year Cash Interest Notes		$30,000,000 11.0% Seven-Year Compound Interest Notes
$170,000,000 12.0% Eleven-Year Cash Interest Notes		$190,000,000 12.0% Eleven-Year Compound Interest Notes

 

 

This is the initial public offering of our Senior Subordinated Notes (the “Notes”). We are offering up to $750,000,000 in aggregate principal amount of Notes on a continuous basis.

We will offer Notes with scheduled maturities of three, five, seven, and/or eleven years from the date of initial issuance of such Notes. Interest will accrue on the Notes at the rates set forth in this prospectus for each maturity and interest payment method, which range from 9.00% per annum to 12.00% per annum. Interest will be payable on the Notes monthly in arrears on the tenth day of each month or, if such day is not a business day, the following business day, either in cash (such Notes, “Cash Interest Notes”) or by adding such interest to the then-outstanding principal amount of the Notes (such Notes, “Compound Interest Notes”). We will issue Notes with specific maturities, interest payment methods, and interest rates in the amounts set forth in this prospectus. When you purchase Notes, you will select an available maturity, interest payment method, and related interest rate. See “Prospectus Summary—The Offering.”

The Notes will be our unsecured senior subordinated obligations and will not be guaranteed by any of our subsidiaries or affiliates. The Notes will rank senior in right of payment to all of our existing and future indebtedness and other obligations that are expressly subordinated in right of payment to the Notes; pari passu in right of payment with all of our existing and future indebtedness that is not so subordinated; effectively junior to any of our secured indebtedness and other secured obligations to the extent of the assets securing such indebtedness or other secured obligations; contractually subordinated to any indebtedness that we expressly agree is senior to the Notes; and effectively junior to any liabilities (including trade payables) or preferred equity of our subsidiaries. As of March 31, 2025, after giving effect to the sale of the Notes offered hereby (but not the use of proceeds therefrom, including to repay other indebtedness) and the borrowing of an additional $25.0 million under the Fortress Credit Agreement (as defined below) in April 2025, we would have had approximately $1,109.4 million of indebtedness outstanding, including $550.2 million that will rank contractually senior to the Notes, no additional amounts that will rank pari passu with the Notes, and $559.2 million that will be subordinated to the Notes. See “Risk Factors—Risks Related to the Notes and this Offering—Your right to receive payment under the Notes is contractually subordinated to Senior Debt,” “Risk Factors—Risks Related to the Notes and this Offering—The Notes are the Issuer’s obligations alone, and will be structurally subordinated to all obligations of the Issuer’s existing and future subsidiaries,” and “Description of Notes—Ranking.”

We recorded net losses of $24.8 million and $16.2 million for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively, and net income of $5.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. In 2023 and 2024, we incurred a significant amount of debt in order to accelerate the growth of our business by acquiring additional assets and establishing our direct drilling operations. As a result, our cash flows from operations alone would not have been sufficient to service required cash interest and principal payment obligations under our then-existing debt in 2023 and 2024. Furthermore, as of December 31, 2024, we estimate that we will need to make approximately $749.3 million and $3,224.8 million in capital expenditures to develop all our proved and probable undeveloped reserves, respectively, and that we will need to raise approximately $658.9 million in additional capital through the end of 2028 to fund such development. Although we expect our cash flows from operations to be sufficient to service cash interest and principal payment obligations under our debt for the foreseeable future, there can be no assurance as to the sufficiency of our cash flows for that purpose, and we do not expect such cash flows alone to be adequate to fund both our debt service obligations and the development of our reserves. Therefore, we expect to require additional capital to fund our growth and may require additional liquidity to service our debt. As a result, we may use the proceeds of additional debt, including the Notes offered hereby, to make interest and principal payments on our existing debt. See “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Business and Operations—The acquisition and development of our properties, directly or through our third-party E&P operators, will require substantial capital, and we and our third-party E&P operators may be unable to obtain needed capital or financing on satisfactory terms or at all, including as a result of increases in the cost of capital resulting from Federal Reserve policies in the past few years and otherwise,” “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Indebtedness—Despite our current level of indebtedness, we will still be able to incur substantially more debt. This could further exacerbate the risks to our financial condition described above,” “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Indebtedness—We may not be able to generate sufficient cash to service all of our existing and future indebtedness, including the Notes, and may be forced to take other actions to satisfy our obligations under our indebtedness, which may not be successful,” “Risk Factors—Risks Related to the Notes and this Offering—We may invest or spend the proceeds of this offering in ways with which you may not agree,” “Use of Proceeds,” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”

We may redeem any Note, in whole or in part, at any time, at a redemption price equal to the then-outstanding principal amount thereof, plus accrued and unpaid interest, to, but excluding, the date of redemption. We may also purchase Notes, in whole or in part, at any time, through open-market or privately negotiated transactions with noteholders or pursuant to one or more tender or exchange offers or otherwise, upon such terms and at such prices, as well as with such consideration, as we may determine.

A holder may require us, at any time and from time to time prior to maturity, to redeem its Notes at a price equal to 95% of the aggregate principal amount of such Notes plus accrued and unpaid interest to, but excluding, the date of redemption, subject to certain exceptions and to an annual cap on all such redemptions of 10% of the aggregate principal amount of all Notes issued and then outstanding (the “10% Limit”). The principal amount of any Notes requested for redemption by, and redeemed from, our manager, executive officers, or their respective family members during any calendar year will not be included in calculating the 10% Limit with respect to any other holders for such calendar year; however, such redemptions will be included in calculating the 10% Limit with respect to our manager, executive officers, and their respective family members. Noteholders will not otherwise have the right to require us to redeem any Notes. If we are prohibited by law or contract (including the terms of our indebtedness) from redeeming Notes, or the 10.0% Limit limits a holder’s ability to have its Notes redeemed, the holder may have to hold its Notes to maturity. Our ability to redeem Notes may also be limited by our then-existing financial resources. We cannot assure you that sufficient funds will be available when necessary to make any required purchases. See “Risk Factors—Risks Related to the Notes and this Offering—Holders of Notes will have a limited right to require us to redeem their Notes, and we may not be able to repurchase such Notes when requested” and “Description of Notes—Mandatory Redemption; Repurchase at the Option of the Holders.”

The Notes will be issued only in registered form in minimum denominations of $1,000, and the initial minimum investment amount per holder will be $5,000 (the “Minimum Purchase Amount”). From time to time, we may, however, accept investments of less than the Minimum Purchase Amount or increase or decrease the Minimum Purchase Amount. There is no aggregate minimum purchase amount of Notes we are seeking to offer. We have the right to reject any investment, in whole or in part, for any reason.

The Notes will be a new issue of securities for which there is currently no established public trading market or trading platform. The Notes will not be listed on any securities exchange or automated quotation system. Notes will be transferable by a holder only with our prior written consent, which we may provide at our sole discretion and determine on an ad hoc basis. Accordingly, there can be no assurance as to the development of a trading platform, or the development or liquidity of any market, for the Notes, or that you will be able to transfer your Notes. Therefore, you must be prepared to hold your Notes to maturity. See “Risk Factors—Risks Related to the Notes and this Offering—Notes may only be transferred with our consent. There is no established trading market for the Notes and an active trading market for the Notes is not expected to develop” and “Description of Notes—Transfer.”

We are a wholly owned subsidiary of Phoenix Equity Holdings, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Phoenix Equity”). Phoenix Equity is our sole member and, as such, directs our business and operations, including appointment and compensation of our officers. Lion of Judah Capital, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“LJC”), controls Phoenix Equity and, therefore, indirectly has control over our management. Furthermore, Adam Ferrari, our Chief Executive Officer, is the manager of Phoenix Equity. Daniel Ferrari and Charlene Ferrari each own 50% of the voting membership interests in, and are the managers of, LJC. Adam Ferrari, our Chief Executive Officer and the son of Daniel and Charlene Ferrari, owns 100% of the economic interests in LJC, but has no voting or managerial interest in LJC.

We are offering the Notes directly, without an underwriter or placement agent, and on a continuous basis. We have not made any arrangement to place any of the proceeds from this offering in an escrow, trust, or similar account. The Notes will be offered to prospective investors on a commercially reasonable efforts basis by Dalmore Group, LLC (“Dalmore Group” or, in its capacity as our broker/dealer of record, the “Managing Broker-Dealer”), a New York limited liability company and a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”). “Commercially reasonable efforts” means that our broker/dealer of record is not obligated to purchase any specific number or dollar amount of Notes, but will use commercially reasonable efforts to sell the Notes. We reserve the right to engage additional broker-dealers who are members of FINRA (“selling group members”) to assist in the sale of the Notes.

		Per Note				Total
Public offering price			100.000	%		$	750,000,000
Underwriting discounts(1)			—	%		$	—
Proceeds, before expenses, to us			100.000	%		$	750,000,000

(1)

We have engaged Dalmore Group to perform administrative and compliance-related functions in connection with this offering, but not for underwriting or placement agent services. The fee for such functions ranges from 0.55% to 0.75% of the gross proceeds of the offering, depending on the amount sold and other factors (the “Broker-Dealer Fee”), which fee could total $5,025,000 if all Notes offered hereby are issued and sold. In addition to the Broker-Dealer Fee, we will pay to Dalmore Group certain sales commissions ranging from 0.50% to 1.00%, all of which sales commissions will be passed on to certain of our non-executive personnel who are licensed registered representatives of Dalmore Group and which fees could total $5,978,000 if all Notes offered hereby are issued and sold. Sales commissions increase based on the maturity of the Notes sold (i.e., sales of Notes with a three-year maturity result in a 0.50% sales commission, and sales of Notes with an 11-year maturity result in a 1.00% sales commission). See “Use of Proceeds” and “Plan of Distribution” for more information.

We may amend or supplement this prospectus from time to time by filing amendments or supplements as required. You should read this entire prospectus and any amendments or supplements carefully before you make an investment decision.

 

 

Investors will be required to satisfy the suitability requirements described in this prospectus in order to purchase Notes. The method for submitting subscriptions and a more detailed description of the offering process are included in “Plan of Distribution—Financial Suitability Requirements” beginning on page 150 of this prospectus.

 

 

Investing in the Notes involves a high degree of risk, and should only be considered by those who can afford to lose their entire investment. Before you invest in Notes, you should carefully read the section entitled “Risk Factors” beginning on page 19 of this prospectus.

Neither the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

The Notes are not certificates of deposit or similar obligations guaranteed by any depository institution and are not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any governmental or private insurance fund, or any other entity. We do not contribute funds to a separate account such as a sinking fund to repay the Notes upon maturity.

 

 

The date of this prospectus is    , 2025.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

ABOUT THIS PROSPECTUS			ii
PROSPECTUS SUMMARY			1
RISK FACTORS			19
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS			50
USE OF PROCEEDS			51
CAPITALIZATION			52
MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS			54
BUSINESS			86
MANAGEMENT			108
COMPENSATION DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS			110
CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED-PARTY TRANSACTIONS			119
SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT			122
DESCRIPTION OF NOTES			123
CERTAIN MATERIAL U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS			139
ERISA CONSIDERATIONS			145
PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION			147
LEGAL MATTERS			152
EXPERTS			152
CHANGE IN REGISTRANT’S CERTIFYING ACCOUNTANT			152
WHERE YOU CAN FIND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION			152
INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS			F-2

Through and including   , 2025 (the 90th day after the date of this prospectus), all dealers effecting transactions in these securities, whether or not participating in this offering, may be required to deliver a prospectus. This is in addition to a dealer’s obligation to deliver a prospectus when acting as an underwriter and with respect to an unsold allotment or subscription.

You should read this prospectus carefully before you invest in the Notes. This prospectus and the exhibits to the registration statement to which this prospectus relates contain the terms of the Notes we are offering. It is important for you to read and consider all of the information contained in this prospectus before making your investment decision.

You should rely only on the information contained in this prospectus, any amendment or supplement to this prospectus, or any free writing prospectus we may authorize to be delivered or made available to you. Neither we nor any selling group member has authorized anyone to provide you with information or to make any representations other than those contained in this prospectus, any amendment or supplement to this prospectus, or any free writing prospectuses we may authorize to be delivered or made available to you. Neither we nor any selling group member take any responsibility for, and provide no assurance as to the reliability of, any other information that others may give you. This prospectus, any amendment or supplement to this prospectus, or any applicable free writing prospectus is an offer to sell only the Notes offered hereby or thereby, but only under circumstances and in jurisdictions where it is lawful to do so. The information contained in this prospectus, any amendment or supplement to this prospectus, or any applicable free writing prospectus is current only as of its date, regardless of the time of its delivery or of any sale of Notes. Our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects may have changed since such date.

Neither we nor any selling group member have undertaken any efforts to qualify this offering for offers to investors in any jurisdiction outside the United States. Investors must have a U.S. mailing address (other than a P.O. Box) and a U.S. social security number and/or a U.S. tax identification number to be eligible to participate in this offering. See “Plan of Distribution.”

 

i

ABOUT THIS PROSPECTUS

The offering described in this prospectus is a continuous offering pursuant to Rule 415 under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). We intend to close sales of Notes on a weekly basis as described in the section of this prospectus entitled “Plan of Distribution—Offering Process.” From time to time, we may prepare prospectus supplements to update this prospectus for various purposes, such as to disclose changes to the terms of the offering of the Notes, provide quarterly updates of financial and other information included in this prospectus, and disclose other material developments. These prospectus supplements will be filed with the SEC pursuant to Rule 424(b) promulgated under the Securities Act and will be posted on our website. When required by SEC rules, such as when there is a “fundamental change” in the offering or the information contained in this prospectus, or when an annual update of financial information is required by the Securities Act or SEC rules, we will file post-effective amendments to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, which will include either a prospectus supplement or an entirely new prospectus to replace this prospectus. We currently anticipate that post-effective amendments will be required, among other times, when there are changes to the material terms of the Notes.

The Notes are not available for offer and sale to residents of every state. Our website indicates the states where residents may purchase Notes. We will post on our website any special suitability standards or other conditions applicable to purchases of Notes in certain states that are not otherwise set forth in this prospectus as amended or supplemented from time to time.

CERTAIN DEFINED TERMS

As used in this prospectus, unless otherwise noted or the context otherwise requires (and except as otherwise defined in “Description of Notes” for purposes of that section only), references to:

 

•

“Adamantium” means Adamantium Capital LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and a direct, wholly owned subsidiary of the Issuer.

 

•

“Adamantium Bonds” means unsecured bonds offered and sold by Adamantium pursuant to an offering under Rule 506(c) of Regulation D under the Securities Act, the proceeds of which are loaned to the Issuer under the Adamantium Loan Agreement (as defined below) as further described in “Prospectus Summary—The Offering—Ranking” and “Description of Notes—Ranking.”

 

•

“Adamantium Debt” means, collectively, indebtedness outstanding under the Adamantium Bonds, Adamantium Loan Agreement, and Adamantium Secured Note.

 

•

“Adamantium Loan Agreement” means that certain Loan Agreement, dated as of September 14, 2023, by and among the Issuer and PhoenixOp, as borrowers, and Adamantium, as lender, as the same may be amended and supplemented from time to time.

 

•

“Adamantium Secured Note” means that certain Secured Subordinated Promissory Note, dated as of November 1, 2024, by and between Adamantium and the noteholder named therein, as the same may be amended and supplemented from time to time.

 

•

“Adamantium Securities” means, collectively, indebtedness outstanding under the Adamantium Bonds and Adamantium Secured Note.

 

•

“Bbl” means one stock tank barrel, of 42 U.S. gallons liquid volume, used in this prospectus in reference to crude oil or other liquid hydrocarbons.

 

•

“Boe” means barrel of oil equivalent.

 

•

“Btu” means British thermal unit, which is the heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of liquid water by one degree Fahrenheit.

 

•

“Dalmore Group” means Dalmore Group, LLC, a New York limited liability company and a member of FINRA.

 

•

“E&P” means exploration and production.

 

•

“Fortress” means Fortress Credit Corp., a Delaware corporation.

 

•

“Fortress Credit Agreement” means that certain Amended and Restated Senior Secured Credit Agreement, dated as of August 12, 2024, by and among the Issuer, PhoenixOp, as borrower, each of the lenders from time to time party thereto, and Fortress, as administrative agent for the lenders, as the same may be amended or supplemented from time to time.

 

ii

•

“Indenture” means that certain indenture, dated on or around the date of this prospectus, by and between the Issuer and UMB Bank, N.A., as trustee.

 

•

“Issuer” means Phoenix Energy One, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company.

 

•

“LJC” means Lion of Judah Capital, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and the holder of a majority of the voting membership interests in Phoenix Equity.

 

•

“Mcf” means one thousand cubic feet.

 

•

“MMBtu” means one million Btus.

 

•

“NGL” means natural gas liquids.

 

•

“NMAs” means net mineral acres.

 

•

“NRAs” means net royalty acres.

 

•

“Phoenix Equity” means Phoenix Equity Holdings, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and the sole member of the Issuer.

 

•

“PhoenixOp” means Phoenix Operating LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and a direct, wholly owned subsidiary of the Issuer.

 

•

“Reg A Bonds” means unsecured bonds offered and sold to date by the Issuer pursuant to an offering under Regulation A under the Securities Act as further described in “Prospectus Summary—The Offering—Ranking” and “Description of Notes—Ranking.”

 

•

“Reg D Bonds” means unsecured bonds offered and sold to date by the Issuer pursuant to offerings under Rule 506(b) or (c), as applicable, of Regulation D under the Securities Act as further described in “Prospectus Summary—The Offering—Ranking” and “Description of Notes—Ranking.”

 

•

“Reg D/Reg A Bonds” means, collectively, the Reg D Bonds and the Reg A Bonds.

 

•

“Senior Debt” means any indebtedness that the Issuer expressly determines is senior to the Notes, including, as of the date of this prospectus, indebtedness under the Fortress Credit Agreement, the Adamantium Debt, and the Senior Reg D/Reg A Bonds.

 

•

“Senior Reg D Bonds” means, collectively, the July 2022 506(c) Bonds, the 2020 506(b) Bonds, and the 2020 506(c) Bonds, each as defined in “Prospectus Summary—The Offering—Ranking” and “Description of Notes—Ranking.”

 

•

“Senior Reg D/Reg A Bonds” means the Reg D/Reg A Bonds that are not Subordinated Reg D Bonds.

 

•

“Subordinated Reg D Bonds” means, collectively, the August 2023 506(c) Bonds and the December 2022 506(c) Bonds, each as defined in “Prospectus Summary—The Offering—Ranking” and “Description of Notes—Ranking.”

 

•

“Trustee” means UMB Bank, N.A., in its capacity as trustee, acting on behalf of the noteholders.

 

•

“we,” “us,” “our,” the “Company,” “Phoenix Energy,” and similar references refer to Phoenix Energy One, LLC, formerly known as Phoenix Capital Group Holdings, LLC, and, where appropriate, its subsidiaries.

For ease of reference, we have repeated definitions for certain of these terms in other portions of the body of this prospectus. All such definitions conform to the definitions set forth above.

Certain monetary amounts, percentages, and other figures included in this prospectus have been subject to rounding adjustments. Percentage amounts included in this prospectus have not in all cases been calculated on the basis of such rounded figures, but on the basis of such amounts prior to rounding. For this reason, percentage amounts in this prospectus may vary from those obtained by performing the same calculations using the figures in our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus. Certain other amounts that appear in this prospectus may not sum due to rounding.

 

iii

TRADEMARKS, TRADE NAMES, AND SERVICE MARKS

We own or have rights to trademarks, trade names, or service marks that we use in conjunction with the operation of our business. In addition, our name, logo, and website name and address are our service marks or trademarks. Solely for convenience, our trademarks, trade names, and service marks referred to in this prospectus appear without the ^®, ^TM, and ^SM symbols, but those references are not intended to indicate, in any way, that we will not assert, to the fullest extent permitted under applicable law, our rights or the rights of the applicable licensors to these trademarks, trade names, and service marks. This prospectus may also contain additional trademarks, trade names, and service marks of other companies. We do not intend our use or display of other companies’ trademarks, trade names, or service marks to imply, and such use or display should not be construed to imply, relationships with, or endorsement or sponsorship of us by, these other companies.

INDUSTRY DATA AND OPERATING METRICS

This prospectus contains estimates, projections, and information concerning our industry and our business. We are responsible for all of the disclosure in this prospectus, and while we believe that each of the publications, studies, and surveys used throughout this prospectus are prepared by reputable sources and are generally reliable, we have not independently verified market and industry data from third-party sources. Some data and statistical and other information are based on internal estimates and calculations that are derived from publicly available information, research we conducted, internal surveys, our management’s knowledge of our industry, and their assumptions based on such information and knowledge, which we believe to be reasonable. In each case, this information and data involves a number of assumptions and limitations, and you are cautioned not to give undue weight to such information, estimates, or projections. Industry publications and other reports we have obtained from independent parties may state that the data contained in these publications or other reports have been obtained in good faith or from sources considered to be reliable, but they do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of such data. In addition, projections, assumptions, and estimates of the future performance of the industry in which we operate and our future performance are necessarily subject to a high degree of uncertainty and risk due to a variety of factors, including those described in “Risk Factors” and “Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.” These and other factors could cause our future performance to differ materially from the assumptions and estimates made by third parties and us.

Reserve engineering is a process of estimating underground accumulations of oil, natural gas, and NGL that cannot be measured in an exact way. The accuracy of any reserve estimate depends on the quality of available data, the interpretation of such data, and price and cost assumptions made by reserve engineers. In addition, the results of drilling, testing, and production activities may justify revisions of estimates that were made previously. If significant, such revisions could impact our strategy. Accordingly, reserve estimates may differ significantly from the quantities of oil, natural gas, and NGL that we expect our operators to ultimately recover.

NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

In addition to measures determined in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”), this prospectus contains non-GAAP financial measures, which either exclude or include amounts that are not excluded from or included in the most directly comparable measures calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP.

Specifically, we utilize the non-GAAP financial measures “EBITDA” and “PV-10” in this prospectus as supplemental measures of financial performance that are not required by, or presented in accordance with, GAAP.

We calculate EBITDA by adding back to net income (loss) interest income, interest expense, depreciation, depletion, amortization, and accretion expense for the respective periods. Our management uses EBITDA to understand and compare our operating results across accounting periods, for internal budgeting and forecasting purposes, and to evaluate financial performance and liquidity, in each case, without regard to financing methods, capital structure, or historical cost basis. EBITDA is presented as supplemental disclosure as we believe it provides useful information to investors and others in understanding and evaluating our results, prospects, and liquidity period over period, including as compared to results of other companies. By providing this non-GAAP financial measure, together with a reconciliation to GAAP results, we believe we are enhancing investors’ understanding of our business and our operating performance, as well as assisting investors in evaluating how well we are executing strategic initiatives.

 

iv

EBITDA has important limitations as an analytical tool because it excludes some but not all items that affect net income (loss), the most directly comparable GAAP measure. In particular, EBITDA excludes certain material costs, such as interest expense, and certain non-cash charges, such as depreciation, depletion, amortization, and accretion expense, that have been necessary elements of our expenses. Because EBITDA does not account for these expenses, its utility as a measure of our operating performance has material limitations. Other companies may not publish this or similar metrics, and our computation of EBITDA may differ from computations of similarly titled measures of other companies. Therefore, our EBITDA should be considered in addition to, and not as a substitute for, in isolation from, or superior to, our financial information prepared in accordance with GAAP, and should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus.

We calculate PV-10 as the discounted future net cash flows attributable to our proved oil and natural gas reserves before income taxes, discounted at 10% annually. PV-10 differs from the standardized measure of discounted future net cash flows, which is the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure, because it is calculated on a pre-tax basis. We use PV-10 when assessing the potential return on investment related to our oil and natural gas properties. We believe that the presentation of PV-10 is relevant and useful to investors because it presents the discounted future net cash flows attributable to our estimated net proved reserves prior to taking into account future income taxes, and is useful for evaluating the relative monetary significance of our oil and natural gas properties. Further, investors may utilize PV-10 as a basis for comparison of the relative size and value of our reserves to other companies without regard to the specific tax characteristics of such entities.

Because the Issuer is a limited liability company and has currently elected to be treated as a partnership for income tax purposes, the pro rata share of taxable income or loss is included in the individual income tax returns of members based on their percentage of ownership. Consequently, no provision for income taxes is made in our standardized measure of discounted future net cash flows, and so currently our PV-10 is identical to the standardized measure of discounted future net cash flows. Notwithstanding the foregoing, we believe that the presentation of PV-10 is useful to investors because it is a commonly utilized measure in our industry for assessing the value of reserves.

PV-10 is not a substitute for the standardized measure of discounted future net cash flows. Neither PV-10 nor the standardized measure of discounted future net cash flows purport to represent the fair value of our oil and natural gas reserves.

For a further discussion of our non-GAAP measures, including reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP measure, see “Prospectus Summary—Summary Historical Financial and Other Data” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”

 

v

 

1

 

2

 

3

 

4

 

5

 

6

 

7

 

8

 

9

 

10

 

11

 

12

 

13

 

14

 

15

 

16

 

17

 

18

RISK FACTORS

Investing in the Notes involves significant risks. Before making an investment decision, you should carefully consider the specific risk factors set forth below, together with the other information included elsewhere in this prospectus. If any of the risks discussed in this prospectus occur, our business, prospects, liquidity, financial condition, and results of operations could be materially impaired, in which case we may be unable to pay the principal of, and interest on, the Notes and you could lose all or part of your investment. Some statements in this prospectus, including statements in the following risk factors, constitute forward-looking statements. See “Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.”

Risks Related to Our Business and Operations

The businesses of direct drilling and extraction of minerals and acquisition of mineral rights are highly competitive. If we are unable to successfully compete within these businesses through our direct drilling operations conducted by PhoenixOp, we may not be able to identify and purchase attractive assets and successfully operate our properties.

The key areas in which we face competition include:

 

•

acquisition of commercially viable mineral deposits offered for sale by other companies;

 

•

access to capital for financing and operational purposes;

 

•

hiring and retention of personnel to successfully operate drilling and extraction activities, and qualified third-party operators to assist in production activities;

 

•

purchasing, leasing, hiring, chartering, or other procuring of equipment by us and our third-party operators; and

 

•

employment of qualified and experienced management and other mineral professionals.

Competition in our markets is intense and depends, among other things, on the number of competitors in the market, their financial resources, their degree of geological, geophysical, engineering, and management expertise and capabilities, their pricing policies, their ability to develop properties on time and on budget, their ability to select, acquire, and develop reserves, and their ability to foster and maintain relationships with the relevant authorities.

Our competitors include entities with greater technical, physical, and financial resources than we have. Furthermore, companies and certain private equity firms not previously investing in minerals and their extraction may choose to acquire reserves to establish a firm supply or simply as an investment. If we are unable to successfully compete in operating our wells or acquisition of attractive assets, we may not be able to achieve or maintain profitable operations.

The mineral rights investment business involves high-risk activities with many uncertainties.

Our and our operating partners’ activities relating to our mineral rights investment business are subject to many risks, including unanticipated problems relating to finding mineral rights assets and additional costs and expenses that may exceed current estimates. There can be no assurance that the expenditures we make in the exploration phase will result in the discovery of economic deposits of minerals, or that any investment we make in initially profitable assets will continue to be productive enough for associated revenues to be commercially viable. In addition, drilling and producing operations on the assets we invest in may be curtailed, delayed, or canceled by the operators of our properties as a result of various factors, including:

 

•

declines in oil and natural gas prices;

 

•

infrastructure limitations, such as gas gathering and processing constraints;

 

•

the high cost, shortages, or delays in procurement of equipment, materials, and/or services;

 

•

unexpected operational events, adverse weather conditions and natural disasters, facility or equipment malfunctions, and equipment failures or accidents;

 

•

inability to obtain satisfactory title to the assets we acquire and other title-related issues;

 

19

•

pipe or cement failures and casing collapses;

 

•

lost or damaged oilfield development and service tools;

 

•

compliance with environmental, health, safety, and other governmental requirements;

 

•

increases in severance taxes;

 

•

regulations, restrictions, moratoria, and bans on hydraulic fracturing;

 

•

unusual or unexpected geological formations, and pressure or irregularities in formations;

 

•

loss of drilling fluid circulation;

 

•

environmental hazards, such as oil, natural gas, or well fluids spills or releases, pipeline or tank ruptures, and discharges of toxic gases;

 

•

fires, blowouts, craterings, and explosions;

 

•

uncontrollable flows of oil, natural gas, or well fluids;

 

•

pipeline capacity curtailments; and

 

•

evolving cybersecurity risks, such as those involving unauthorized access, third-party provider defects and service failures, denial of service attacks, malicious software, data privacy breaches by employees, insiders, or others with authorized access, cyber or phishing attacks, ransomware, social engineering, physical breaches, or other actions.

In addition to causing curtailments, delays, and cancellations of drilling and producing operations, many of these events can cause substantial losses, including personal injury or loss of life, damage to or destruction of property, natural resources, and equipment, pollution, environmental contamination, loss of wells, regulatory penalties, and third-party claims. The insurance we maintain against various losses and liabilities arising from our operations does not cover all operational risks involved in our investments. Additionally, we may elect not to obtain insurance if we believe that the cost of available insurance is excessive relative to the perceived risks. Losses could therefore occur for uninsurable or uninsured risks or in amounts in excess of existing insurance coverage. The occurrence of an event that is not fully covered by insurance could have a material adverse impact on our business activities, financial condition, and results of operations.

We, through our investment in PhoenixOp and future assignment of oil and gas properties to PhoenixOp, conduct direct drilling and extraction activities. Such activities pose additional risks to us.

We, through the operations of PhoenixOp, face numerous risks relating to our drilling activities, including:

 

•

failing to place a well bore in the desired target producing zone;

 

•

not staying in the desired drilling zone while drilling horizontally through the formation;

 

•

failing to run casing the entire length of the well bore; and

 

•

not being able to run tools and other equipment consistently through the horizontal well bore.

Risks we may face while completing our wells include, but are not limited to:

 

•

not being able to fracture stimulate the planned number of stages;

 

•

failing to run tools the entire length of the well bore during completion operations;

 

•

not successfully cleaning out the well bore after completion of the final fracture stimulation stage;

 

•

increased seismicity in areas near our completion activities;

 

•

unintended interference of completion activities performed by us or by third parties with nearby operated or non-operated wells being drilled, completed, or producing; and

 

•

failure of our optimized completion techniques to yield expected levels of production.

Further, many factors may occur that cause us to curtail, delay, or cancel scheduled drilling and completion projects, including, but not limited to:

 

•

abnormal pressure or irregularities in geological formations;

 

•

shortages of or delays in obtaining equipment or qualified personnel;

 

•

shortages of or delays in obtaining components used in fracture stimulation processes, such as water and proppants;

 

20

•

delays associated with suspending our operations to accommodate nearby drilling or completion operations being conducted by other operators;

 

•

mechanical difficulties, fires, explosions, equipment failures, or accidents, including ruptures of pipelines or storage facilities, or train derailments;

 

•

restrictions on the use of underground injection wells for disposing of wastewater from oil and gas activities;

 

•

political events, public protests, civil disturbances, terrorist acts, or cyber-attacks;

 

•

decreases in, or extended periods of low, crude oil and natural gas prices;

 

•

title problems;

 

•

environmental hazards, such as uncontrollable flows of crude oil, natural gas, brine, well fluids, hydraulic fracturing fluids, toxic gas, or other pollutants into the environment, including groundwater and shoreline contamination;

 

•

adverse climatic conditions and natural disasters;

 

•

spillage or mishandling of crude oil, natural gas, brine, well fluids, hydraulic fracturing fluids, toxic gas, or other pollutants by us or by third-party service providers;

 

•

limitations in infrastructure, including transportation, processing, refining, and exportation capacity, or markets for crude oil and natural gas; and

 

•

delays imposed by or resulting from compliance with regulatory requirements, including permitting.

As we expand our direct drilling and extraction activities the impact of these risks on our overall business will only grow more significant. See “—The businesses of direct drilling and extraction of minerals and acquisition of mineral rights are highly competitive. If we are unable to successfully compete within these businesses through our direct drilling operations conducted by PhoenixOp, we may not be able to identify and purchase attractive assets and successfully operate our properties,” “—Our business is sensitive to the price of oil and gas and sustained declines in prices may adversely affect our financial position, financial results, cash flows, access to capital, and ability to grow,” “—Properties we acquire for our direct drilling and extraction operations, currently conducted through PhoenixOp, may not produce as projected, and we may be unable to determine reserve potential, identify liabilities associated with such properties, or obtain protection from sellers against such liabilities,” and “—Our development of successful operations relies extensively on our direct operations, through PhoenixOp and various third-party E&P operators, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.”

We are not insured against all risks associated with our business. We and PhoenixOp may elect to not obtain insurance if we believe the cost of available insurance is excessive relative to the risks presented or for other reasons. In addition, some risks such as those stemming from certain environmental hazards are generally not fully insurable.

Losses and liabilities arising from any of the above events could reduce the value of our capital contributions to PhoenixOp, increase our need to provide additional capital to PhoenixOp, and otherwise harm our financial position, which could adversely affect us and our ability to pay our obligations under the Notes.

Our business is sensitive to the price of oil and gas and sustained declines in prices may adversely affect our financial position, financial results, cash flows, access to capital, and ability to grow.

We are in the business of both drilling and extracting oil and gas minerals directly through our operations conducted by PhoenixOp, and purchasing mineral rights and non-operated working interests in land in the United States, including the rights to drill for oil and gas. The prices we receive for our oil and natural gas production heavily influence our revenue, operating results, profitability, access to capital, future rate of growth, and carrying value of our properties. Oil and natural gas are commodities and, therefore, their prices are subject to wide fluctuations in response to relatively minor changes in supply and demand, as well as costs and terms of transport to downstream markets.

Historically, the commodities markets have been volatile, and these markets will likely continue to be volatile in the future. A decline in oil and natural gas prices can have an adverse effect on the value of our interests in the land, which will materially and adversely affect our ability to generate cash flows and, in turn, our ability to make interest and principal payments on the Notes. The prices received for oil and natural gas produced on our land, and the levels of the production, depend on numerous factors beyond our control and include the following:

 

•

changes in global supply and demand for oil and natural gas;

 

•

the actions of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (“OPEC”);

 

21

•

political and economic conditions and events in foreign oil, natural gas, and NGL producing countries, including elevated levels of inflation and interest rates, embargoes, and introduction of tariffs on oil and gas products;

 

•

the level of global and domestic oil and natural gas E&P activity and the degree to which consolidation among our customers may affect spending on U.S. drilling and completions in the near-term;

 

•

the level of global and domestic oil and natural gas inventories;

 

•

the level of consumer product demand;

 

•

inclement or hazardous weather conditions and natural disasters;

 

•

the availability of storage for hydrocarbons and technological advances affecting energy consumption and energy supply;

 

•

speculative trading in commodity markets, including expectations about future commodity prices;

 

•

the proximity of our production operations to, and capacity, availability, and cost of, pipelines and other transportation and storage facilities, and other factors that result in differentials to benchmark prices;

 

•

domestic, local, and foreign governmental regulation and taxes;

 

•

fuel and energy conservation measures and technological advances affecting energy consumption;

 

•

armed conflict, political instability, or civil unrest in oil and gas producing regions, including instability in the Middle East and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and the related potential effects on laws and regulations or the imposition of economic or trade sanctions;

 

•

changes in regulatory and trade policy, such as proposed tariffs, as well as the potential for general market volatility and political uncertainty;

 

•

the occurrence or threat of epidemic or pandemic diseases, or any government response to such occurrence or threat; and

 

•

the price and availability of alternative fuels.

These factors and the volatility of oil and natural gas prices make it extremely difficult to predict future crude oil, natural gas, and NGL price movements or to estimate the value of producing properties for acquisition and often cause disruption in the market for oil and natural gas producing properties, as buyers and sellers have difficulty agreeing on such value. Certain actions by OPEC and other oil producing nations in the first half of 2020, combined with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and a shortage in available storage for hydrocarbons in the United States, contributed to the historic low price for crude oil in April 2020. While the prices for crude oil have generally increased since then, such prices have historically remained volatile, which has adversely affected the prices at which production from our properties is sold, as well as the production activities of operators on our properties, and may continue to do so in the future. This, in turn, has and will materially affect the amount of royalty payments that we receive from our third-party E&P operators and our income from direct drilling operations. Price volatility also makes it difficult to budget for and project the return on acquisitions and development and exploitation projects.

Our revenues, operating results, profitability, and future rate of growth depend primarily on the prices of oil and, to a lesser extent, natural gas that we sell. Any substantial decline in the price of crude oil, natural gas, and NGL or prolonged period of low commodity prices will materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows. Further, a slowdown in the timing of oil or natural gas production, especially if in connection with a decline in prices, may reduce our ability to collect lease payments from leaseholders, which could limit our ability to make interest and principal payments on the Notes. Prices also affect the amount of cash flow available for capital expenditures and our ability to raise additional capital. In addition, we may need to record asset carrying value write-downs if prices fall. A significant decline in the prices of natural gas or oil could adversely affect our financial position, financial results, cash flows, access to capital, and ability to grow.

We have a limited operating history and have experienced periods of significant business growth in a short time, making it difficult for you to evaluate our business and prospects. If we are unable to manage our business and growth effectively, our business could be materially and adversely affected.

Since our formation in 2019, our business has grown considerably. Our limited operating history and the significant growth in operations and revenue we have experienced since then makes evaluation of our business and prospects difficult. Any growth that we experience in the future will require us to further expand our drilling and extraction activities and our acquisitions. There can be no assurance that growth in our revenue and operations will continue at a similar pace, or that we will be able to manage our growth effectively. Furthermore, the growth of our business places significant demands on our management, including managing increased numbers of personnel, properties, and business relations, such as our E&P operators. If we do not effectively manage the increased obligations brought by the growth of our operations, we may not be able to execute on our business plan, respond to competitive pressures, take advantage of market opportunities, or satisfy delivery requirements, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.

 

22

In addition, we may encounter risks and difficulties experienced by companies whose performance is dependent upon newly acquired assets, such as failing to integrate, or realizing the expected benefits of, such assets. As a result of the foregoing, we may be less successful in achieving consistent results and continue the growth of our business, as compared with companies that have longer operating histories and a more stable size of operations. In addition, we may be less equipped to identify and address risks and hazards in the conduct of our business than those companies that have longer operating histories.

The acquisition and development of our properties, directly or through our third-party E&P operators, will require substantial capital, and we and our third-party E&P operators may be unable to obtain needed capital or financing on satisfactory terms or at all, including as a result of increases in the cost of capital resulting from Federal Reserve policies in the past few years and otherwise.

The oil and gas industry is capital-intensive. We make, and will continue to make, substantial capital expenditures in connection with the acquisition of mineral and royalty interests. To date, we have financed capital expenditures primarily with funding from capital contributions, cash generated by operations, borrowings under credit facilities, and issuances of debt securities.

In the future, we may need capital in excess of the amounts we retain in our business, borrow under our existing credit facilities, or through issuances of debt securities. There can be no assurance that we can increase the borrowing amount available under our existing credit facilities or continue to raise sufficient funds through our debt securities issuances.

Furthermore, we cannot assure you that we will be able to access other external capital on terms favorable to us or at all. For example, a significant decline in prices for oil and natural gas, rising interest rates, inflationary pressure, and broader economic turmoil may adversely impact our ability to secure financing in the capital markets on favorable terms. Additionally, our ability to secure financing or access the capital markets could be adversely affected if financial institutions and institutional lenders elect not to provide funding for fossil fuel energy companies in connection with the adoption of sustainable lending initiatives or are required to adopt policies that have the effect of reducing the funding available to the fossil fuel sector. If we are unable to fund our capital requirements, we may be unable to complete acquisitions, take advantage of business opportunities, or respond to competitive pressures, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operation and financial condition.

Most of our third-party E&P operators are also dependent on the availability of external debt, equity financing sources, and operating cash flows to maintain their drilling programs. If those financing sources are not available to such E&P operators on favorable terms or at all, then we expect the development of our properties would be adversely affected. If the development of our properties is adversely affected, then revenues from our mineral and royalty interests may decline.

Properties we acquire for our direct drilling and extraction operations, currently conducted through PhoenixOp, may not produce as projected, and we may be unable to determine reserve potential, identify liabilities associated with such properties, or obtain protection from sellers against such liabilities.

Acquiring oil and natural gas properties requires us to assess reservoir and infrastructure characteristics, including recoverable reserves, development and operating costs, and potential liabilities, including, but not limited to, environmental liabilities. Such assessments are inexact and inherently uncertain. For these reasons, the properties we acquire may not produce as projected. In connection with these assessments we perform a review of the subject properties, but such a review may not reveal all existing or potential problems. While conducting due diligence, we may not review every well, pipeline, or associated facility. We cannot necessarily observe structural and environmental problems, such as pipe corrosion or groundwater contamination, when a review is performed. We may be unable to obtain contractual indemnities from any seller for liabilities arising from or attributable to the period prior to our purchase of the property. As a result, we may be required to assume the risk of the physical condition of the properties in addition to the risk that the properties may not perform in accordance with our expectations.

We may encounter obstacles to marketing our minerals, which could adversely impact our revenues and profits.

The marketability of our production will depend upon numerous factors beyond our control, including the availability and capacity of natural gas gathering systems, pipelines, and other transportation and processing facilities owned by third parties.

Fuel conservation measures, alternative fuel requirements, increasing consumer demand for alternatives to oil and natural gas, technological advances in fuel economy and energy generation devices, and the increased competitiveness of alternative energy sources could reduce demand for oil and natural gas. Additionally, the increased competitiveness of alternative energy sources (such as electric vehicles, wind, solar, geothermal, tidal, fuel cells, and biofuels) could reduce demand for oil and natural gas and, therefore, our revenues.

 

23

The marketing of our production can also be affected by U.S. federal and state regulation of oil and natural gas production and transportation. The availability of markets for our production is beyond our control. If market factors dramatically change, the impact on our revenues could be substantial and could adversely affect our ability to produce and market mineral deposits.

If we have difficulty selling the minerals we discover, our profits may decline, and we may not be able to purchase other assets.

A limited number of operators currently generate a significant portion of our revenue and accounts receivable, and we may not have contracts or agreements directly with such operators.

A large portion of our current mineral rights and lease holdings are serviced by a limited number of third-party E&P operators and, as a result, we generate a significant portion of our revenue and accounts receivable from a limited number of third-party E&P operators. For the year ended December 31, 2024, one third-party E&P operator made up 21% of our consolidated revenue, as compared to one third-party E&P operator that made up 11% of our consolidated revenue for the year ended December 31, 2023, and four third-party E&P operators that made up 16%, 16%, 15%, and 14% of our consolidated revenue for the year ended December 31, 2022. Similarly, as of December 31, 2024, we had concentrations in accounts receivable of 17%, 15%, and 13% with three third-party E&P operators, as compared to 26% and 14% with two third-party E&P operators as of December 31, 2023, and 34% and 10% with two third-party E&P operators as of December 31, 2022. Our revenue and accounts receivable are generally derived from our diverse holdings of mineral rights and lease holdings and are generally not generated pursuant to agreements directly between us and the operators of the properties underlying our mineral rights and lease holdings. These interests generate revenue from the sale of crude oil and natural gas, which is paid monthly to us by various third-party oil and gas operators once any extracted crude oil and natural gas is delivered by such operators to purchasers. Those purchasers remit payment for production to the operators of the wells pursuant to sales agreements entered into among the purchasers and such operators, and the operators, in turn, remit payment to the owners in accordance with their ownership percentage in each well (or unit of wells). As is typical in the oil and gas industry, the third-party oil and gas operators generally remit payment to the interest owners pursuant to statute or orders from the oil and gas commission of the state in which the particular well (or unit of wells) is located. For example, the majority interest holders of a unit would petition to appoint a particular operator from the oil and gas commission of the state in which the unit is located (e.g., the Wyoming Oil and Gas Commission, North Dakota Industrial Commission, Texas Railroad Commission (the “Texas RRC”), Montana Board of Oil and Gas Conservation, and Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining, among others). If the request is granted by the commission, the operator would become the designated operator for the unit and would be required to remit payments to the interest holders of the unit pursuant to permits or pooling orders from such commission. While our revenue and accounts receivable relating to our mineral rights and lease holdings are derived from a significant number of different units that are subject to different leases and pooling orders from various state oil and gas commissions, the incapacity or loss of one of the operators that generate a significant portion of our revenue and accounts receivable could negatively impact our revenue and accounts receivable and could result in a reduction or delay in revenue generated from the related mineral rights and lease holdings while a replacement operator is selected and designated. Further, although typical in the oil and gas industry, as we do not always have contracts or agreements directly with these operators, we do not always determine or control the rights, payments, discounts, or other terms related to leases or the extraction and sale of assets from the properties underlying our mineral rights and lease holdings.

Our development of successful operations relies extensively on our direct operations, through PhoenixOp and various third-party E&P operators, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

A significant portion of our assets consist of mineral and royalty interests. We utilize and will continue to utilize third-party E&P operators to perform the drilling and extraction operations on our assets to extract the natural resources we rely on to generate revenue. The success of our business operations depends on the timing of drilling activities and success of our direct operations and third-party E&P operators. In each of the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023, and 2022, we received revenue from over 100 third-party E&P operators, with approximately 35% of our consolidated revenue coming from the top ten third-party E&P operators in 2024, approximately 60% of our consolidated revenue coming from the top nine third-party E&P operators in 2023, and approximately 61% of our consolidated revenue coming from the top four third-party E&P operators in 2022. If we or our third-party E&P operators are not successful in the development, exploitation, production, and exploration activities relating to our ownership interests, or are unable or unwilling to perform, our financial condition and results of operation would be materially adversely affected.

With respect to our investments in which we have a non-operated working interest, third-party E&P operators will make decisions in connection with their operations, which may not be in our best interests. We may have no ability to exercise influence over the operational decisions of our third-party E&P operators, including the setting of capital expenditure budgets and drilling locations and schedules. Dependence on our unaffiliated E&P operators could prevent us from realizing target returns for those locations. The success and timing of development activities by our operators will depend on several factors that are largely outside of our control, including: the capital costs required for drilling activities by our E&P operators, which could be significantly more than anticipated; the ability of our operators to access capital; prevailing mineral prices and other factors generally affecting the industry operating environment; the timing of capital expenditures; their expertise and financial resources; approval of other participants in drilling wells; selection of drilling technology; the availability of storage for hydrocarbons; and the rate of production of reserves, if any.

 

24

Furthermore, our E&P operators are dependent on various supplies and equipment, as well as qualified personnel, to carry out our extraction operations. Any shortage, unavailability, or increase in the cost of such supplies, personnel, equipment, and parts could have a material adverse effect on their ability to carry out operations and therefore limit or increase the cost of production and, ultimately, our profitability.

The challenges and risks faced by our third-party E&P operators and contractors may be similar to or greater than our own, including with respect to their ability to service their debt, remain in compliance with their debt instruments, and, if necessary, access additional capital. Commodity prices and/or other conditions have in the past caused, and may in the future cause, mineral operators to file for bankruptcy. The insolvency of third-party E&P operators or contractors of any of our properties, their failure to adequately perform, or their breach of applicable agreements could reduce our production and revenue or result in our liability to governmental authorities for compliance with environmental, safety, and other regulatory requirements or to such operators’ suppliers and vendors. Finally, with regards to any third-party E&P operator, they may have the right, if another non-operator fails to pay its share of costs because of its insolvency or otherwise, to require us to pay its proportionate share of the defaulting party’s share of costs.

We rely on our E&P operators, third parties, and government databases for information regarding our assets and, to the extent that information is incorrect, incomplete, or lost, our financial and operational information and projections may be incorrect.

As an owner of mineral and royalty interests, we rely on the E&P operators of our properties to notify us and state regulators of information regarding production on our properties in a timely and complete manner, as well as the accuracy of information obtained from third parties and government databases. We use this information in conjunction with our specialized software to evaluate operations and cash flows, as well as to predict expected production and possible future locations. To the extent we do not timely receive this information or the information is incomplete or incorrect, our financial and operational information may be incorrect and our ability to project potential growth may be materially adversely affected. Furthermore, to the extent we have to update any publicly disclosed results or projections made in reliance on this incorrect or incomplete information, investors could lose confidence in our reported financial information. If any of such third-parties’ databases or systems were to fail for any reason, including as a result of a cyber-attack, possible consequences include loss of communication links and inability to automatically process commercial transactions or engage in similar automated or computerized business activities. Any of the foregoing consequences could materially adversely affect our business.

Our estimated mineral reserves quantities and future production rates are based on many assumptions that may prove to be inaccurate and they have not been verified by an independent third-party reserve engineering report. Any material inaccuracies in the reserves estimates or the underlying assumptions will materially affect the quantities and present value of our reserves.

It is not possible to measure underground accumulation of crude oil, natural gas, or NGL in an exact way. Numerous uncertainties are inherent in estimating quantities of mineral reserves. The process of estimating mineral reserves is complex, requiring significant expertise, decisions, and assumptions in the evaluation of available geological, engineering, and economic data for each reservoir, including assumptions regarding future natural gas and oil prices, subsurface characterization, production levels, and operating and development costs. For example, our estimates of our reserves are based on the unweighted first-day-of-the-month arithmetic average commodity prices over the prior 12 months in accordance with SEC guidelines. Future prices received for production and costs may vary, perhaps significantly, from the prices and costs assumed for purposes of those estimates. Sustained lower prices will cause the 12-month unweighted arithmetic average of the first-day-of-the-month price for each of the 12 months preceding to decrease over time as the lower prices are reflected in the average price, which may result in the estimated quantities and present values of our reserves being reduced. To the extent that prices become depressed or decline materially from current levels, such conditions could render uneconomic a portion of our proved and probable reserves, and we may be required to write down our proved and probable reserves.

Additionally, we do not have an independent third-party reserve engineering report that verifies our estimates of mineral reserves quantities. We rely on our own internal team to estimate our mineral reserves, only employing third parties in limited capacities to assess the reasonableness and appropriateness of our approach and methodology to estimate our reserves. Lack of an independent third-party reserve engineering report means there is no independent complete analysis of the accuracy of mineral reserve estimates and their present value.

Furthermore, SEC rules require that, subject to limited exceptions, proved and probable undeveloped reserves may only be recorded if they relate to wells scheduled to be drilled within five years after the date of booking. This rule may limit our potential to record additional proved and probable undeveloped reserves as we pursue our drilling program through PhoenixOp. To the extent that prices become depressed or decline materially from current levels, such condition could render uneconomic a number of our identified drilling locations, and we may be required to write down our proved and probable undeveloped reserves if we do not drill those wells within the required five-year time frame or choose not to develop those wells at all.

 

25

As a result, estimated quantities of reserves and projections of future production rates and the timing of development expenditures may prove to be inaccurate. Over time, we may make material changes to our reserves estimates. Any significant variance in our assumptions and actual results could greatly affect our estimates of reserves, the economically recoverable quantities of minerals attributable to any particular group of properties, the classifications of reserves based on risk of non-recovery, and estimates of future net cash flows.

In addition, estimates of probable reserves, and the future cash flows related to such estimates, are inherently imprecise and are more uncertain than estimates of proved reserves, and the future cash flows related to such estimates, but have not been adjusted for risk due to that uncertainty. Because of such uncertainty, estimates of probable reserves, and the future cash flows related to such estimates, may not be comparable to estimates of proved reserves, and the future cash flows related to such estimates, and should not be summed arithmetically with estimates of proved reserves and the future cash flows related to such estimates. When producing an estimate of the amount of minerals that are recoverable from a particular reservoir, an estimated quantity of probable reserves is an estimate of those additional reserves that are less certain to be recovered than proved reserves but which, together with proved reserves, are as likely as not to be recovered. Estimates of probable reserves are also continually subject to revisions based on production history, results of additional exploration, and development, price changes, and other factors. When deterministic methods are used, it is as likely as not that actual remaining quantities recovered will exceed the sum of estimated proved plus probable reserves. Probable reserves may be assigned to areas of a reservoir adjacent to proved reserves where data control or interpretations of available data are less certain, even if the interpreted reservoir continuity of structure or productivity does not meet the reasonable certainty criterion. Probable reserves may be assigned to areas that are structurally higher than the proved area if these areas are in communication with the proved reservoir. Probable reserves estimates also include potential incremental quantities associated with a greater percentage recovery of the hydrocarbons in place than assumed for proved reserves. See “Business—Our Oil and Natural Gas Properties—Evaluation and Review of Estimated Proved and Probable Reserves.”

The development of our estimated proved and probable undeveloped reserves may take longer and may require higher levels of capital expenditures than we currently anticipate.

Recovery of proved and probable undeveloped reserves requires significant capital expenditures and successful drilling operations. As of December 31, 2024, approximately 61% of our total estimated proved reserves and 100% of our total estimated probable reserves were undeveloped. Furthermore, as of December 31, 2024, we had 130.1 million Boe in total estimated probable undeveloped reserves, which is approximately 2.0 times our total proved reserves. Our reserves estimates assume that substantial capital expenditures will be made to develop non-producing reserves. As of December 31, 2024, we estimate that we will need to make approximately $749.3 million and $3,224.8 million in capital expenditures to develop all our proved and probable undeveloped reserves, respectively. Estimates of capital expenditures are subject to fluctuations in oil and natural gas prices, equipment availability, labor markets, and other factors that we may not foresee or control. As such, we cannot be sure that the estimated costs attributable to our reserves are accurate.

We anticipate that over the next several years our cash flows from operations alone will not be sufficient to finance the development of our estimated proved and probable undeveloped reserves over that period. As a result, we expect that we will need to raise additional capital to develop our reserves. However, we cannot be certain that additional financing will be available to us on acceptable terms, or at all. See “—The acquisition and development of our properties, directly or through our third-party E&P operators, will require substantial capital, and we and our third-party E&P operators may be unable to obtain needed capital or financing on satisfactory terms or at all, including as a result of increases in the cost of capital resulting from Federal Reserve policies in the past few years and otherwise.” Additionally, sustained or further declines in commodity prices may require use to revise the future net revenues of our estimated proved and probable undeveloped reserves and may result in some projects becoming uneconomical. Further, our drilling efforts may be delayed or unsuccessful and actual reserves may prove to be less than current reserves estimates, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, future cash flows, and results of operations.

The ability to develop our reserves is subject to a number of uncertainties, which could defer our drilling more than five years from the date undeveloped reserves were first assigned to a drilling location. Alternatively, our estimated reserves may not be ultimately developed or produced. Recovery of undeveloped reserves requires significant capital expenditures and successful drilling operations. If we choose not to spend the capital to develop these reserves, or if we are not otherwise able to successfully develop these reserves, we will be required to remove the associated volumes from our reported proved reserves. In addition, because

 

26

undeveloped reserves may be booked only if they relate to wells scheduled to be drilled within five years of the date of booking, we may be required to remove any undeveloped reserves that are not developed within this five-year time frame or to reclassify the category of the applicable reserves. A removal or reclassification of reserves could reduce the quantity and present value of our natural gas and oil reserves, which would adversely affect our business and financial condition.

We may experience delays in the payment of royalties and be unable to replace third-party E&P operators that do not make required royalty payments, and we may not be able to terminate our leases with defaulting lessees if any of such E&P operators on those leases declare bankruptcy.

We may experience delays in receiving royalty payments from our E&P operators, including as a result of delayed division orders received by our E&P operators. A failure on the part of the E&P operators to make royalty payments typically gives us the right to terminate the lease, repossess the property, and enforce payment obligations under the lease. If we repossessed any of our properties, we would seek a replacement E&P operator. However, we might not be able to find a replacement E&P operator and, if we did, we might not be able to enter into a new lease on favorable terms within a reasonable period of time. In addition, the outgoing E&P operator could be subject to a proceeding under Title 11 of the United States Code (the “Bankruptcy Code”), in which case our right to enforce or terminate the lease for any defaults, including non-payment, may be substantially delayed or otherwise impaired. In general, in a proceeding under the Bankruptcy Code, the bankrupt E&P operator would have a substantial period of time to decide whether to ultimately reject or assume the lease, which could prevent the execution of a new lease or the assignment of the existing lease to another E&P operator. For example, certain of our E&P operators historically have undergone restructurings under the Bankruptcy Code and any future restructurings of our E&P operators may impact their future operations and ability to make royalty payments to us. If the E&P operator rejected the lease, our ability to collect amounts owed would be substantially delayed, and our ultimate recovery may be only a fraction of the amount owed or nothing. In addition, if we are able to enter into a new lease with a new E&P operator, the replacement E&P operator may not achieve the same levels of production or sell oil or natural gas at the same price as the E&P operator we replaced.

Our PV-10 will not necessarily be the same as the current market value of our estimated proved reserves.

You should not assume that our PV-10 is the current market value of our estimated proved reserves. We currently base the estimated discounted future net revenues from our proved reserves on the 12-month unweighted arithmetic average of the first-day-of-the-month price for the preceding 12 months. Actual future net revenues from our reserves will be affected by factors such as:

 

•

actual prices we receive for natural gas and oil;

 

•

actual cost of development and production expenditures;

 

•

the amount and timing of actual production;

 

•

transportation and processing; and

 

•

changes in governmental regulations or taxation.

The timing of both our production and our incurrence of expenses in connection with the development and production of our properties will affect the timing and amount of actual future net revenues from proved reserves and, thus, their actual present value. In addition, the 10% discount factor we use when calculating discounted future net revenues may not be the most appropriate discount factor based on interest rates in effect from time to time and risks associated with our business or the natural gas and oil industry in general. Actual future prices and costs may differ materially from those used in the present value estimate.

Estimated reserves do not represent or measure the fair value of the respective property or asset and we may sell or divest an asset for much less than the amount of estimated reserves.

Estimated proved reserves and estimated probable reserves do not represent or measure the fair value of the respective properties or the fair market value at which a property or properties could be sold. In the event of any such sale, proceeds to us may be significantly less than the value of the estimated reserves. The development of our estimated proved and probable undeveloped reserves may take longer and may require higher levels of capital expenditures than we currently anticipate. Estimates of probable reserves, and the future cash flows related to such estimates, are inherently imprecise and are more uncertain than estimates of proved reserves and the future cash flows related to such estimates but have not been adjusted for risk due to such uncertainty.

Our future success depends on our ability to replace reserves.

Because the rate of production from oil and natural gas properties generally declines as reserves are depleted, our future success depends upon our ability to economically find or acquire and produce additional oil and natural gas reserves. Except to the extent that

 

27

we acquire additional properties containing proved reserves, conduct successful exploration and development activities, or, through engineering studies, identify additional behind-pipe zones or secondary recovery reserves, our proved reserves will decline as our reserves are produced. Future oil and natural gas production, therefore, is highly dependent upon our level of success in acquiring or finding additional reserves that are economically recoverable. We cannot assure you that we will be able to find or acquire and develop additional reserves at an acceptable cost. We may acquire significant amounts of unproved property to further our development efforts. Development and exploratory drilling and production activities are subject to many risks, including the risk that no commercially productive reservoirs will be discovered. We seek to acquire both proved and producing properties as well as undeveloped acreage that we believe will enhance growth potential and increase our earnings over time. However, we cannot assure you that all of these properties will contain economically viable reserves or that we will not abandon our initial investments. Additionally, we cannot assure you that unproved reserves or undeveloped acreage that we acquire will be profitably developed, that new wells drilled on our properties will be productive, or that we will recover all or any portion of our investments in our properties and reserves.

We rely on our software system to identify attractive assets with oil and gas reserves and there can be no assurance that we will be able to continue to scale this software or that such software will be accurate in identifying assets.

As of the date of this prospectus, we have built and operated our software system on a relatively limited scale. While we believe that our development and testing to date has proven the concept of our software, there can be no assurance that, as we commence larger-scale operations, we will not incur unexpected costs or hurdles that might restrict the desired scale of our intended operations or negatively impact our business prospects, financial condition, and results of operation. In addition, due to the limited and changing scale of use, there can be no assurance that the software will be accurate on an ongoing or continuous basis. If our software is unable to scale or to adopt to the changing nature of our operations, or is inaccurate, our ability to successfully invest in commercially viable mineral deposits and PhoenixOp’s ability to successfully extract minerals from assets transferred to it by us could be significantly impacted and our business and operating results may suffer.

We may be unable to realize all of the anticipated benefits from our acquisitions or successfully integrate future acquisitions of mineral rights into our business.

Our ability to achieve the anticipated benefits of our completed and future acquisitions of mineral rights will depend in part upon whether we can integrate the acquired assets into our existing business in an efficient and effective manner. We may not be able to accomplish this integration process successfully. The successful acquisition of producing properties requires an assessment of several factors, including:

 

•

recoverable reserves;

 

•

future oil and natural gas prices and their appropriate differentials;

 

•

availability and cost of transportation of production to markets;

 

•

availability and cost of drilling equipment and of skilled personnel for our third-party operators;

 

•

development and operating costs of PhoenixOp and our third-party E&P operators, including potential environmental and other liabilities; and

 

•

regulatory, permitting, and similar matters.

The accuracy of these assessments is inherently uncertain, and we may not be able to identify attractive acquisition opportunities. In connection with these assessments, in conjunction with the use of our specialized software, we perform a review of the subject properties that we believe to be generally consistent with industry practices, given the nature of our interests. Our review will not reveal all existing or potential problems, nor will it permit us to become sufficiently familiar with the properties to assess fully their deficiencies and capabilities. Even when problems are identified, the seller may be unwilling or unable to provide effective contractual protection against all or part of such problems. Even if we identify attractive acquisition opportunities, we may not be able to complete the acquisition or do so on commercially acceptable terms. We depend on acquisitions to grow our reserves, production, and cash flows.

There is intense competition for acquisition opportunities in our industry. Competition for acquisitions may increase the cost of, or cause us to refrain from, completing acquisitions. Additionally, acquisition opportunities vary over time. Our ability to complete acquisitions is dependent upon, among other things, our ability to obtain the necessary financing and, in some cases, regulatory approvals. Further, these acquisitions may be in geographic regions in which we do not currently hold assets, which could result in unforeseen difficulties. In addition, if we acquire interests in new geographic regions, we may be subject to additional and unfamiliar legal and regulatory requirements. Moreover, the success of any completed acquisition will depend on our ability to effectively integrate the acquired business into our existing business. The process of integrating acquired businesses may involve unforeseen difficulties, including delays, and may require a disproportionate amount of our managerial and financial resources.

 

28

No assurance can be given that we will be able to identify suitable acquisition opportunities, negotiate acceptable terms, obtain financing for acquisitions on acceptable terms, or successfully acquire identified targets. Our failure to successfully integrate the acquired assets into our existing operations, achieve cost savings, or minimize any unforeseen difficulties could materially and adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows. The inability to effectively manage these acquisitions could reduce our focus on subsequent acquisitions and current operations, which, in turn, could negatively impact our growth, results of operations, and cash flows.

Our E&P operators’ identified potential drilling locations, which are scheduled out over many years, are susceptible to uncertainties that could materially alter the occurrence or timing of their drilling.

Proved and probable undeveloped drilling locations represent a significant part of our growth strategy. However, we do not fully control the development of these locations that we do not directly operate. The ability of our third-party E&P operators to drill and develop identified potential drilling locations depends on a number of uncertainties, including the availability of capital, construction of and limitations on access to infrastructure, the generation of additional seismic or geological information, seasonal conditions and inclement weather, regulatory changes and approvals, oil and gas prices, costs, negotiation of agreements with third parties, drilling results, lease expirations, and the availability of water. Further, our E&P operators’ identified potential drilling locations are in various stages of evaluation, ranging from locations that are ready to drill to locations that will require substantial additional interpretation. The use of technologies and the study of producing fields in the same area will not enable our E&P operators, or us, to know conclusively prior to drilling whether mineral reserves will be present or, if present, whether such resources will be present in sufficient quantities to be economically viable. Even if sufficient amounts of such resources exist, our E&P operators may damage the potentially productive hydrocarbon-bearing formation or experience mechanical difficulties while drilling or completing the well, possibly resulting in a reduction in production from the well or abandonment of the well. If our E&P operators drill additional wells that they identify as dry holes in current and future drilling locations, their drilling success rate may decline and materially harm their business and ours.

There is no guarantee that the conclusions our E&P operators draw from available data from the wells on our acreage, more fully explored locations, or producing fields will be applicable to their drilling locations. Further, initial production rates reported by our or other E&P operators in the areas in which our reserves are located may not be indicative of future or long-term production rates. Additionally, actual production from wells may be less than expected. For example, several E&P operators have previously announced that newer wells drilled close in proximity to already producing wells have produced less oil and gas than forecast. Because of these uncertainties, we do not know if the potential drilling locations identified will ever be drilled or if our E&P operators will be able to produce oil and/or gas from these or any other potential drilling locations. As such, the actual drilling activities of our E&P operators may materially differ from those presently identified, which could adversely affect our business, results of operations, and cash flows.

Finally, the potential drilling locations we have identified are based on the geologic and other data available to us and our interpretation of such data through our specialized software. As a result, our E&P operators may have reached different conclusions about the potential drilling locations on our properties, and our E&P operators control the ultimate decision as to where and when a well is drilled.

Acreage must be drilled before lease expiration, generally within three to five years, in order to hold the acreage by production. Our E&P operators’ failure to drill sufficient wells to hold acreage may result in the deferral of prospective drilling opportunities.

Leases on crude oil and natural gas properties typically have a term of three to five years, after which they expire unless, prior to expiration, production is established within the spacing units covering the undeveloped acres. In addition, even if production or drilling is established during such primary term, if production or drilling ceases on the leased property, the lease typically terminates, subject to certain exceptions.

Any reduction in our E&P operators’ drilling programs, either through a reduction in capital expenditures or the unavailability of drilling rigs, could result in the expiration of existing leases. If the lease governing any of our mineral interests expires or terminates, all mineral rights revert back to us, and we will have to seek new lessees to explore and develop such mineral interests.

We have limited control over the activities on properties that we do not operate.

Some of the properties in which we have an interest are operated by other companies and involve third-party working interest owners. As a result, we have limited ability to influence or control the operation or future development of such properties, including compliance with environmental, safety, and other regulations, or the amount of capital expenditures that we will be required to fund with respect to such properties. Moreover, we are dependent on the other working interest owners of such projects to fund their contractual share of the capital expenditures of such projects. In addition, a third- party E&P operator could decide to shut-in or curtail

 

29

production from wells, or plug and abandon marginal wells, on properties owned by that operator during periods of decreases in oil and gas prices. These limitations and our dependence on the E&P operators and third-party working interest owners for these projects could cause us to incur unexpected future costs, lower production, and materially and adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.

We have completed numerous acquisitions of mineral and royalty interests for which separate financial information is not required or provided.

We have completed numerous acquisitions of mineral and royalty interests that are not “significant” under Rule 3-05 of Regulation S-X (“Rule 3-05”). Therefore, we are not required to, and have elected not to, provide separate historical financial information in our public filings relating to those acquisitions. While these acquisitions are not individually or collectively significant for purposes of Rule 3-05, they have or will have an impact on our financial results and their aggregated effect on our business and results of operations may be material.

The substantial majority of the wells in which we have a mineral or royalty interest and all the wells we directly operate are located in the Williston Basin, making us vulnerable to risks associated with concentration of our assets in a limited geographic area.

The substantial majority of the wells in which we have a mineral or royalty interest and all the wells we directly operate are geographically concentrated in the Williston Basin. As a result, we may be disproportionately exposed to various factors, including, among others:

 

•

the impact of regional supply and demand factors;

 

•

delays or interruptions of production from wells in such areas caused by governmental regulation, including changes to field wide rules;

 

•

processing or transportation capacity constraints;

 

•

market limitations;

 

•

availability of equipment and personnel;

 

•

water shortages or other drought-related conditions; or

 

•

interruption of the processing or transportation of natural gas.

This concentration in a limited geographic area also increases our exposure to changes in local laws and regulations, certain lease stipulations designed to protect wildlife, and unexpected events that may occur in the region, such as natural disasters, seismic events, industrial accidents, or labor difficulties. Any one of these factors has the potential to cause producing wells to be shut-in, delay operations, decrease cash flows, increase operating and capital costs, and prevent development of lease inventory before expirations. Any of the risks described above could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.

Cybersecurity attacks on our technological systems, or those of our third-party vendors, could significantly disrupt our business operations and subject us to liability.

Our business, like other companies in the oil and gas industry, has become increasingly dependent upon digital technologies. We utilize digital technologies to, among other things, process and record financial and operating data, communicate with our business partners, analyze mineral deposits information, and estimate quantities of mineral reserves. Strategic targets, such as energy-related assets, may be at greater risk of future terrorist or cyber-attacks than other targets in the United States. Deliberate attacks on, or security breaches in, our systems or infrastructure, the systems or infrastructure of third parties, or cloud-based applications could lead to corruption or loss of our proprietary data and potentially sensitive data, delays in production or delivery, difficulty in completing and settling transactions, challenges in maintaining our books and records, environmental damage, communication interruptions, other operational disruptions, and third-party liability.

There is no guarantee that our security measures will provide absolute security. We may not be able to anticipate, detect, or prevent cyberattacks, particularly because the methodologies used by attackers change frequently or may not be recognized until launched, and because attackers are increasingly using techniques designed to circumvent controls and avoid detection. We and our third-party service providers may therefore be vulnerable to security events that are beyond our control, and we may be the target of cyber-attacks, as well as physical attacks, which could result in the unauthorized access to our information systems or data, the data of our E&P operators, and our employees, or significant disruption to our business. These attacks could adversely impact our business operations, our revenue and profits, our ability to comply with legal, contractual, and regulatory requirements, our reputation and

 

30

goodwill, and could result in legal risk, enforcement actions, and litigation. As cyberattacks continue to evolve, we may be required to expend significant additional resources to respond to cyberattacks, to continue to modify or enhance our protective measures, or to investigate and remediate any information systems and related infrastructure security vulnerabilities. Additionally, the continuing and evolving threat of cybersecurity attacks has resulted in evolving legal and compliance matters, including increased regulatory focus on prevention, which could require us to expend significant additional resources to meet such requirements.

Security incidents can also occur as a result of non-technical issues, such as physical theft. More recently, advancements in artificial intelligence (“AI”) may pose serious risks for many of the traditional tools used to identify individuals, including voice recognition (whether by machine or the human ear), facial recognition, or screening questions to confirm identities. In addition, generative AI systems may also be used by malicious actors to create more sophisticated cyberattacks (i.e., more realistic phishing or other attacks). The advancements in AI could lead to an increase in the frequency of identity fraud or cyberattacks (whether successful or unsuccessful), which could cause us or our E&P operators to incur increasing costs, including costs associated with additional personnel, protection technologies and policies and procedures, and third-party experts and consultants. If any of these security breaches were to occur, we could suffer disruptions to our operations and other aspects of our business.

Our inability to retain or obtain key personnel could directly affect our efficiency and profitability.

Our future success depends on retaining the services of our planned management team. Our executive officers possess a unique and comprehensive knowledge of our industry and related matters that are vital to our success within the industry. The knowledge, leadership, and technical expertise of these individuals would be difficult to replace. The loss of one or more of our officers could have a material adverse effect on our operating and financial performance, including our ability to develop and execute our long-term business strategy.

We may incur losses as a result of title defects in the properties that we acquire.

It is our practice in acquiring oil and natural gas leases or interests not to incur the expense of retaining lawyers to examine the title to the mineral interest at the time of acquisition. Rather, we rely upon the judgment of lease brokers or landmen who perform the fieldwork in examining records in the appropriate governmental office before attempting to acquire a lease or other interest in a specific mineral interest. The existence of a material title deficiency can render a lease or other interest worthless and can adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition. The failure of title on a lease, in a unit, or in any other mineral interest may not be discovered until after a well is drilled, in which case we may lose the lease and the right to produce all or a portion of the minerals under the property.

If the E&P operators of our properties suspend our right to receive royalty payments due to title or other issues, our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows may be adversely affected.

We depend in part on acquisitions to grow our reserves, production, and cash generated from operations. In connection with these acquisitions, record title to mineral and royalty interests are conveyed to us by asset assignment, and we become the record owner of these interests. Upon such a change in ownership of mineral interests, and at regular intervals pursuant to routine audit procedures at each of our third-party E&P operators at its discretion, the E&P operator of the underlying property has the right to investigate and verify the title and ownership of mineral and royalty interests with respect to the properties it operates. If any title or ownership issues are not resolved to its reasonable satisfaction in accordance with customary industry standards, the E&P operator may suspend payment of the related royalty. If an E&P operator of our properties is not satisfied with the documentation we provide to validate our ownership, such E&P operator may suspend our royalty or mineral interest right payment until such issues are resolved, at which time we would receive in full payments that would have been made during the suspension, without interest. Certain of our third-party E&P operators impose significant documentation requirements for title transfer and may suspend royalty payments for significant periods of time. During the time that an E&P operator puts our assets in pay suspense, we would not receive the applicable mineral or royalty payment owed to us from sales of the underlying oil or natural gas related to such mineral or royalty interest. Placement of a significant amount of our royalty interests in suspense may have a material advance effect on our business and results of operations.

Our decommissioning costs are unknown and may be substantial and may force us to divert resources from our other operations.

We may become responsible for costs associated with abandoning and reclaiming wells, facilities, and pipelines (“decommissioning costs”) we use for production of oil, natural gas, and NGL reserves. We accrue a liability for decommissioning costs associated with our wells but have not established any cash reserve account for these potential costs in respect of any of our properties. If decommissioning is required before economic depletion of our properties or if our estimates of the costs of decommissioning exceed the value of the reserves remaining at any particular time to cover such decommissioning costs, we may have to draw on funds from other sources to satisfy such costs. The use of other funds to satisfy such decommissioning costs could impair our ability to focus capital investment in other areas of our business.

 

31

Limitation or restrictions on our ability to obtain water for our direct drilling and hydraulic fracturing processes may have an adverse effect on our operating results.

Water is an essential component of shale oil and natural gas development during both the drilling and hydraulic fracturing processes. Our access to water to be used in these processes may be adversely affected due to reasons such as periods of extended drought, private, third-party competition for water in localized areas, or the implementation of local or state governmental programs to monitor or restrict the beneficial use of water subject to their jurisdiction for hydraulic fracturing to assure adequate local water supplies. In addition, treatment and disposal of water is becoming more highly regulated and restricted. Thus, our costs for obtaining and disposing of water could increase significantly. In addition, the use, treatment, and disposal of water has become a focus of certain investors and other stakeholders who may seek to engage with us on this and other environmental matters, which may result in activism, negative reputational impacts, increased costs, or other adverse effects on our business, results of operations, and financial condition. The inability to locate or contractually acquire and sustain the receipt of sufficient amounts of water could adversely impact our E&P operations and have a corresponding adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition.

Weather conditions, which could become more frequent or severe due to climate change, could adversely affect our ability to conduct drilling, completion, and production activities in the areas where we operate.

Exploration and development activities and equipment of PhoenixOp and our third-party operators operating on our lands can be adversely affected by severe weather, such as well freeze-offs, which may cause a loss of production from temporary cessation of activity or lost or damaged equipment. Our and our third-party operators’ planning for normal climatic variation, insurance programs, and emergency recovery plans may inadequately mitigate the effects of such weather conditions, and not all such effects can be predicted, eliminated, or insured against. In addition, demand for oil and gas are, to a degree, dependent on weather and climate, which impact the price we receive for the commodities we produce. These constraints could delay or temporarily halt our operations and materially increase our operating and capital costs, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our hedging activities could result in financial losses and reduce earnings.

To achieve a more predictable cash flow and to reduce our exposure to adverse fluctuations in the prices of oil and natural gas, we currently have entered, and may in the future enter, into derivative contracts for a portion of our future oil and natural gas production, including fixed price swaps, collars, and basis swaps. We have not designated and do not plan to designate any of our derivative contracts as hedges for accounting purposes and, as a result, record all derivative contracts on our balance sheet at fair value with changes in fair value recognized in current period earnings. Accordingly, our earnings may fluctuate significantly as a result of changes in the fair value of our derivative contracts. Derivative contracts also expose us to the risk of financial loss in some circumstances, including when:

 

•

production is less than expected;

 

•

the counterparty to the derivative contract defaults on its contract obligation; or

 

•

the actual differential between the underlying price in the derivative contract or actual prices received are materially different from those expected.

In addition, these types of derivative contracts can limit the benefit we would receive from increases in the prices for oil and natural gas.

Risks Related to Legal, Regulatory, and Environmental Matters

We are subject to significant governmental regulations, and governmental authorities can delay or deny permits and approvals or change legal requirements governing our operations, which could restrict our operations, increase costs of conducting our business, and delay our implementation of, or cause us to change, our business strategy.

The current and future operations of our business and that of the third-party E&P operators on our land are and will be governed by complex and stringent federal, state, local, and other laws and regulations, including:

 

•

laws and regulations governing mineral concession acquisition, prospecting, development, mining, production, transportation, marketing, and sales;

 

•

laws and regulations related to exports, taxes, and fees;

 

•

labor standards and regulations related to occupational health and mine safety;

 

32

•

environmental standards and regulations related to waste disposal, pollution clean-up, toxic substances, land use, and environmental protection; and

 

•

other matters.

Federal, state, and local agencies may assert overlapping authority to regulate in these areas. In addition, certain of these laws and regulations may apply retroactively and may impose strict or joint and several liability on us for events or conditions over which we and our predecessors had no control, without regard to fault, legality of the original activities, or ownership or control by third parties.

Companies engaged in exploration activities often experience increased costs and delays in production and other schedules as a result of the need to comply with applicable laws, regulations, and permits. Costs of compliance may increase, and operational delays or restrictions may occur, as existing laws and regulations are revised or reinterpreted, or as new laws and regulations become applicable to our operations. Government authorities and other organizations continue to study health, safety, and environmental aspects of mineral operations, including those related to air, soil, and water quality, ground movement or seismicity, and natural resources. Government authorities have also adopted or proposed new or more stringent requirements for permitting, well construction, and public disclosure or environmental review of, or restrictions on, mineral operations. Such requirements or associated litigation could result in potentially significant added costs to comply, delay, or curtail our exploration, development, disposal, or production activities, and preclude us from carrying out our exploration program, which could have a material adverse effect on our expected production, other operations, and financial condition.

To operate in compliance with these laws and regulations, we and our third-party E&P operators must obtain and maintain permits, approvals, and certificates from federal, state, and local government authorities for a variety of activities. These permits are generally subject to protest, appeal, or litigation, which could in certain cases delay or halt projects, production of wells, and other operations. Failure to comply with laws and regulations, including obtaining and maintaining permits, approvals, and certificates, may result in enforcement actions, including the forfeiture of claims, or orders issued by regulatory or judicial authorities requiring operations to cease or be curtailed, the assessment of administrative, civil, and criminal fines and penalties and liability for noncompliance, costs of corrective action, cleanup or restoration, including capital expenditures, installation of additional equipment, or remedial actions, compensation for personal injury, property damage or other losses, and the imposition of injunctive or declaratory relief restricting or limiting our operations.

Our operations may also be adversely affected by seasonal or permanent restrictions on drilling activities designed to protect various wildlife. Such restrictions may limit our ability to operate in protected areas and can intensify competition for drilling rigs, oilfield equipment, services, supplies, and qualified personnel, which may lead to periodic shortages when drilling is allowed. Permanent restrictions imposed to protect threatened or endangered species or their habitat could prohibit drilling in certain areas or require the implementation of expensive mitigation measures.

The development and enactment of climate change legislation and regulation regarding emissions of greenhouse gases (“GHGs”) could adversely affect the mineral industry and reduce demand for the oil and natural gas that we produce.

The energy industry is affected from time to time in varying degrees by political developments and a wide range of federal, tribal, state, and local statutes, rules, orders, and regulations that may, in turn, affect the operations and costs of the companies engaged in the energy industry. In response to findings that emissions of GHGs present an endangerment to public health and the environment, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (the “EPA”) has adopted regulations under existing provisions of the Clean Air Act of 1970 (as amended, the “CAA”) that, among other things, require preconstruction and operating permits for GHG emissions from certain large stationary sources that already emit conventional pollutants above a certain threshold. In addition, the EPA has adopted rules requiring the monitoring and reporting of GHG emissions from specified onshore and offshore oil and gas production sources in the United States on an annual basis, which may include operations on our properties. Further, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the “IRA 2022”) includes billions of dollars in incentives for the development of renewable energy, clean hydrogen, clean fuels, electric vehicles, investments in advanced biofuels and supporting infrastructure, and carbon capture and sequestration. Additionally, the IRA 2022 includes a charge for methane emissions from specific types of facilities that emit 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent or more per year, and although the IRA 2022 generally provides for a conditional exemption under certain circumstances, the change applies to emissions that exceed an established emissions threshold for each type of covered facility. On November 12, 2024, the EPA finalized the methane emissions charge rule, implementing the IRA 2022. To the extent the methane emissions charge rule is implemented as originally promulgated, it could increase the operating costs of our E&P operators and adversely affect our business.

Additional GHG regulation could also result from the agreement crafted during the United Nations climate change conference in Paris, France, in December 2015 (the “Paris Agreement”). Under the Paris Agreement, the United States committed to reducing its

 

33

GHG emissions by 26-28% by the year 2025 as compared with 2005 levels; however, in January 2025, President Trump issued an executive order directing the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris Agreement. As a result, the effect of the Paris Agreement on our business is uncertain. Moreover, in November 2021, at the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change 26^th Conference of the Parties, the United States and the European Union advanced a Global Methane Pledge to reduce global methane emissions at least 30% from 2020 levels by 2030, which over 100 countries have signed. While Congress has from time to time considered legislation to reduce emissions of GHGs, comprehensive legislation aimed at reducing GHG emissions has not yet been adopted at the federal level.

In the absence of comprehensive federal climate legislation, a number of state and regional efforts have emerged that are aimed at tracking or reducing GHG emissions by means of cap-and-trade programs. These programs typically require major sources of GHG emissions to acquire and surrender emission allowances in return for emitting those GHGs.

Although it is not possible at this time to predict how legislation or new regulations that may be adopted to address GHG emissions would impact us, any future laws and regulations imposing reporting obligations on, or limiting emissions of GHGs from, operators’ equipment and operations could require them to incur costs to reduce emissions of GHGs associated with their operations. In addition, substantial limitations on GHG emissions could adversely affect demand for the oil and gas produced from our properties. Restrictions on emissions of methane or carbon dioxide, such as restrictions on venting and flaring of natural gas, that may be imposed in various states, as well as state and local climate change initiatives, such as increased energy efficiency standards or mandates for renewable energy sources, could adversely affect the oil and gas industry, and, at this time, it is not possible to accurately estimate how potential future laws or regulations addressing GHG emissions would impact oil and gas assets. Finally, it should be noted that climate change may have significant physical effects, such as increased frequency and severity of storms, freezes, floods, drought, hurricanes, and other climatic events; if any of these effects were to occur, they could have a material adverse effect on us.

Our and third-party E&P operators’ exploration and development activities are subject to environmental risks, which could expose us and E&P operators we work with to significant liability and delay, suspension, or termination of our or the third-party E&P operators’ operations.

Our operations, through PhoenixOp and our third-party E&P operators, are subject to all of the hazards and operating risks associated with drilling for and production of crude oil, natural gas, and NGL, including the risk of fire, explosions, blowouts, surface cratering, uncontrollable flows of crude oil, natural gas, NGL, and formation water, pipe or pipeline failures, abnormally pressured formations, casing collapses, and environmental hazards, such as crude oil and NGL spills, natural gas leaks and ruptures, or discharges of toxic gases.

In addition, their operations are subject to risks associated with hydraulic fracturing, These risks include any mishandling, surface spillage, or potential underground migration of fracturing fluids, including chemical additives. The occurrence of any of these events could result in substantial losses to us or our E&P operators due to injury or loss of life, severe damage to or destruction of property, natural resources, and equipment, pollution or other environmental damage, clean-up responsibilities, regulatory investigations and penalties, suspension of operations, and repairs required to resume operations, which in turn could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.

The exploration and possible future development phases of our business and the business of the E&P operators we work with are and will be subject to federal, state, and local environmental regulation. These regulations mandate, among other things, the maintenance of air and water quality standards and land reclamation. They also set out limitations on the generation, transportation, storage, and disposal of solid and hazardous waste. Future environmental legislation may require stricter standards and enforcement, increased fines and penalties for non-compliance, more stringent environmental assessments, and a heightened degree of responsibility for companies and their officers, directors, and employees. Future changes in environmental regulations, if any, may adversely affect our operations and the operations of the E&P operators on our land. If we fail to comply with any of the applicable environmental laws, regulations, or permit requirements, we could face regulatory or judicial sanctions. Penalties imposed by either the courts or administrative bodies could delay or stop our operations or the operations of the third-party E&P operators on our land or require considerable capital expenditures. Furthermore, certain groups opposed to exploration and mining may attempt to interfere with our operations through the legal or regulatory process or by engaging in disruptive protest activities.

Environmental hazards unknown to us, which have been caused by previous or existing owners or operators of the properties, may exist on the properties in which we hold an interest. Our properties could be located on or near the site of a Federal Superfund cleanup project, and that environmental cleanup or other environmental restoration procedures could remain to be completed or mandated by law, which may result in unexpected liabilities, with total costs that are difficult to predict.

The Comprehensive Environmental, Response, Compensation and Liability Act (“CERCLA”) and comparable state statutes impose strict joint and several liability on current and former owners and operators of sites and on persons who disposed of or

 

34

arranged for the disposal of hazardous substances found at such sites. It is not uncommon for the government to file claims requiring cleanup actions, demands for reimbursement for government-incurred cleanup costs, or natural resource damages, or for neighboring landowners and other third parties to file claims for personal injury and property damage allegedly caused by hazardous substances released into the environment. The Federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”) and comparable state statutes govern the disposal of solid waste and hazardous waste and authorize the imposition of substantial fines and penalties for noncompliance, as well as requirements for corrective actions. CERCLA, RCRA, and comparable state statutes can impose liability for clean-up of sites and disposal of substances found on exploration, mining, and processing sites long after activities on such sites have been completed.

The CAA restricts the emission of air pollutants from many sources, including mining and processing activities. The mining operations conducted by third parties on our land may produce air emissions, including fugitive dust and other air pollutants from stationary equipment, storage facilities, and the use of mobile sources such as trucks and heavy construction equipment, which are subject to review, monitoring, and/or control requirements under the CAA and state air quality laws. In undeveloped properties, third-party operators may be required to obtain permits before work can begin, and, in properties with existing facilities, our operators may need to incur capital costs in order to remain in compliance. In addition, permitting rules may impose limitations on their production levels or result in additional capital expenditures in order to comply with the rules.

The National Environmental Policy Act requires federal agencies to integrate environmental considerations into their decision-making processes by evaluating the environmental impacts of their proposed actions, including issuance of permits to mining facilities, and assessing alternatives to those actions. If a proposed action could significantly affect the environment, the agency must prepare a detailed statement known as an Environmental Impact Statement (“EIS”). The EPA, other federal agencies, and any interested third parties will review and comment on the scoping of the EIS and the adequacy of and findings set forth in the draft and final EIS. This process can cause delays in issuance of required permits or result in changes to a project to mitigate its potential environmental impacts, which can in turn adversely impact the economic feasibility of a proposed project.

The Clean Water Act (the “CWA”) and comparable state statutes impose restrictions and controls on the discharge of pollutants into waters of the United States. The discharge of pollutants into regulated waters is prohibited, except in accordance with the terms of a permit issued by the EPA or an analogous state agency. The CWA regulates storm water mining facilities and requires a storm water discharge permit for certain activities. Such a permit requires the regulated facility to monitor and sample storm water run-off from its operations. The CWA and regulations implemented thereunder also prohibit discharges of dredged and fill material in wetlands and other waters of the United States unless authorized by an appropriately issued permit. The CWA and comparable state statutes provide for civil, criminal, and administrative penalties for unauthorized discharges of pollutants and impose liability on parties responsible for those discharges for the costs of cleaning up any environmental damage caused by the release and for natural resource damages resulting from the release.

The Safe Drinking Water Act (the “SDWA”) and the Underground Injection Control (the “UIC”) program promulgated thereunder regulate the drilling and operation of subsurface injection wells. The EPA directly administers the UIC program in some states and in others the responsibility for the program has been delegated to the state. The program requires that a permit be obtained before drilling a disposal or injection well. Violation of these regulations and/or contamination of groundwater by mining-related activities may result in fines, penalties, and remediation costs, among other sanctions and liabilities under the SDWA and state laws. In addition, third-party claims may be filed by neighboring landowners and other parties claiming damages for alternative water supplies, property damages, and bodily injury.

There can be no assurance that our defense of such claims will be successful. A successful claim against us or any of the third parties we contract with could have an adverse effect on our business prospects, financial condition, and results of operation.

 

35

We or our third-party E&P operators could be subject to environmental lawsuits.

The oil and natural gas business involves a variety of operating hazards and risks, such as well blowouts, pipe failures, casing collapse, explosions, uncontrollable flows of oil, natural gas, or well fluids, fires, spills, pollution, releases of toxic gas, and other environmental hazards and risks. These hazards and risks could result in substantial losses to us from, among other things, injury or loss of life, severe damage to or destruction of property, natural resources, and equipment, pollution or other environmental damage, cleanup responsibilities, regulatory investigation and penalties, and suspension of operations. In addition, we may be liable for environmental damages caused by previous owners of property purchased by us. Environmental hazards and damages resulting from such incidents may have adverse consequences beyond our land and neighboring landowners and other third parties could file claims based on environmental statutes and common law for personal injury and property damage allegedly caused by the release of hazardous substances or other waste material into the environment on or around our properties. There can be no assurance that our defense of such claims will be successful. A successful claim against us or any of the third parties we contract with to conduct operations on our land could have an adverse effect on our business prospects, financial condition, and results of operation.

We do not currently own any registered intellectual property rights relating to our software system and may be subject to competitors developing the same technology.

As of the date of this prospectus, we do not own any registered intellectual property rights for our software system used in our mineral rights discovery, grading and estimates, and acquisition. We rely on trade secret laws to protect our software. There can be no assurance that these protections will be available in all cases or will be adequate to prevent third parties from copying, reverse engineering, or otherwise obtaining and using our software. We substantially rely on this software to identify profitable assets ahead of our competitors. If an existing competitor or anyone else replicates our software, then we may be unable to successfully compete and may be unable to identify, acquire, and invest in attractive assets, which would have a material adverse effect on our business and our ability to repay any of our debts, including the obligations under the Notes.

Third parties may initiate legal proceedings alleging that our use of our software system is infringing or otherwise violating their intellectual property rights, which could lead to costly disputes or disruptions.

Our commercial success depends in part on our ability to continue to develop and use our proprietary mineral exploration software system without infringing the intellectual property or proprietary rights of third parties. However, from time to time, we may be subject to legal proceedings and claims in the ordinary course of business with respect to intellectual property. Intellectual property disputes can be costly to defend and may cause our business, operating results, and financial condition to suffer. As the applied science industry and investments in mineral rights in the United States expand, the risk increases that there may be patents issued to third parties that relate to our software of which we are not aware or that we must challenge to continue our operations as currently contemplated. Whether merited or not, we may face allegations that we or parties indemnified by us have infringed or otherwise violated the patents, trademarks, copyrights, or other intellectual property rights of third parties. Such claims may be made by competitors seeking to obtain a competitive advantage or by other parties. We may also face allegations that our employees have misappropriated the intellectual property or proprietary rights of their former employers or other third parties.

It may be necessary for us to initiate litigation to defend ourselves in order to determine the scope, enforceability, and validity of third-party intellectual property or proprietary rights, or to establish our respective rights. Regardless of whether claims that we are infringing patents or other intellectual property rights have merit, such claims can be time-consuming, can divert management’s attention and financial resources, and can be costly to evaluate and defend. Results of any such litigation are difficult to predict and may require us to stop commercializing or using our products or technology, obtain licenses, modify our solutions and technology while we develop non-infringing substitutes, incur substantial damages or settlement costs, or face a temporary or permanent injunction prohibiting us from marketing or providing the affected products and solutions. If we require a third-party license, it may not be available on reasonable terms or at all, and we may have to pay substantial royalties or upfront fees or grant cross-licenses to intellectual property rights for the use of our software. We may also have to redesign our software so it does not infringe third-party intellectual property rights, which may not be possible or may require substantial monetary expenditures and time, during which our technology may not be available for use. Even if we have an agreement to indemnify us against such costs, the indemnifying party may be unable to uphold its contractual obligations. If we cannot or do not obtain a third-party license to the infringed technology, license the technology on reasonable terms, or obtain similar technology from another source, our operations could be adversely impacted.

Further, some third parties may be able to sustain the costs of complex litigation more effectively than we can because they have substantially greater resources. Even if resolved in our favor, litigation or other legal proceedings relating to intellectual property claims may cause us to incur significant expenses and could distract our technical and management personnel from their normal responsibilities. In addition, there could be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions, or other interim proceedings or developments, and if securities analysts or investors perceive these results to be negative, it could have a material adverse effect on

 

36

our business. Moreover, any uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of any legal proceedings could have a material adverse effect on our ability to raise the funds necessary to continue our operations. Assertions by third parties that we violate their intellectual property rights could therefore have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We could be subject to changes in our tax rates, the adoption of new tax legislation, or exposure to additional tax liabilities.

Current economic and political conditions make tax rates in any jurisdiction subject to significant change. Our future effective tax rates could also be affected by changes in the valuation of our deferred tax assets and liabilities, or changes in tax laws or their interpretation, including changes in tax laws affecting our products and solutions and the oil and gas industry more generally. We are also subject to the examination of our tax returns and other documentation by the IRS and state tax authorities. We regularly assess the likelihood of an adverse outcome resulting from these examinations to determine the adequacy of our provision for taxes. There can be no assurance as to the outcome of these examinations or that our assessments of the likelihood of an adverse outcome will be correct. If our effective tax rates were to increase or if the ultimate determination of our taxes owed is for an amount in excess of amounts previously accrued, this could materially and adversely impact our financial condition and results of operations.

Current and future litigation, regulatory, administrative, or other legal proceedings could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

Lawsuits and regulatory, administrative, or other legal proceedings that have arisen or may arise, including, but not limited to, in connection with our oil and gas operations and the financing thereof, can involve substantial costs, including the costs associated with investigation, litigation, and possible settlement, judgment, penalty, or fine. In addition, such matters may be time-consuming to defend or prosecute and may require a commitment of management and personnel resources that will be diverted from our normal business operations. There can be no assurance that costs associated with such matters will not exceed the limits of any applicable insurance policies that we may have. Moreover, we may be unable to continue to maintain any insurance at a reasonable cost, if at all, or to secure additional coverage, which may result in costs being uninsured. Our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be adversely affected if a matter is adversely determined and, irrespective of a final determination, any such matter could significantly impact our reputation and ability to conduct our business.

General Risks

Our business could be adversely affected by unfavorable economic and political conditions.

Our future business and operations are sensitive to general business and economic conditions in the United States. National and regional economies and financial markets have become increasingly interconnected, which increases the possibilities that conditions in one country, region, or market might adversely impact companies in a different country, region, or market. Major economic or political disruptions, such as trade disputes between the United States and other countries, the slowing economy in China, the conflict between Hamas and Israel in Gaza, the war in Ukraine and sanctions on Russia, and a potential economic slowdown in the United Kingdom and Europe, may have global negative economic and market repercussions. While we do not have or intend to have operations in those countries, such disruptions may nevertheless cause fluctuations in oil prices, which could impact our ability to generate cash flows and, in turn, make interest and principal payments to you. Additionally, the resulting political instability and societal disruption from these events and other factors, such as declining business and consumer confidence, may contribute to an economic slowdown and a recession. If the economic climate in the United States or abroad deteriorates, worldwide demand for oil and natural gas products could diminish, which could impact our and our E&P operators’ operations, affect our ability and the ability of our E&P operators to continue operations, and ultimately materially adversely impact our results of operations, financial condition, and cash flows.

Other significant factors that are likely to continue to affect commodity prices in future periods include, but are not limited to, the effect of U.S. energy, monetary, and trade policies and the new administration’s energy and environmental policies, all of which are beyond our control. Our business may also be adversely impacted by any future government rule, regulation, or order that may impose production limits, as well as pipeline capacity and storage constraints. We cannot predict the ultimate impact of these factors on our business, financial condition, and cash flows.

The lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic or any other future global or domestic health crisis and uncertainty in the financial markets may adversely affect our ability to generate revenues.

The COVID-19 pandemic and other public health emergencies historically have had a material adverse effect on oil and gas businesses, due to governmental restrictions, associated repercussions, and operational challenges to supply and demand for oil and natural gas and the economy generally. The impacts of public health emergencies, including the COVID-19 pandemic, are uncertain and hard to predict. Although there has been economic recovery and higher oil prices through the year ended December 31, 2023,

 

37

such negative impact may continue well beyond the containment of the COVID-19 pandemic or any other public health emergency. While oilfield activity has improved considerably and global inventories have rapidly normalized with continued demand growth since the low point experienced in 2020, considerable uncertainty remains. An extended period of global supply chain and economic disruption, as well as significantly decreased demand for oil and gas, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, any future public health emergencies, or otherwise, could have a material adverse effect on our business, access to sources of liquidity, and financial condition. Additionally, extended disruptions to the global economy are likely to cause fluctuations in oil prices and the timing of oil production, which could have a material adverse effect on our ability to generate cash flow, which in turn could limit our ability to pay principal and interest on the Notes.

Inflation could adversely impact our ability to control costs, including the operating expenses and capital costs of our third-party operating partners.

Concerns over global economic conditions, energy costs, supply chain disruptions, increased demand, labor shortages associated with a fully employed U.S. labor force, the imposition of new tariffs, geopolitical issues, high levels of inflation, the availability and cost of credit and the U.S. financial market, and other factors have contributed to increased economic uncertainty and diminished expectations for the global economy. Although inflation in the United States had been relatively low for many years, there was a significant increase in inflation beginning in the second half of 2021, which continued through 2023, and while such inflation moderation moderated in 2024, inflation remains higher than the 2.0% inflation target of the U.S. Federal Reserve as of the first quarter of 2025. We continue to develop plans to address these pressures and protect our access to commodities and services. Nevertheless, we expect for the foreseeable future to experience supply chain constraints and inflationary pressure on operating costs.

High inflation may cause our third-party operators to experience increasing costs for their operations, including oilfield services and equipment and increased personnel costs. Our operating partners may pass on such increased costs to us and have a negative effect on our business and financial condition. Sustained levels of high inflation have likewise caused the U.S. Federal Reserve and other central banks to increase interest rates multiple times in an effort to curb inflationary pressure on the costs of goods and services across the United States, which has had the effects of raising the cost of capital and depressing economic growth, either of which, or the combination thereof, could hurt the financial results of our business. We cannot predict any future trends in the rate of inflation and any continued significant increase in inflation, to the extent we are unable to recover higher costs through higher prices and revenues for our products, would negatively impact our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Increased attention to environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) matters may impact our business.

Businesses across all industries are facing increasing scrutiny from stakeholders related to their ESG practices. If we do not adapt to or comply with investor or stakeholder expectations and standards, which are evolving, or if we are perceived to have not responded appropriately to the growing concern for ESG issues, regardless of whether there is a legal requirement to do so, we may suffer from reputational damage and our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. Increasing attention to climate change, increasing societal expectations on businesses to address climate change, and potential consumer use of substitutes to energy commodities may result in increased costs, reduced demand for our hydrocarbon products, reduced profits, increased investigations and litigation, and negative impacts on our ability to access capital markets.

In addition, organizations that provided information to investors on corporate governance and related matters have developed rating processes for evaluating business entities on their approach to ESG matters. Currently, there are no universal standards for such scores or ratings, but the importance of sustainability evaluations is becoming more broadly accepted by investors and shareholders. Such ratings are used by some investors to inform their investment and voting decisions.

Additionally, certain investors use these scores to benchmark businesses against their peers. If we are perceived as lagging, our investors may engage with such third-party organizations to require improved ESG disclosure or performance.

Certain other stakeholders have also pressured commercial and investment banks to stop financing oil and gas and related infrastructure projects. Although the impact of future Trump Administration policies is currently unknown, if this negative sentiment continues, it may reduce the availability of capital funding for potential development projects, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.

Investment in new business ventures could prove unsuccessful and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

In the future, we may invest in new business ventures. Such endeavors may involve risks and uncertainties, including greater-than-expected liabilities and expenses, as well as economic and regulatory challenges associated with operating in new businesses, regions, or countries. Investment into new business ventures may expose the company to additional risks that could delay or prevent us from completing an investment or otherwise limit our ability to fully realize the anticipated benefits of an investment. The failure of any significant investment could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

 

38

Risks Related to Our Indebtedness

Our substantial indebtedness could adversely affect our financial condition and prevent us from fulfilling our obligations under the Notes and our other indebtedness.

We have a significant amount of indebtedness. We may not generate sufficient cash flow from operations, or have future borrowings available under credit facilities or other sources of financing, to enable us to repay our indebtedness, including the Notes, or to fund our other liquidity needs. As of March 31, 2025, after giving effect to the borrowing of an additional $25.0 million under the Fortress Credit Agreement in April 2025, we had approximately $1,109.4 million of indebtedness outstanding, which comprised $275.0 million outstanding under the Fortress Credit Agreement, $163.0 million outstanding under the Adamantium Loan Agreement (and corresponding amount of Adamantium Securities), $571.7 million of Reg D Bonds outstanding, and $99.6 million of Reg A Bonds outstanding. Furthermore, the Fortress Credit Agreement provides for an $8.5 million tranche of loans that represents a contingent principal obligation that is only due and payable (together with accrued interest thereon) upon certain conditions occurring, including payment defaults under the Fortress Credit Agreement or a bankruptcy filing by the obligors thereunder. See “Capitalization” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources—Indebtedness.”

Specifically, our high level of indebtedness could have important consequences to holders of Notes, including:

 

•

making it more difficult for us to satisfy our obligations with respect to the Notes and our other indebtedness, and if we fail to comply with these requirements, an event of default could result;

 

•

limiting our ability to obtain additional financing to fund future working capital, capital expenditures, investments, acquisitions, or other general corporate requirements;

 

•

requiring a substantial portion of our cash flows to be dedicated to debt service payments instead of other purposes, thereby reducing the amount of cash flows available for working capital, capital expenditures, investments, acquisitions, and other general corporate purposes;

 

•

increasing our vulnerability to general adverse economic and industry conditions;

 

•

exposing us to the risk of increased interest rates, as borrowings under the Fortress Credit Agreement are at variable rates of interest;

 

•

limiting our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in the industry in which we compete and to changing business and economic conditions;

 

•

placing us at a disadvantage compared to other, less leveraged competitors or competitors with better access to capital resources, and generally affecting our ability to compete; and

 

•

increasing our cost of borrowing.

Any such consequences could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition.

Despite our current level of indebtedness, we will still be able to incur substantially more debt. This could further exacerbate the risks to our financial condition described above.

We may incur significant additional indebtedness in the future. The Indenture will not contain any limitations on our ability to incur additional indebtedness, including Senior Debt. Although the Fortress Credit Agreement contains, and the terms of future indebtedness we incur may contain, restrictions on the incurrence of additional indebtedness, these restrictions are subject to a number of qualifications and exceptions, and the additional indebtedness incurred in compliance with these restrictions could be substantial. If we incur any additional Senior Debt, the holders of that indebtedness will be entitled to repayment in full from any proceeds distributed in connection with any insolvency, liquidation, reorganization, dissolution, or other winding up of our company prior to any payment to holders of Notes. If we incur any additional indebtedness that ranks equally with the Notes, subject to collateral arrangements, the holders of that indebtedness will be entitled to share ratably with you in any proceeds distributed in connection with any insolvency, liquidation, reorganization, dissolution, or other winding up of our company. In either case, this could reduce the amount of proceeds paid to you. These restrictions also will not prevent us from incurring obligations that do not constitute indebtedness. If new indebtedness or other obligations are added to our current indebtedness levels, the related risks that we now face would increase.

We may not be able to generate sufficient cash to service all of our existing and future indebtedness, including the Notes, and may be forced to take other actions to satisfy our obligations under our indebtedness, which may not be successful.

As a result of our substantial indebtedness, a significant amount of our cash flow will be required to pay interest and principal on our outstanding indebtedness. Our ability to make scheduled payments on or refinance our indebtedness, including the Notes, depends

 

39

on our financial condition and operating performance, which are subject to prevailing economic and competitive conditions and to certain financial, business, legislative, regulatory, and other factors beyond our control. We may be unable to maintain a level of cash flows from operating activities sufficient to permit us to pay the principal of, premium, if any, and interest on our indebtedness, including the Notes, or to service our other obligations.

We recorded net losses of $24.8 million and $16.2 million for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively, and net income of $5.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. In 2023 and 2024, we incurred a significant amount of debt in order to accelerate the growth of our business by acquiring additional assets and establishing our direct drilling operations. As a result, our cash flows from operations alone would not have been sufficient to service required cash interest and principal payment obligations under our then-existing debt in 2023 and 2024. Furthermore, as of December 31, 2024, we estimate that we will need to make approximately $749.3 million and $3,224.8 million in capital expenditures to develop all our proved and probable undeveloped reserves, respectively, and that we will need to raise approximately $658.9 million in additional capital through the end of 2028 to fund such development. Although we expect our cash flows from operations to be sufficient to service cash interest and principal payment obligations under our debt for the foreseeable future, there can be no assurance as to the sufficiency of our cash flows for that purpose, and we do not expect such cash flows alone to be adequate to fund both our debt service obligations and the development of our reserves. Therefore, we expect to require additional capital to fund our growth and may require additional liquidity to service our debt. As a result, we may use the proceeds of additional debt, including the Notes offered hereby, to make interest and principal payments on our existing debt. See “—Risks Related to Our Business and Operations—The acquisition and development of our properties, directly or through our third-party E&P operators, will require substantial capital, and we and our third-party E&P operators may be unable to obtain needed capital or financing on satisfactory terms or at all, including as a result of increases in the cost of capital resulting from Federal Reserve policies in the past few years and otherwise,” “—Despite our current level of indebtedness, we will still be able to incur substantially more debt. This could further exacerbate the risks to our financial condition described above,” “—Risks Related to the Notes and this Offering—We may invest or spend the proceeds of this offering in ways with which you may not agree,” “Use of Proceeds,” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”

If our cash flows from operations and capital resources are insufficient to fund our debt service obligations, we could face substantial liquidity problems and could be forced to reduce or delay investments and capital expenditures or to dispose of material assets or operations, seek additional debt or equity capital, or restructure or refinance our indebtedness, including the Notes. We may not be able to effect any such alternative measures on commercially reasonable terms or at all and, even if successful, those alternative actions may not allow us to meet our scheduled debt service obligations. If we cannot make scheduled payments on our indebtedness, we will be in default and holders of such indebtedness could declare all outstanding principal of, premium on, and interest, if any, on such indebtedness to be due and payable, and the lenders under any revolving or delayed draw credit facilities, including the Fortress Credit Agreement, could terminate their commitments to loan money to us. As a result of a default, any secured lenders could foreclose against the assets securing their borrowings and we could be forced into bankruptcy or liquidation. All of these events could result in your losing all or a part of your investment in the Notes.

Furthermore, the Fortress Credit Agreement restricts, and our future indebtedness may restrict, our ability to dispose of assets and use the proceeds from such dispositions and may also restrict our ability to raise debt or equity capital to be used to repay other indebtedness when it becomes due. We may not be able to consummate those dispositions or to obtain proceeds in an amount sufficient to meet any debt service obligations then due.

We will need to repay or refinance a substantial amount of our indebtedness prior to maturity of the Notes. Failure to do so could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition.

We are offering Notes with maturities ranging from three to eleven years from the date of initial issuance. As of March 31, 2025, after giving effect to the borrowing of an additional $25.0 million under the Fortress Credit Agreement in April 2025, we had approximately $565.7 million of indebtedness maturing within three years, including all amounts under the Fortress Credit Agreement, $649.0 million of indebtedness maturing within five years, $786.2 million of indebtedness maturing within seven years, and $1,109.4 million of indebtedness maturing within eleven years. Furthermore, the Fortress Credit Agreement provides for an $8.5 million tranche of loans that represents a contingent principal obligation that is only due and payable (together with accrued interest thereon) upon certain conditions occurring, including payment defaults under the Fortress Credit Agreement or a bankruptcy filing by the obligors thereunder. The terms of the Adamantium Securities, the Reg A Bonds, the Subordinated Reg D Bonds, and the July 2022 506(c) Bonds contain mandatory redemption provisions providing the holders thereof with the ability to request redemption of their bonds at any time prior to maturity at a price equal to 100% (with respect to the Adamantium Secured Note), 90% (with respect to the July 2022 506(c) Bonds), or 95% (with respect to the Adamantium Bonds, the Reg A Bonds, and the Subordinated Reg D Bonds) of the principal amount being redeemed. The amount of such redemption is limited (i) on an annual basis to 10% of the aggregate principal amount of Adamantium Bonds, Reg A Bonds, or Subordinated Reg D Bonds, as applicable, then issued and outstanding and (ii) $5.0 million in aggregate principal amount of the Adamantium Secured Note in any 12-month period. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources—Indebtedness.” Consequently, prior to the maturity of the Notes, we will need to repay, refinance, replace, or otherwise extend the maturity of a substantial amount of our existing indebtedness. Our ability to repay, refinance, replace, or extend will be dependent on, among other things, business conditions, our financial performance, and the general condition of the financial markets. If a financial disruption were to occur at the time that we are required to repay such indebtedness, we could be forced to undertake alternate financings, negotiate for an extension of the maturity of such indebtedness, or sell assets and delay capital expenditures in order to generate proceeds that could be used to repay such indebtedness. We cannot assure you that we will be able to consummate any such transaction on terms that are commercially reasonable, on terms acceptable to us, or at all. Our failure to repay, refinance, replace, or otherwise extend the maturity of our indebtedness could result in an event of default under the documents governing our indebtedness, which could lead to an acceleration or repayment of substantially all of our outstanding indebtedness.

 

40

The terms of our outstanding indebtedness restrict, and the terms of future indebtedness we may incur may restrict, our current and future operations, particularly our ability to respond to changes in the economy or our industry or to take certain actions, which could harm our long-term interests.

The agreements governing certain of our existing indebtedness contain, and the agreements governing future indebtedness we may incur may contain, a number of restrictive covenants that impose significant operating and financial restrictions on us and may limit our ability to engage in acts that may be in our long-term best interest, including restrictions on our ability to:

 

•

incur additional indebtedness and guarantee indebtedness;

 

•

pay dividends or make other distributions in respect of, or repurchase or redeem, our capital stock;

 

•

prepay, redeem, or repurchase certain indebtedness;

 

•

make loans and investments;

 

•

sell or otherwise dispose of assets;

 

•

incur liens;

 

•

enter into transactions with affiliates;

 

•

designate any of our subsidiaries as unrestricted subsidiaries;

 

•

enter into agreements restricting our subsidiaries’ ability to pay dividends;

 

•

consolidate, merge, sell, or otherwise dispose of all or substantially all of our assets; and

 

•

prepay subordinated or junior lien indebtedness, including the Notes.

In addition, the Fortress Credit Agreement contains financial covenants that require us to maintain (a) a maximum total secured leverage ratio (i) as of the last day of any fiscal quarter ending on or before December 31, 2025 of less than or equal to 2.00 to 1.00 (commencing with the fiscal quarter ending December 31, 2024) and (ii) as of the last day of any fiscal quarter ending on or after March 31, 2026 of less than or equal to 1.50 to 1.00, (b) a minimum current ratio as of the last day of each calendar month of (i) 0.90 to 1.00 from September 30, 2024 through October 31, 2024, (ii) 0.80 to 1.00 from November 30, 2024 through November 30, 2025, (iii) 0.90 to 1.00 from December 31, 2025 through December 31, 2026, and (iv) 1.00 to 1.00 for each calendar month ending thereafter, and (c) a minimum asset coverage ratio as of the last day of any fiscal quarter (i) ending during the period from June 30, 2024 through December 31, 2024, of at least 2.00 to 1.00, (ii) ending during the period from March 31, 2025 through September 30, 2025, of at least 1.70 to 1.00, and (iii) ending during the period from December 31, 2025 and thereafter, of at least 2.00 to 1.00. Our ability to meet the financial covenant could be affected by events beyond our control.

Furthermore, subject to certain conditions, the Reg A Bonds require that we offer to purchase all or any amount of the outstanding Reg A Bonds at a price equal to the then outstanding principal on the Reg A Bonds being repurchased plus any accrued but unpaid interest on such Reg A Bonds, upon a change of control.

These restrictions may affect our ability to service our indebtedness or grow in accordance with our strategy. As a result of all of these restrictions, we may be:

 

•

limited in how we conduct our business;

 

•

unable to raise additional indebtedness or equity financing to operate during general economic or business downturns; or

 

•

unable to compete effectively or to take advantage of new business opportunities.

A breach of the covenants under any such indebtedness could result in a default under the applicable indebtedness. Such a default may allow the creditors to accelerate the related indebtedness and may result in the acceleration of any other indebtedness to which a cross-acceleration or cross-default provision applies. In addition, an event of default under the Fortress Credit Agreement or any other revolving or delayed draw credit facilities would permit the lenders under those facilities to terminate all commitments to extend further credit thereunder.

Furthermore, if we were unable to repay the amounts due and payable under any secured indebtedness, including the Fortress Credit Agreement, those lenders could proceed against the collateral granted to them, including our available cash, to secure that indebtedness, subject to the provisions of any outstanding intercreditor arrangements. In the event our lenders accelerate the repayment of our borrowings, we and our subsidiaries may not have sufficient assets to repay that indebtedness.

Our variable rate indebtedness subjects us to interest rate risk, which could cause our debt service obligations to increase significantly.

Borrowings under the Fortress Credit Agreement are, and borrowings under indebtedness we may incur in the future may be, at variable rates of interest and expose us to interest rate risk. If interest rates were to increase, our debt service obligations on the

 

41

variable rate indebtedness would increase even though the amount borrowed remained the same, and our net income and cash flows, including cash available for servicing our indebtedness, including the Notes, will correspondingly decrease. In the future, we may enter into interest rate swaps that involve the exchange of floating- for fixed-rate interest payments in order to reduce interest rate volatility or risk. However, we may not maintain interest rate swaps with respect to any of our variable rate indebtedness, and any swaps we enter into may not fully or effectively mitigate our interest rate risk.

Risks Related to the Notes and this Offering

Your right to receive payment under the Notes is contractually subordinated to Senior Debt.

The Notes will be the Issuer’s senior subordinated unsecured obligations and will:

 

•

rank contractually senior in right of payment to all of the Issuer’s existing and future indebtedness that is contractually subordinated to the Notes, including the Subordinated Reg D Bonds;

 

•

without giving effect to collateral arrangements, rank equally in right of payment with all of the Issuer’s existing and future senior indebtedness (other than Senior Debt);

 

•

be contractually subordinated to any Senior Debt, including indebtedness under the Fortress Credit Agreement, the Adamantium Debt, and the Senior Reg D/Reg A Bonds;

 

•

be effectively subordinated to any of the Issuer’s existing or future secured indebtedness and other obligations, including under the Fortress Credit Agreement and the Adamantium Loan Agreement, to the extent of the value of the assets securing such indebtedness; and

 

•

be structurally subordinated to all of the existing and future liabilities (including trade payables) and preferred equity of each of the Issuer’s subsidiaries, including Adamantium.

Upon any payment or distribution to creditors of the Issuer in respect of an insolvency event, the holders of Senior Debt will be entitled to be paid in full from the assets of the Issuer before any payment may be made pursuant to the Notes. Until the Senior Debt is paid in full, any distribution to which holders of the Notes would be entitled shall instead be made to holders of Senior Debt. As a result, in the event of an insolvency of the Issuer, holders of Senior Debt may recover more, ratably, than the holders of Notes.

In addition, the subordination provisions in the Indenture will provide:

 

•

customary turnover provisions by the Trustee and the holders of the Notes for the benefit of the holders of Senior Debt;

 

•

that the Issuer may not make any payment in respect of the Notes if (a) a payment default on Senior Debt has occurred and is continuing or (b) any other default occurs and is continuing on any series of Senior Debt that permits holders of that series of Senior Debt to accelerate its applicable maturity and the Trustee receives a notice of such default from the Issuer or the holders of any Senior Debt, in each case, until such default is cured or waived;

 

•

that the holders of the Notes and the Trustee are prohibited, without the prior consent of such holders of Senior Debt, from taking any enforcement action in relation to the Notes for a period of 90 days after delivery of notice of an event of default under the Indenture to the holders of Senior Debt; and

 

•

that if the Issuer fails to pay the principal of or accrued and unpaid interest, if any, on a Note, on the due date, because of the subordination provisions of the Indenture, the failure shall not constitute a default or event of default under the Indenture.

The Indenture will also provide that, except under very limited circumstances, only the Trustee will have standing to bring an enforcement action in respect of the Notes. Moreover, the Indenture restricts the rights of holders of the Notes to initiate insolvency proceedings or take legal actions against the Issuer, and by accepting any Note each such holder will be deemed to have agreed to these restrictions. As a result of these restrictions, holders of the Notes will have limited remedies and recourse under the Notes in the event of a default by the Issuer.

As of March 31, 2025, after giving effect to the borrowing of an additional $25.0 million under the Fortress Credit Agreement in April 2025, $550.2 million of our outstanding indebtedness would have constituted Senior Debt. Furthermore, the Fortress Credit Agreement provides for an $8.5 million tranche of loans that represents a contingent principal obligation that is only due and payable (together with accrued interest thereon) upon certain conditions occurring, including payment defaults under the Fortress Credit Agreement or a bankruptcy filing by the obligors thereunder. For a description of the terms of the Fortress Credit Agreement, see “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources—Indebtedness—Fortress Credit Agreement.”

 

42

The Notes will be effectively subordinated to the indebtedness under the Fortress Credit Agreement, the Adamantium Loan Agreement, the Adamantium Secured Note, and any of our other secured indebtedness to the extent of the value of the assets securing that indebtedness.

The Notes will not be secured by any of our or our subsidiaries’ assets. As a result, the Notes will be effectively subordinated to the indebtedness under the Fortress Credit Agreement, the Adamantium Loan Agreement, the Adamantium Secured Note, and any of our other secured indebtedness with respect to the assets that secure that indebtedness. As of March 31, 2025, after giving effect to the borrowing of an additional $25.0 million under the Fortress Credit Agreement in April 2025, we had $438.0 million of outstanding secured indebtedness associated with our borrowings under the Fortress Credit Agreement and the Adamantium Loan Agreement. Furthermore, the Fortress Credit Agreement provides for an $8.5 million tranche of loans that represents a contingent principal obligation that is only due and payable (together with accrued interest thereon) upon certain conditions occurring, including payment defaults under the Fortress Credit Agreement or a bankruptcy filing by the obligors thereunder. For a description of the terms of the Fortress Credit Agreement, see “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources—Indebtedness—Fortress Credit Agreement.”

In addition, we may incur additional secured indebtedness in the future. The effect of this subordination is that, upon a default in payment on, or the acceleration of, any of our secured indebtedness, or in the event of bankruptcy, insolvency, liquidation, dissolution, or reorganization of the Issuer, the proceeds from the sale of such assets securing our secured indebtedness will be available to repay obligations on the Notes only after all obligations under the Fortress Credit Agreement, the Adamantium Loan Agreement, and any of our other secured indebtedness have been paid in full, and holders of the Notes will participate ratably in our remaining assets with all holders of our unsecured indebtedness that are deemed to be of the same class as the Notes, and potentially with all of our other general creditors, based upon the respective amounts owed to each holder or creditor. As a result, holders of the Notes may receive less, ratably, than the holders of secured indebtedness in the event of our bankruptcy, insolvency, liquidation, dissolution, or reorganization.

The Notes are the Issuer’s obligations alone, and will be structurally subordinated to all obligations of the Issuer’s existing and future subsidiaries.

The Notes are the Issuer’s obligations alone, and not the obligation of any of its subsidiaries. None of the Issuer’s existing or future subsidiaries will guarantee the Notes, and therefore will have no obligation, contingent or otherwise, to pay amounts due under the Notes or to make any funds available to pay those amounts, whether by dividend, distribution, loan, or other payment. The Notes therefore will be structurally subordinated to all indebtedness and other obligations of any of the Issuer’s subsidiaries such that, in the event of insolvency, liquidation, reorganization, dissolution, or other winding up of any such subsidiary, all of that subsidiary’s creditors (including trade creditors) would be entitled to payment in full out of that subsidiary’s assets before the Issuer would be entitled to any payment from that subsidiary (and, therefore, the Issuer’s creditors, including holders of the Notes, to participate in those assets).

In particular, Adamantium, the Issuer’s wholly owned subsidiary, has issued $204.4 million of Adamantium Securities as of March 31, 2025. The holders of the Adamantium Securities will therefore be entitled to payment in full out of Adamantium’s assets in the event of an insolvency, liquidation, reorganization, dissolution, or other winding up of Adamantium, including Adamantium’s primary asset—the Adamantium Loan Agreement. Borrowings under the Adamantium Loan Agreement are secured by mortgages on certain of our properties, which mortgages are junior to the security interest of the Fortress Credit Agreement and other existing and future senior secured indebtedness. The Adamantium Loan Agreement can be amended or waived without the consent of the holders of the Adamantium Securities or any other holders of our debt, including the Notes. Any such amendment may be adverse to the interests of holders of Notes.

The Indenture will not restrict the Issuer’s subsidiaries from incurring additional indebtedness and will not contain any limitation on the amount of other liabilities, such as trade payables, that may be incurred by these subsidiaries. Any additional indebtedness incurred by the Issuer’s subsidiaries will increase the risks described above.

As of December 31, 2024, the Issuer’s subsidiaries held approximately $332.7 million, or 32.3%, of our total consolidated assets and approximately $75.8 million, or 7.1%, of our total consolidated liabilities, and accounted for approximately $128.1 million, or 45.6%, of our consolidated revenue for the year ended December 31, 2024 (all amounts presented exclude intercompany balances).

We conduct some or all of our operations through subsidiaries and may not have access to sufficient cash to make payments on the Notes.

We are a holding company with limited direct operations. Substantially all of our operations are conducted through our subsidiaries. Our most significant assets are the equity interests we hold in our subsidiaries. Accordingly, our ability to meet outstanding debt service, including with respect to the Notes, and satisfy other obligations is dependent on the generation of cash flow

 

43

by our subsidiaries and their ability to make such cash available to us, whether by dividend, debt repayment, or otherwise. Our subsidiaries do not have any obligation to pay amounts due on the Notes or our other indebtedness or to make funds available for that purpose. Our subsidiaries may not be able to, or may not be permitted to, make distributions to enable us to make payments in respect of our indebtedness, including the Notes. Each subsidiary is a separate and distinct legal entity, and, under certain circumstances, legal and contractual restrictions may limit our ability to obtain cash from our subsidiaries. While the Fortress Credit Agreement limits, and future indebtedness we incur may limit, the ability of our subsidiaries to incur consensual restrictions on their ability to pay dividends or make other intercompany payments to us, these limitations are subject to qualifications and exceptions. In the event that we do not receive distributions from our subsidiaries, we may be unable to make required principal and interest payments on our indebtedness, including the Notes.

The terms of the Indenture and the Notes will not necessarily restrict our ability to take actions that may impair our ability to pay interest on and principal of the Notes.

Although the Indenture will include covenants that will restrict us from taking certain actions, the terms of these covenants will include important exceptions that you should review carefully before investing in the Notes. Among other things, the Indenture will not require us or any of our subsidiaries to maintain any financial ratios, maintain a sinking fund, or repurchase debt securities in the event of a change of control or asset sale, and will not limit our or our subsidiaries’ ability to incur indebtedness, pay dividends or make other distributions in respect of, or repurchase or redeem, capital stock, prepay, redeem, or repurchase indebtedness, issue preferred stock or similar equity securities, make loans and investments, sell or otherwise dispose of assets, incur liens, enter into transactions with affiliates, or enter into agreements restricting subsidiaries’ ability to pay dividends. Such actions may adversely affect our ability to perform our obligations under the Indenture and the Notes and could intensify the related risks that we face.

You will not have the benefit of an independent review of the terms of the Notes, the prospectus, or our company as would customarily be performed in underwritten securities offerings.

In a traditional underwritten securities offering, investment banks acting as underwriters or placement agents undertake a due diligence exercise with the issuer, including business, financial, legal, and accounting analysis, and review the prospectus for material misstatements or omissions. The investment banks in an underwritten securities offering also assist with structuring the terms of the securities, including pricing, and engaging with investors.

We are offering the Notes without an underwriter or placement agent. Therefore, you will not have the benefit of an independent review of the terms of the Notes, the prospectus, or our company. Accordingly, you should consult your own investment, tax, financial, and other professional advisors prior to deciding whether to invest in the Notes.

We may redeem your Notes at our option, which may adversely affect your return.

As described under “Description of Notes—Optional Redemption,” we have the right to redeem the Notes in whole or in part at any time at a redemption price of 100.0% of the principal amount being redeemed, plus accrued and unpaid interest. We may choose to exercise these redemption rights when prevailing interest rates are relatively low. As a result, you may not be able to reinvest the redemption proceeds in a comparable security at an effective interest rate as high as that of the Notes.

Holders of Notes will have a limited right to require us to redeem their Notes, and we may not be able to repurchase such Notes when requested.

A holder may require us, at any time and from time to time prior to maturity, to redeem its Notes at a price equal to 95% of the aggregate principal amount of such Notes plus accrued and unpaid interest to, but excluding, the date of redemption, subject to certain exceptions and to the 10% Limit. Redemption requests will be processed in the order they are received by the Issuer without regard to date of issuance, maturity date, interest payment method, or interest rates of the Notes for which redemption has been requested.

The terms of the Adamantium Securities, the Reg A Bonds, the Subordinated Reg D Bonds, and the July 2022 506(c) Bonds contain mandatory redemption provisions providing the holders thereof with the ability to request redemption of their bonds at any time prior to maturity at a price equal to 100% (with respect to the Adamantium Secured Note), 90% (with respect to the July 2022 506(c) Bonds), or 95% (with respect to the Adamantium Bonds, the Reg A Bonds, and the Subordinated Reg D Bonds) of the principal amount being redeemed. The amount of such redemption is limited (i) on an annual basis to 10% of the aggregate principal amount of Adamantium Bonds, Reg A Bonds, or Subordinated Reg D Bonds, as applicable, then issued and outstanding and (ii) $5.0 million in aggregate principal amount of the Adamantium Secured Note in any 12-month period. No amounts redeemed under such debt will count towards the 10% Limit under the Notes. Subject to applicable subordination provisions that may prohibit us from repurchasing subordinated debt (including the Notes), we intend to process redemption requests for any holder of our debt securities, regardless of which tranche of debt such holder holds, in the order in which such request is received, and do not intend to prioritize redemption requests under the Reg D/Reg A Bonds or Adamantium Securities over redemption requests under the Notes, or visa versa. See “—Your right to receive payment under the Notes is contractually subordinated to Senior Debt” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources—Indebtedness.”

 

44

Our affiliates are not prohibited from owning the Notes or our other indebtedness and may, from time to time, have their Notes or other indebtedness redeemed by us in accordance with the terms of the applicable indebtedness or otherwise. The principal amount of any Notes requested for redemption by, and redeemed from, our manager, executive officers, or their respective family members (an “executive redemption request”) during any calendar year will not be included in calculating the 10% Limit with respect to a redemption request made by any other holder (a “non-executive redemption request”) for such calendar year; however, such redemptions will be included in calculating the 10% Limit with respect to an executive redemption request. As a result, in no circumstance will an executive redemption request decrease the 10% Limit with respect to a non-executive redemption request, but a non-executive redemption request will decrease the 10% Limit with respect to an executive redemption request. For example, if the 10% Limit at the time of a redemption request is $10.0 million, and an executive redemption request is made for $7.5 million aggregate principal amount of Notes and such Notes are redeemed by the Issuer, the 10% Limit remains at $10.0 million for any non-executive redemption requests; however, the 10% Limit for a subsequent executive redemption request would become $2.5 million. Conversely, if the 10% Limit at the time of a redemption request is $10.0 million, and a non-executive redemption request is made for $7.5 million aggregate principal amount of Notes and such Notes are redeemed by the Issuer, the 10% Limit for a subsequent redemption request, whether an executive redemption request or a non-executive redemption request, would become $2.5 million. Therefore, we may be required to purchase up to 20% of the then-outstanding Notes pursuant to the 10% Limit in any calendar year to the extent that executive redemption requests made prior to any non-executive redemption request reach the 10% Limit in such calendar year and subsequent non-executive redemption requests also reach the 10% Limit in such calendar year.

The source of funds for any purchase of the Notes would be our available cash or cash generated from our operations or other sources, including borrowings, sales of assets, or sales of equity. We may not be able to repurchase the Notes upon a redemption request because we may not have sufficient financial resources to purchase all of the Notes requested for redemption. We may require additional financing from third parties to fund any such purchases, and we may be unable to obtain financing on satisfactory terms or at all. Further, our ability to repurchase the Notes may be limited or prohibited by contract or by law. In order to retain funds sufficient to satisfy redemption requests we may have to avoid taking certain actions that would otherwise be beneficial to us.

We will not otherwise be required to redeem the Notes at the request of any holder, whether upon a change of control, in connection with an asset sale or casualty event, at the holder’s option, or otherwise. As a result, holders should expect to hold their Notes until maturity. Although we will pay a fixed rate of interest on the Notes, holders may have to forego opportunities to apply the amounts invested in the Notes in other ways, including in a more lucrative investment.

Notes may only be transferred with our consent. There is no established trading market for the Notes and an active trading market for the Notes is not expected to develop.

The Notes will be a new issue of securities with no established trading market or trading platform. Notes will be transferable by a holder only with our prior written consent, which we may provide at our sole discretion and determine on an ad hoc basis. See “Description of Notes—Transfer.” We do not intend to apply to list the Notes on any securities exchange or over-the-counter market, or to arrange for quotation on any automated dealer quotation system, and we do not expect an active trading market for the Notes to develop.

Even if we permit transfers and obtain a listing or quotation in the future, we do not know the extent to which investor interest will lead to the development and maintenance of a liquid trading market. If a trading market were to develop, future trading prices of the Notes may be volatile and will depend on many factors, including:

 

•

the number of holders of Notes;

 

•

prevailing interest rates;

 

•

our operating performance and financial condition;

 

•

the interest of securities dealers in making a market for them; and

 

•

the market for similar securities.

As a result, an active trading market may not develop for the Notes. If no trading platform is established, or an active trading market does not develop or is not maintained, the market price and liquidity of the Notes would be adversely affected. In that case, you may not be able to sell your Notes at a particular time, at a favorable price, or at all. Therefore, you must be prepared to hold your Notes to maturity and should not purchase Notes unless you understand, and know you can bear, all of the investment risks involving the Notes.

Even if an active trading market for the Notes does develop, there is no guarantee that it will continue. Historically, the market for non-investment grade debt has been subject to severe disruptions that have caused substantial volatility in the prices of securities similar to the Notes. The market, if any, for the Notes may experience similar disruptions, and any such disruptions may adversely affect the liquidity in that market or the prices at which you may sell your Notes. In addition, subsequent to their initial issuance, the Notes may trade at a discount from their initial offering price, depending upon prevailing interest rates, the market for similar Notes, our performance, and other factors.

Notes with longer terms may expose holders to higher risk than those with shorter terms. Likewise, Compound Interest Notes may expose holders to higher risk than Cash Interest Notes.

We are offering Notes with maturities ranging from three to eleven years, and we are offering Notes for which we will pay interest in cash (i.e., Cash Interest Notes) and Notes for which we will pay interest by adding such interest to the then-outstanding principal amount of the Notes (i.e., Compound Interest Notes).

 

45

By necessity, a Note with a longer term will be subject to and affected by the potential risks to our company, our significant indebtedness, the Notes, and this offering (including those described in this “Risk Factors” section) for a longer period of time than a shorter-term Note, resulting in a greater chance of an adverse event occurring prior to maturity of a longer-termed Note.

Likewise, holders of Cash Interest Notes will receive cash interest payments monthly, while holders of Compound Interest Notes will not receive any payments on their Notes until maturity or earlier redemption at the option of the Issuer. As a result, holders of Compound Interest Notes will not gain any liquidity from their investment and will subject both the principal and interest on their Notes to the increased risks described above.

Noteholders must rely on us as note registrar and paying agent under the Indenture.

The Issuer will initially act as paying agent and registrar for the Notes, and will be responsible for making payments on the Notes and maintaining an ownership register. We may have a conflict of interest in serving as the paying agent and registrar, and the absence of a third-party paying agent or registrar may result in less protection to noteholders. For example, if we suffer any successful cyberattacks on our systems, such attacks may effect our records of noteholders, resulting in unauthorized access to your information and even potential loss of records for your Notes.

We may invest or spend the proceeds of this offering in ways with which you may not agree.

Although we intend to use the proceeds from this offering as described under “Use of Proceeds,” we will not be contractually obligated to do so and will retain broad discretion over the use of proceeds from this offering. You may not agree with the manner in which our management chooses to allocate and use the net proceeds. Our management may use the proceeds for purposes that may not increase our profitability or otherwise ensure our ability to pay interest on, and principal of, the Notes. In addition, pending our use of the proceeds, we may invest the proceeds primarily in instruments that do not produce significant income or that may lose value.

Fraudulent transfer and conveyance laws may permit a court to void the Notes and, if that occurs, you may not receive any payments on the Notes.

Fraudulent transfer and conveyance laws may apply to the issuance of the Notes. Under bankruptcy laws and other fraudulent transfer or conveyance laws, the Notes could be avoided as a fraudulent transfer or conveyance if the Issuer (a) issued the Notes with the intent of hindering, delaying, or defrauding creditors or (b) received less than reasonably equivalent value or fair consideration in return for issuing the Notes and, in the case of clause (b) only, one of the following is also true at the time thereof:

 

•

the Issuer was insolvent or rendered insolvent by reason of the issuance of the Notes;

 

•

the issuance of the Notes left the Issuer with an unreasonably small amount of capital or assets to carry on the business engaged in or contemplated;

 

•

the Issuer intended to, or believed that the Issuer would, incur indebtedness beyond our ability to pay such indebtedness as it matures; or

 

•

the Issuer was a defendant in an action for money damages, or had a judgment for money damages docketed against the Issuer, if, in either case, the judgment is unsatisfied after final judgment.

The measures of insolvency for purposes of fraudulent conveyance or fraudulent transfer laws vary depending upon the law of the state or jurisdiction that is being applied, such that we cannot be certain as to: (1) the standards a court would use to determine whether or not the Issuer was insolvent at the relevant time, or, regardless of the standard that a court uses, that it would not determine that the Issuer was indeed insolvent on that date; (2) that any payments to the holders of the Notes did not constitute preferences, fraudulent conveyances, or fraudulent transfers on other grounds; or (3) that the issuance of the Notes would not be subordinated to the Issuer’s other indebtedness. In general, however, a court would deem an entity insolvent if:

 

•

the sum of its indebtedness, including contingent and unliquidated liabilities, was greater than the fair value of all of its assets;

 

•

the present fair saleable value of its assets was less than the amount that would be required to pay its probable liability on its existing indebtedness, including contingent liabilities, as they become absolute and mature; or

 

•

it could not pay its indebtedness as it became due.

If a court were to find that the issuance of the Notes was a fraudulent transfer or conveyance, the court could void the payment obligations under the Notes, subordinate the Notes to presently existing and future indebtedness of the Issuer, or require the holders of

 

46

the Notes to repay any amounts received. In the event of a finding that a fraudulent transfer or conveyance occurred, you may not receive any repayment on the Notes. Further, the avoidance of the Notes could result in an event of default with respect to our other indebtedness that could result in acceleration of that indebtedness.

In addition, any payment by the Issuer pursuant to the Notes made at a time the Issuer was found to be insolvent could be voided and required to be returned to the or to a fund for the benefit of the Issuer’s creditors if such payment is made to an insider within a one-year period prior to a bankruptcy filing or within 90 days for any outside party and such payment would give such insider or outsider party more than such party would have received in a distribution under the Bankruptcy Code, in a hypothetical Chapter 7 case.

Finally, as a court of equity, the bankruptcy court may subordinate the claims in respect of the Notes to other claims against the Issuer under the principle of equitable subordination if the court determines that (1) the holder of the Notes engaged in some type of inequitable conduct, (2) the inequitable conduct resulted in injury to our other creditors or conferred an unfair advantage upon the holders of the Notes, and (3) equitable subordination is not inconsistent with the provisions of the Bankruptcy Code.

If a bankruptcy petition was filed by or against us, the allowed claim for the Notes may be less than the principal amount of the Notes stated in the Indenture.

If a bankruptcy petition was filed by or against us under the Bankruptcy Code after the issuance of the Notes, the claim by any holder of the Notes for the principal amount thereof may be allowed in an amount equal to the sum of:

 

•

the original issue price of the Notes; and

 

•

that portion of the stated principal amount of the Notes that exceeds the issue price thereof, if any, that does not constitute “unmatured interest” for the purposes of the Bankruptcy Code.

Any such discount that was not amortized as of the date of the bankruptcy filing would constitute unmatured interest, which is not allowable as part of a bankruptcy claim under the Bankruptcy Code. Accordingly, holders of the Notes under these circumstances may receive an amount that is less than the principal amount thereof stated in the Indenture.

The Compound Interest Notes will be, and the Cash Interest Notes may be, issued with original issue discount for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

Because stated interests on the Compound Interest Notes will be paid in the form of an increase in the principal amount of the Compound Interest Notes, no stated interest payments on the Compound Interest Notes will be treated as “qualified stated interests” for U.S. federal income tax purposes. As a result, the Compound Interest Notes will be treated as having been issued with OID for U.S. federal income tax purposes in an amount in an amount equal to the excess of the total payments of principal and stated interest on the Compound Interest Notes over their issue price. In addition, Cash Interest Notes may be issued with OID for U.S. federal income tax purposes. In the event a Note is issued with OID, U.S. holder of such Note generally will be required to include OID in gross income (as ordinary income) on an annual basis under a constant yield accrual method, regardless of such U.S. holder’s regular method of accounting for U.S. federal income tax purposes. As a result, such U.S. holder will generally include any OID in income in advance of the receipt of cash attributable to such income. For more information, see “Certain Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations.”

Risks Relating to Our Status as a Public Reporting Company

We will incur significant increased costs and become subject to additional regulations and requirements as a result of becoming a public reporting company, and our management will be required to devote substantial time to new compliance matters.

As a public reporting company, we will incur significant legal, regulatory, finance, accounting, investor relations, and other expenses that we have not incurred as a private company, including costs associated with public company reporting requirements. We also have incurred and will continue to incur costs associated with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (“SOX”) and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and related rules implemented by the SEC. The expenses incurred by public reporting companies for reporting and corporate governance purposes have been increasing. We expect these rules and regulations to increase our legal and financial compliance costs and to make some activities more time-consuming and costly, although we are currently unable to estimate these costs with any degree of certainty. Our management will need to devote a substantial amount of time to ensure that we comply with all of these requirements, diverting the attention of management away from revenue-producing activities. These laws and regulations also could make it more difficult or costly for us to obtain certain types of insurance, including director and officer liability insurance, and we may be forced to accept reduced policy limits and coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain the same or similar coverage. These laws and regulations could also make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified persons to serve as our executive officers. Furthermore, if we are unable to satisfy our obligations as a public reporting company, we could be subject to fines, sanctions, and other regulatory action and potentially civil litigation.

 

47

Furthermore, there is no minimum amount of Notes that must be sold before the proceeds received from the sale of a Note in this offering may be used by us in our operations. As a result, if we sell substantially less than all of the Notes we are offering, the costs we incur to comply with the rules of the SEC regarding financial reporting and other fixed costs (such as those relating to this offering) will be a larger percentage of our revenue and may reduce our financial performance and our ability to fulfil our obligations under the Notes.

Failure to comply with requirements to design, implement, and maintain effective internal controls could have a material adverse effect on our business.

We have not previously been required to evaluate our internal control over financial reporting in a manner that meets the standards of public reporting companies required by Section 404(a) of SOX (“Section 404”). As a public reporting company, we will be subject to significant requirements for enhanced financial reporting and internal controls. The process of designing and implementing effective internal controls is a continuous effort that requires us to anticipate and react to changes in our business and the economic and regulatory environments and to expend significant resources to maintain a system of internal controls that is adequate to satisfy our reporting obligations as a public reporting company. If we are unable to establish or maintain appropriate internal financial reporting controls and procedures, it could cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations on a timely basis, result in material misstatements in our consolidated financial statements, and harm our results of operations. In addition, we will be required, pursuant to Section 404, to furnish a report by management on, among other things, the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting in the second annual report following the completion of this offering. This assessment will need to include disclosure of any material weaknesses identified by our management in our internal control over financial reporting. The rules governing the standards that must be met for our management to assess our internal control over financial reporting are complex and require significant documentation, testing, and possible remediation. Testing and maintaining internal controls may divert our management’s attention from other matters that are important to our business.

In connection with the implementation of the necessary procedures and practices related to internal control over financial reporting, we may identify deficiencies that we may not be able to remediate in time to meet the deadline imposed by SOX for compliance with the requirements of Section 404. In addition, we may encounter problems or delays in completing the remediation of any deficiencies identified by us or our independent registered public accounting firm in connection with the issuance of their attestation report. Our testing, or the subsequent testing (if required) by our independent registered public accounting firm, may reveal deficiencies in our internal controls over financial reporting that are deemed to be material weaknesses. Any material weaknesses could result in a material misstatement of our annual or quarterly financial statements or disclosures that may not be prevented or detected.

Specifically, in connection with the audits of our financial statements as of and for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2023, and 2024, our auditors identified several material weaknesses, including material weaknesses concerning our internal control over financial reporting. These material weaknesses in internal controls were caused by inadequate separation of duties of our management within key financial areas. Other material weaknesses that were identified pertained to our lack of testing over our accounting systems, absence of a board of directors or an audit committee, improper use of accrual accounting, improper controls over the depletion calculation of proved and probable undeveloped reserves, and our use of an inadequate payroll reporting system. Any steps we take to enhance our internal control environment and address the underlying cause of our material weaknesses may not be sufficient to remediate such material weaknesses or to avoid the identification of additional material weaknesses in the future.

We may not be able to conclude on an ongoing basis that we have effective internal control over financial reporting in accordance with Section 404, or our independent registered public accounting firm may not issue an unqualified opinion. If we are unable to remediate the identified material weaknesses, identify additional material weaknesses in the future, or otherwise fail to maintain an effective system of internal controls, or our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to provide us with an unqualified report (to the extent it is required to issue a report), investors could lose confidence in our reported financial information, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition.

We identified certain misstatements to our previously issued financial statements and have restated certain of our consolidated financial statements, which may create additional risks and uncertainties.

On September 12, 2024, our management determined that our audited consolidated financial statements for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022 (the “GAAS 2022 Audited Financial Statements”), contained in our Annual Report on Form 1-K for that year, which was filed in compliance with our offerings under Regulation A, should no longer be relied upon due to certain errors in the GAAS 2022 Audited Financial Statements as addressed in Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 250. We previously filed our Annual Report on Form 1-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023 (the “2023 Form 1-K”) with the SEC on April 30, 2024, which filing contained corrected financial information for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022. On September 26, 2024, we amended our 2023 Form 1-K (the “Form 1-K/A”) to reflect that we had restated the GAAS 2022 Audited Financial Statements.

 

48

Subsequently, on March 7, 2025, our management concluded that each of (i) of our previously issued audited consolidated financial statements as of and for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 (the “2023 and 2022 Audited Financial Statements”) contained in the Form 1-K/A and (ii) our previously issued unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements for the fiscal semiannual periods ended June 30, 2024 and 2023 (the “Semiannual Unaudited Financial Statements” and, together with the 2023 and 2022 Audited Financial Statements, the “Existing Financial Statements”) contained in our Semiannual Report on Form 1-SA/A for the fiscal semiannual period ended June 30, 2024 (the “Form 1-SA/A”), filed with the SEC on September 26, 2024, should no longer be relied upon due to certain errors in the Existing Financial Statements, as addressed in FASB ASC Topic 250. In the Existing Financial Statements, we had immediately expensed debt issuance costs related to our unregistered bond offerings rather than amortizing them over the weighted-average term of the bonds, which resulted in overstated advertising and marketing expense, selling, general, and administrative expense, and payroll and payroll-related expense, and understated interest expense and loss on debt extinguishment. Additionally, in the Existing Financial Statements, we had previously expensed all interest costs, rather than capitalizing interest incurred on expenditures made in connection with our exploration and development projects as permitted under ASC 835-20, “Capitalized Interest,” resulting in us overstating our interest expense and understating our oil and gas properties, in corresponding amounts. Accordingly, on March 27, 2025, we further amended the Form 1-K/A and Form 1-SA/A to reflect that we had restated the Existing Financial Statements.

As a result of the restatements, we may become subject to a number of additional risks and uncertainties and unanticipated costs for accounting, legal, and other fees and expenses. We may become subject to legal proceedings brought by regulatory or governmental authorities, or other proceedings, as a result of the errors or the related restatements, which could result in a loss of investor confidence or other reputational harm, additional defense, and other costs. In addition, we cannot assure you that additional restatements of financial statements will not arise in the future. Any of the foregoing impacts, individually or in aggregate, may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position, and results of operations.

 

49

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This prospectus contains forward-looking statements, which are statements regarding all matters that are not historical facts. They appear in a number of places throughout this prospectus and include statements regarding our current views, hopes, intentions, beliefs, or expectations concerning, among other things, our results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, prospects, growth, strategies, and position in the markets and the industries in which we operate. These forward-looking statements are generally identifiable by forward-looking terminology such as “guidance,” “expect,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “outlook,” “could,” “target,” “project,” “intend,” “plan,” “seek,” “estimate,” “should,” “will,” “would,” “approximately,” “predict,” “potential,” “may,” “continue,” and “assume,” as well as the negative version of such words, variations of such words, and similar expressions referring to the future.

Forward-looking statements are based on our beliefs, assumptions, and expectations, taking into account currently known market conditions and other factors. Our ability to predict results or the actual effect of future events, actions, plans, or strategies is inherently uncertain and involves certain risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control. Our actual results and performance could differ materially from those set forth or anticipated in our forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from the expectations we describe in our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the factors listed below and in the section of this prospectus entitled “Risk Factors.” When considering forward-looking statements, you should keep in mind the risk factors and other cautionary statements in this prospectus. You are cautioned that the forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus are not guarantees of future performance, and we cannot assure you that such statements will be realized or that the forward-looking events and circumstances will occur. All forward-looking statements in this prospectus are made only as of the date this prospectus, based on information available to us as of the date of this prospectus, and we caution you not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements in light of the risks and uncertainties associated with them.

The matters summarized below and elsewhere in this prospectus could cause our actual results and performance to differ materially from those set forth or anticipated in forward-looking statements:

 

•

changes in the markets in which we compete;

 

•

increasing costs of capital expenditures to acquire and develop properties;

 

•

the continued success of our E&P operators;

 

•

delays in development of and higher capital expenditures in our estimated proved and probable undeveloped reserves;

 

•

developments in governmental regulations;

 

•

deviations between the current market value of estimated proved reserves and the present value of future net revenues from our proved reserves;

 

•

changes in current or future commodity prices;

 

•

the fact that reserve estimates depend on many assumptions that may turn out to be inaccurate and that any material inaccuracies in reserve estimates or underlying assumptions will materially affect the quantities and present value of our reserves;

 

•

our ability to replace reserves;

 

•

cybersecurity attacks;

 

•

the development of our software and its ability to continue identifying productive assets;

 

•

our current or future levels of indebtedness;

 

•

repayment of our current or future indebtedness;

 

•

current and future litigation or other regulatory, administrative, or other legal proceedings;

 

•

the restatement of our financial statements; and

 

•

the other factors set forth in the section entitled “Risk Factors.”

Except as required by law, we are under no duty to, and we do not intend to, update or review any of our forward-looking statements after the date of this prospectus, whether as a result of new information, future events or developments, or otherwise.

 

50

USE OF PROCEEDS

Assuming we issue and sell all of the Notes offered by this prospectus, we estimate that the net proceeds we will receive from this offering will be $734.4 million, after deducting the Broker-Dealer Fee (calculated assuming $250.0 million aggregate principal amount of Notes sold per year following effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, which fee could total $5,025,000 if all Notes offered hereby are issued and sold), the sales commissions to be paid to certain of our non-executive personnel as compensation with respect to the sale of Notes (which fees could total $5,978,000 if all Notes offered hereby are issued and sold), and estimated offering expenses of approximately $4.6 million. Our net proceeds would increase to the extent we are able to sell Notes more quickly because of the structure of the Broker-Dealer Fee. See “Plan of Distribution—Broker-Dealer Compensation and Expenses.” We have not made any arrangement to place any of the proceeds from this offering in an escrow, trust, or similar account.

We currently expect to use the net proceeds from this offering (i) to make investments in PhoenixOp or to otherwise finance potential drilling and exploration operations, (ii) for continued acquisitions of mineral rights and non-operated working interests, as well as additional asset acquisitions, and (iii) for other general working capital needs, such as the payment of executive and employee salaries, general overhead, and operating costs, including payments on our debt, and the acquisition of assets in the oil and gas space that are not mineral rights or non-operated working interests. Our actual use of offering proceeds will depend on many considerations, including market conditions, but we currently expect to use the net proceeds from this offering as follows assuming we issue and sell all of the Notes offered by this prospectus:

 

Expected Uses of Proceeds		Approximate Percentage of Proceeds Used				Approximate Amount of Proceeds Used
Investments in PhoenixOp			70.0	%		$	514,077,900
Acquisitions of mineral rights and non-operated working interests			20.0	%			146,879,400
Working capital, other asset acquisitions, and general corporate purposes			10.0	%			73,439,700
Total			100.0	%		$	734,397,000

As of March 31, 2025, we had approximately $132.8 million of indebtedness maturing within one year, as described below:

 

Series		Interest Rate				Amount
Reg A Bonds			9.0	%		$	40,020,000
2020 506(b) Bonds			5.0	%			940,000
2020 506(c) Bonds			13.0%-15.0	%			1,448,000
December 2022 506(c) Bonds—Series B			10.0	%			5,862,000
August 2023 506(c) Bonds—Series U, AA, and FF			9.0%-10.0	%			84,497,000
Total						$	132,767,000

We currently intend to utilize the net proceeds from this offering in the order set out in the preceding paragraph. However, the expected use of net proceeds from this offering represents our intentions based upon our present plans and business conditions, which could change in the future as our plans and business conditions evolve. In addition to the potential net proceeds from this offering of Notes, we have cash flow from operations, as well as multiple current and potential sources of financing, including under the Adamantium Loan Agreement and our offerings of debt securities pursuant to Regulation D, that can be utilized for the purposes described above, and so we cannot accurately predict whether and in what amounts the net proceeds from this offering of the Notes will be applied. In particular, to the extent we use any proceeds from this offering of the Notes to repay outstanding indebtedness, we cannot accurately predict which indebtedness we may repay with such proceeds, and in what amounts. We may find it necessary or advisable to use the net proceeds of this offering for other purposes, and we will have broad discretion in the application and specific allocations of the net proceeds of this offering. See “Risk Factors—Risks Related to the Notes and this Offering—We may invest or spend the proceeds of this offering in ways with which you may not agree.”

Furthermore, we will receive cash proceeds from this offering in varying amounts from time to time as Notes are sold, which makes it difficult for us to precisely calculate the allocation of net proceeds. Further, the Notes will have varying lengths of maturity, interest rates, and interest payment methods as described elsewhere in this prospectus, which makes it impossible to predict with any accuracy how much of the proceeds will be used to make payments of interest or principal on the Notes in any given year.

There is no minimum number or amount of Notes that we must sell to receive and use the proceeds from this offering, and we cannot assure you that all or any portion of the Notes will be sold. In the event that we do not raise sufficient proceeds from this offering, we may adjust our use of proceeds by limiting the speed of growth, delaying or canceling certain purchases or initiatives related to our drilling and production operations, and streamlining our operations, or we could terminate this offering and determine to pay back some or all of our debt, including the Notes. This might result in the Notes being repaid prior to maturity. See “Risk Factors.”

 

51

CAPITALIZATION

The following table sets forth, as of December 31, 2024, our cash and cash equivalents and consolidated capitalization:

 

•

on an actual basis; and

 

•

on an as-adjusted basis to give effect to the following, in each case, as if they had occurred on December 31, 2024:

 

•

the issuance of an additional $41.2 million of Adamantium Securities (and a corresponding amount borrowed under the Adamantium Loan Agreement) between January 1, 2025 and March 31, 2025;

 

•

the issuance of an additional $126.7 million of August 2023 506(c) Bonds between January 1, 2025 and March 31, 2025;

 

•

additional borrowings under the Fortress Credit Agreement of $25.0 million made after March 31, 2025;

 

•

the issuance of the Notes offered hereby; and

 

•

the repurchase or retirement of outstanding indebtedness between January 1, 2025 and March 31, 2025.

You should read this table in conjunction with the information presented under the sections of this prospectus entitled “Summary—Summary Historical Consolidated Financial Information and Other Data,” “Use of Proceeds,” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” as well as our consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus.

 

		As of December 31, 2024
		Actual				As-Adjusted
		(in thousands)
Cash and cash equivalents(1)		$	120,814			$	967,265
Debt:
Fortress Credit Agreement(2)			250,000				275,000
Reg A Bonds(3)			104,884				99,577
Reg D Bonds:
2020 506(b) Bonds(4)			940				940
2020 506(c) Bonds(5)			2,098				1,448
July 2022 506(c) Bonds(6)			10,457				10,147
December 2022 506(c) Bonds(7)			68,974				65,888
August 2023 506(c) Bonds(8)			415,354				493,290
Adamantium Securities(9)			135,180				163,048
Notes offered hereby(10)			—				750,000
Total debt		$	987,887			$	1,859,338
Total members’ deficit		$	(34,058)			$	(34,058)
Total capitalization		$	953,829			$	1,825,280

(1)

As-adjusted reflects cash and cash equivalents as of December 31, 2024 after giving effect to (i) proceeds received from the issuance of additional Adamantium Securities and August 2023 506(c) Bonds between January 1, 2025 and March 31, 2025, (ii) cash used to repurchase or retire outstanding indebtedness between January 1, 2025 and March 31, 2025, and (iii) net proceeds received from the issuance of Notes assuming the entire amount offered hereby is issued and sold. As-adjusted cash and cash equivalents does not reflect the use of any such proceeds for capital expenditures or other corporate purposes, including repayment of debt. See “Use of Proceeds.”

 

(2)

The Fortress Credit Agreement provides for a $100.0 million term loan facility, borrowed in full on August 12, 2024, a $35.0 million delayed draw term loan facility, which was fully drawn on October 11, 2024, a $115.0 million term loan facility, borrowed in full on December 18, 2024, and a $25.0 million term loan facility, borrowed in full on April 16, 2025. The Fortress Credit Agreement also provides for an $8.5 million tranche of loans that represents a contingent principal obligation that is only due and payable (together with accrued interest thereon) upon certain conditions occurring, including payment defaults under the Fortress Credit Agreement or a bankruptcy filing by the obligors thereunder. All obligations under the Fortress Credit Agreement are secured on a first-lien priority basis, subject to certain

 

52