American Oncology Network (AONC) Risk Analysis

Certain provisions of our Charter and Bylaws contain an anti-takeover effect and may delay, defer or prevent a merger, acquisition, tender offer, takeover attempt or other change of control transaction that a stockholder might consider in its best interest, including those attempts that might result in a premium over the market price for the shares held by our stockholders. These provisions provide for, among other things: - the division of our Board into three classes of directors, with each class serving a staggered three year term;- there is no cumulative voting with respect to the election of our Board;- the ability of our Board to issue one or more series of preferred stock;- advance notice for nominations of directors by stockholders and for stockholders to include matters to be considered at our annual meetings;- limiting the ability of stockholders to call special stockholder meetings;- limiting the ability of stockholders to act by written consent;- the ability of our Board to exclusively fill a vacancy created by the expansion of our Board or the resignation, death or removal of a director in certain circumstances;- providing that our Board is expressly authorized to adopt, amend, alter or repeal our bylaws;- providing that stockholders may amend the bylaws only by the affirmative vote of at least 66.7% of the voting power of all then outstanding shares of capital stock of AON entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, voting together as a single class; and - AON is subject to the provisions of Section 203 of Delaware General Corporation Law ("DGCL"). These anti-takeover provisions could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us, even if the third party's offer may be considered beneficial by many of our stockholders. As a result, our stockholders may be limited in their ability to obtain a premium for their shares. These provisions could also discourage proxy contests and make it more difficult for you and other stockholders to elect directors of your choosing and to cause us to take other corporate actions you desire. See "Description of Securities."

Our charter provides that, subject to limited exceptions, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware shall be the sole and exclusive forum for any (i) derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of us, (ii) action asserting a claim of breach of a duty (including any fiduciary duty) owed by any current or former director, officer, stockholder, employee or agent of the Company to us or our stockholders, (iii) action asserting out of or relating to any provision of the DGCL, the Charter or the Bylaws or (iv) action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine of the State of Delaware shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law. Our charter will also provide that, to the fullest extent permitted by law, the federal district courts of the United States will be the exclusive forum for resolving any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act. Any person or entity purchasing, otherwise acquiring or holding any interest in shares of our capital stock shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the provisions of the provisions of the Charter described above. This choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder's ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers or other employees, which may discourage such lawsuits against us and our directors, officers and employees. This exclusive forum provision will not apply to claims under the Exchange Act, but will apply to actions arising under the Securities Act. Section 22 of the Securities Act,however, creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. Accordingly, there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce such a forum selection provision as written in connection with claims arising under the Securities Act, and investors cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. If a court were to find these provisions of the Charter inapplicable to, or unenforceable in respect of, one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could adversely affect our business and financial condition.

We were obligated to register for resale a substantial amount of our securities in the public market and such securities represent approximately 536% of total AON Class A Common Stock outstanding as of March 26, 2024. The amount of Class A Common Stock offered for resale exceeds the number of shares of Class A Common Stock currently outstanding because a significant portion of the shares of Class A Common Stock registered and offered for resale is not currently outstanding and are issuable upon the exercise of warrants, conversion of our Class B Common Stock, or conversion of our Series A Preferred Stock. The sale of these securities in the public market, or the perception that holders of a large number of securities intend to sell their securities, could reduce the market price of our Class A Common Stock and public warrants. As of March 20, 2024, lock-up restrictions with respect to the AON LLC equity stockholders for whom 28,109,796 shares are registered for resale, have expired, and AON LLC equity holders may convert their AON LLC common units and Class B Common Stock for up to an aggregate of 28,109,796 shares of Class A Common Stock. Furthermore, the Sponsors and its permitted transferees for whom 14,450,833 shares are registered for resale, are currently prohibited from transferring its shares of Class A Common Stock for a period of 12 months following the Closing Date. The market price of our Class A Common Stock could decline if the holders of our Class A Common Stock sell such shares or are perceived by the market as intending to sell them.

The Sponsor paid the nominal price of $0.003 per share for the shares of Class A Common Stock held by it and $1.50 per private placement warrant as of March 12, 2021. The shares held by the Sponsor and its permitted transferees (including 2,839,375 Earnout Shares, which are subject to vesting) represent approximately 87% of the total outstanding shares of the Company's Class A Common Stock. If the Sponsor exercised its 6,113,333 private placement warrants, the Sponsor would own an aggregate of 14,450,833 shares of our Class A Common Stock, or approximately 92% of our outstanding Class A Common Stock. As a result of these nominal prices compared with the market prices of our Class A Common Stock and public warrants, which as of March 26, 2024, were $5.97 per share and $0.39 per warrant, respectively, the Sponsor is likely to earn a positive return on its investment even if other holders of shares of Class A Common Stock, including our public stockholders, experience a negative return on their investment in the Company's securities. Based on the closing price as of March 26, 2024 of $5.97 per share, the Sponsor and its permitted transferees could earn a profit of $49.8 million (assuming full vesting of the Earnout Shares). Based on the closing price of $0.39 per warrant, the Sponsor and its permitted transferees will not earn a profit on the sale of the private placement warrants, but if the trading price of the warrant exceeds the $1.50 price that the Sponsor paid for the private placement warrants, the Sponsors and its permitted transferees may realize a profit. As a result, the market price of our Class A Common Stock may be depressed because the Sponsor paid approximately $0.003 per share for its Founder Shares. The Sponsor and its permitted transferees may be incentivized to sell its securities when others are not. Other stockholders and investors may not experience a similar rate of return.

The price of our securities may continue to fluctuate significantly. An active trading market for our securities may never develop or, if developed, it may not be sustained. In addition, the price of our securities can vary due to general economic conditions and forecasts, our general business condition and the release of our financial reports. Additionally, if our securities are not listed on, or become delisted from Nasdaq for any reason, and are quoted on the OTC Bulletin Board, an inter-dealer automated quotation system for equity securities that is not a national securities exchange, the liquidity and price of our securities may be more limited than if we were quoted or listed on Nasdaq or another national securities exchange. You may be unable to sell your securities unless a market can be established or sustained.

Currently, Class A Common Stock and public warrants are listed on Nasdaq under the symbols "AONC" and "AONCW." In order to continue the list of these securities on Nasdaq, we are required to maintain certain financial, distribution and stock price levels. Generally, we are required to maintain a public float of $500,000, a minimum market capitalization of $1,000,000 and a minimum number of holders of our securities (generally 300 round lot stockholders). If Nasdaq delists our securities from trading on its exchange and we are not able to list its securities on another national securities exchange, we expect our securities could be quoted on an over-the-counter market. If this were to occur, we could face significant material adverse consequences, including: - a limited availability of market quotations for our securities;- reduced liquidity for our securities;- a determination that Class A Common Stock is a "penny stock" which will require brokers trading in Class A Common Stock to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly result in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our securities;- a limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and - a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future. The National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, which is a federal statute, prevents or preempts the states from regulating the sale of certain securities, which are referred to as "covered securities." Since Class A Common Stock and public warrants are listed on Nasdaq, they are covered securities. However, if our securities were no longer listed on Nasdaq, they would not be covered securities and we would be subject to regulation in each state in which we offer our securities.

The exercise price for our public warrants is $11.50 per share, and the exercise price for our private placement warrants is $11.50 per share (each as subject to adjustment as described herein), which exceeds the market price of Class A Common Stock, which was $5.97 per share based on the closing price of Class A Common Stock on Nasdaq on March 26, 2024. If all of our public warrants were exercised in full for cash, we would receive an aggregate of approximately $95.9 million. If all of our public warrants and private placement warrants were exercised in full for cash, we would receive an aggregate of approximately $166.2 million. We do not expect warrant holders to exercise their warrants and, therefore, we do not expect to receive cash proceeds from any such exercise, for so long as the warrants remain out-of-the money. There can be no assurance that the public warrants will ever be in the money prior to their expiration and, as such, the warrants may expire worthless.

We may redeem outstanding warrants (excluding any private placement warrants held by the Sponsor or its permitted transferees) at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at $0.01 per warrant, provided that the last reported sales price (or the closing bid price of Class A Common Stock in the event Class A Common Stock is not traded on any specific trading day) of Class A Common Stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per-share for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading-day period ending on the third business day prior to the date we send proper notice of such redemption, provided that on the date we give notice of redemption and during the entire period thereafter until the time we redeem the warrants, there is an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the shares of Class A Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and a current prospectus relating to them is available. We also have the ability to redeem outstanding warrants (excluding any private placement warrants held by the Sponsor or its permitted transferees) at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at $0.10; provided that (i) the last reported sales price of the Class A Common Stock equals or exceeds $10.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations and the like) on each of 20 trading days within the 30 trading-day period ending on the third business day prior to the date on which AON sends proper notice of such redemption and (ii) if the last reported sales price of the Class A Common Stock is less than $18.00 per share, the Private Placement Warrants are also concurrently exchanged at the same price (equal to a number of shares of Class A Common Stock) as the outstanding Public Warrants; provided that on the date AON gives notice of redemption and during the entire period thereafter until the time AON redeems the warrants, AON has an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the shares of Class A Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and a current prospectus relating to them is available. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. Redemption of the outstanding warrants could force a warrant holder: (i) to exercise its warrants and pay the exercise price therefore at a time when it may be disadvantageous for it to do so, (ii) to sell its warrants at the then-current market price when it might otherwise wish to hold its warrants or (iii) to accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding warrants are called for redemption, will be substantially less than the market value of its warrants.

We have 8,337,500 public warrants and 6,113,333 private placement warrants outstanding, all of which are currently exercisable. Each public warrant entitles its holder to purchase one share of Common Stock at an exercise price of $11.50 per share, and each private placement warrant entitles its holder to purchase one share of Common Stock at an exercise price of $11.50 per share (subject to adjustment as described herein). To the extent warrants are exercised, additional shares of Common Stock will be issued, which will result in dilution to our then existing stockholders and increase the number of shares eligible for resale in the public market. Sales of substantial numbers of such shares in the public market could depress the market price of Class A Common Stock.