Ramaco Resources (5R02) Risk Analysis

We depend on our lessees to correctly report production and royalty revenues on a monthly basis. Our regular lessee audits and mine inspections may not discover any irregularities in these reports or, if we do discover errors, we might not identify them in the reporting period in which they occurred. Any undiscovered reporting errors could result in a loss of royalty revenues and errors identified in subsequent periods could lead to accounting disputes as well as disputes with our lessees.

Principles of applicable law and the provisions of our Amended Charter may protect decisions of our Board that have a disparate impact upon a particular class of common stock. Under applicable law, our Board has a duty to act with due care and in the best interests of all of our stockholders, regardless of the class of stock, or series, they hold. Principles of applicable law established in cases involving differing treatment of multiple classes or series of stock provide that a Board owes an equal duty to all stockholders and does not have separate or additional duties to any subset of stockholders. Judicial opinions in Delaware involving tracking stocks have established that decisions by directors or officers involving differing treatment of holders of tracking stocks may be judged under the business judgment rule. In some circumstances, our directors or officers may be required to make a decision that is viewed as adverse to the holders of a particular series of that stock. Under the principles of applicable law and the business judgment rule referred to above, the holders of Class B common stock may not be able to successfully challenge decisions that they believe have a disparate impact upon the stockholders of one of our classes if a majority of our Board is disinterested and independent with respect to the action taken, is adequately informed with respect to the action taken and acts in good faith and in the honest belief that our Board is acting in the best interest of the Company and all of our stockholders.

Our Amended Charter does not contain any provisions governing how consideration received in connection with a merger or consolidation involving the Company is to be distributed to the holders of Class A common stock and Class B common stock, and none of the holders of Class A common stock and Class B common stock will have a separate class vote in the event of such a merger or consolidation. Consistent with applicable principles of applicable law, our Board will seek to divide the type and amount of consideration received in a merger or consolidation involving the Company among holders of Class A common stock and Class B common stock in a fair manner. As the different ways our Board may divide the consideration between holders of the different classes of stock might have materially different results, the consideration to be received by holders of Class B common stock in any such merger or consolidation may be materially less valuable than the consideration they would have received if they had a separate class vote on such merger or consolidation.

Applicable law requires stockholder approval only for a sale or other disposition of all or substantially all of the assets of the Company taken as a whole, and our Amended Charter does not require a separate class vote in the case of a sale of a significant amount of assets attributed to any of our classes of common stock. As long as the assets attributed to a certain class of common stock proposed to be disposed of represent less than substantially all of our assets, we may approve sales and other dispositions of any amount of the assets of such class without any stockholder approval. Our Board will decide, in its sole discretion, how to proceed and is not required to select the option that would result in the highest value to holders of any particular class of stock.

If CORE was a separate, independent company and its shares were acquired by another person, certain costs of that sale, including corporate level taxes, might not be payable in connection with that acquisition. As a result, stockholders of a separate, independent company with the same assets might receive a greater amount of proceeds than the holders of Class B common stock would receive upon a sale of all or substantially all of the assets of CORE. In addition, we cannot assure the holders of Class B common stock that in the event of such a sale the per share consideration to be paid to holders of Class B common stock will be equal to or more than the per share value of that share of stock prior to or after the announcement of a sale of all or substantially all of the assets of CORE. Further, there is no requirement that the consideration paid be tax-free to the holders of Class B common stock. Accordingly, if we sell all or substantially all of the assets attributed to CORE, our Class B stockholders could suffer a loss in the value of their investment in our Class B common stock.

Under the Amended Charter, upon Ramaco Resources' liquidation, dissolution or winding up, holders of Class A common stock and Class B common stock will be entitled to receive, in respect of their shares of such stock, their proportionate interest in all of Ramaco Resources' assets, if any, remaining for distribution to holders of common stock in proportion to their respective number of shares. Hence, the assets to be distributed to a holder of either class of common stock upon a liquidation, dissolution or winding up of Ramaco Resources will have nothing to do with the value of the assets attributed to the class of common stock or to changes in the relative value of the Class B common stock over time.

Our Amended Charter permits our Board, in its sole discretion, to convert all of the outstanding shares of Class B common stock into shares of Class A common stock based on an exchange ratio determined by a 20-day trailing VWAP for each class of stock. A conversion would preclude the holders of Class B common stock from retaining their investment in a security that is intended to reflect separately the performance of CORE. We cannot predict the impact on the market value of our stock of (1) our Board's ability to effect any such conversion or (2) the exercise of this conversion right by our Board. In addition, our Board may effect such a conversion at a time when the market value of our different stocks could cause the stockholders of one group to be disadvantaged.

Holders of Class A common stock and Class B common stock vote together as a single class, except in certain limited circumstances prescribed under applicable law. When holders of Class A common stock and Class B common stock vote together as a single class, holders having a majority of the votes will be in a position to control the outcome of the vote even if the matter involves a conflict of interest among our stockholders or has a greater impact on one class than another.

Sales of, or hedging transactions such as collars relating to, shares of Class B common stock by any of our directors or executive officers, could cause a perception in the marketplace that the stock price of the Class B common stock has peaked or that adverse events or trends have occurred or may be occurring at the Company or with respect to the Class B common stock. This perception can result notwithstanding any personal financial motivation for these transactions. As a result, insider transactions could depress the market price for shares of the Class B common stock.

If CORE were a separate independent company, any person interested in acquiring CORE without negotiating with management could seek control of that class by obtaining control of its outstanding voting stock, by means of a tender offer or a proxy contest. Although we intend Class B common stock to reflect the separate economic performance of CORE, it is not a separate entity, and a person interested in acquiring that class of common stock without negotiation with our management could obtain control of that class only by obtaining control of a majority in voting power of all of the outstanding voting shares of the Company. The existence of different classes of common stock could present complexities and in certain circumstances pose obstacles, financial and otherwise, to an acquiring person that are not present in companies that do not have a capital structure similar to ours.

These provisions include: - authorizing a capital structure with multiple classes of common stock: a Class A common stock and Class B common stock;- classifying our Board with staggered three-year terms, which may lengthen the time required to gain control of our Board;- prohibiting stockholder action by written consent, thereby requiring all stockholder actions to be taken at a meeting of the stockholders;- limiting who may call special meetings of stockholders;- establishing advance notice requirements for nominations of candidates for election to our Board or for proposing matters that can be acted upon by stockholders at stockholder meetings;- requiring stockholder approval by holders of at least 66 2/3% of our aggregate voting power with respect to certain extraordinary matters, such as an amendment to our Amended Charter (excluding amendments to Section 4.1 thereof) or bylaws, and the approval by holders of at least 75% of our aggregate voting power for the removal of a director; and - the existence of authorized and unissued stock, including "blank check" preferred stock, which could be issued by our Board to persons friendly to our then current management, thereby protecting the continuity of our management, or which could be used to dilute the stock ownership of persons seeking to obtain control of the Company.

Your percentage of ownership in us may be diluted because of equity issuances for acquisitions, capital market transactions or otherwise, including, without limitation, equity awards that we may be granting to our directors, officers and employees, the conversion of our 2031 Convertible Senior Notes into Class A common stock, and the conversion of our Class B common stock into Class A common stock. Such issuances may have a dilutive effect on our earnings per share, which could adversely affect the market price of our Class A common stock and Class B common stock. It is anticipated that the compensation committee of the board of directors of the Company will grant additional equity awards to Company employees and directors, from time to time, under the Company's compensation and employee benefit plans. These additional awards will have a dilutive effect on the Company's earnings per share, which could adversely affect the market price of the Company's Class A common stock and Class B common stock. The issuance of shares of our Class A common stock upon conversion of the 2031 Convertible Senior Notes will dilute the ownership interests of our stockholders and have a dilutive effect on the Company's earnings per share, which could adversely affect the market price of our Class A common stock and Class B common stock. Our Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation (the "Amended Charter") permits our Board, in its sole discretion, to convert all of the outstanding shares of Class B common stock into shares of Class A common stock based on an exchange ratio determined by a 20-day trailing VWAP for each class of stock. Such conversion of Class B common stock into Class A common stock could have a dilutive effect on the Company's earnings per share, which could adversely affect the market price of the Company's Class A common stock. In addition, our Amended Charter authorizes us to issue, without the approval of our stockholders, one or more classes or series of preferred stock having such designation, powers, preferences and relative, participating, optional and other special rights, including preferences over our common stock with respect to dividends and distributions, as our board of directors generally may determine. The terms of one or more classes or series of preferred stock could dilute the voting power or reduce the value of our Class A common stock and Class B common stock. For example, we could grant the holders of preferred stock the right to elect some number of our directors in all events or on the happening of specified events or to veto specified transactions. Similarly, the repurchase or redemption rights or liquidation preferences we could assign to holders of preferred stock could affect the residual value of our Class A common stock and Class B common stock.

Our Amended Charter authorizes our board of directors to issue preferred stock without stockholder approval. If our board of directors elects to issue preferred stock, it could be more difficult for a third-party to acquire us. In addition, some provisions of our Amended Charter and bylaws could make it more difficult for a third-party to acquire control of us, even if the change of control would be beneficial to our stockholders, including: - limitations on the removal of directors;- limitations on the ability of our stockholders to call special meetings;- establishing advance notice provisions for stockholder proposals and nominations for elections to the board of directors to be acted upon at meetings of stockholders;- providing that the board of directors is expressly authorized to adopt, or to alter or repeal our bylaws; and - establishing advance notice and certain information requirements for nominations for election to our board of directors or for proposing matters that can be acted upon by stockholders at stockholder meetings.

Our Amended Charter provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, be the sole and exclusive forum for (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors, officers, employees or agents to us or our stockholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL, our Amended Charter or our bylaws, or (iv) any action asserting a claim against us that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine, in each such case subject to such Court of Chancery having personal jurisdiction over the indispensable parties named as defendants therein. This exclusive forum provision does not apply to a cause of action brought under federal or state securities laws. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of our capital stock will be deemed to have notice of, and consented to, the provisions of our Amended Charter described in the preceding sentence. 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, employees or agents, which may discourage such lawsuits against us and such persons. Alternatively, if a court were to find these provisions of our Amended 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, financial condition or results of operations.

We retain legal title to all of our assets and our tracking stock capitalization does not limit our legal responsibility, or that of our subsidiaries, for the liabilities included in any set of financial statement schedules. Holders of Class B common stock do not have any legal rights related to specific assets attributed to CORE and, in any liquidation, holders of Class B common stock and Class A common stock will be entitled to receive a pro rata share of our available net assets based on their respective numbers of shares.

Our Board currently expects to attribute 100% of the costs associated with the CORE Assets to Ramaco Resources and zero such costs to CORE; however, our Board is vested with discretion to reattribute businesses, assets and liabilities that are attributed to one class of common stock to another class of common stock, without the approval of any of our stockholders. Any such reattribution made by our Board, as well as the existence, in and of itself, of the right to effect a reattribution may impact the ability of investors to assess the future prospects of the businesses and assets attributed to a class of common stock, including liquidity and capital resource needs to pay the projected dividend to holders of our Class B common stock, based on past performance. Stockholders may also have difficulty evaluating the liquidity and capital resources of the businesses and assets attributed to each class of common stock based on past performance, as our Board may use the liquidity of one class to fund the liquidity of another class and capital expenditure requirements through the use of loans and interests between classes.

The assets attributed to one class are potentially subject to the liabilities attributed to another class, even if those liabilities arise from lawsuits, contracts or indebtedness that are attributed to such other class. No provision of our Amended Charter prevents us from satisfying liabilities of one class with assets of another class, and our creditors will not in any way be limited by our tracking stock capitalization from proceeding against any assets they could have proceeded against if we did not have a tracking stock capitalization.

We cannot assure the holders of Class B common stock that the market price of the Class B common stock related to CORE will, in fact, reflect the performance of CORE attributed to it. Holders of Class B common stock are common stockholders of the Company as a whole and, as such, are subject to all risks associated with an investment in the Company and all of our businesses, assets and liabilities. As a result, the market price of Class B common stock may, in part, reflect events that are intended to be reflected by the Class A common stock of the Company. In addition, investors may discount the value of Class B common stock because it is part of a common enterprise rather than a stand-alone entity.

To the extent the market price of the Class B common stock tracks the performance of more focused classes of businesses and assets than our Class A common stock does, the market price of the Class B common stock may be more volatile than the market price of our existing common stock has been historically. The market price of the Class B common stock may be materially affected by, among other things: - actual or anticipated fluctuations in CORE's operating results;- potential acquisition activity by the Company (regardless of the class to which it is attributed) or the companies in which we invest;- issuances of debt or equity securities to raise capital by the Company or the companies in which we invest and the manner in which that debt or the proceeds of an equity issuance are attributed to each of the classes;- changes in financial estimates by securities analysts regarding the Class B common stock, the Class A common stock or CORE attributable to the Class B common stock;- the complex nature and the potential difficulties investors may have in understanding the terms of our new tracking stock, as well as concerns regarding the possible effect of certain of those terms on an investment in our stocks; and - general market conditions.

Because we are the issuer of the Class B common stock, an adverse market reaction to events relating to any of our assets and businesses, such as earnings announcements or announcements of new products or services, acquisitions or dispositions that the market does not view favorably, may cause an adverse market reaction in a particular class of common stock. This could occur even if the triggering event is not material to us as a whole. Certain events may also have a greater impact on one class than the same triggering event would have on another class due to the asset composition of the affected class. In addition, the incurrence of significant indebtedness by us or any of our subsidiaries on behalf of one class, including indebtedness incurred or assumed in connection with acquisitions of or investments in businesses, could affect our credit rating and that of our subsidiaries and, therefore, could increase the borrowing costs of businesses attributable to our other classes or the borrowing costs of the Company as a whole.

Our tracking stock capital structure could give rise to occasions when the interests of holders of one class of common stock might diverge or appear to diverge from the interests of holders of another class of common stock. Our Class B common stock is not issued by a separate entity and thus holders of Class B common stock do not have the right to elect a separate board of directors. As a result, the Company's officers and directors owe fiduciary duties to the Company as a whole and all of our stockholders as opposed to only holders of a particular class of common stock. Decisions deemed to be in the best interest of the Company and all of our stockholders may not be in the best interest of a particular class of common stock when considered independently. Examples include: - decisions as to the terms of any business relationships between classes of common stock;- the terms of any reattributions of assets between classes of common stock;- decisions as to the allocation of consideration among the holders of Class B common stock and Class A common stock to be received in connection with a merger involving the Company;- decisions as to the allocation of corporate opportunities between the classes, especially where the opportunities might meet the strategic business objectives of both classes;- decisions as to operational and financial matters that could be considered detrimental to one class but beneficial to the other;- decisions as to the conversion of shares of Class B common stock into shares of Class A common stock;- decisions regarding the creation of, and, if created, the subsequent increase or decrease of any interest that one class of common stock may own in the other class of common stock;- decisions as to the internal or external financing attributable to businesses or assets attributed to any of our classes of common stock;- decisions as to the dispositions of assets of any of our classes of common stock; and - decisions as to the payment of dividends on any of our classes of common stock.

If directors or officers own disproportionate interests (in percentage or value terms) in Class A common stock or Class B common stock, that disparity could create or appear to create conflicts of interest when they are faced with decisions that could have different implications for the holders of Class A common stock or Class B common stock. We have not adopted any specific procedures for consideration of matters involving a divergence of interests among holders of Class A common stock or Class B common stock. Rather than develop additional specific procedures in advance, our Board intends to exercise its judgment from time to time, depending on the circumstances, as to how best to: - obtain information regarding the divergence (or potential divergence) of interests;- determine under what circumstances to seek the assistance of outside advisers;- determine whether a committee of our Board should be appointed to address a specific matter and the appropriate members of that committee; and - assess what is in the Company's best interests and the best interests of all of our stockholders. Our Board believes the advantage of retaining flexibility in determining how to fulfill its responsibilities in any such circumstances as they may arise outweighs any perceived advantages of adopting additional specific procedures in advance.