Verde Clean Fuels (VGAS) Risk Analysis

Our Public Warrants were issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder (i) to cure any ambiguity or to correct any mistake, including to conform the provisions therein to the descriptions of the terms of the warrants, or to cure, correct or supplement any defective provision, or (ii) to add or change any other provisions with respect to matters or questions arising under the warrant agreement as the parties to the warrant agreement may deem necessary or desirable and that the parties deem to not adversely affect the interests of the registered holders of the warrants. The warrant agreement requires the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then-outstanding Public Warrants to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders of Public Warrants. Accordingly, we may amend the terms of the Public Warrants in a manner adverse to a holder if holders of at least 50% of the then-outstanding Public Warrants approve of such amendment. Although our ability to amend the terms of the Public Warrants with the consent of at least 50% of the then-outstanding Public Warrants is unlimited, examples of such amendments could be amendments to, among other things, increase or decrease of the exercise price of the warrants, convert the warrants into cash or stock (at a ratio different than initially provided), shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of shares of our Class A Common Stock purchasable upon exercise of a warrant.

There is a limited market for our securities and there can be no assurance that such a market for our securities will continue. The trading price of our securities has been and may continue to be volatile and subject to wide fluctuations in response to various factors (during the last 52 week period, range of trading has fluctuated from a high of $18.30 per share to a low of $1.95 per share), some of which are beyond our control. Any of the factors listed below could have a material adverse effect on your investment in our securities and our securities may trade at prices significantly below the price you paid for them. In such circumstances, the trading price of our securities may not recover and may experience a further decline. Factors affecting the trading price of our securities may include: - actual or anticipated fluctuations in our quarterly financial results or the quarterly financial results of companies perceived to be similar to us;- changes in the market's expectations about our operating results;- success of competitors;- our operating results failing to meet the expectation of securities analysts or investors in a particular period;- changes in financial estimates and recommendations by securities analysts concerning us or the market in general;- operating and stock price performance of other companies that investors deem comparable to us;- our ability to market new and enhanced products and technologies on a timely basis;- changes in laws and regulations affecting our business;- our ability to meet compliance requirements;- commencement of, or involvement in, litigation involving us;- changes in our capital structure, such as future issuances of securities or the incurrence of additional debt;- the volume of shares of our common stock available for public sale;- any major change in our Board or management;- sales of substantial amounts of common stock by our directors, executive officers or significant stockholders or the perception that such sales could occur;- general economic and political conditions such as recessions, interest rates, fuel prices, international currency fluctuations and acts of war (such as the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the conflict in the Middle East) or terrorism. Broad market and industry factors may materially harm the market price of our securities irrespective of our operating performance. The stock market in general and the Nasdaq Stock Market have experienced price and volume fluctuations that have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of the particular companies affected. The trading prices and valuations of these stocks, and of our securities, may not be predictable. A loss of investor confidence in the market for retail stocks or the stocks of other companies which investors perceive to be similar to us could depress our stock price regardless of our business, prospects, financial condition or results of operations. A decline in the market price of our securities also could adversely affect our ability to issue additional securities and our ability to obtain additional financing in the future.

We have incurred net losses since our inception. We are currently in the development stage and have not yet commenced principal operations or generated revenue. Furthermore, we expect to spend significant amounts on further development of our technology, acquiring or otherwise gaining access to commercial production facilities, marketing and general and administrative expenses associated with our planned growth and management of operations as a public company. In some market environments, we may have limited access to incremental financing, which could defer or cancel growth projects, reduce business activity or cause us to default under any debt agreements if we are unable to meet our payment schedules. In addition, the cost of preparing, filing, prosecuting, maintaining and enforcing patent, trademark and other intellectual property rights and defending ourselves against claims by others that we may be violating their intellectual property rights may be significant. As a result, even if we are able to generate revenues in future periods, we expect that our expenses will exceed revenues for the foreseeable future. We do not expect to achieve profitability in the near future, and may never achieve it. If we fail to achieve profitability, or if the time required to achieve profitability is longer than we anticipate, we may not be able to continue our business. Even if we do achieve profitability, we may not be able to sustain or increase profitability on a quarterly or annual basis. As such, we are exposed to the risk of being a development-stage company with a history of losses in an early-stage of operations.

In connection with the preparation of Intermediate's financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2022 and the period from July 31, 2020 (inception) to December 31, 2021, management noted a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting as described in the Company's quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31, 2023. Management did not maintain effective internal control over the reconciliation of the final fair value of the unit-based compensation awards prepared by third party valuation specialists to the accounting records due to a lack of professionals with defined roles within the accounting function providing financial reporting oversight. Additionally, management did not maintain effective internal control regarding the date on which to apply new accounting standards based upon CENAQ's elections made under the JOBS Act, as described in the Company's quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31, 2023, which required Intermediate to apply new accounting standards as if it were a public business entity. These material weaknesses have been remediated. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented, or detected and corrected, on a timely basis. Effective internal controls are necessary to provide reliable financial reports and prevent fraud, and material weaknesses could limit the ability to prevent or detect a misstatement of accounts or disclosures that could result in a material misstatement of annual or interim financial statements. In such a case, we may be unable to maintain compliance with securities law requirements regarding timely filing of periodic reports in addition to applicable stock exchange continued listing requirements, investors may lose confidence in our financial reporting, our securities price may decline and we may face litigation as a result. While we have remediated the material weaknesses described above, there can be no assurance that the measures we have taken to date, or any measures we may take in the future, will be sufficient to avoid potential future material weaknesses.

We were formed in 2020 and although our core syngas-to-gasoline technology has been developed and tested for over thirteen years, we have not produced gasoline on a large-scale, commercial level. As a result, we have a limited operating history upon which to evaluate our business and future prospects, which subjects us to a number of risks and uncertainties, including our ability to plan for and predict future growth. Following the acquisition of the patented STG+ process and demonstration facility with over 10,500 historical operating hours, we have continued to focus on commercial scale production of on-spec renewable gasoline from renewable feedstocks. The reactor designs, gas velocity, process configurations, and control system of the demonstration facility are representative of a full-scale syngas-to-gasoline production facility. We have also participated in carbon lifecycle studies to validate the CI score and reduced lifecycle carbon emissions of our renewable gasoline as well as fuel testing studies to validate the specification and performance of our gasoline product. Since the acquisition of the STG+ technology in 2020, we have made progress towards constructing our first commercial production facility, including more recently focusing on our development of projects that we believe have quicker paths to commercial operations such as our joint project in the Permian Basin. While we have not abandoned the Maricopa, Arizona project, we anticipate the project in the Permian Basin to be our first commercial production facility. We have encountered and expect to continue to encounter risks and difficulties experienced by growing companies in rapidly developing and changing industries, including challenges related to achieving market acceptance of our renewable fuel, competing against companies with greater financial and technical resources, competing against entrenched incumbent competitors that have long-standing relationships with our prospective customers in the commercial renewable fuels market, recruiting and retaining qualified employees, and making use of our limited resources. We cannot ensure that we will be successful in addressing these and other challenges that we may face in the future, and our business may be adversely affected if we do not manage these risks appropriately. As a result, we may not attain sufficient revenue (if any) to achieve or maintain positive cash flow from operations or profitability in any given future period, if at all. To date, we have not generated any revenue. We do not expect to generate any meaningful revenue unless and until we are able to commercialize our first production facility. Since inception, we have incurred significant operating losses, have an accumulated deficit of $23.9 million as of December 31, 2023, and negative operating cash flow during the fiscal years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022. Management expects that operating losses and negative cash flows may increase because of additional costs and expenses related to the development of technology and the development of market and strategic relationships with other companies. Our continued solvency is dependent upon our ability to obtain additional working capital to complete our product development and to successfully achieve commerciality of our projects. Following the Business Combination and the closing of the PIPE Financing, we have used and expect to continue to use cash on hand to fund our ongoing operations and R&D activities. As of December 31, 2023, we had approximately $28.8 million of cash and cash equivalents on hand. We believe that based on our current level of operating expenses and currently available cash on hand, we will have sufficient funds available to cover R&D activities and operating cash needs through 2024. However, as we have not yet developed a commercial production facility and have no meaningful revenue to date, we may require additional funds in future years. Our ability to raise funds through equity offerings may be limited by the significant number of shares that may be publicly sold.

The construction and development of our proposed commercial production facilities requires substantial capital investment. We intend to fund approximately 70% of such capital in the future through debt financing, which may include project financing, industrial revenue bonds, pollution control bonds or some other combination. While we have been in discussions with banks and other credit counterparties regarding project financing, industrial revenue bonds, or pollution control bonds, and these discussions have led to indications of debt financing equivalent to 70% of our expected capital expenditure requirements, there can be no assurance that we will be successful in obtaining such financing. If we are unable to obtain debt financing on favorable terms or at all, our development timeline may be delayed and would require raising of additional equity or debt capital. Additionally, we may raise additional funds through the issuance of equity, equity-related or debt securities, through obtaining credit from government or financial institutions or by engaging in joint ventures or other alternative forms of financing. We cannot be certain that additional funds will be available on favorable terms when required, or at all. If we cannot raise additional funds when needed, our financial condition, results of operations, business and prospects could be materially and adversely affected. If we raise funds through the issuance of debt securities or through loan arrangements, the terms of such debt securities or loan arrangements could require significant interest payments, contain covenants that restrict our business, or contain other unfavorable terms. The current high interest rate environment adds additional risk and expense to the use of debt to fund capital investment. In addition, to the extent we raise funds through the sale of additional equity securities, our stockholders would experience additional dilution.

We are a holding company and have no material assets other than our equity interest in OpCo. We have no independent means of generating revenue. To the extent OpCo has available cash, we intend to cause OpCo to make (i) generally pro rata distributions to the holders of OpCo Units, including us, in an amount at least sufficient to allow us to pay our taxes and make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement and any subsequent tax receivable agreement that we may enter into in connection with future acquisitions and (ii) non-pro rata payments to us to reimburse us for our corporate and other overhead expenses. To the extent that we need funds and OpCo or its subsidiaries are restricted from making such distributions or payments under applicable law or regulation or under the terms of any current or future financing arrangements, or are otherwise unable to provide such funds, our liquidity and financial condition could be materially adversely affected. Moreover, because we have no independent means of generating revenue, our ability to make tax payments and payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement will be dependent on the ability of OpCo to make distributions to us in an amount sufficient to cover our tax obligations (and those of its wholly owned subsidiaries) and obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement. This ability, in turn, may depend on the ability of OpCo's subsidiaries to make distributions to it. We intend that such distributions from OpCo and its subsidiaries be funded with cash from operations or from future borrowings. The ability of OpCo, its subsidiaries and other entities in which it directly or indirectly holds an equity interest to make such distributions will be subject to, among other things, (i) the applicable provisions of Delaware law (or other applicable jurisdiction) that may limit the amount of funds available for distribution and (ii) restrictions in relevant debt instruments issued by OpCo or its subsidiaries and other entities in which it directly or indirectly holds an equity interest. To the extent that we are unable to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement for any reason, such payments will be deferred and will accrue interest until paid.