Gevo (ZGV3) Risk Analysis

We may not be able to comply with all applicable listing requirements or standards of The Nasdaq Capital Market and Nasdaq could delist our common stock. Our common stock is listed on The Nasdaq Capital Market, and in order to maintain that listing, we must satisfy applicable Nasdaq continued listing requirements. The inability to comply with applicable listing requirements or standards of The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“Nasdaq”) could result in the delisting of our common stock, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and could cause the value of our common stock to decline. Delisting of our common stock could also adversely affect our ability to raise additional financing, could significantly affect the ability of our investors to trade our securities and could negatively affect the value and liquidity of our common stock. Delisting could also have other negative results, including the potential loss of confidence by employees and fewer business development opportunities. Future issuances of our common stock or instruments convertible or exercisable into our common stock may materially and adversely affect the price of our common stock and cause dilution to our existing stockholders. Historically, we have raised capital by issuing common stock and warrants in public offerings because no other reasonable sources of capital were available. These public offerings of common stock and warrants have materially and adversely affected the prevailing market prices of our common stock and caused significant dilution to our stockholders. We have also historically raised capital or refinanced outstanding debt through the issuance of convertible notes. We may need to raise capital through these public offerings of common stock, warrants and convertible debt in the future. We may obtain additional funds through public or private debt or equity financings, subject to certain limitations in the agreements governing our indebtedness. If we issue additional shares of common stock or instruments convertible into common stock, it may materially and adversely affect the price of our common stock. Raising capital at a subsidiary, or project, level would result in lower revenues attributable back to us. We operate in a capital-intensive business and in order to construct our facilities, we need to raise large amounts of capital. In order to finance the construction of ATJ-60 and any other Alcohol-to-Jet Projects, we currently expect to raise capital at the subsidiary level using third party capital. By raising capital at a project level, any equity in that project that is sold to a third party would result in lower ownership of that project by us. Thus, we would only be entitled to the revenues and expenses that are proportionate to our level of ownership in the project. If we are required to sell a large portion of the equity in our projects to third parties, it may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results. Our stock price may be volatile, and your investment in our securities could suffer a decline in value. The market price of shares of our common stock has experienced significant price and volume fluctuations. We cannot predict whether the price of our common stock will rise or fall. A variety of factors may have a significant effect on our stock price, including: ?actual or anticipated fluctuations in our liquidity, financial condition and operating results; ?the position of our cash and cash equivalents; ?the capital costs required to construct our Alcohol-to-Jet Projects; ?our ability to obtain certain regulatory permits or approvals for our production facilities, including our Alcohol-to-Jet Projects; ?actual or anticipated changes in our growth rate relative to our competitors; ?actual or anticipated fluctuations in our competitors’ operating results or changes in their growth rate; ?announcements of technological innovations by us, our partners or our competitors; ?announcements by us, our partners or our competitors of significant acquisitions, strategic partnerships, joint ventures or capital commitments; ?the entry into, modification or termination of licensing arrangements, marketing arrangements, and/or research, development, commercialization, supply, off-take or distribution arrangements; ?our ability to consistently produce commercial quantities of our products; ?additions or losses of customers or partners; ?our ability to obtain certain regulatory approvals for the use of our products in various fuels and chemicals markets; ?commodity prices, including oil, ethanol and corn prices; ?additions or departures of key management or scientific personnel; ?competition from existing products or new products that may emerge; ?issuance of new or updated research reports by securities or industry analysts; ?fluctuations in the valuation of companies perceived by investors to be comparable to us; ?litigation involving us, our general industry or both; ?disputes or other developments related to proprietary rights, including patents, litigation matters and our ability to obtain patent protection for our technologies; ?announcements or expectations of additional financing efforts or the pursuit of strategic alternatives; ?changes in existing laws, regulations and policies applicable to our business and products, and the adoption of or failure to adopt carbon emissions regulation; ?sales of our common stock or equity-linked securities, such as warrants, by us or our stockholders; ?share price and volume fluctuations attributable to inconsistent trading volume levels of our shares; ?general market conditions in our industry; and ?general economic and market conditions. Furthermore, the stock markets have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have affected and continue to affect the market prices of equity securities of many companies. These fluctuations often have been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of those companies. These broad market and industry fluctuations, as well as general economic, political and market conditions such as recessions, interest rate changes or international currency fluctuations, may negatively impact the market price of shares of our common stock, regardless of our operating performance, and cause the value of your investment to decline. Additionally, in the past, companies that have experienced volatility in the market price of their stock have been subject to securities class action litigation or other derivative shareholder lawsuits. We may be the target of this type of litigation in the future. Securities litigation against us could result in substantial costs and divert our management’s attention from other business concerns, which could seriously harm our business regardless of the outcome. The price of our common stock could also be affected by possible sales of common stock by investors who view our warrants as a more attractive means of equity participation in us and by hedging or engaging in arbitrage activity involving our common stock. The hedging or arbitrage could, in turn, affect the trading prices of our warrants, if any trading market becomes established, or any common stock that holders receive upon exercise of such warrants. Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock or securities linked to our common stock, such as our warrants (should an established market for such securities then exist), in the public market could occur at any time. These sales, or the perception in the market that such sales may occur, could reduce the market price of our common stock. In addition, certain holders of our outstanding common stock have rights, subject to certain conditions, to require us to file registration statements covering their shares and to include their shares in registration statements that we may file for ourselves or other stockholders. The estimates and assumptions on which our financial projections are based may prove to be inaccurate. Our financial projections, including any projected investment returns on projects, sales or earnings guidance or outlook that we may provide from time to time, are dependent on estimates and assumptions related to, among other things, industry growth, product and plant development, estimated capital expenses for growth development projects, market share projections, product pricing and sale, customer interest in our products, availability of government incentives, tax rates, accruals for estimated liabilities, and our ability to raise sufficient funds or generate sufficient cash flow to continue operations and/or expand our production capabilities. Our financial projections are based on historical experience and on various other estimates and assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances and at the time they are made, and our actual results may differ materially from our financial projections. Raising additional capital may cause dilution to our existing stockholders, restrict our operations or require us to relinquish rights to our technologies. We may seek additional capital through a combination of public and private equity offerings, debt financings, strategic partnerships and licensing arrangements. To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale or issuance of equity, warrants or convertible debt securities, the ownership interest of our existing shareholders will be diluted, and the terms of such securities may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect your rights as a stockholder. If we raise capital through debt financing, it may involve agreements that include covenants further limiting or restricting our ability to take certain actions, such as incurring additional debt, making capital expenditures or declaring dividends. If we raise additional funds through strategic partnerships or licensing agreements with third parties, we may have to relinquish valuable rights to our technologies or grant licenses on terms that are not favorable to us. If we are unable to raise additional funds when needed, we may be required to delay, limit, reduce or terminate our development and commercialization efforts. We do not anticipate paying cash dividends, and accordingly, stockholders must rely on stock appreciation for any return on their investment. We have never paid cash dividends on our common stock and we do not expect to pay cash dividends on our common stock at any time in the foreseeable future. The future payment of dividends directly depends upon our future earnings, capital requirements, financial requirements and other factors that our board of directors will consider. As a result, only appreciation of the price of our common stock, which may never occur, will provide a return to stockholders. Investors seeking cash dividends should not invest in our common stock. If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about our business, or publish negative reports about our business, our stock price and trading volume could decline. The trading market for our common stock will be influenced by the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business. We do not have any control over securities or industry analysts. If one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrade our common stock or change their opinion of our common stock, our common stock price would likely decline which in turn would likely cause a decline in the value of our warrants. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of us or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which could cause our common stock price and the price of our warrants to decline or the trading volume of our common stock to decline. We are subject to anti-takeover provisions in our certificate of incorporation, our bylaws and under Delaware law that could delay or prevent an acquisition of the Company, even if the acquisition would be beneficial to our stockholders. Provisions in our certificate of incorporation and our bylaws may delay or prevent an acquisition of the Company. Among other things, our certificate of incorporation and bylaws provide for a board of directors that is divided into three classes with staggered three-year terms, provide that all stockholder action must be effected at a duly called meeting of the stockholders and not by a consent in writing, and further provide that only our board of directors may call a special meeting of the stockholders. These provisions may also frustrate or prevent any attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management by making it more difficult for stockholders to replace members of our board of directors, who are responsible for appointing the members of our management team. Furthermore, because we are incorporated in Delaware, we are governed by the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”), which prohibits, with some exceptions, stockholders owning in excess of 15% of our outstanding voting stock from merging or combining with us. Finally, our charter documents establish advance notice requirements for nominations for election to our board of directors and for proposing matters that can be acted upon at stockholder meetings. Although we believe these provisions together provide an opportunity to receive higher bids by requiring potential acquirers to negotiate with our board of directors, they would apply even if an offer to acquire the Company may be considered beneficial by some stockholders. Our certificate of incorporation provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the sole and exclusive forum for substantially all disputes between us and our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers or employees. Our certificate of incorporation provides that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware shall, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, be the sole and exclusive forum for (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of the Company, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer or other employee of the Company to the Company or its stockholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware General Corporation Law, or (iv) any action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine, in each case subject to said Court of Chancery having personal jurisdiction over the indispensable parties named as defendants therein. The exclusive 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 other employees. Stockholders who do bring a claim in the Court of Chancery could face additional litigation costs in pursuing any such claim, particularly if they do not reside in or near the State of Delaware. The Court of Chancery may also reach different judgments or results than would other courts, including courts where a stockholder considering an action may be located or would otherwise choose to bring the action, and such judgments or results may be more favorable to us than to our stockholders. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in our certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could adversely affect our business and financial condition. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the exclusive forum provision shall not preclude or contract the scope of exclusive federal or concurrent jurisdiction for actions brought under the Exchange Act or the Securities Act, or the respective rules and regulations promulgated thereunder. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any of our securities shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to these provisions. This exclusive forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum of its choosing for disputes with us or our directors, officers or other employees, which may discourage lawsuits against us and our directors, officers and other employees. If a court were to find the exclusive forum provision contained in our certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could harm our business, results of operations and financial condition. Even if we are successful in defending against these claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management and other employees.