Antero Resources (0A71) Risk Analysis

Certain provisions of our certificate of incorporation 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. Among other things, our certificate of incorporation and bylaws: - provide advance notice procedures with regard to stockholder nominations of candidates for election as directors or other stockholder proposals to be brought before meetings of our stockholders, which may preclude our stockholders from bringing certain matters before our stockholders at an annual or special meeting;- provide our Board of Directors the ability to authorize issuance of preferred stock in one or more series, which makes it possible for our Board of Directors to issue, without stockholder approval, preferred stock with voting or other rights or preferences that could impede the success of any attempt to change control of us and which may have the effect of deterring hostile takeovers or delaying changes in control or management of us;- provide that the authorized number of directors may be changed only by resolution of our Board of Directors;- provide that, subject to the rights of holders of any series of preferred stock to elect directors or fill vacancies in respect of such directors as specified in the related preferred stock designation, all vacancies, including newly created directorships be filled by the affirmative vote of holders of a majority of directors then in office, even if less than a quorum, or by the sole remaining director, and will not be filled by our stockholders;- provide that, subject to the rights of the holders of any series of preferred stock to elect directors under specified circumstances, if any, any action required or permitted to be taken by our stockholders must be effected at a duly called annual or special meeting of our stockholders and may not be effected by any consent in writing in lieu of a meeting of such stockholders;- provide for our Board of Directors to be divided into three classes of directors, with each class as nearly equal in number as possible, serving staggered three-year terms;- provide that, subject to the rights of the holders of shares of any series of preferred stock, if any, to remove directors elected by such series of preferred stock pursuant to our certificate of incorporation (including any preferred stock designation thereunder), directors may be removed from office at any time, only for cause and by the holders of a majority of the voting power of all outstanding voting shares entitled to vote generally in the election of directors;- provide that special meetings of our stockholders may only be called by the Chief Executive Officer, the Chairman of our Board of Directors or our Board of Directors pursuant to a resolution adopted by a majority of the total number of directors that we would have if there were no vacancies;- provide that (i) Yorktown Partners LLC ("Yorktown") and their affiliates are permitted to participate (directly or indirectly) in venture capital and other direct investments in corporations, joint ventures, limited liability companies and other entities conducting business of any kind, nature or description, (ii) Yorktown and their affiliates are permitted to have interests in, participate with, aid and maintain seats on the boards of directors or similar governing bodies of any such investments, in each case that may, are or will be competitive with our business and the business of our subsidiaries or in the same or similar lines of business as us and our subsidiaries, or that could be suitable for us or our subsidiaries and (iii) we have, subject to limited exceptions, renounced, to the fullest extent permitted by law, any interest or expectancy in, or in being offered an opportunity to participate in, such corporate opportunities;- provide that the provisions of our certificate of incorporation can only be amended or repealed by the affirmative vote of the holders of at least 66 2/3% in voting power of the outstanding shares of our common stock entitled to vote thereon, voting together as a single class; and - provide that our bylaws can be altered or repealed by (a) our Board of Directors or (b) our stockholders upon the affirmative vote of holders of at least 66 2/3% of the voting power of our common stock outstanding and entitled to vote thereon, voting together as a single class.

When we acquire oil and gas leases or interests, we typically do not incur the expense of retaining lawyers to examine the title to the mineral interest at the time of acquisition. Rather, before attempting to acquire a lease in a specific mineral interest, we rely upon the judgment of oil and gas lease brokers or landmen who perform the fieldwork in examining records in the appropriate governmental office. Leases in the Appalachian Basin are particularly vulnerable to title deficiencies due to the long history of private land ownership, severed mineral estates and inadequate records of death and heirships regarding mineral and surface land ownership in the area, resulting in extensive and complex chains of title. The existence of a material title deficiency can render a lease worthless and can adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. While we do typically obtain title opinions prior to commencing drilling operations on a lease or in a unit, the failure of title or the right to include certain interests in a unit 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, which may adversely impact our business, financial condition or results of operations.

The market price of the common stock could be volatile, and holders of common stock may not be able to resell their common stock at or above the price at which they acquired such securities due to fluctuations in the market price of common stock. Specific factors that may have a significant effect on the market price for our common stock include: - our operating and financial performance and prospects and the trading price of our common stock;- the level of any dividends we may declare;- quarterly variations in the rate of growth of our financial indicators, such as net income and revenues;- levels of indebtedness;- changes in revenue or earnings estimates or publication of research reports by analysts;- speculation by the press or investment community;- sales of our common stock by other stockholders;- announcements by us or our competitors of significant contracts, acquisitions, strategic partnerships, joint ventures, securities offerings or capital commitments;- general market conditions;- changes in accounting standards, policies, guidance, interpretations or principles;- adverse changes in tax laws or regulations; and - domestic and international economic, legal and regulatory factors related to our performance.

Sales of a substantial amount of shares of our common stock in the public market or grants to our directors and officers under the Amended and Restated Antero Resources Corporation 2020 Long Term Incentive Plan (the "Amended AR LTIP"), or the perception that these sales or grants may occur, could reduce the market price of shares of our common stock. All of the shares of our common stock are freely tradable without restriction or further registration under the Securities Act, unless the shares are held by any of our "affiliates" as such term is defined in Rule 144 under the Securities Act. We cannot predict the size of future issuances of our common stock or securities convertible into our common stock or the effect, if any, that future issuances and sales of shares of our common stock will have on the market price of our common stock.

We are not restricted from issuing additional shares of our common stock out of our authorized capital. In the future, we may issue shares of our common stock to raise cash for future activities, acquisitions or other purposes. We may also acquire interests in other companies by using a combination of cash and shares of our common stock or only shares. We have issued or may issue securities convertible into, or exchangeable for, or that represent the right to receive, shares of our common stock. Any sales in the public market of the common stock issuable upon such conversion could adversely affect prevailing market prices of our common stock. Any of these events may dilute the ownership interests of our stockholders, reduce our net income per share or have an adverse effect on the price of shares of our common stock.

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 (the "Court of Chancery") 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 certificate of incorporation or our bylaws as to which the DGCL confers jurisdiction on the Court of Chancery or (iv) any action asserting a claim against us governed by the internal affairs doctrine, in each such case subject to the Court of Chancery having personal jurisdiction over the indispensable parties named as defendants therein. The foregoing provision does not apply to claims under the Securities Act, the Exchange Act or any claim for which the U.S. federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring or holding any interest in shares of our capital stock will be deemed to have notice of, and consented to, the provisions of certificate of incorporation described in the preceding sentence. This choice of forum provision may limit our stockholder's ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with it or its 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 certificate of incorporation 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 and results of operations.

Our certificate of incorporation authorizes our Board of Directors to issue, without the approval of our stockholders, one or more classes or series of preferred stock having such designations, preferences, limitations and relative rights, including preferences over our common stock respecting dividends and distributions, as our Board of Directors may determine. The terms of one or more classes or series of our preferred stock could adversely impact the voting power or value of our common stock. For example, we might grant holders of a class or series of our preferred stock the right to elect some number of our directors in all events or on the happening of specified events or the right to veto specified transactions. Similarly, the repurchase or redemption rights or liquidation preferences we might assign to holders of our preferred stock could affect the residual value of our common stock.