Risk Factors Related to Financial Condition and Markets
Investor sentiment towards climate change, fossil fuels and other Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) matters could adversely affect our access to and cost of capital and stock price.
Our Credit Agreement imposes restrictions that limit our operating flexibility, and such facility may not be available if financial covenants are violated or if an event of default occurs.
Our indebtedness could adversely affect our financial condition and operating flexibility.
Risk Factors Related to Legal and Regulatory Environments
Federal, state and local legislative and regulatory initiatives relating to oil and natural gas development and the potential for related litigation could result in increased costs and additional operating restrictions or delays for our customers, which could reduce demand for our products.
We and our customers are subject to extensive environmental and health and safety laws and regulations that may increase our costs, limit the demand for our products and services or restrict our operations.
Tariffs and other trade measures could adversely affect our results of operations, financial position and cash flows.
Risk Factors Related to Our Organizational Structure
Our principal asset is our interest in Flowco LLC and, as a result, we depend on distributions from Flowco LLC to pay our taxes and expenses, including payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement. Flowco LLC’s ability to make such distributions may be subject to various limitations and restrictions.
The Tax Receivable Agreement with the Continuing Equity Owners requires us to make cash payments to them in respect of certain tax benefits to which we may become entitled, and we expect that such payments will be substantial.
Our organizational structure, including the Tax Receivable Agreement, confers certain benefits upon the Continuing Equity Owners that will not benefit holders of our Class A common stock to the same extent that it will benefit the Continuing Equity Owners.
Risk Factors Related to the Ownership of Our Class A Common Stock
GEC and White Deer collectively control us, and each of them individually has significant influence over us, including pursuant to the Stockholders Agreement and control over decisions that require the approval of stockholders.
We are a “controlled company” within the meaning of the NYSE rules and, as a result, will qualify for, and intend to rely on, exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements. You may not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to such corporate governance requirements.
Our ability to pay regular cash dividends on our Class A common stock may be limited.
Risks Factors Related to Our Business and Industry
Trends in crude oil and natural gas prices may affect production-related activities and production-related operating expenditures by our customers, and therefore the demand for, and profitability of, our products and services.
The oil and natural gas industry is cyclical in nature and experiences periodic downturns of varying length and severity. Demand for our products and services is sensitive to the level of operating and capital spending by global oil and natural gas companies, and in particular production-related operating expenditures. The level of production-related operating expenditures is directly affected by trends in crude oil and natural gas prices, which are influenced by numerous factors affecting the supply and demand for oil and natural gas, including:
worldwide economic activity, including potential disruption to global trade;
supplies of, and demand for, oil and natural gas both domestically and globally;
the level of exploration and production activity;
the industry cost of, and access to, capital;
environmental regulation;
domestic and global political and economic uncertainty, socio-political unrest and instability, terrorism or hostilities;
U.S. federal, state and foreign government policies and regulations regarding current and future exploration and development of oil and natural gas;
the ability and/or desire of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (“OPEC”) and other major international producers (collectively, with OPEC, “OPEC+”) to set and maintain production levels and influence pricing;
the cost of exploring and producing oil and natural gas;
the availability, expiration date and price of onshore and offshore leases;
the discovery rate of new oil and natural gas reserves in onshore and offshore areas;
the success of drilling for oil and natural gas in unconventional resource plays such as shale formations;
the depletion rate of existing oil and natural gas wells in productions;
takeaway capacity within oil and natural gas producing basins;
alternative investments in onshore exploration and production opportunities;
shifts in business and personal travel with increased adoption of remote work arrangements;
health pandemics and epidemics;
exceptional weather conditions, including severe weather events in the U.S. Gulf Coast; and
the pace of adoption and cost of developing alternative energy sources.
We expect continued volatility in both crude oil and natural gas prices (including the possibilities that such prices could remain at current levels or decline further for an extended period of time), as well as in the level of production-related operating expenditures as a result of the level of interest rates and costs of capital, decisions of OPEC and other oil exporting nations regarding production, and the other factors listed above. Our ability to modify and adopt our operating activities in response to lower oilfield service activity levels during periodic industry downturns or in the transition to a lower carbon economy is important to our business, results of operations and prospects. However, a significant further decline in the industry could continue to impact demand for our products and services and could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows, and could
result in asset impairments, including an impairment of the carrying value of our goodwill, along with other accounting charges.
Decreased expenditures by our customers can adversely impact our customers’ demand for our products and services and our revenue.
Our business is directly affected by changes in spending by our customers, and reductions in their spending or changes in the allocation of their expenditures could reduce demand for our products and services and have a material adverse effect on our revenue. Some of the factors impacting our customers’ operating and capital spending may include:
oil and natural gas prices, as described above;
the inability of our customers to access capital on economically advantageous terms, which may be impacted by, among other things, interest rate fluctuations, global market and economic conditions, or a decrease of investors’ interest in hydrocarbon producers due to environmental and sustainability initiatives;
changes in customers’ capital allocation, including (i) allocation to alternate suppliers or an increased allocation to the production of renewable energy or other sustainability efforts, leading to less focus on oil and natural gas production growth and (ii) allocation to other production-enhancing activities for existing wells;
restrictions on our customers’ ability to get their produced oil and natural gas to market due to infrastructure limitations;
consolidation of our customers;
customer personnel changes; and
adverse developments in the business or operations of our customers, including write-downs of oil and natural gas reserves and borrowing base reductions under customers’ credit facilities.
Our operations could be adversely affected by global market and economic conditions in ways we may not be able to predict or control.
Concerns over global economic conditions, inflation, energy costs, geopolitical issues, supply chain disruptions, the availability and cost of credit, and the continuing conflicts between Russia and Ukraine and in the Middle East have contributed to increased economic uncertainty. An expansion or escalation of the Russian-Ukraine or Middle East conflicts or an economic slowdown or recession in the U.S. or in any other country that significantly affects the supply of or demand for oil or natural gas could negatively impact our operations and therefore adversely affect our results. Global economic conditions have a significant impact on oil and natural gas prices and any stagnation or deterioration in global economic conditions could result in less demand for our services and could cause our customers to reduce their planned spending on drilling and production activity. Adverse global economic conditions may cause our customers, vendors and/or suppliers to lose access to the financing necessary to sustain or increase their current level of operations, fulfill their commitments and/or fund future operations and obligations. Furthermore, challenging economic conditions may result in certain of our customers experiencing bankruptcy or otherwise becoming unable to pay vendors, including us. In the past, global economic conditions, and expectations for future global economic conditions, have sometimes experienced significant deterioration in a relatively short period of time and there can be no assurance that global economic conditions or expectations for future global economic conditions will recover in the near term or not quickly deteriorate again due to one or more factors. These conditions could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We could lose customers or generate lower revenue, operating profits and cash flows if there are significant increases in the cost of raw materials or if we are unable to obtain raw materials.
We purchase raw materials, sub-assemblies and components for use in manufacturing operations, which exposes us to volatility in prices for certain commodities. Significant price increases for these commodities could adversely affect our operating profits. Like others in our industry, we have faced, and continue to face, inflation in raw materials cost. While we will generally attempt to mitigate the impact of increased raw material prices by endeavoring to make strategic purchasing decisions, broadening our supplier base and passing along increased costs to customers, there may be a time delay between the increased raw material prices and the ability to increase the prices of our products. Additionally, we may be unable to increase the prices of products due to the terms of existing contracts, a competitor’s pricing pressure or other factors. The inability to obtain necessary raw materials on acceptable terms could affect our ability to meet customer commitments and satisfy demand for certain products. Certain of our product lines depend on a limited number of third-party suppliers and vendors. The ability of these third parties to deliver raw materials may be affected by events beyond our control. In addition, public health threats, severe influenza and other highly communicable viruses or diseases could limit access to vendors and their facilities, or the ability to transport raw materials from our vendors, which would adversely affect our ability to obtain necessary raw materials for certain of our products or increase the costs of such materials. A significant price increase in or the unavailability of raw materials may result in a loss of customers and adversely impact our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows, and could result in asset impairments, including an impairment of the carrying value of our goodwill.
Continuing inflation and cost increases may impact our sales margins and profitability.
Cost inflation including significant increases in raw material and component costs, labor rates, and global transportation and logistics costs have and could continue to impact profitability. In addition, our customers are also affected by inflation and the rising costs of goods and services used in their businesses, which could negatively impact their ability to purchase our products, which could adversely impact our revenue and profitability. There is no guarantee that we can increase selling prices, replace lost revenue, or reduce costs to fully mitigate the effect of inflation on our costs and business, which may adversely impact our sales margins and profitability.
We might be unable to successfully compete with other companies in our industry.
The business in which we operate is highly competitive. The principal competitive factors are customer service, product technology, product quality and performance, breadth of product offering, price, payment terms, allocation of risk, geographic footprint, technical expertise and innovation. In some of our product and service offerings, we compete with the oil and natural gas industry’s largest oilfield service providers. These large national and multinational companies may have longer operating histories, greater brand recognition, and a stronger presence in geographies than us. They may also have more robust organizational and technical capabilities. In addition, we compete with many smaller companies capable of effectively competing on a regional or local basis. Our competitors may be able to respond more quickly to new or emerging technologies and services and for changes in customer requirements. Many contracts are awarded on a bid basis, which further increases competition based on price. As a result of the competitive environment in which we operate, if we are unable to successfully compete in our industry, we may lose competitive share, be unable to maintain or increase prices for our products and services, or be unable to develop new business opportunities, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
If we are unable to develop new products and technologies, our competitive position may be impaired, which could materially and adversely affect our sales and market share.
The businesses in which we operate are characterized by changing technologies and the introduction of new products and services. As a result, our success is dependent upon our ability to develop or acquire new products and services on a cost-effective basis, to introduce them into the marketplace in a timely manner, and to protect and maintain critical
intellectual property assets related to these developments. Difficulties or delays in research, development or production of new products and technologies, or failure to gain customer acceptance of new products and technologies, may significantly reduce future revenue and materially and adversely affect our competitive position. While we intend to continue to commit financial resources and effort to the development of new products and services, our ability to do so may be impacted by the prolonged industry downturn and/or we may not be able to successfully differentiate our products and services from those of our competitors. Our customers may not consider our proposed products and services to be of value to them or may not view them as superior to our competitors’ products and services. In addition, our competitors or customers may develop new technologies which are similar to, or improvements on, our existing technologies.
Further, we may not be able to adapt to evolving customer needs and technologies, including the transition to a lower-carbon economy and energy system by our customers, develop new products, and achieve and maintain technological advantages in developing products and services in support of the evolving industry. If we do not successfully compete through the development and introduction of new products and technologies, our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows could be materially adversely affected.
Our products are used in operations that are subject to potential hazards inherent in the oil and natural gas industry and, as a result, we are exposed to potential liabilities that may affect our financial condition and reputation.
Our products are used in potentially hazardous production applications in the oil and natural gas industry where an accident or a failure of a product can potentially have catastrophic consequences. Risks inherent in these applications, such as equipment malfunctions and defects, failures, equipment misuse and explosions can cause personal injury, loss of life, suspension of operations, damage to formations, damage to facilities, business interruption and damage to or destruction of property, surface and drinking water resources, equipment and the environment. While we currently maintain insurance protection against some of these risks and seek to obtain indemnity agreements from our customers requiring them to hold us harmless from some of these risks, our current insurance and contractual indemnity protection may not be sufficient or effective enough to protect us under all circumstances or against all risks. The occurrence of a significant event not fully insured or indemnified against, or the failure of a customer to meet its indemnification obligations to us could adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Consolidation in our industry may impact our results of operations.
Business consolidations within the oil and natural gas industry in recent years have resulted in some of our largest customers combining and using their size and purchasing power to seek economies of scale and pricing concessions. Continuing consolidation within the industry may result in reduced operating and capital spending by some of our customers or the acquisition of one or more of our primary customers, which may lead to decreased demand for our products and services. There is no assurance that we will be able to maintain our level of sales to a customer that has consolidated or replace that revenue with increased business activity with other customers. As a result, the acquisition of one or more of our primary customers may have a significant adverse impact on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. We are unable to predict what effect consolidations in the industry may have on prices, operating or capital spending by our customers, our selling strategies, our competitive position, our ability to retain customers or our ability to negotiate favorable agreements with our customers.
The credit risks of our customer base could result in losses.
The majority of our customers are oil and natural gas companies that have faced or may in the future face liquidity constraints during adverse commodity price environments. These customers are also affected by prolonged changes in economic and industry conditions such as geopolitical unrest and instability, volatility in oil and natural gas prices as a result of associated changes in demand for such commodities, and continuing inflationary pressures, including
increased interest rates and cost of credit. If a significant number of our customers experience prolonged business declines, disruptions, or bankruptcies, we may incur increased exposure to credit risk and losses from bad debts.
The loss of one or more significant customers could have an adverse impact on our financial results.
We have long-standing customer relationships with many of the largest operators in oil and natural gas drilling and production. Our customers include international and national oil and natural gas companies, large integrated operators as well as independent conventional and unconventional oil and natural gas companies, major oilfield equipment and service providers, and pipeline companies. Our customer base is generally diverse, but in certain international jurisdictions, our business may be concentrated in and depend on one or a few customers. We do have significant customer concentration in our top ten customers; therefore, the loss of a major customer could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Changes in our customer and product mix could cause our profit margin to fluctuate.
From time to time, we may experience changes in our customer mix or in our product mix. Our customer relationships depend, in part, on our ability to provide customers the products they need when they need them and our ability to provide an appropriate level of service to gain and retain customers. If our customers’ experience is negative or our customers require lower-margin products from us and fewer higher-margin products, our results of operations and financial condition may suffer.
We are subject to information technology, cybersecurity and privacy risks.
We depend on various information technologies and other products and services to store and process business information and otherwise support our business activities. We also manufacture and sell hardware and software to provide monitoring, controls and optimization of customer critical assets in oil and natural gas production and distribution. In addition, certain of our customer offerings include digital components, such as remote monitoring of certain customer operations. We also provide services to maintain these systems. Additionally, our operations rely upon partners, suppliers and other third-party providers of information technology and other products and services. If any of these information technologies, products or services are damaged, cease to properly function, are breached due to employee error, malfeasance, system errors, or other vulnerabilities, or are subject to cybersecurity attacks, such as those involving unauthorized access, malicious software and/or other intrusions, we and our partners, suppliers or other third parties could experience: (i) production downtimes; (ii) operational delays; (iii) the compromising of confidential, proprietary or otherwise protected information, including personal and customer data; (iv) destruction, corruption, or theft of data; (v) security breaches; (vi) other manipulation, disruption, misappropriation or improper use of our systems or networks; (vii) hydrocarbon pollution from loss of containment; (viii) financial losses from remedial actions; (ix) loss of business or potential liability; (x) adverse media coverage; and (xi) legal claims or legal proceedings, including regulatory investigations and actions, and/or damage to our reputation. Increased risks of such attacks and disruptions also exist as a result of geopolitical conflicts, such as the continuing conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the Middle East. While we have not experienced a material breach of our information technologies and we attempt to mitigate these risks by employing a number of measures, including employee training, technical security controls and maintenance of backup and protective systems, the Company’s and our customers’, partners’, vendors’ and other third- parties’ systems, networks, products and services remain potentially vulnerable to known or unknown cybersecurity attacks and other threats, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
While we currently maintain cybersecurity insurance, such insurance may not be sufficient in type or amount to cover us against claims related to cybersecurity breaches or attacks, failures or other data security-related incidents, and we cannot be certain that cyber insurance will continue to be available to us on economically reasonable terms, or at all, or that an insurer will not deny coverage as to any future claim. The successful assertion of one or more large claims against us that exceed available insurance coverage, or the occurrence of changes in our insurance policies, including
premium increases or the imposition of large deductible or co-insurance requirements, could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, cash flows, and financial condition.
We have identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. If we are unable to remediate these material weaknesses, or if we identify additional material weaknesses in the future or otherwise fail to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting, we may not be able to accurately or timely report our financial condition or results of operations, which may adversely affect our business and Class A common stock price.
While we are designing and implementing measures to remediate the existing material weaknesses, we cannot predict the success of such measures or the outcome of the assessment of these measures at this time. We can give no assurance that these measures will remediate any of the deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting, or additional material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting will not be identified in the future. Our current controls and any new controls that we develop may become inadequate because of changes in conditions in our business, personnel, IT systems and applications, or other factors. Any failure to design or maintain effective internal control over financial reporting or any difficulties encountered in our implementation or improvement could increase compliance costs, negatively impact share trading prices, or otherwise harm our operating results or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations. The effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting is subject to various inherent limitations, including cost limitations, judgments used in decision making, assumptions about the likelihood of future events, the possibility of human error and the risk of fraud. If we are unable to remediate the material weaknesses, our ability to record, process, summarize and report information within the time periods specified in the rules and forms of the SEC could be adversely affected, which, in turn, may adversely affect our reputation and business and the market price of our Class A common stock. In addition, any such failures could result in litigation or regulatory actions by the SEC or other regulatory authorities, loss of investor confidence, delisting of our securities and harm to our reputation and financial condition, or diversion of financial and management resources from the operation of our business.
As a public company, we are required, pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, to furnish a report by management on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. Additionally, our independent registered public accounting firm is not required to attest to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting until after we are no longer an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the JOBS Act. We may not be able to conclude on an ongoing basis that we have effective internal control over financial reporting, in which case our independent registered public accounting firm could not issue an unqualified opinion related to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. If we are unable to conclude that we have effective internal control over financial reporting and our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to issue an unqualified opinion related to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, investors could lose confidence in our reported financial information, which could have a material adverse effect on the trading price of our Class A common stock. See “ Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting ” in Item 9A of this Annual Report.
We are subject to risks relating to existing international operations and expansion into new geographical markets.
While sales outside of the U.S. have historically represented an immaterial percentage of our consolidated revenue, we continue to focus on expanding sales globally as part of our overall growth strategy and expect sales from outside the United States to represent a growing portion of our revenue. Our international operations and global expansion strategy are subject to general risks related to such operations, including:
political, social and economic instability and disruptions;
export controls, economic sanctions, embargoes or trade restrictions;
the imposition of duties and tariffs and other trade barriers;
limitations on ownership and on repatriation or dividend of earnings;
transportation delays and interruptions;
labor unrest and current and changing regulatory environments;
increased compliance costs, including costs associated with disclosure requirements and related due diligence;
difficulties in staffing and managing multi-national operations;
limitations on our ability to enforce legal rights and remedies;
access to or control of networks and confidential information due to local government controls and vulnerability of local networks to cyber risks; and
fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates.
If we are unable to successfully manage the risks associated with expanding our global business or adequately manage operational risks of our existing international operations, these risks could have a material adverse effect on our growth strategy into new geographical markets, our reputation, our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Adverse health events, such as a pandemic, could adversely affect our business, liquidity, and financial results.
From time to time, various diseases have spread across the globe such as COVID-19, SARS and the avian flu. If a disease spread sufficiently to cause an epidemic or a pandemic, the ability to operate our business or the businesses of our suppliers, contractors or customers could be reduced due to illness of employees, local restrictions to combat the disease and demand for our products and services or those of our customers could decrease. Our supply chain could be disrupted if access to vendor facilities is limited or they experience labor shortages, or our ability to obtain components from our vendors could be limited, adversely affecting the price or availability of products, which could result in a loss of revenue and profitability. Demand for our products could decrease if our customers curtail their activities, due to lower demand for their products, budget constraints or other capital discipline measures, which may adversely affect our revenue and cash flows.
Our failure to attract, retain and develop personnel could have an adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
The delivery of our services and products requires personnel with specialized skills and experience, and our growth, profitability and effectiveness in conducting our operations and executing our strategic plans depend in part on our ability to attract, retain and develop qualified personnel, and align them with appropriate opportunities for key management positions. We may experience employee turnover or labor shortages if our business requirements and/or expectations about when and how often employees work either on-site or remotely are inconsistent with the expectations of our employees or if employees pursue employment in fields with less volatility than in the energy industry. Additionally, during periods of increased investment in the oil and natural gas industry, competition for qualified personnel may increase and the availability of qualified personnel may be further constrained. Although we believe we generally offer competitive compensation packages, our costs of operations and selling, general and administrative expenses could increase in the future if required to attract and retain qualified personnel and there is no assurance that the prices of our products and services could be increased to offset any such increases. If we are unsuccessful in our efforts to attract and retain sufficient qualified personnel on terms acceptable to us, or do so at rates necessary to maintain our liquidity and competitive position, our business, results of operations, financial condition, cash flows, and market share could be adversely affected.
The inability to protect or obtain patent and other intellectual property rights could adversely affect our revenue, operating profits and cash flows.
We own patents, trademarks, licenses and other intellectual property related to our products and services, and we continuously invest in research and development that may result in innovations and intellectual property rights. We employ various measures to develop, maintain and protect our innovations and intellectual property rights. These measures may not be effective in capturing intellectual property rights, and they may not prevent our intellectual property from being challenged, invalidated, circumvented, infringed, misappropriated or otherwise violated, particularly in countries where intellectual property rights are not highly developed or protected. We also may not be successful in fully protecting innovations and intellectual property we develop or acquire. In addition, if licenses to certain intellectual property are no longer available, we may not be able to continue providing services or products relating to that license, which could adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. Unauthorized use of our intellectual property rights and any potential litigation we may initiate or have initiated against us in respect of our intellectual property rights could adversely impact our competitive position and have a negative impact on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Natural disasters and unusual weather conditions could have an adverse impact on our business.
Our business could be materially and adversely affected by natural disasters or severe weather conditions, including the effects of climate change. Hurricanes, tropical storms, tornadoes, flash floods, blizzards, extreme cold weather and other natural disasters or severe weather conditions, which may increase in frequency or intensity as a result of climate change, could result in evacuation of personnel, curtailment of services, damage to equipment and facilities, interruption in transportation of products and materials and loss of productivity. For example, certain of our manufactured products and components are manufactured at a single facility, and disruptions in operations or damage to any such facilities could reduce our ability to manufacture our products and satisfy customer demand. If our customers are unable to operate or are required to reduce operations due to natural disasters or severe weather conditions, our business could be adversely affected as a result of curtailed deliveries of our products and services. Our headquarters and certain manufacturing facilities are located in the U.S. Gulf Coast, and this region is also home to many of our customers and suppliers. Hurricanes or other severe weather events impacting the Gulf Coast could materially and adversely affect our operations, our ability to obtain raw materials at reasonable cost, or at all, and our customers in the region.
Our growth and results of operations may be adversely affected if we are unable to complete future third-party acquisitions on acceptable terms and integrate such acquisitions.
We expect to make future acquisitions that broaden our existing technological, geographic and business offerings, thereby complementing our businesses. However, there can be no assurance that we will be able to find suitable opportunities to purchase or acquire such capabilities on acceptable terms. If we are unsuccessful in our acquisition efforts, our revenue growth could be adversely affected. In addition, we face the risk that a completed acquisition may underperform relative to expectations. We may not achieve the synergies originally anticipated, may become exposed to unexpected liabilities, or may not be able to sufficiently integrate completed acquisitions into our then-current business and growth model. There can be significant challenges inherent in the process of integrating acquired businesses, including the ability to ensure the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, integrating information technology, accounting, finance and other systems, as well as retention of key officers and personnel. The successful or cost-effective integration of acquired businesses cannot be assured. These factors could potentially have an adverse impact on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Risk Factors Related to Financial Condition and Markets
Investor sentiment towards climate change, fossil fuels and other ESG matters could adversely affect our access to and cost of capital and stock price.
Increasing attention to climate change, societal expectations on companies to address climate change, investor and societal expectations regarding voluntary ESG initiatives and disclosures, and consumer demand for alternative forms of energy may result in increased costs, including, but not limited to, increased costs related to compliance, stakeholder engagement, contracting and insurance, reduced demand for our products, reduced profits, increased investigations and litigation, and negative impacts on the price of our shares of Class A common stock and access to capital markets. For instance, there have been efforts within the investment community (including investment advisors, investment fund managers, sovereign wealth funds, public pension funds, universities and individual investors) to promote the divestment of, or limit investment in, the stock of companies in the oil and natural gas industry. There has also been pressure on lenders and other financial services companies to limit or curtail financing of companies in the oil and natural gas industry. If these efforts continue or expand, our stock price and our ability to raise capital may be negatively impacted.
Members of the investment community are also increasing their focus on ESG practices and disclosures, including practices and disclosures related to climate change and sustainability, diversity equity and inclusion initiatives, and heightened governance standards, among companies more generally. In addition, organizations that voluntarily provide information to investors on corporate governance and related matters have developed rating processes for evaluating companies on their approach to ESG matters. Such ratings are used by some investors to inform their investment and voting decisions. Unfavorable ESG ratings and recent activism directed at shifting funding away from companies with fossil fuel energy-related assets could lead to increased negative investor sentiment toward us, our customers and our industry and to the diversion of investments to other industries, which could have a negative impact on our access to and costs of capital.
As a result, we may continue to face increasing pressure regarding our ESG disclosures and practices. Over the past few years, there has also been an acceleration in investor demand for ESG investing opportunities, and many large institutional investors have committed to increasing the percentage of their portfolios that are allocated towards ESG investments. With respect to any of these investors, our ESG disclosures and efforts may not satisfy the investor requirements or their requirements may not be made known to us. If we are unable to meet the ESG standards or investment criteria set by these investors and funds, we may lose investors or investors may allocate a portion of their capital away from us, our cost of capital may increase, and our stock price may be negatively impacted.
Our Credit Agreement imposes restrictions that limit our operating flexibility, and such facility may not be available if financial covenants are violated or if an event of default occurs.
Our Credit Agreement contains a number of covenants restricting, among other things, our ability to incur liens and indebtedness, sell assets, repurchase our equity shares and make certain types of investments. We are also subject to certain financial covenants, including but not limited to compliance with certain leverage and interest coverage ratios as defined in the Credit Agreement. A breach of any covenant or our inability to comply with the required financial ratios could result in a default under our Credit Agreement, and we can provide no assurance that we will be able to obtain the necessary waivers or amendments from our lenders to remedy a default. In the event of any default not cured or waived, the lenders are not obligated to provide funding or issue letters of credit and could declare any outstanding borrowings, together with accrued interest and other fees, to be immediately due and payable, thus requiring us to apply available cash to repay any borrowings then outstanding. If we are unable to repay borrowings with respect to our Credit Agreement when due, our lenders could proceed against the guarantees of our material
domestic subsidiaries. If any indebtedness under our Credit Agreement is accelerated, we can provide no assurance that our assets would be sufficient to repay such indebtedness in full.
Our exposure to exchange rate fluctuations on cross-border transactions and the translation of local currency results into U.S. dollars could negatively impact our results of operations.
While only small portion of our current business is transacted and/or denominated in foreign currencies, and fluctuations in currency exchange rates or the inability to exchange or repatriate foreign currencies could have an impact on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows, which are presented in U.S. dollars. Cross-border transactions, both with external parties and intercompany relationships, result in increased exposure to foreign exchange effects. We conduct business in countries that have restricted or limited trading markets for their local currencies and restrict or limit cash repatriation. We may accumulate cash in those geographies, but we may be limited in our ability to convert our profits into U.S. dollars, repatriate the profits from those countries or reinvest those earnings to fund operations in other countries. Significant changes in currency exchange rates could negatively affect our results of operations. Additionally, a future strengthening of the U.S. dollar potentially exposes us to competitive threats from lower cost producers in other countries and could result in unfavorable translation effects as the results of foreign locations are translated into U.S. dollars for reporting purposes.
Our indebtedness could adversely affect our financial condition and operating flexibility.
Our ability to make payments on, and to refinance, our indebtedness, as well as any future indebtedness that we may incur, will depend upon the level of cash flows generated by our operations, our ability to sell assets, availability under our revolving Credit Agreement and our ability to access the capital markets and/or other sources of financing. Our ability to generate cash is subject to general economic, industry, financial, competitive, legislative, regulatory and other factors that are beyond our control. If we are not able to repay or refinance our indebtedness as it becomes due, we may be forced to sell assets or take other disadvantageous actions, such as reducing financing in the future for working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions and general corporate purposes or dedicating an unsustainable level of cash flow from operations to the payment of principal and interest on the indebtedness. In addition, our ability to withstand competitive pressures and to react to changes in the oil and natural gas industry could be impaired.
Disruptions in the capital and credit markets, low commodity prices, our debt level and other factors may restrict our ability to raise capital on favorable terms, or at all.
Disruptions in the capital and credit markets, in particular with respect to companies in the energy sector, could limit our ability to access these markets or may significantly increase our cost to borrow. Continued low commodity prices, the rapid increases in interest rates by the U.S. Federal Reserve to counteract inflation, as well as other factors, have caused some lenders to increase interest rates, enact tighter lending standards which we may not satisfy as a result of our debt level or otherwise, refuse to refinance existing debt at maturity on favorable terms, or at all, and in certain instances have reduced or ceased to provide funding to borrowers. If we are unable to access the capital and credit markets on favorable terms or at all, it could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Risk Factors Related to Legal and Regulatory Environments
Federal, state and local legislative and regulatory initiatives relating to oil and natural gas development and the potential for related litigation could result in increased costs and additional operating restrictions or delays for our customers, which could reduce demand for our products.
Environmental laws, regulations and policies could limit our customers’ exploration and production activities. Although we do not directly engage in drilling or hydraulic fracturing activities, we provide products and services to operators in the oil and natural gas industry who are actively involved in the drilling and hydraulic fracturing activities. There has been significant growth in opposition to oil and natural gas development both in the U.S. and globally. This opposition is focused on attempting to limit or stop hydrocarbon development in certain areas. Examples of such opposition include: (i) efforts to reduce access to public and private lands; (ii) delaying or canceling permits for drilling or pipeline construction or export facilities; (iii) limiting or banning industry techniques such as hydraulic fracturing, and/or adding restrictions on the use of water and associated disposal; (iv) delaying or denying air-quality permits; and (v) advocating for increased regulations, punitive taxation, or citizen ballot initiatives or moratoriums on industry activity.
In addition, various state and local governments have implemented, or are considering the implementation of, increased regulatory oversight of oil and natural gas development through additional permitting requirements, operational restrictions, including on the time, place and manner of drilling activities, disclosure requirements and temporary or permanent bans on hydraulic fracturing, exports of liquified natural gas or other facets of crude oil and natural gas exploration and development in certain areas such as environmentally sensitive watersheds. Increased regulation and opposition to oil and natural gas activities could increase the potential for litigation concerning these activities and could include companies who provide products and services used in hydrocarbon development, such as us.
From time to time, legislation has been introduced, but not enacted, in Congress to provide for federal regulation of hydraulic fracturing and to require disclosure of the chemicals used in the fracturing process. Additionally, some states have adopted, and other states are considering adopting, regulations that could impose new or more stringent permitting, disclosure or well construction requirements on hydraulic fracturing operations. The adoption of new laws, regulations or policies at the federal, state or local levels imposing reporting obligations, or otherwise limiting or delaying hydrocarbon development, could make it more difficult for our customers to complete oil and natural gas wells, increase our customers’ costs of compliance and doing business, and otherwise adversely affect the oil and natural gas activities they pursue. Such developments, which could increase costs for our customers, could negatively impact demand for our products and services. In addition, heightened political, regulatory and public scrutiny, including lawsuits, could expose us or our customers to increased legal and regulatory proceedings, which could be time-consuming, costly or result in substantial legal liability or significant reputational harm. We could be directly affected by adverse litigation or indirectly affected if the cost of compliance or the risks of liability limit the ability or willingness of our customers to operate. Such costs and scrutiny could directly or indirectly, through reduced demand for our products and services, have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
We and our customers are subject to extensive environmental and health and safety laws and regulations that may increase our costs, limit the demand for our products and services or restrict our operations.
Our operations and the operations of our customers are subject to numerous and complex federal, state, local and foreign laws, regulations and policies relating to the protection of human health, safety and the environment. These laws, regulations and policies may adversely affect us by limiting or curtailing our customers’ exploration, drilling and production and export activities, impacting the products and services we design, market and sell and the facilities where we manufacture our products. For example, our operations and the operations of our customers are subject to numerous and complex laws, regulations and policies that, among other things: may regulate the management and
disposal of hazardous and non-hazardous wastes; may require acquisition of environmental permits related to our operations; may restrict the types, quantities and concentrations of various materials that can be released into the environment; may limit or prohibit operational activities in certain ecologically sensitive and other protected areas; may regulate specific health and safety criteria addressing worker protection; may require compliance with operational and equipment standards; may impose testing, reporting and record-keeping requirements; and may require remedial measures to mitigate pollution from former and ongoing operations. Sanctions for noncompliance with such laws, regulations and polices may include revocation of permits, corrective action orders, administrative or civil penalties, criminal prosecution and the imposition of injunctions to prohibit certain activities or force future compliance.
Some environmental laws, regulations and policies provide for joint and several strict liability for remediation of spills and releases of hazardous substances. In addition, we or our customers may be subject to claims alleging personal injury or property damage as a result of alleged exposure to hazardous substances, as well as damage to natural resources. These laws and regulations may expose us or our customers to liability for the conduct of or conditions caused by others, or for our acts or for the acts of our customers that were in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations at the time such acts were performed. Any of these laws and regulations could result in claims, fines or expenditures that could be material to our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Environmental laws, regulations and policies, and the interpretation and enforcement thereof, frequently change, and have tended to become more stringent over time. New laws, regulations treaties, or international agreements related to GHG and climate change, including incentives to conserve energy or use alternative energy sources, and temporary or permanent bans on certain activities or licenses or permits for certain activities may have a material adverse effect on our customers by limiting or curtailing their exploration, drilling, and production and export activities, which may adversely affect our operations by limiting demand for our products and services. Additionally, the implementation of new laws, regulations and policies may have a material adverse effect on our operating results by requiring us to modify our operations or products or shut down some or all of our facilities.
Various laws, regulations and policies exist or are under development that seek to regulate the emission of GHG, including establishing GHG “cap and trade” programs, increased efficiency standards, participation in international climate agreements, issuance of executive orders by the U.S. presidential administration and incentives or mandates for pollution reduction, use of renewable energy sources, or use of alternative fuels with lower carbon content. Any regulation of GHG emissions could result in increased compliance costs or additional operating restrictions for us and/or our customers and limit or curtail exploration, drilling and production and export activities of our customers, which could directly or indirectly, through reduced demand for our products and services, adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
In addition, oil and natural gas operations may be adversely affected by seasonal or permanent restrictions on drilling activities designed to protect wildlife. Seasonal restrictions may limit our customers’ ability to operate in protected areas and can intensify competition for drilling rigs, oilfield equipment, services, supplies and qualified personnel, which may lead to periodic shortages when drilling is allowed. These constraints and the resulting shortages or high costs could delay our customers’ operations or materially increase their operating and capital costs, which could in turn reduce demand for our products and services.
Our reputation, ability to do business and results of operations may be impaired by violations of U.S. and international laws and regulations regarding, anti-bribery, trade control, trade sanctions, anti-corruption and similar laws.
Our operations require us to comply with a number of U.S. and international laws and regulations, including those relating to anti-corruption, anti-bribery, fair competition, export and import compliance, money laundering and data privacy. In particular, our international operations are subject to the regulations imposed by the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act as well as anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws of various jurisdictions in which we operate. While we strive to maintain high ethical standards and robust internal controls, we cannot provide assurance that our internal
controls, training and compliance systems will always protect us from acts committed by our employees, agents or business partners that would violate such U.S. or international laws or regulations. Any such violations of law or improper actions could subject us to civil or criminal investigations in the U.S. or other jurisdictions, could lead to substantial civil or criminal, monetary and non-monetary penalties and related stockholder lawsuits, could lead to increased costs of compliance and could damage our reputation, business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Tariffs and other trade measures could adversely affect our results of operations, financial position and cash flows.
Our material input costs are adversely affected by tariffs imposed by the U.S. government on products imported into the U.S. and by trade restrictions imposed on business dealings with particular entities and/or individuals. Further trade restrictions, retaliatory trade measures and additional tariffs could result in higher input costs for our products, disrupt our supply chain and logistics, cause adverse financial impacts due to volatility in foreign exchange rates and interest rates, inflationary pressures on raw materials and energy, and heighten cybersecurity threats and other restrictions. We may not be able to fully mitigate the impact of these increased costs or pass price increases on to our customers. We cannot predict future developments, and such existing or future tariffs could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial position and cash flows.
Changes in domestic and foreign governmental laws, regulations and policies, risks associated with emerging markets, changes in statutory tax rates and laws, and unanticipated outcomes with respect to tax audits could adversely affect our business, profitability and reputation.
Our domestic and international sales and operations are subject to risks associated with changes in laws, regulations and policies (including environmental and employment regulations, export/import laws, local content and local ownership requirements, tax policies such as export subsidy programs and research and experimentation credits, carbon emission regulations and other similar programs). Failure to comply with any of the foregoing laws, regulations and policies could result in civil and criminal, monetary and non-monetary penalties, as well as damage to our reputation. In addition, we cannot provide assurance that costs of complying with new and evolving regulatory reporting requirements and current or future laws, including environmental protection, employment, data security, data privacy and health and safety laws, will not exceed our estimates. In addition, we have made investments in certain countries, and we may in the future invest in other countries, which may carry high levels of currency, political, compliance, or economic risk. While these risks or the impact of these risks are difficult to predict, any one or more of them could adversely affect our business, results of operations and reputation.
We are subject to taxation in a number of jurisdictions. Accordingly, our effective tax rate is impacted by changes in the mix among earnings in countries with differing statutory tax rates. A material change in the statutory tax rate or interpretation of local law in a jurisdiction in which we have significant operations could adversely impact our effective tax rate and impact our financial results.
Our tax returns are subject to audit and taxing authorities could challenge our operating structure, taxable presence, application of treaty benefits or transfer pricing policies. If changes in statutory tax rates or laws or audits result in assessments different from amounts estimated, then our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows may be adversely affected. In addition, changes in tax laws could have an adverse effect on our customers, resulting in lower demand for our products and services.
Changes to trade policy, tariffs, and import/export regulations, and uncertainties regarding the same, may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our business may be affected directly and indirectly by global trade policy. In April 2025, the Trump administration continued to push for new and significant trade policies by imposing a 10% baseline tariff on imported products with numerous U.S. global trade partners and additional individualized reciprocal tariffs on certain countries with which the U.S. has the largest trade deficits, followed by a 90-day pause in the effectiveness of some tariffs. These actions
have resulted in certain retaliatory tariffs on U.S. good sold in other countries. Current uncertainties about the tariffs and their effects on trading relationships may affect costs for and availability of raw materials or contribute to inflation in the markets in which we operate and increased economic pressures on our customers. Such uncertainties have also contributed to volatility in oil and gas commodity prices, which may affect demand from our customers and ultimately reduce demand for our products and services. While we will monitor such changes and attempt to mitigate increased costs and disruptions, our ability to do so may be limited by operational and supply change constraints, including in the short term. Similarly, our ability to recover any cost increases through price adjustments may be limited by competitive pressures, customer acceptance and contractual limitations. Accordingly, both uncertainties about the tariffs as well as potential actual tariffs may affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
War, terrorism or civil unrest could harm our business.
Due to the unsettled political conditions in many natural gas and oil-producing countries, our operations, revenue and profits are subject to adverse consequences of war, terrorism, civil unrest, strikes, currency controls, and governmental actions. These risks cause us to increase spending on security worldwide, cause us to cease operating in certain countries and disrupt financial and commercial markets, including the supply of and pricing for oil and natural gas. In addition, any possible reprisals as a consequence of military or other action, such as acts of terrorism in the United States or elsewhere, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Risk Factors Related to Our Organizational Structure
Our principal asset is our interest in Flowco LLC and, as a result, we depend on distributions from Flowco LLC to pay our taxes and expenses, including payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement. Flowco LLC’s ability to make such distributions may be subject to various limitations and restrictions.
Subsequent to the IPO, we became a holding company and our principal asset is our ownership of LLC Interests in Flowco LLC. As such, we have no independent means of generating revenue or cash flow, and our ability to pay our taxes and operating expenses or declare and pay dividends in the future, if any, will be dependent upon the financial results and cash flows of Flowco LLC and its subsidiaries and distributions we receive from Flowco LLC. There can be no assurance that Flowco LLC and its subsidiaries will generate sufficient cash flow to distribute funds to us or that applicable state law and contractual restrictions, including negative covenants in our debt instruments, will permit such distributions. Although Flowco LLC is not currently subject to any debt instruments or other agreements that would restrict its ability to make distributions to us, the terms of our Credit Agreement and other outstanding indebtedness restrict the ability of our subsidiaries to pay dividends to Flowco LLC.
Flowco LLC will continue to be treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes and, as such, generally will not be subject to any entity-level U.S. federal income tax. Instead, any taxable income of Flowco LLC will be allocated to holders of LLC Interests, including us. Accordingly, we will incur income taxes on our allocable share of any net taxable income of Flowco LLC. Under the terms of the Flowco LLC Agreement, Flowco LLC will be obligated, subject to various limitations and restrictions, including with respect to our debt agreements, to make tax distributions to holders of LLC Interests, including us. In addition to tax expenses, we will also incur expenses related to our operations, including payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement, which we expect could be significant. We intend, as its managing member, to cause Flowco LLC to make cash distributions to the holders of LLC Interests in an amount sufficient to (i) fund all or part of their tax obligations in respect of taxable income allocated to them and (ii) cover our operating expenses, including payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement. However, Flowco LLC’s ability to make such distributions may be subject to various limitations and restrictions, such as restrictions on distributions that would either violate any contract or agreement to which Flowco LLC is then a party, including debt agreements, or any applicable law, or that would have the effect of rendering Flowco LLC insolvent. If we do not have sufficient funds to pay tax or other liabilities, or to fund our operations (including, if applicable, as a result of an acceleration of our obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement), we may have to borrow funds, which could materially and adversely affect our liquidity and financial condition, and subject us to various restrictions imposed by
any lenders of such funds. To the extent we are unable to make timely payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement for any reason, such payments generally will be deferred and will accrue interest until paid; provided, however, that nonpayment for a specified period may constitute a material breach of a material obligation under the Tax Receivable Agreement resulting in the acceleration of payments due under the Tax Receivable Agreement. In addition, if Flowco LLC does not have sufficient funds to make distributions, our ability to declare and pay cash dividends will also be restricted or impaired.
Under the Flowco LLC Agreement, we intend to cause Flowco LLC, from time to time, to make distributions in cash to its members (including us) in amounts that may cover the taxes imposed on their allocable share of taxable income of Flowco LLC. As a result of (i) potential differences in the amount of net taxable income allocable to us and to Flowco LLC’s other stockholders, (ii) the lower tax rate applicable to corporations as opposed to individuals, and (iii) certain tax benefits that we anticipate from (a) future purchases or redemptions of LLC interests from the Continuing Equity Owners, (b) payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement and (c) any acquisition of interests in Flowco LLC from other stockholders in connection with the consummation of the Transactions, these tax distributions may be in amounts that exceed our tax liabilities. Our board of directors ( “ Board of Directors”) will determine the appropriate uses for any excess cash so accumulated, which may include, among other uses, the payment of obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement and the payment of other expenses. We will have no obligation to distribute such cash (or other available cash) to our stockholders. To the extent we do not distribute such excess cash as dividends on our Class A common stock we may take other actions with respect to such excess cash, for example, holding such excess cash, contributing such cash to Flowco LLC in exchange for additional LLC Interests or lending it (or a portion thereof) to Flowco LLC, some of which may result in shares of our Class A common stock increasing in value relative to the value of LLC Interests. The holders of LLC Interests may benefit from any value attributable to such cash balances if they acquire shares of Class A common stock in exchange for their LLC Interests, notwithstanding that such holders may have participated previously as holders of LLC Interests in distributions that resulted in such excess cash balances.
The Tax Receivable Agreement with the Continuing Equity Owners requires us to make cash payments to them in respect of certain tax benefits to which we may become entitled, and we expect that such payments will be substantial.
In connection with the consummation of the IPO, we entered into a Tax Receivable Agreement with Flowco LLC and each of the TRA Participants. Under the Tax Receivable Agreement, we are required to make cash payments to the TRA Participants equal to 85% of the tax benefits, if any, that we actually realize, or in certain circumstances are deemed to realize, as a result of: (i) Flowco Holdings ’ allocable share of existing tax basis acquired in connection with the Transactions and increases to such allocable share of existing tax basis; (ii) Flowco Holdings ’ utilization of certain tax attributes of the Blocker Companies (including the Blocker Companies’ allocable share of existing tax basis); (iii) the increases in our share of the tax basis of assets of Flowco LLC resulting from (a) the purchase of LLC Interests directly from Flowco LLC in connection with the IPO, (b) any future redemptions or exchanges of LLC Interests from the Continuing Equity Owners and (c) certain distributions (or deemed distributions) by Flowco LLC; and (iv) certain other tax benefits arising from payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement. We will be required to make such payments to the TRA Participants even if all of the Continuing Equity Owners were to exchange or redeem their remaining LLC Interests.
The payment obligation is an obligation of Flowco Holdings and not of Flowco LLC. We expect that the amount of the cash payments we will be required to make under the Tax Receivable Agreement will be substantial. Any payments made by us to the TRA Participants under the Tax Receivable Agreement will not be available for reinvestment in our business and will generally reduce the amount of overall cash flow that might have otherwise been available to us. To the extent that we are unable to make timely payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement for any reason, the unpaid amounts will be deferred and will accrue interest until paid by us, provided, however, that nonpayment for a specified period may constitute a material breach of a material obligation under the Tax Receivable Agreement resulting in the acceleration of payments due under the Tax Receivable Agreement. The payments under the Tax Receivable
Agreement are not conditioned upon continued ownership of us by the exchanging Continuing Equity Owners. Furthermore, if we experience a Change of Control (as defined under the Tax Receivable Agreement), which includes certain mergers, asset sales, and other forms of business combinations, we would be obligated to make an immediate payment, and such payment may be significantly in advance of, and may materially exceed, the actual realization, if any, of the future tax benefits to which the payment relates. This payment obligation could (i) make us a less attractive target for an acquisition, particularly in the case of an acquirer that cannot use some or all of the tax benefits that are the subject of the Tax Receivable Agreement and (ii) result in holders of our Class A common stock receiving substantially less consideration in connection with a change of control transaction than they would receive in the absence of such obligation. Accordingly, the Continuing Equity Holders’ interests may conflict with those of the holders of our Class A common stock. The existing tax basis acquired in connection with the Transactions, the actual increase in tax basis, and the actual utilization of any resulting tax benefits, as well as the amount and timing of any payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement, will vary depending upon a number of factors, including the timing of redemptions by the Continuing Equity Owners; the price of shares of our Class A common stock at the time of the redemption; the extent to which such redemptions are taxable; the amount of gain recognized by such Continuing Equity Owners; the amount and timing of the taxable income allocated to us or otherwise generated by us in the future; the portion of our payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement constituting imputed interest; and the federal and state tax rates then applicable.
Our organizational structure, including the Tax Receivable Agreement, confers certain benefits upon the Continuing Equity Owners that will not benefit holders of our Class A common stock to the same extent that it will benefit the Continuing Equity Owners.
Our organizational structure, including the Tax Receivable Agreement, confers certain benefits upon the Continuing Equity Owners that will not benefit the holders of our Class A common stock to the same extent that it will benefit the Continuing Equity Owners. We entered into the Tax Receivable Agreement with Flowco LLC and each of the TRA Participants in connection with the completion of the IPO and the Transactions, which provides for the payment by us to the TRA Participants of 85% of the amount of tax benefits, if any, that we actually realize, or in some circumstances are deemed to realize, as a result of: (i) Flowco’s allocable share of existing tax basis acquired in connection with the Transactions and increases to such allocable share of existing tax basis; (ii) Flowco Holdings’s utilization of certain tax attributes of the Blocker Companies (including the Blocker Companies’ allocable share of existing tax basis); (iii) the increases in our share of the tax basis of assets of Flowco LLC resulting from (a) the purchase of LLC Interests directly from Flowco LLC in connection with the IPO, (b) any future redemptions or exchanges of LLC Interests from the Continuing Equity Owners as described under “ Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions - Flowco LLC Agreement - Flowco LLC Agreement in Effect Upon Consummation of the Transactions — Common Unit Redemption Right ” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for 2024 (and equivalent section in our Definitive Proxy Statement for our 2026 Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be incorporated by reference herein) and (c) certain distributions (or deemed distributions) by Flowco LLC; and (iv) certain other tax benefits arising from payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement. See “ Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions—Tax Receivable Agreement ” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for 2024 (and equivalent section in our Definitive Proxy Statement for our 2026 Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be incorporated by reference herein). Although we will retain 15% of the amount of such tax benefits, this and other aspects of our organizational structure may adversely impact the future trading market for the Class A common stock.
Additionally, we are a holding company and have no material assets other than our ownership of LLC Interests. As a consequence, our ability to declare and pay dividends to the holders of our Class A common stock is subject to the ability of Flowco LLC to provide distributions to us. If Flowco LLC makes such distributions, the Continuing Equity Owners that hold LLC Interests will be entitled to receive equivalent distributions from Flowco LLC on a pro rata basis. However, because we must pay taxes, amounts ultimately distributed as dividends to holders of our Class A common stock are expected to be less on a per share basis than the amounts distributed by Flowco LLC to such
Continuing Equity Owners on a per unit basis. This and other aspects of our organizational structure may adversely impact the future trading market for our Class A common stock.
In certain cases, payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement to the TRA Participants may be accelerated or significantly exceed any actual benefits we realize in respect of the tax attributes subject to the Tax Receivable Agreement.
The Tax Receivable Agreement provides that if (i) we materially breach any of our material obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement, (ii) certain mergers, asset sales, other forms of business combinations or other changes of control were to occur after the consummation of the IPO or (iii) we elect an early termination of the Tax Receivable Agreement, then our obligations, or our successor’s obligations, under the Tax Receivable Agreement to make payments would be based on certain assumptions, including an assumption that we would have sufficient taxable income to fully utilize all potential future tax benefits that are subject to the Tax Receivable Agreement.
As a result of the foregoing, we would be required to make an immediate cash payment equal to the present value of the anticipated future tax benefits that are the subject of the Tax Receivable Agreement, based on certain assumptions, which payment may be made significantly in advance of the actual realization, if any, of such future tax benefits. We could also be required to make cash payments to the TRA Participants that are greater than the specified percentage of any actual benefits we ultimately realize in respect of the tax benefits that are subject to the Tax Receivable Agreement. In these situations, our obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement could have a substantial negative impact on our liquidity and could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing certain mergers, asset sales, other forms of business combinations or other changes of control. There can be no assurance that we will be able to fund or finance our obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement. We may need to incur debt to finance payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement to the extent our cash resources are insufficient to meet our obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement as a result of timing discrepancies or otherwise.
We are not reimbursed for any payments made to the TRA Participants under the Tax Receivable Agreement in the event that any tax benefits are disallowed.
Payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement will be based on the tax reporting positions that we determine, and the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) or another tax authority, may challenge all or part of the tax basis increases or other tax benefits we claim, as well as other related tax positions we take, and a court could sustain such challenge. If the outcome of any such challenge would reasonably be expected to materially affect a recipient’s payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement, then we are not permitted to settle or fail to contest such challenge without the consent (not to be unreasonably withheld or delayed) of certain TRA Participants. The interests of the TRA Participants in any such challenge may differ from or conflict with our interests and your interests, and the TRA Participants may exercise their consent rights relating to any such challenge in a manner adverse to our interests and your interests. We are not reimbursed for any cash payments previously made to the TRA Participants under the Tax Receivable Agreement in the event that any tax benefits initially claimed by us and for which payment has been made to a TRA Participants are subsequently challenged by a taxing authority and are ultimately disallowed. Instead, any excess cash payments made by us to a TRA Participant will be netted against any future cash payments we might otherwise be required to make to such TRA Participants, under the terms of the Tax Receivable Agreement. However, we might not determine that we have effectively made an excess cash payment to a TRA Participants for a number of years following the initial time of such payment and, if any of our tax reporting positions are challenged by a taxing authority, we are not permitted to reduce any future cash payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement until any such challenge is finally settled or determined. Moreover, the excess cash payments we made previously under the Tax Receivable Agreement could be greater than the amount of future cash payments against which we would otherwise be permitted to net such excess. The applicable U.S. federal income tax rules for determining applicable tax benefits we may claim are complex and factual in nature, and there can be no assurance that the IRS or a court will not disagree with our tax reporting positions. As a result, payments could be made under the Tax Receivable
Agreement significantly in excess of any actual cash tax savings that we realize in respect of the tax attributes with respect to a TRA Participant that are the subject of the Tax Receivable Agreement.
Unanticipated changes in effective tax rates or adverse outcomes resulting from examination of our income or other tax returns could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.
We are subject to taxes by the U.S. federal, state, local and foreign tax authorities. Our future effective tax rates could be subject to volatility or adversely affected by a number of factors, including:
allocation of expenses to and among different jurisdictions;
changes in the valuation of our deferred tax assets and liabilities;
expected timing and amount of the release of any tax valuation allowances;
tax effects of share-based compensation;
costs related to intercompany restructurings;
changes in tax laws, tax treaties, regulations or interpretations thereof; or
lower than anticipated future earnings in jurisdictions where we have lower statutory tax rates and higher than anticipated future earnings in jurisdictions where we have higher statutory tax rates.
In addition, we may be subject to audits of our income, sales and other taxes by U.S. federal, state, and local and foreign taxing authorities. Outcomes from these audits could have an adverse effect on our operating results and financial condition.
If Flowco LLC were to become a publicly traded partnership taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we and Flowco LLC might be subject to potentially significant tax inefficiencies.
We intend to operate such that Flowco LLC does not become a publicly traded partnership taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes. A “publicly traded partnership” is a partnership the interests of which are traded on an established securities market or are readily tradable on a secondary market or the substantial equivalent thereof. Under certain circumstances, redemptions of LLC Interests pursuant to the redemption right, or other transfers of LLC Interests, could cause Flowco LLC to be treated as a publicly traded partnership. Applicable U.S. Treasury regulations provide for certain safe harbors from treatment as a publicly traded partnership, and we intend to operate such that redemptions or other transfers of LLC Interests qualify for one or more such safe harbors.
If Flowco LLC were to become a publicly traded partnership taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, significant tax inefficiencies might result for us and for Flowco LLC, including as a result of the inability to file a consolidated U.S. federal income tax return with Flowco LLC.
If we were deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, or the 1940 Act, including as a result of our ownership of Flowco LLC, applicable restrictions could make it impractical for us to continue our business as contemplated and could have a material adverse effect on our business.
Under Sections 3(a)(1)(A) and (C) of the 1940 Act, a company generally will be deemed to be an “investment company” for purposes of the 1940 Act if (i) it is, or holds itself out as being, engaged primarily, or proposes to engage primarily, in the business of investing, reinvesting or trading in securities, or (ii) it engages, or proposes to engage, in the business of investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading in securities and it owns or proposes to acquire investment securities having a value exceeding 40% of the value of its total assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis. We do not believe that we are an “investment company,” as such term is defined in either of those sections of the 1940 Act.
We and Flowco LLC intend to conduct our operations so that we are not considered an investment company. As the sole managing member of Flowco LLC, we control and operate Flowco LLC. On that basis, we believe that our interest in Flowco LLC is not an “investment security” as that term is used in the 1940 Act. However, if we were to cease participation in the management of Flowco LLC, or if Flowco LLC itself becomes an investment company, our interest in Flowco LLC could be deemed an “investment security” for purposes of the 1940 Act. If it were established that we were an unregistered investment company, there would be a risk that we would be subject to monetary penalties and injunctive relief in an action brought by the SEC, that we would be unable to enforce contracts with third parties and that third parties could seek to obtain rescission of transactions undertaken during the period it was established that we were an unregistered investment company. If we were required to register as an investment company, restrictions imposed by the 1940 Act, including limitations on our capital structure and our ability to transact with affiliates, could make it impractical for us to continue our business as contemplated and could have a material adverse effect on our business.
Risk Factors Related to the Ownership of Our Class A Common Stock
GEC and White Deer collectively control us, and each of them individually has significant influence over us, including pursuant to the Stockholders Agreement and control over decisions that require the approval of stockholders.
GEC and White Deer control, in the aggregate, approximately 58.5% of the voting power represented by all our outstanding classes of stock, and individually control approximately 42.3% and 16.2%, respectively, of the voting power represented by all our outstanding classes of stock. GEC, White Deer and certain of their affiliates have entered into a Stockholders Agreement relating to, among other things, the election of our directors. As a result, such Continuing Equity Owners will continue to exercise significant influence over all matters requiring stockholder approval, including the election and removal of directors and the size of our Board of Directors, and will continue to have significant control over our business, affairs and policies. The directors such Continuing Equity Owners elect have the authority to incur additional debt, issue or repurchase stock, declare dividends and make other decisions that could be detrimental to stockholders.
We expect that for some period of time, members of our Board of Directors will continue to be appointed by and/or affiliated with GEC and White Deer, who will have the right pursuant to our Stockholders Agreement to nominate the majority of our directors. Such Continuing Equity Owners can take actions that have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control of us or discouraging others from making tender offers for our shares, which could prevent stockholders from receiving a premium for their shares. These actions may be taken even if other stockholders oppose them. The concentration of voting power with such Continuing Equity Owners may have an adverse effect on the price of our Class A common stock. Such Continuing Equity Owners may have interests that are different from yours and may vote in a way with which you disagree and that may be adverse to your interests.
In addition to rights relating to the nomination of directors and our Board of Directors, the Stockholders Agreement includes certain consent rights with respect to actions by the company and our subsidiaries as long as GEC Affiliates or White Deer Affiliates, respectively, beneficially own, directly or indirectly, at least 10% of the Deemed Outstanding Class A Shares. The interests of GEC and White Deer may be different than the interests of other stockholders, and such consent rights could limit our ability to engage in certain transactions in a way that is adverse to your interests.
Further, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, which became effective upon the consummation of the Transactions, provides that the doctrine of “corporate opportunity” does not apply with respect to any director or stockholder who is not employed by us or any of our subsidiaries. GEC, White Deer and their respective affiliates have investments in other oilfield services companies that may compete with us, and GEC, White Deer and their respective affiliates may invest in such other companies in the future. By renouncing our interest and expectancy in any business opportunity that may be from time to time presented to any member of a GEC or White Deer affiliated entity or any of our directors or officers who is also an employee, partner, member, manager, officer or director of any
GEC or White Deer affiliated entity, our business or prospects could be adversely affected if attractive business opportunities are procured by such parties for their own benefit rather than for ours. See “ Risk Factors – Risk Factors Related to the IPO and Ownership of Our Class A Common Stock – Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the doctrine of “corporate opportunity” will not apply with respect to any director or stockholder who is not employed by us or our subsidiaries .”
We cannot predict the effect our dual class structure may have on the market price of our Class A common stock.
We cannot predict whether our dual-class structure will result in a lower or more volatile market price of our Class A common stock, adverse publicity or other adverse consequences. The dual-class structure of our common stock may make us ineligible for inclusion in certain indices and, as a result, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and other investment vehicles that attempt to passively track those indices would not invest in our Class A common stock. In addition, it is unclear what effect, if any, such policies will have on the valuations of publicly-traded companies excluded from such indices, but it is possible that they may adversely affect valuations, as compared to similar companies that are included. Due to the dual-class structure of our common stock, we may be excluded from certain indices and we cannot assure you that other stock indices will not take similar actions. Given the sustained flow of investment funds into passive strategies that seek to track certain indices, exclusion from certain stock indices may preclude investment by many of these funds and could make our Class A common stock less attractive to other investors. As a result, the market price of our Class A common stock may be adversely affected.
We are a “controlled company” within the meaning of the NYSE rules and, as a result, will qualify for, and intend to rely on, exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements. You may not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to such corporate governance requirements.
GEC, White Deer and certain of their affiliates collectively, are parties to the Stockholders’ Agreement relating to the election of directors, as a group currently have more than 50% of the voting power for the election of directors, and, as a result, we are considered a “controlled company” for the purposes of the NYSE rules. As such, we qualify for, and intend to rely on, exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements, including the requirements to have a majority of independent directors on our Board of Directors, an entirely independent nominating and corporate governance committee, an entirely independent compensation committee or to perform annual performance evaluations of the nominating and corporate governance and compensation committees.
The corporate governance requirements and, specifically, the independence standards are intended to ensure directors who are considered independent are free of any conflicting interest that could influence their actions as directors. Following the IPO, we utilized certain exemptions afforded to a “controlled company.” As a result, we are not subject to certain corporate governance requirements, including that a majority of our Board of Directors consists of “independent directors,” as defined under the NYSE rules. In addition, we are not required to have a nominating and corporate governance committee or compensation committee that is composed entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee’s purpose and responsibilities, or to conduct annual performance evaluations of the nominating and corporate governance and compensation committees.
Accordingly, we may not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to all of the corporate governance requirements of the NYSE rules. Our status as a controlled company could make our Class A common stock less attractive to some investors or otherwise harm our stock price.
Certain provisions of Delaware law and anti-takeover provisions in our organizational documents could delay or prevent a change of control.
Certain provisions of Delaware law and our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws may have an anti-takeover effect and may delay, defer, or prevent a merger, acquisition, tender offer, takeover attempt or other change of control transaction that a stockholder might consider in its best interest, including
those attempts that might result in a premium over the market price for the shares held by our stockholders. These provisions provide for, among other things:
a classified Board of Directors with staggered three-year terms;
the ability of our Board of Directors to issue one or more series of preferred stock without stockholder approval;
advance notice for nominations of directors by stockholders and for stockholders to include matters to be considered at our annual meetings;
certain limitations on convening special stockholder meetings and actions by stockholders through a written consent;
prohibit cumulative voting in the election of directors;
the removal of directors only for cause and only upon the affirmative vote of the holders of at least a majority of the voting power represented by our then-outstanding common stock entitled to vote generally in the election of directors; and
that certain provisions of amended and restated certificate of incorporation may be amended only by the affirmative vote of at least 66-2/3% of the voting power represented by our then-outstanding common stock.
These antitakeover provisions could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us, even if the third party’s offer may be considered beneficial by many of our stockholders. As a result, our stockholders may be limited in their ability to obtain a premium for their shares.
In addition, we have opted out of Section 203 of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (the “DGCL”), but our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that engaging in any of a broad range of business combinations with any “interested” stockholder (any stockholder with 15% or more of our voting stock) for a period of three years following the date on which the stockholder became an “interested” stockholder is prohibited, subject to certain exceptions, including an exclusion for GEC, White Deer and their affiliates.
The JOBS Act will allow us to postpone the date by which we must comply with certain laws and regulations intended to protect investors and to reduce the amount of information we provide in our reports filed with the SEC. We cannot be certain if this reduced disclosure will make our Class A common stock less attractive to investors.
The JOBS Act is intended to reduce the regulatory burden on “emerging growth companies.” As defined in the JOBS Act, a public company whose initial public offering of common equity securities occurs after December 8, 2011, and whose annual net revenues are less than $1.235 billion will, in general, qualify as an “emerging growth company” until the earliest of:
the last day of its fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of the date of its initial public offering of common equity securities;
the last day of its fiscal year in which it has annual gross revenue of $1.235 billion or more;
the date on which it has, during the previous three-year period, issued more than $1.0 billion in nonconvertible debt; and
the date on which it is deemed to be a “large accelerated filer,” which will occur at such time as the company (i) has an aggregate worldwide market value of common equity securities held by non-affiliates of $700 million or more as of the last business day of its most recently completed second fiscal quarter, (ii) has been required to file annual and quarterly reports under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the
Exchange Act, for a period of at least 12 months, and (iii) has filed at least one annual report pursuant to the Exchange Act.
Under this definition, we are an “emerging growth company” upon completion of the IPO and could remain an “emerging growth company” until as late as the fifth anniversary of the completion of the IPO. For so long as we are an “emerging growth company,” we are, among other things:
not be required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act;
not be required to hold a nonbinding advisory stockholder vote on executive compensation pursuant to Section 14A(a) of the Exchange Act;
not be required to seek stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved pursuant to Section 14A(b) of the Exchange Act;
be exempt from the requirement of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, or PCAOB, regarding the communication of critical audit matters in the auditor’s report on the financial statements; and
be subject to reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements.
In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act provides that an emerging growth company can use the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. This permits an emerging growth company to delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We have elected to use this extended transition period and, as a result, our consolidated financial statements may not be comparable to the financial statements of issuers who are required to comply with the effective dates for new or revised accounting standards that are applicable to public companies.
We cannot predict if investors will find our Class A common stock less attractive as a result of our decision to take advantage of some or all of the reduced disclosure requirements above. If some investors find our Class A common stock less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our Class A common stock and our stock price may be more volatile.
Our ability to pay regular cash dividends on our Class A common stock may be limited.
Our ability to declare and pay dividends in the future will be made at the discretion of our Board of Directors and will depend on, among other things, general and economic conditions, our results of operations and financial condition, our available cash and current and anticipated cash needs, capital requirements, contractual, legal, tax and regulatory restrictions, and such other factors that our Board of Directors may deem relevant. In addition, our ability to pay dividends is, and may be, limited by covenants of existing and any future outstanding indebtedness we or our subsidiaries incur, including under our Credit Agreement. Therefore, any return on investment in our Class A common stock will likely depend primarily upon the appreciation of the price of our Class A common stock on the open market, which may not occur. See “ Part II. Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities - Dividends ” for more detail.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the sole and exclusive forum for certain stockholder litigation matters and the federal district courts of the U.S shall be the exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers, employees or stockholders.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides (A) (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 current or former
director, officer, other employee or stockholder of the Company to the Company or the Company’s stockholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or our amended and restated bylaws (as either may be amended or restated) or as to which the DGCL confers jurisdiction on the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware or (iv) any action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine of the law of the State of Delaware shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be exclusively brought in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware or, if such court does not have subject matter jurisdiction thereof, the federal district court of the State of Delaware; and (B) the federal district courts of the U.S. shall be the exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the exclusive forum provision shall not apply to claims seeking to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act. The 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, or other employees, which may discourage such lawsuits against us and our directors, officers, and other employees. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in our amended and restated 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. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of our capital stock shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to the forum provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the doctrine of “corporate opportunity” will not apply with respect to any director or stockholder who is not employed by us or our subsidiaries.
The doctrine of corporate opportunity generally provides that a corporate fiduciary may not develop an opportunity using corporate resources, acquire an interest adverse to that of the corporation or acquire property that is reasonably incident to the present or prospective business of the corporation or in which the corporation has a present or expectancy interest, unless that opportunity is first presented to the corporation and the corporation chooses not to pursue that opportunity. The doctrine of corporate opportunity is intended to preclude officers or directors or other fiduciaries from personally benefiting from opportunities that belong to the corporation. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the doctrine of “corporate opportunity” will not apply with respect to any director or stockholder who is not employed by us or our subsidiaries. Any director or stockholder who is not employed by us or our subsidiaries has, therefore, no duty to communicate or present corporate opportunities to us, and will have the right to either hold any corporate opportunity for their (and their affiliates’) own account and benefit or to recommend, assign or otherwise transfer such corporate opportunity to persons other than us, including to any director or stockholder who is not employed by us or our subsidiaries.
As a result, certain of our stockholders, directors and their respective affiliates are not prohibited from operating or investing in competing businesses. We, therefore, may find ourselves in competition with certain of our stockholders, directors or their respective affiliates, and we may not have knowledge of, or be able to pursue, transactions that could potentially be beneficial to us. Accordingly, we may lose a corporate opportunity or suffer competitive harm, which could negatively impact our business, operating results and financial condition.
If securities analysts do not publish research or reports about our business or if they downgrade our stock or our sector, or if there is any fluctuation in our future credit rating, our stock price and trading volume could decline.
The trading market for our Class A common stock relies in part on the research and reports that industry or financial analysts publish about us or our business. We do not control these analysts. If one or more of the analysts who do cover us downgrade our stock or our industry, or the stock of any of our competitors, or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, the price of our stock could decline. If one or more of these analysts stops covering us or fails to publish reports on us regularly, we could lose visibility in the market, which, in turn, could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline.
Additionally, any fluctuation in the credit rating of us or our subsidiaries may impact our ability to access debt markets in the future or increase our cost of future debt, which could have a material adverse effect on our operations and financial condition, which in return may adversely affect the trading price of shares of our Class A common stock.
As a public reporting company, we are subject to rules and regulations established from time to time by the SEC and NYSE regarding our internal control over financial reporting. If we fail to establish and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results or report them in a timely manner.
We are a public reporting company subject to the rules and regulations established from time to time by the SEC and the NYSE. These rules and regulations require, among other things, that we establish and periodically evaluate procedures with respect to our internal control over financial reporting. Reporting obligations as a public company are likely to place a considerable strain on our financial and management systems, processes and controls, as well as on our personnel.
In addition, as a public company we are required to document and test our internal control over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act so that our management can certify as to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting by the time our second annual report is filed with the SEC and thereafter, which will require us to document and make significant changes to our internal control over financial reporting. Likewise, our independent registered public accounting firm will be required to provide an attestation report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting at such time as we cease to be an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the JOBS Act, and we become an accelerated or large accelerated filer. As described above, we could potentially qualify as an “emerging growth company” until as late as the fifth anniversary of the completion of the IPO.
Prior to and following our IPO in 2025, we incurred costs to implement and improve our internal audit and compliance function. We expect to incur additional costs related to maintaining our internal audit and compliance function and to further improve our internal control environment. If we identify future deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting or if we are unable to comply with the demands that will be placed upon us as a public company, including the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, in a timely manner, we may be unable to accurately report our financial results, or report them within the timeframes required by the SEC. We also could become subject to sanctions or investigations by the SEC or other regulatory authorities. In addition, if we are unable to assert that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, or if our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to express an opinion as to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, when required, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports, we may face restricted access to the capital markets and our stock price may be adversely affected.
We incur and, continue to incur, significant costs as a result of operating as a public company.
Prior to the IPO, we operated as a private company. After the IPO, we became subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the Dodd-Frank Act, the listing requirements of the NYSE and other applicable securities laws and regulations. The expenses incurred by public companies for reporting and corporate governance purposes have generally been trending upward. We expect these rules and regulations to increase our legal and financial compliance costs and to make some activities more difficult, time-consuming and costly, although we are currently unable to estimate these costs with any degree of certainty. We also expect that being a public company and being subject to new rules and regulations will make it more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance, and we may be required to accept reduced coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain coverage. These laws and regulations could also make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified persons to serve on our Board of Directors, our Audit Committee or other board committees, or as our executive officers. Furthermore, if we are unable to satisfy our obligations as a public company, we could be subject to delisting of our Class A common
stock, fines, sanctions and other regulatory action and potentially civil litigation. These factors may, therefore, strain our resources, divert management’s attention and affect our ability to attract and retain qualified board members.
Future sales, or the perception of future sales, by us or our existing stockholders in the public market could cause the market price for our Class A common stock to decline.
The sale of shares of our Class A common stock in the public market, or the perception that such sales could occur, including sales by the cornerstone investors, could harm the prevailing market price of shares of our Class A common stock. These sales, or the possibility that these sales may occur, also might make it more difficult for us to sell equity securities in the future at a time and at a price that we deem appropriate.
As of February 26, 2026, we had a total of 29,647,189 outstanding shares of Class A common stock, of which 20,470,000 shares of outstanding Class A common stock are freely tradable without restriction or further registration under the Securities Act, other than shares held by our affiliates. In addition, as of February 10, 2026, we have registered on Form S-3 the resale of up to 57,530,845 shares of Class A common stock by selling stockholders, as well as the sale by us of up to $500 million of shares of Class A common stock and certain other equity-related securities. Certain holders of such registered shares, as well as other holders of shares of Class B common stock and LLC Units, may also be eligible to resell shares of Class A common stock pursuant to Rule 144 without restriction or further registration under the Securities Act, other than affiliate restrictions under Rule 144. Any shares of Class A common stock held by our affiliates are eligible for resale pursuant to Rule 144 under the Securities Act, subject to the volume, manner of sale, holding period and other limitations of Rule 144. The market price of our shares of Class A common stock could drop significantly if we or the holders of these shares sell them or are perceived by the market as intending to sell them. These factors could also make it more difficult for us to raise additional funds through future offerings of our shares of Class A common stock or other securities
We have reserved shares of Class A common stock equal to approximately 6.6% of the total number of outstanding LLC Interests following the IPO for issuance under the Equity Plan (as defined below in this Annual Report). Any Class A common stock that we issue under the Equity Plan or other equity incentive plans that we may adopt in the future would dilute the percentage ownership held by the investors in our Class A common stock.
In the future, we may also issue securities in connection with investments, acquisitions or capital raising activities. In particular, the number of shares of our Class A common stock issued in connection with an investment or acquisition, or to raise additional equity capital, could constitute a material portion of our then-outstanding shares of our Class A common stock. Any such issuance of additional securities in the future may result in additional dilution to you, or may adversely impact the price of our Class A common stock.
Item 1B. Unr esolved Staff Comments
None.
Ite m 1C. Cybersecurity
Our cybersecurity program is designed to protect our information assets and operations from both internal and external cyber threats, while simultaneously ensuring business resilience. We rely on information systems and related technologies for critical internal functions, including secure data storage, processing, and transmission, as well as for interactions with key business partners such as customers and vendors.
Risk Management and Strategy
We maintain a comprehensive cybersecurity risk management program (the “Cybersecurity Program”) aligned with the National Institute of Standards and Technology cybersecurity framework. Strategic investments in this area have prioritized:
migration to cloud-based managed solutions to replace remaining legacy systems;
workflow automation;
integration of digital and mobile tools for field service technicians; and
expansion of remote monitoring and control capabilities for our compressor fleets.
We employ industry-leading security tools and conduct regular security risk assessments and tool reviews with independent third parties to evaluate program effectiveness and inform our security roadmap. The Cybersecurity Program also includes continuous monitoring of industry news and updates to maintain awareness of the evolving cybersecurity landscape, including potential incidents or issues involving third-party service providers .
Key elements of our Cybersecurity Program include:
monthly cybersecurity awareness training for all employees, focusing on threat recognition and appropriate responses to phishing and social engineering attacks;
deployment of a phishing detection system to identify and flag suspicious emails for further review;
installation and regular updates of advanced endpoint detection and response software on all company-managed systems and workstations to prevent malicious activity;
implementation of secure DNS and web filtering with category and malicious site blocking;
deployment of next-generation firewall technology at all locations to secure perimeter access and ensure secure inter-site connectivity; and
a documented incident response plan to guide response and mitigation efforts in the event of a cybersecurity incident.
a risk management platform to assess and streamline vendor procurement and response
We are further enhancing our Cybersecurity Program by creating an internal cyber management team with primary function to focus on and enhance accountability of cyber and business risks, and to suggest and implement changes. To augment our internal capabilities, we utilize an outsourced cybersecurity operations center for continuous monitoring, investigation coordination, and remediation support.
As of the date of this Annual Report, we are not aware of any cybersecurity threats, including those resulting from prior cybersecurity incidents from our predecessor’s operations, that have had, or are reasonably likely to have, a material adverse effect on our business strategy, results of operations, or financial condition. We acknowledge the inherent and ongoing risks posed by cybersecurity threats, which, if realized and significant, could materially affect our operations, business strategy, results of operations, or financial condition.
Governance
Cybersecurity is a critical component of our overall risk management framework and a key area of focus for our Board of Directors and management. Cybersecurity responsibility is shared across the organization, from facility technicians and operators to the members of our Board of Directors. Our Vice President (“VP”) of Information Technology (“IT”) has direct responsibility for assessing, monitoring, and managing cybersecurity risks, as well as developing and executing our cybersecurity strategy. The Board of Directors and Audit Committee provide oversight of the Cybersecurity Program.
The IT Department, led by our VP of IT, meets regularly to evaluate ongoing security threats and incidents, and continually refines policy and procedures surrounding cybersecurity risk. Identified cybersecurity threats and incidents are monitored and assessed for materiality by the VP of IT and the IT Department. This assessment includes whether our Board of Directors should be informed of a threat or incident. Cybersecurity risks are communicated and discussed with our Board of Directors at least annually.
Our VP of IT has over 25 years of experience in IT and has a proven track record of creating, implementing, and managing successful infrastructure security, business continuity, access management, and change management policies and programs.
Item 2. Pr operties
We primarily lease technical customer support offices and manufacturing facilities, research and technology centers, and administrative facilities in various locations in the U.S.
As of December 31, 2025, our corporate headquarters consisted of leased office space located at 1300 Post Oak Blvd., Suite 450, Houston, Texas 77056, and 6529 & 6533 N. Classen Blvd., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 73116. The remainder of our property consists primarily of service equipment, vapor recovery, manufacturing and field support assets. For further information regarding our properties related to our business, see Item 1- Business - “Our Asset Footprints .”
Item 3. Le gal Proceedings
From time to time, we may be involved in various claims and litigations arising in the ordinary course of our business. The results of any current or future claims or proceedings cannot be predicted with certainty, and regardless of the outcome, litigation can have an adverse impact on our business, consolidated financial condition and results of operations. We do not believe that any existing claims or proceedings will have a material effect on our business, consolidated financial condition or results of operations.
Item 4. Mi ne Safety Disclosures
None.
PART II
