Costamare (CMRE) Risk Analysis

Members of the Konstantakopoulos family own as of March 19, 2024, directly or indirectly, approximately 64.1% of our outstanding common stock, in the aggregate. These stockholders will be able to control the outcome of matters on which our stockholders are entitled to vote, including the election of our entire board of directors and other significant corporate actions. The interests of each of these stockholders may be different from yours. See "Item 3. Key Information-D. Risk Factors-Our chairman and chief executive officer has affiliations with our managers and others that could create conflicts of interest between us and our managers or other entities in which he has an interest."

The Preferred Stock represents perpetual equity interests in us and, unlike our indebtedness, will not give rise to a claim for payment of a principal amount at a particular date. As a result, holders of the Preferred Stock may be required to bear the financial risks of an investment in the Preferred Stock for an indefinite period of time. The payment due to a holder of Preferred Stock upon a liquidation is fixed at the redemption preference of $25.00 per share plus accumulated and unpaid dividends to the date of liquidation. If, in the case of our liquidation, there are remaining assets to be distributed after payment of this amount, you will have no right to receive or to participate in these amounts. Furthermore, if the market price for your Preferred Stock is greater than the liquidation preference, you will have no right to receive the market price from us upon our liquidation.

Our common stock is the only class of our stock carrying full voting rights. Holders of the Preferred Stock generally have no voting rights except (1) in respect of amendments to the Articles of Incorporation which would adversely alter the preferences, powers or rights of the Preferred Stock or (2) in the event that the Company proposes to issue any parity stock if the cumulative dividends payable on outstanding Preferred Stock are in arrears or any senior stock. However, if and whenever dividends payable on the Preferred Stock are in arrears for six or more quarterly periods, whether or not consecutive, holders of Preferred Stock (for this purpose the Series B, Series C, Series D and Series E Preferred Stock will vote together as a single class with all other classes or series of parity stock upon which like voting rights have been conferred and are exercisable) will be entitled to elect one additional director to serve on our board of directors, and the size of our board of directors will be increased as needed to accommodate such change (unless the size of our board of directors already has been increased by reason of the election of a director by holders of parity stock upon which like voting rights have been conferred and with which the Preferred Stock voted as a class for the election of such director). The right of such holders of Preferred Stock to elect a member of our board of directors will continue until such time as all accumulated and unpaid dividends on the Preferred Stock have been paid in full.

Our Preferred Stock is subordinated to all of our existing and future indebtedness. As of December 31, 2023, we had outstanding indebtedness, including our other financing arrangements, finance leases and our unsecured bond loan, of approximately $2.4 billion. Our existing indebtedness restricts, and our future indebtedness may include restrictions on, our ability to pay dividends to preferred stockholders. Our charter currently authorizes the issuance of up to 100 million shares of preferred stock in one or more classes or series. Of this preferred stock, 75.4 million shares remain available for issuance after giving effect to the designation of 10 million shares as Series A Participating Preferred Stock in connection with our adoption of a stockholder rights plan, the issuance of two million shares as Series B Preferred Stock, the issuance of four million shares as Series C Preferred Stock, the issuance of four million shares as Series D Preferred Stock and the issuance of four million six hundred thousand shares as Series E Preferred Stock. The issuance of additional preferred stock on a parity with or senior to our Preferred Stock would dilute the interests of the holders of our Preferred Stock, and any issuance of preferred stock senior to or on a parity with our Preferred Stock or of additional indebtedness could affect our ability to pay dividends on, redeem or pay the liquidation preference on our Preferred Stock. No provisions relating to our Preferred Stock protect the holders of our Preferred Stock in the event of a highly leveraged or other transaction, including a merger or the sale, lease or conveyance of all or substantially all our assets or business, which might adversely affect the holders of our Preferred Stock.

We are a "foreign private issuer" under the securities laws of the United States and the rules of the NYSE. Under the securities laws of the United States, "foreign private issuers" are subject to different disclosure requirements than U.S. domiciled registrants, as well as different financial reporting requirements. Under the NYSE rules, a "foreign private issuer" is subject to less stringent corporate governance requirements. Subject to certain exceptions, the rules of the NYSE permit a "foreign private issuer" to follow its home country practice in lieu of the listing requirements of the NYSE. As permitted by this exemption, as well as by our bylaws and the laws of the Marshall Islands, we currently have a board of directors with a majority of non-independent directors, an audit committee comprised solely of two independent directors and a combined corporate governance, nominating and compensation committee with one non-independent director serving as a committee chairman. As a result, non-independent directors, including members of our management who also serve on our board of directors, may, among other things, fix the compensation of our management, make stock and option awards and resolve governance issues regarding our company. Accordingly, in the future you may not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to all of the NYSE corporate governance requirements.

We operate a dry bulk operating platform, we have recently entered into a leasing business and we own and operate both containerships and dry bulk fleets.  Historically, companies that have multiple lines of business or own mixed asset classes have tended to trade at levels that suggest lower valuations than "pure play" companies.  Accordingly, investors may view our stock as relatively less attractive than stocks of pure play companies, which could materially and adversely affect the trading price of our securities.

The price of our equity securities has been and may continue to be volatile and may fluctuate due to various factors including: - actual or anticipated fluctuations in quarterly and annual results;- fluctuations in the seaborne transportation industry, including fluctuations in the containership and dry bulk markets;- our payment of dividends;- mergers and strategic alliances in the shipping industry;- changes in governmental regulations or maritime self-regulatory organization standards;- shortfalls in our operating results from levels forecasted by securities analysts;- announcements concerning us or our competitors;- general economic conditions;- terrorist acts;- future sales of our stock or other securities;- investors' perceptions of us and the international shipping industry;- the general state of the securities markets; and - other developments affecting us, our industry or our competitors. The shipping industry and associated derivatives markets are highly unpredictable and volatile. Securities markets worldwide are experiencing significant price and volume fluctuations. The market price for our securities may also be volatile. This market volatility, as well as general economic, market or political conditions, could reduce the market price of our securities in spite of our operating performance. Consequently, you may not be able to sell our securities at prices equal to or greater than those at which you pay or paid. Furthermore, sales of a substantial number of shares of our equity securities in the public market, or the perception that these sales could occur, may depress the market price for our securities. These sales could also impair our ability to raise additional capital through the sale of our equity securities in the future. On July 6, 2016, we implemented a dividend reinvestment plan (the "Dividend Reinvestment Plan") that offers holders of our common stock the opportunity to purchase additional shares by having their cash dividends automatically reinvested in our common stock. Subject to the rules of the NYSE, in the future, we may issue, in addition to the shares to be issued under our Dividend Reinvestment Plan and the shares to be issued under the Services Agreement, additional shares of common stock, and other equity securities of equal or senior rank, without stockholder approval, in a number of circumstances. During the year ended December 31, 2023, we have issued 1,742,320 new shares under the Dividend Reinvestment Plan. In addition, during the year ended December 31, 2023, we have issued 598,400 common shares to Costamare Services in payment of services rendered under the Services Agreement. The issuance by us of additional shares of common stock or other equity securities of equal or senior rank would have the following effects: - our existing stockholders' proportionate ownership interest in us will decrease;- the dividend amount payable per share on our securities may be lower;- the relative voting strength of each previously outstanding share may be diminished; and - the market price of our securities may decline. Our major stockholders also may elect to sell large numbers of shares held by them from time to time. The number of shares of common stock and Preferred Stock available for sale in the public market will be limited by restrictions applicable under securities laws, and agreements that we and our executive officers, directors and existing stockholders may enter into with the underwriters at the time of an offering. Subject to certain exceptions, these agreements generally restrict us and our executive officers, directors and existing stockholders from directly or indirectly offering, selling, pledging, hedging or otherwise disposing of our equity securities or any security that is convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for our equity securities and from engaging in certain other transactions relating to such securities for an agreed period after the date of an offering prospectus without the prior written consent of the underwriters.

We are a Marshall Islands corporation and all of our subsidiaries are, and will likely be, incorporated in jurisdictions outside the United States. In addition, our executive offices are located outside of the United States in Monaco. All of our directors and officers reside outside of the United States, and all or a substantial portion of our assets and the assets of most of our officers and directors are, and will likely be, located outside of the United States. As a result, it may be difficult or impossible for U.S. investors to serve legal process within the United States upon us or any of these persons or to enforce a judgment against us for civil liabilities in U.S. courts. In addition, you should not assume that courts in the countries in which we or our subsidiaries are incorporated or where our or our subsidiaries' assets are located (1) would enforce judgments of U.S. courts obtained in actions against us or our subsidiaries based upon the civil liability provisions of applicable U.S. federal and state securities laws or (2) would enforce, in original actions, liabilities against us or our subsidiaries based on those laws. There is also substantial doubt that the courts of the Marshall Islands or Monaco would enter judgments in original actions brought in those courts predicated on U.S. federal or state securities laws.

Our corporate affairs are governed by our articles of incorporation and bylaws and by the Marshall Islands Business Corporations Act (the "BCA"). The provisions of the BCA are similar to provisions of the corporation laws of a number of states in the United States, most notably Delaware. The BCA also provides that it is to be applied and construed to make it uniform with the laws of Delaware and other states of the United States that have substantially similar legislative provisions or statutory laws. In addition, so long as it does not conflict with the BCA or decisions of the Marshall Islands courts, the BCA is to be interpreted according to the non-statutory law (or case law) of the State of Delaware and other states of the United States that have substantially similar legislative provisions or statutory laws. There have been, however, few court cases in the Marshall Islands interpreting the BCA, in contrast to Delaware, which has a well-developed body of case law interpreting its corporate law statutes. Accordingly, we cannot predict whether Marshall Islands courts would reach the same conclusions as the courts in Delaware or such other states of the United States. For example, the rights and fiduciary responsibilities of directors under the laws of the Marshall Islands are not as clearly established as the rights and fiduciary responsibilities of directors under statutes or judicial precedent in existence in the relevant U.S. jurisdictions. Stockholder rights may differ as well. As a result, our public stockholders may have more difficulty in protecting their interests in the face of actions by the management, directors or controlling stockholders than would stockholders of a corporation incorporated in a U.S. jurisdiction. The Marshall Islands has no established bankruptcy act, and as a result, any bankruptcy action involving our company would have to be initiated outside the Marshall Islands, and our public stockholders may find it difficult or impossible to pursue their claims in such other jurisdictions.

The ability of our managers to continue providing services for our benefit will depend in part on their own financial strength. Circumstances beyond our control could impair our managers' financial strength, and because they are privately held companies, information about their financial strength is not publicly available. As a result, an investor in our stock might have little advance warning of problems affecting any of our managers, even though these problems could have a material adverse effect on us. As part of our reporting obligations as a public company, we will disclose information regarding our managers that has a material impact on us to the extent that we become aware of such information.