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Upgrade to ProD. Risk factors
You should carefully consider the risks described below, together with all of the other information in this Annual Report on Form 20-F. The risks and uncertainties described below are those material risk factors, currently known and specific to us, that we believe are relevant to an investment in our securities. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we now deem immaterial may also harm us. If any of these risks materialize our business, results of operations or financial condition could suffer, and the price of our ordinary shares could decline substantially.
Summary Risk Factors
Our business is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including those highlighted in the section titled “Risk Factors” below. These risks include, among others, the following:
Summary of Risks Associated with our Business
Our business is subject to a number of risks of which you should be aware before a decision to invest in our Ordinary Shares. You should carefully consider all the information set forth in this annual report and, in particular, should evaluate the specific factors set forth in the sections titled “Risk Frisk factors” below before deciding whether to invest in our Ordinary Shares. Among these important risks are, but not limited to, the following:
Potential decline in the consumption of products we sell due to consumer preference and taste could have a negative impact on our sales, operations, and business.
Our business depends upon consumers’ consumption of our beverage brands. Consumer preferences and tastes may shift due to, among other reasons, changing taste preferences, demographics, or perceived value. Consequently, any material shift in consumer preferences and taste in our major markets away from our beverage brands, or from the categories in which they compete could have a negative impact on our business, liquidity, financial condition, and/or results of operations. Consumer preferences may shift due to a variety of factors, including changes in demographic or social trends, and changes in leisure, dining, and beverage consumption patterns. A limited or general decline in consumption in one or more of our product categories could occur in the future due to a variety of factors, including:
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● a general decline in economic or geopolitical conditions; ● concern about the health consequences of consuming beverage alcohol products and about drinking and driving; ● a general decline in the consumption of beverage alcohol products in on-premise establishments, which may result from stricter laws relating to driving while under the influence of alcohol; ● the increased activity of anti-alcohol groups;
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● increased federal, state, provincial, and foreign excise, or other taxes on beverage alcohol products and possible restrictions on beverage alcohol advertising and marketing; ● increased regulation placing restrictions on the purchase or consumption of beverage alcohol products or increasing prices due to the imposition of duties or excise tax or changes to international trade agreements; ● inflation; and ● wars, health epidemics or pandemics, quarantines, weather, and natural or man-made disasters.
Demand for our products may be adversely affected by changes in category trends and consumer preferences.
Consumer preferences for our beverage brands change continually. Our success depends on our ability to predict, identify and interpret the tastes and habits of consumers and to offer products that appeal to those preferences.
If we do not succeed in offering products that appeal to consumers, our sales and market share will decrease, and our profitability could suffer. We must be able to distinguish among short-term fads, mid-term trends, and long-term changes in consumer preferences. If we are unable to accurately predict which shifts in consumer preferences will be long-term, or if we fail to introduce new and improved products to satisfy those preferences, our sales could decline. In addition, because of our varied consumer base, we must offer a sufficient array of products to satisfy the broad spectrum of consumer preferences. If we fail to expand our product offerings successfully across product categories or if we do not rapidly develop products in faster growing and more profitable categories, demand for our products will decrease and our profitability could suffer.
We may experience a reduced demand for some of our products due to health concerns (including obesity) and legislative initiatives against sweetened beverages.
Consumers are concerned about health and wellness; public health officials and government officials are increasingly vocal about obesity and its consequences. There has been a trend among some public health advocates and dietary guidelines to recommend a reduction in sweetened beverages, as well as increased public scrutiny, new taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages (as described below), and additional governmental regulations concerning the marketing and labeling/packing of the beverage industry. Additional or revised regulatory requirements, whether labeling, tax or otherwise, could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. Further, increasing public concern with respect to sweetened beverages could reduce demand for our beverages and increase desire for more low-calorie soft drinks, water, enhanced water, coffee-flavored beverages, tea, and beverages with natural sweeteners. We are continuously working to reduce calories and sugar in our products while launching new products, to pair with existing brand extensions that round out our diversified portfolio.
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We may not be able to consummate proposed acquisitions or divestitures successfully or integrate acquired businesses successfully.
From time to time, we acquire businesses, assets, or securities of companies that we believe will provide a strategic fit with our business. We integrate acquired businesses with our existing operations; our overall internal control over financial reporting processes; and our financial, operations, and information systems. If the financial performance of our business, as supplemented by the assets and businesses acquired, does not meet our expectations, it may make it more difficult for us to service our debt obligations and our results of operations may fail to meet market expectations. We may not effectively assimilate the business or product offerings of acquired companies into our business or within the anticipated costs or timeframes, retain key customers and suppliers or key employees of acquired businesses, or successfully implement our business plan for the combined business. In addition, our final determinations and appraisals of the estimated fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed in our acquisitions may vary materially from earlier estimates, and we may fail to realize fully anticipated cost savings, growth opportunities, or other potential synergies. We cannot assure that the fair value of acquired businesses or investments will remain constant.
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We may also divest ourselves of businesses, assets, or securities of companies that we believe no longer provide a strategic fit with our business. We may provide various indemnifications in connection with the divestiture of businesses or assets. Divestitures of portions of our business may also result in costs stranded in our remaining business. Delays in developing or implementing plans to address such costs could delay or prevent the accomplishment of our financial objectives.
In addition, our continued success depends, in part, on our ability to develop new products. The launch and ongoing success of new products are inherently uncertain, especially with respect to consumer appeal. A new product launch can give rise to a variety of costs. An unsuccessful launch, among other things, can affect consumer perception of existing brands, and our reputation. Unsuccessful implementation or short-lived popularity of our product innovations may result in inventory write-offs and other costs.
We cannot assure that we will realize the expected benefits of acquisitions, divestitures, or investments. We also cannot assure that our acquisitions, investments, or joint ventures will be profitable, that forecasts regarding our acquisitions, divestitures, or investment activities will be accurate, or that the internal control over financial reporting of entities which we must consolidate as a result of our investment activities will be as robust as the internal control over financial reporting for our wholly-owned entities. Our failure to adequately manage the risks associated with acquisitions or divestitures, or the failure of an entity in which we have an equity or membership interest, could have a material adverse effect on our business, liquidity, financial condition, and/or results of operations.
We may not be able to retain and recruit executive management or build morale and performance amongst our workforce.
Our success depends upon the efforts and abilities of our executive management team, key senior management, and a high-quality employee base, as well as our ability to attract, motivate, reward, and retain them. If one of our executive officers or critical senior management terminates his or her employment, we may not be able to replace their expertise, fully integrate new personnel, or replicate the prior working relationships. The loss of critical employees might significantly delay or prevent the achievement of our business objectives. Qualified individuals with the breadth of skills and experience in our industry that we require are in high demand, and we may incur significant costs to attract them. Difficulties in hiring or retaining key executive or employee talent, or the unexpected loss of experienced employees could have an adverse impact on our business performance. In addition, we could experience business disruption and/or increased costs related to organizational changes, reductions in workforce, or other cost-cutting measures.
We may not be able to secure additional capital and achieve adequate liquidity to grow and compete.
We will require additional capital to operate, grow and compete, and failure to obtain such additional capital could limit our operations and our growth. We may need to raise additional funds through private or public equity and/or debt financing. We cannot assure that additional financing will be available to us on acceptable terms or at all. If additional capital is either unavailable or cost prohibitive, our operations and growth may be limited, and we may need to change our business strategy to slow the rate of, or eliminate, our expansion or to reduce or curtail our operations. Also, any additional financing we undertake could impose covenants upon us that restrict our operating flexibility, and, if we issue equity securities to raise capital, our existing shareholders may experience dilution and the new securities may have rights, preferences, and privileges senior to those of our ordinary shares.
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If we are not able to successfully execute on our future operating plans and objectives, our financial condition, and results of operation may be materially adversely affected, and we may not be able to continue as a going concern.
It is important that we meet our sales goals and increase sales going forward as our operating plan already reflects prior significant cost containment measures and may make it difficult to achieve top-line growth if further significant reductions become necessary. If we do not meet our sales goals, our available cash and working capital will decrease and our financial condition will be negatively impacted.
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In order to be successful, we believe that we must, among other things:
● increase the sales volume and gross margins for our products; ● maintain efficiencies in operations; ● manage our operating expenses to sufficiently support operating activities; ● maintain fixed costs at or near current levels; and ● avoid significant increases in variable costs relating to production, marketing, and distribution.
We may not be able to meet these objectives, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations. We have incurred significant operating expenses in the past and may do so again in the future and, as a result, will need to increase revenues in order to improve our results of operations. Our ability to increase sales will depend primarily on success in expanding our current markets, improving our distribution base, entering into DTC arrangements with national accounts, and introducing new brands, products or product extensions to the market. Our ability to successfully enter new distribution areas and obtain national accounts will, in turn, depend on various factors, many of which are beyond our control, including, but not limited to, the continued demand for our brands and products in target markets, the ability to price our products at competitive levels, the ability to establish and maintain relationships with distributors in each geographic area of distribution and the ability in the future to create, develop and successfully introduce one or more new brands, products, and product extensions.
Our reliance on distributors, retailers, and brokers could affect our ability to efficiently and profitably distribute and market our products, maintain our existing markets and expand our business into other geographic markets.
Our ability to maintain and expand our existing markets for our products, and to establish markets in new geographic distribution areas, is dependent on our ability to establish and maintain successful relationships with reliable distributors, retailers, and brokers strategically positioned to serve those areas. Most of our distributors, retailers, and brokers sell and distribute competing products, including non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages, and our products may represent a small portion of their businesses. The success of this network will depend on the performance of the distributors, retailers, and brokers of this network. There is a risk that the mentioned entities may not adequately perform their functions within the network by, without limitation, failing to distribute to sufficient retailers or positioning our products in localities that may not be receptive to our product. Our ability to incentivize and motivate distributors to manage and sell our products is affected by competition from other beverage companies who have greater resources than we do. To the extent that our distributors, retailers, and brokers are distracted from selling our products or do not employ sufficient efforts in managing and selling our products, including re-stocking the retail shelves with our products, our sales and results of operations could be adversely affected. Furthermore, such third-parties’ financial position or market share may deteriorate, which could adversely affect our distribution, marketing, and sales activities.
Our ability to maintain and expand our distribution network and attract additional distributors, retailers, and brokers will depend on a number of factors, some of which are outside our control. Some of these factors include:
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● the level of demand for our brands and products in a particular distribution area; ● our ability to price our products at levels competitive with those of competing products; and ●
our ability to deliver products in the quantity and at the time ordered by distributors, retailers, and brokers.
We may not be able to successfully manage all or any of these factors in any of our current or prospective geographic areas of distribution. Our inability to achieve success with regards to any of these factors in a geographic distribution area will have a material adverse effect on our relationships in that particular geographic area, thus limiting our ability to maintain or expand our market, which will likely adversely affect our revenues and financial results.
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A key component of our business is our arrangement with Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (“CCEP”) to exclusively manufacture the bitters sold under the Australian Bitters Company brand for distribution in Australia. The disruption of this distribution strategy or the loss of this manufacturing and distribution partnership could result in a significant loss of revenue.
IBG exclusively manufactures Australian Bitters Company bitters for distribution in Australia due to our partnership with CCEP. In 20245, distribution and sales of our bitters under the Australian Bitters Company brand accounted for approximately 984% of our total revenue. If we fail to maintain good relations with CCEP and our agreement with CCEP were to expire or terminate, then we could incur a significant loss of revenue, which would negatively impact our results of operations.
Coca-Cola Europacific Partners could potentially terminate their agreement with us in the event of a change of control.
Under our Manufacturing Agreement (the “Agreement”) with Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners has the right to terminate the Agreement in the event of a change of control (as defined in the Agreement). Our initial public offering did not constitute a change of control for purposes of the Agreement unless an entity that is a direct competitor of Coca-Cola Europacific Partners in the beverage industry had come to hold, directly or indirectly, a legal or beneficial interest in any shares in the Company. There can be no assurance that Coca-Cola Europacific Partners will not determine that such a competitor had or has become a holder, directly or indirectly of a legal or beneficial interest in any shares in the Company. In addition, events may occur, or may have occurred, after the consummation of our initial public offering that would constitute a change of control under other elements of the definition of change of control set forth in the Agreement and thus trigger Coca-Cola Europacific Partners’ right to terminate the Agreement. Termination of the Agreement could have a material adverse effect on our business, liquidity, financial condition, and/or results of operations.
Upon the termination of the 2020 Manufacturing Agreement, two manufacturing and distribution licenses will expire, one of which would have a negative impact on our revenue.
On July 31, 2020, the Company (formerly known as Australian Boutique Spirits Pty Ltd) and Sway (formerly known as Elegance Brand, Inc.) entered into a Manufacturing, Supply and License Agreement, as amended on March 10, 2021, June 14, 2021, and October 21, 2022 (“2020 Manufacturing Agreement”). Upon the termination of the 2020 Manufacturing Agreement, two licenses granted thereunder will expire. Pursuant to said agreement, (i) IBG holds a royalty-free license to Twisted Shaker to manufacture, use and sell the product throughout the world, except the U.S., its territories and possessions; and (ii) Sway holds a royalty-free license to use the intellectual property rights associated with VOCO to manufacture, use and sell the brand in the U.S., its territories and possessions. The expiration of the license to manufacture and distribute Twisted Shaker would negatively impact our revenue as it accounted for $27,583 (1%) 40,767 of our group consolidated revenue for fiscal year 20245, whereas the expiration of Sway’s royalty-free license to manufacture and distribute VOCO would return the rights to us. For further details about the 2020 Manufacturing Agreement, please see “Item 4. Business Overview–-Material Agreements.”
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Under the 2020 Manufacturing Agreement, Sway has a right to a Favored Nations Price Adjustment and if we fail to comply to provide with such a pricing obligation, Sway is entitled to terminate the agreement.
Sway is entitled to a Favored Nations Price Adjustment (as described further under the section “Material Agreements”) on one occasion only during each Anniversary Year (meaning the period from August 1 through July 31) and it only applies to sales and purchases of Covered Products (as defined in the section “Material Agreements”) in the next succeeding Anniversary Year. If IBG fails to provide Sway with a Favored Nations Price Adjustment to which it may be entitled, Sway may, at its option, in addition to all of its other rights under this Agreement or at law, terminate this Agreement without liability to IBG. The termination of the 2020 Manufacturing Agreement would adversely eaffect our revenue, financial condition and results of operations.
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It is difficult to predict the timing and amount of our sales because our distributors are not required to place minimum orders with us.
Our independent distributors and national accounts are not required to place minimum monthly or annual orders for our products. In order to reduce their inventory costs, independent distributors typically order products from us on a “just in time” basis in quantities and at such times based on the demand for the products in a particular distribution area. Accordingly, we cannot predict the timing or quantity of purchases by any of our independent distributors or whether any of our distributors will continue to purchase products from us in the same frequencies and volumes as they may have done in the past. Additionally, our larger distributors and national partners may make orders that are larger than we have historically been required to fill. Shortages in inventory levels, supply of raw materials, or other key supplies could negatively affect us.
If we do not adequately manage our inventory levels, our operating results could be adversely affected.
We need to maintain adequate inventory levels to be able to deliver products to distributors on a timely basis. Our inventory supply depends on our ability to correctly estimate demand for our products. Our ability to estimate demand for our products is imprecise, particularly for new products, seasonal promotions, and new markets. If we materially underestimate demand for our products or are unable to maintain sufficient inventory of raw materials, we might not be able to satisfy demand on a short-term basis. If we overestimate distributor or retailer demand for our products, we may end up with too much inventory, resulting in higher storage costs, increased trade spend, and the risk of inventory spoilage. If we fail to manage our inventory to meet demand, we could damage our relationships with our distributors and retailers and could delay or lose sales opportunities, which would unfavorably impact our future sales and adversely affect our operating results. In addition, if the inventory of our products held by our distributors and retailers is too high, they will not place orders for additional products, which would also unfavorably impact our sales and adversely affect our operating results.
We rely upon our ongoing relationships with our key flavor suppliers. If we are unable to source our flavors on acceptable terms from our key suppliers, we could suffer disruptions in our business.
We currently purchase our flavor concentrate from various flavor concentrate suppliers, and continually develop other sources of flavor concentrate for each of our products. Generally, flavor suppliers hold the proprietary rights to their flavor specific ingredients. Although we have the exclusive rights to flavor concentrates developed with our current flavor concentrate suppliers, and while we have the rights to the ingredients for our products, we do not have the list of ingredients for our flavor extracts and concentrates. Consequently, we may be unable to obtain these exact flavors or concentrates from alternative suppliers on short notice. If we have to replace a flavor supplier, we could experience disruptions in our ability to deliver products to our customers, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.
We highly depend upon the protection of our trademarks and proprietary rights, and failure to protect our intellectual property rights may result in our inability to continue providing certain of our existing products and beverage brands.
Our future success depends significantly on our ability to protect our current and future brands and products and to defend our intellectual property rights. We have been granted trademark registrations covering our brands and products and have filed, and expect to continue to file, trademark applications seeking to protect newly developed brands and products. We cannot be sure that trademark registrations will be issued with respect to any of our trademark applications. We could also, by omission, fail to timely renew or protect a trademark and our competitors could challenge, invalidate, or circumvent any existing or future trademarks issued.
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Competition from traditional and large, well-financed non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverage manufacturers may adversely affect our distribution relationships and may hinder development of our existing markets, as well as prevent us from expanding our markets.
The beverage industry is highly competitive. We compete with other beverage companies not only for consumer acceptance but also for shelf space in retail outlets and for marketing focus by our distributors, all of whom also distribute other beverage brands. Our products compete with all non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages, most of which are marketed by companies with substantially greater financial resources than ours. Some of these competitors are placing severe pressure on independent distributors not to carry competitive brands such as ours. We also compete with regional beverage producers and “private label” suppliers.
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Increased competitor consolidations, market-place competition, particularly among branded beverage products, and competitive product and pricing pressures could impact our earnings, market share and volume growth. If, due to such pressure or other competitive threats, we are unable to sufficiently maintain or develop our distribution channels, we may be unable to achieve our current revenue and financial targets. Competition, particularly from companies with greater financial and marketing resources than ours, could have a material adverse effect on our existing markets, as well as on our ability to expand the market for our products.
If we fail to protect our trademarks and trade secrets, we may be unable to successfully market our products and compete effectively.
We have an international registration of certain of our trademarks under the Madrid protocol. We also rely on a combination of trademark and trade secrecy laws, confidentiality procedures, formulation protection procedures and contractual provisions with employees and contractors to protect our intellectual property rights. Failure to protect our intellectual property could harm our brand and our reputation, and adversely affect our ability to compete effectively. Further, enforcing or defending our intellectual property rights, including our trademarks, copyrights, licenses, formulations and trade secrets, could result in the expenditure of significant financial and managerial resources. We regard our intellectual property, and in particular our trademarks and trade secrets, to be of considerable value and importance to our business and our success. However, the steps taken by us to protect these proprietary rights may not be adequate and may not prevent third parties from infringing or misappropriating our trademarks, trade secrets, or similar proprietary rights. In addition, other parties may seek to assert infringement claims against us, and we may have to pursue litigation against other parties to assert our rights. Any such claim or litigation could be costly. In addition, any event that would jeopardize our proprietary rights or any claims of infringement by third parties could have a material adverse effect on our ability to market or sell our brands, profitably exploit our products, or recoup our associated research and development costs.
As part of the distribution strategy of our products, we grant licenses to distributors for their respective territory. Although our distribution agreements require that the use of our trademarks and designs is subject to our control and approval, any breach of these provisions, or any other action by any of our licensing partners that is harmful to our brands, goodwill and overall image, could have a material adverse impact on our business.
Supply of quality water, agricultural and other raw materials packaging materials purchased under short-term supply contracts, and glass bottles available from a limited group of suppliers, may harm our supplier which may affect our production costs and cause a shortage of our product supply.
The quality and quantity of water available for use is important to the supply of our agricultural raw materials and our ability to operate our business. Water is a limited resource in many parts of the world and if climate patterns change and droughts become more severe, there may be a scarcity of water or poor water quality which may affect our production costs or impose capacity constraints. We are dependent on sufficient amounts of quality water for operation of our facilities, as well as to conduct our other operations. The suppliers of the agricultural raw materials we purchase are also dependent upon sufficient supplies of quality water for their vineyards and fields. If water available to our operations or the operations of our suppliers becomes scarce or the quality of that water deteriorates, we may incur increased production costs or face manufacturing constraints. In addition, water purification and waste treatment infrastructure limitations could increase costs or constrain operation of our production facilities. A substantial reduction in water supplies could result in material losses of grape crops and vines or other crops, which could lead to a shortage of our product supply.
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Our facilities use a large volume of agricultural and other raw materials to produce their products. Our facilities all use large amounts of various packaging materials, including glass, aluminum, cardboard, and other paper products. Our production facilities also use electricity, natural gas, and diesel fuel in their operations. Certain raw materials and packaging materials are purchased under contracts of varying maturities. The supply, on-time availability and price of raw materials, packaging materials, and energy can be affected by many factors beyond our control, including market demand, global geopolitical events (especially as to their impact on crude oil prices), droughts, storms, and other weather conditions or natural or man-made events, economic factors affecting growth decisions, inflation, plant diseases, and theft.
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Disruptions in our supply chains could impact our ability to continue production. To the extent any of the foregoing factors increases the costs of our finished products or lead to a shortage of our product supply, we could experience a material adverse effect on our business, liquidity, financial condition, and/or results of operations.
The volatility of energy and increased regulations may have an adverse impact on our gross margin.
Over the past few years, volatility in the global oil markets has resulted in variable fuel prices, which many shipping companies have passed on to their customers by way of higher base pricing and increased fuel surcharges. If fuel prices continue to increase, we expect to experience higher shipping rates and fuel surcharges, as well as energy surcharges on our raw materials. It is hard to predict what will happen in the fuel markets in the remainder of 2025 6 and beyond. Due to the price sensitivity of our products, we may not be able to pass such increases on to our customers.
Disruption within our supply chain or distribution channels could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Our ability, through our suppliers, business partners, independent distributors, and retailers, to make, move and sell products is critical to our success. Damage or disruption to our suppliers or to manufacturing or distribution capabilities due to weather, natural disaster, fire or explosion, terrorism, pandemics such as the COVID-19 pandemic, labor strikes, or other reasons, could impair the manufacture, distribution, and sale of our products. Many of these events are outside of our control. Failure to take adequate steps to protect against or mitigate the likelihood or potential impact of such events, or to effectively manage such events if they occur, could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Our business operations may be interrupted and negatively affected due to economic and political uncertainties or changes associated with our international operations.
We operate facilities in Australia, which includes a distillery, and in the United States. These countries impose duties, excise taxes, and/or other taxes on beverage alcohol products, and/or on certain raw materials used to produce our beverage alcohol products, in varying amounts. Governmental bodies may propose changes to international trade agreements, treaties, taxes, and other government rules and regulations including but not limited to environmental treaties and regulations. Significant increases in import and excise duties or other taxes on, or that impact, beverage alcohol products could have a material adverse effect on our business, liquidity, financial condition, and/or results of operations.
In addition, governmental agencies extensively regulate the beverage alcohol products industry concerning such matters as licensing, warehousing, trade and pricing practices, permitted and required labeling, advertising, and relations with wholesalers and retailers. Certain regulations also require warning labels and signage. New or revised regulations or increased licensing fees, requirements, or taxes could have a material adverse effect on our business, liquidity, financial condition, and/or results of operations. Additionally, various jurisdictions may seek to adopt significant additional product labeling or warning requirements or limitations on the marketing or sale of our products because of what our products contain or allegations that our products cause adverse health effects. If these types of requirements become applicable to one or more of our major products under current or future environmental or health laws or regulations, they may inhibit sales of such products.
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These uncertainties and changes, as well as the decisions, policies, and economic strength of our suppliers and distributors, could have a material adverse effect on our business, liquidity, financial condition, and/or results of operations.
Volatility in the price or availability of the inputs we depend on, including raw materials, packaging, energy, and labor, could adversely impact our financial results.
The principal raw materials we use include glass bottles, aluminum cans, labels, and cardboard cartons, flavorings, and sweeteners. These ingredient costs are subject to fluctuation. Substantial increases in the prices of our ingredients, raw materials, and packaging materials, to the extent that they cannot be recouped through increases in the prices of finished beverage products, would increase our operating costs and could reduce our profitability. If our supply of these raw materials is impaired or if prices increase significantly, it could affect the affordability of our products and reduce sales.
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If we are unable to secure sufficient ingredients or raw materials including glass, sugar, and other key supplies, we might not be able to satisfy demand on a short-term basis.
Operational disruptions or catastrophic loss to our properties, other production facilities, or distribution systems could cause delays in our production.
If any of our properties, production facilities, or distribution systems were to experience a significant operational disruption or catastrophic loss, it could delay or disrupt production, shipments, and revenue, and result in potentially significant expenses to repair or replace these properties. Also, our production facilities are asset intensive. As our operations are concentrated in a limited number of production and distribution facilities, we are more likely to experience a significant operational disruption or catastrophic loss in any one location from acts of war or terrorism, fires, floods, earthquakes, severe winter storms, hurricanes, pandemics, labor strike, or other labor activities, cyber-attacks, and other attempts to penetrate our information technology systems or the information technology used by our employees who work remotely, unavailability of raw or packaging materials, or other natural or man-made events. If a significant operational disruption or catastrophic loss were to occur, we could breach agreements, our reputation could be harmed, and our business, liquidity, financial condition, and/or results of operations could be adversely affected due to higher maintenance charges, unexpected capital spending, or product supply constraints.
Our insurance policies do not cover certain types of catastrophes and may not cover certain events such as pandemics. Economic conditions and uncertainties in global markets may adversely affect the cost and other terms upon which we are able to obtain property damage and business interruption insurance. If our insurance coverage is adversely affected, or to the extent we have elected to self-insure, we may be at greater risk that we may experience an adverse impact to our business, liquidity, financial condition, and/or results of operations.
Counterfeit or confusingly similar products sold by third parties could harm our brand and cause a decrease in our sales and operations.
To the extent that third parties sell products that are either counterfeit versions of our brands or brands that look like our brands, consumers of our brands could confuse our products with products that they consider inferior. This could cause them to refrain from purchasing our brands in the future and in turn could impair our brand equity and adversely affect our sales and operations.
Failure to obtain satisfactory performance from our suppliers or loss of our existing suppliers could harm our business and as a result, our operations could suffer.
We do not have long-term, written agreements with any of our suppliers. The termination of our relationships or an adverse change in the terms of these arrangements could have a negative impact on our business. If our suppliers increase their prices, we may not be able to secure alternative suppliers, and may not be able to raise the prices of our products to cover all or even a portion of the increased costs. Also, our suppliers’ failure to perform satisfactorily or handle increased orders, delays in shipments of products from suppliers or the loss of our existing suppliers, especially our key suppliers, could cause us to fail to meet orders for our products, lose sales, incur additional costs and/or expose us to product quality issues. In turn, this could cause us to lose credibility in the marketplace and damage our relationships with distributors, ultimately leading to a decline in our business and results of operations. If we are not able to renegotiate these contracts on acceptable terms or find suitable alternatives, our business, financial condition, or results of operations could be negatively impacted.
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Failure of our U.S. distributors to distribute our products adequately within their territories could result in a decline of our operations.
In the U.S., we are required by law to use state-licensed distributors or, in 17 states known as “control states,” state-owned agencies performing this function, to sell our products to retail outlets, including liquor stores, bars, restaurants, and national chains in the United States. Our importer has established relationships for our brands with a limited number of wholesale distributors; however, failure to maintain those relationships could significantly and adversely affect our business, sales, and growth.
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Over the past decade there has been increasing consolidation, both intrastate and interstate, among distributors. As a result, many states now have only two or three significant distributors. Also, there are several distributors that now control distribution for several states. If we fail to maintain good relations with a distributor, our products could, in some instances be frozen out of one or more markets entirely. The ultimate success of our products also depends in large part on our distributors’ ability and desire to distribute our products to our desired U.S. target markets, as we rely significantly on them for product placement and retail store penetration. In addition, all of our distributors also distribute competitive brands and product lines. We cannot assure you that our U.S. distributors will continue to purchase our products, commit sufficient time and resources to promote and market our brands and product lines, or that they can or will sell them to our desired or targeted markets. If they do not, our sales will be harmed, resulting in a decline in our results of operations.
If our third-party service providers and business partners do not satisfactorily fulfill their commitments and responsibilities, our financial results could suffer.
In the conduct of our business, we rely on relationships with third parties, including cloud data storage and other information technology service providers, suppliers, distributors, contractors, joint venture partners, and other external business partners, for certain functions or for services in support of key portions of our operations. These third-party service providers and business partners are subject to similar risks as we are, relating to cybersecurity, privacy violations, business interruption, and systems and employee failures, and are subject to legal, regulatory, and market risks of their own. Our third-party service providers and business partners may not fulfill their respective commitments and responsibilities in a timely manner and in accordance with the agreed-upon terms. In addition, while we have procedures in place for selecting and managing our relationships with third-party service providers and other business partners, we do not have control over their business operations or governance and compliance systems, practices and procedures, which increases our financial, legal, reputational, and operational risk. If we are unable to effectively manage our third-party relationships, or for any reason our third-party service providers or business partners fail to satisfactorily fulfill their commitments and responsibilities, our financial results could suffer.
Pandemics, such as the global COVID-19 pandemic, outbreaks of communicable infections or diseases, or other public health concerns in the markets in which our consumers or employees live and/or in which we or our distributors, retailers, and suppliers operate may damage our business and disrupt our operations.
Disease outbreaks and other public health conditions could result in disruptions and damage to our business caused by potential negative consumer purchasing behavior as well as disruption to our supply chains, production processes, and operations. Consumer purchasing behavior may be impacted by reduced consumption by consumers who may not be able to leave home or otherwise shop in a normal manner as a result of quarantines or other cancellations of public events and other opportunities to purchase our products, from bar and restaurant closures, or from a reduction in consumer discretionary income due to reduced or limited work and layoffs. Supply disruption may result from restrictions on the ability of employees and others in the supply chain to travel and work, caused by quarantine or individual illness, or which may result from border closures imposed by governments to deter the spread of communicable infection or disease, or determinations by us or our suppliers or distributors to temporarily suspend operations in affected areas, or other actions which restrict the ability to distribute our products or which may otherwise negatively impact our ability to produce, bottle, and ship our product, for our distributors to distribute our products, or for our suppliers to provide us our raw materials. Ports or channels of entry may be closed or operate at only a
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portion of capacity, or transportation of products within a region or country may be limited, if workers are unable to report to work due to travel restrictions or personal illness. Our operations and the operations of our suppliers may become less efficient or otherwise become negatively impacted if our executive leaders or other personnel critical to our operations are unable to work or if a significant percentage of the workforce is unable to work or is required to work from home. Our cyber-security could be compromised if persons who are forced to work from home do not maintain adequate information security. A prolonged quarantine or border closure could result in temporary or longer-term disruptions of sales patterns, consumption and trade patterns, supply chains, production processes, and operations. A widespread health crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, could negatively affect the economies and financial markets of many countries resulting in a global economic downturn, which could negatively impact demand for our products and our ability to borrow money. Any of these events could have a material adverse effect on our business, liquidity, financial condition, and/or results of operations.
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Contamination and degradation of product quality from diseases, pests, and the effects of weather and climate conditions could delay, disrupt, and harm our sales and operations.
Contamination, whether arising accidentally or through deliberate third-party action, or other events that harm the integrity or consumer support for our brands, could adversely affect sales. Various diseases, pests, fungi, viruses, drought, frosts, and certain other weather conditions or the effects of climate conditions, such as smoke taint from wildfires, could affect the quality and quantity of agricultural raw materials available, decreasing the supply and quality of our products. Similarly, power disruptions due to weather conditions could adversely impact our production processes and the quality of our products. We cannot guarantee that we and/or our suppliers of agricultural raw materials will succeed in preventing contamination in existing and/or future vineyards or fields. Future government restrictions regarding the use of certain materials used in growing grapes or other agricultural raw materials may increase vineyard costs and/or reduce production of grapes or other crops. It is also possible that a supplier may not provide materials or product components which meet our required standards or may falsify documentation associated with the fulfillment of those requirements.
Product contamination or tampering or the failure to maintain our standards for product quality, safety, and integrity, including with respect to raw materials, naturally occurring compounds, packaging materials, or product components obtained from suppliers, may also reduce demand for our products or cause production and delivery disruptions. Contaminants or other defects in raw materials, packaging materials, or product components purchased from third parties and used in the production of our products, or defects in the fermentation or distillation process could lead to low beverage quality as well as illness among, or injury to, consumers of our products and may result in reduced sales of the affected brand or all our brands.
If any of our products become unsafe or unfit for consumption, are misbranded, or cause injury, we may have to engage in a product recall and/or be subject to liability and incur additional costs. A widespread product recall, multiple product recalls, or a significant product liability judgment could cause our products to be unavailable for a period, which could further reduce consumer demand and brand equity.
Class action or other litigation relating to abuse of our products, the misuse of our products, product liability, or marketing or sales practices could cause a disruption in our operations.
There has been public attention directed at the beverage alcohol industry, which we believe is due to concern over problems related to harmful use of alcohol, including drinking and driving, underage drinking, and health consequences from the misuse of alcohol. We could be exposed to lawsuits relating to product liability or marketing or sales practices. Adverse developments in lawsuits concerning these types of matters or a significant decline in the social acceptability of beverage alcohol products that may result from lawsuits could have a material adverse effect on our business, liquidity, financial condition, and/or results of operations.
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Failure of our distributors to secure and maintain listings in the control states in the U.S. could cause our sales to decrease which will negatively impact our operations.
In the control states, the state liquor commissions act in place of distributors and decide which products are to be purchased and offered for sale in their respective states. Products selected for listing in control states must generally reach certain volumes and/or profit levels to maintain their listings. Products in control states are selected for purchase and sale through listing procedures, which are generally made available to new products only at periodically scheduled listing interviews. Products not selected for listings can only be purchased by consumers in the applicable control state through special orders, if at all. If, in the future, we are unable to maintain our current listings in the control states, or secure and maintain listings in those states for any additional products we may develop or acquire, sales of our products could decrease significantly, which would have a material adverse financial effect on our results of operations and financial condition.
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Failure of our key or service product information technology systems, a cyber-security breach, or cyber-related fraud could negatively impact our business, operations, and reputation.
We rely on information technology (“IT”) systems, networks, and services, including internet sites, data hosting and processing facilities and tools, hardware (including laptops and mobile devices), and software and technical applications and platforms, some of which are managed, hosted, provided and/or used by third-parties or their vendors, to assist us in the management of our business.
Increased IT security threats and more sophisticated cyber-crime, pose a potential risk to the security of our IT systems, networks, and services, as well as to the confidentiality, availability, and integrity of our data. If the IT systems, networks, or service providers we rely upon fail to function properly, or if we suffer a loss or disclosure of business or other sensitive information, due to any number of causes, ranging from catastrophic events to power outages to security breaches, and our business continuity plans do not effectively address these failures on a timely basis, we may suffer interruptions in our ability to manage operations and reputational, competitive, and/or business harm, which may adversely affect our business operations and/or financial condition. In addition, such events could result in unauthorized disclosure of material confidential information, and we may suffer financial and reputational damage because of lost or misappropriated confidential information belonging to us or to our partners, our employees, customers, suppliers, or consumers. In any of these events, we could also be required to spend significant financial and other resources to remedy the damage caused by a security breach or to repair or replace networks and IT systems.
Litigation and litigation risks may have an adverse impact on our operations, business, and reputation.
From time to time, we may become involved in various litigation matters and claims, including employment, regulatory proceedings, administrative proceedings, governmental investigations, and contract disputes. We could face potential claims or liability for, among other things, breach of contract, defamation, libel, fraud, or negligence. We may also face employment-related litigation, including claims of age discrimination, sexual harassment, gender discrimination, immigration violations, or other local, state, and federal labor law violations. Because of the uncertain nature of litigation and insurance coverage decisions, the outcome of such actions and proceedings cannot be predicted with certainty and an unfavorable resolution of one or more of them could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, reputation, brand identity, and the trading price of our securities. Any such litigation, with or without merit, could also result in substantial expenditures of time and money, and divert attention of our management team from other tasks important to the success of our business.
Product liability or other related liabilities could lead to litigation which could damage our operations, business, and reputations.
Although we maintain liability insurance and will attempt to limit our contractual liability for damages arising from our products, these measures may not be sufficient for us to successfully avoid or limit product liability or other related liabilities. Our product liability insurance coverage is limited to AUD$1 million per occurrence and AUD$2 million in the aggregate and our general liability umbrella policy is capped at AUD$5 million, which may be insufficient. Further, any contractual indemnification and insurance coverage we have from parties supplying our products is limited, as a practical matter, to the creditworthiness of the indemnifying party and the insured limits of any insurance provided by these suppliers. In any event, extensive product liability claims could be costly to defend and/or costly to resolve and could harm our reputation or business.
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If we encounter product recalls or other product quality issues, our business may suffer.
Product quality issues, real or imagined, or allegations of product contamination, even when false or unfounded, could tarnish our image and could cause consumers to choose other products. In addition, because of changing government regulations or implementation thereof, or allegations of product contamination, we may be required from time to time to recall products entirely or from specific markets. Product recalls could affect our profitability and could negatively affect brand image.
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Our business is subject to many regulations and noncompliance is costly.
The production, marketing and sale of our beverages, including contents, labels, caps, and containers, are subject to the rules and regulations of various federal, provincial, state, and local health agencies. If a regulatory authority finds that a current or future product or production batch or “run” is not in compliance with any of these regulations, we may be fined, or production may be stopped, which would adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. Similarly, any adverse publicity associated with any noncompliance may damage our reputation and our ability to successfully market our products. Furthermore, the rules and regulations are subject to change from time to time and while we closely monitor developments in this area, we cannot anticipate whether changes in these rules and regulations will impact our business adversely. Additional or revised regulatory requirements, whether labeling, environmental, tax or otherwise, could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
Significant additional labeling or warning requirements may inhibit sales of affected products.
Various jurisdictions may seek to adopt significant additional product labeling or warning requirements relating to the chemical content or perceived adverse health consequences of certain of our products. These types of requirements, if they become applicable to one or more of our products under current or future environmental or health laws or regulations, may inhibit sales of such products. In California, a law requires that a specific warning appear on any product that contains a component listed by the state as having been found to cause cancer or birth defects. This law recognizes no generally applicable quantitative thresholds below which a warning is not required. If a component found in one of our products is added to the list, or if the increasing sensitivity of detection methodology that may become available under this law and related regulations as they currently exist, or as they may be amended, results in the detection of an infinitesimal quantity of a listed substance in one of our beverages produced for sale in California, the resulting warning requirements or adverse publicity could affect our sales.
Our business and operations would be adversely impacted in the event of a failure or interruption of our information technology infrastructure or as a result of a cybersecurity attack.
The proper functioning of our own information technology (IT) infrastructure is critical to the efficient operation and management of our business. We may not have the necessary financial resources to update and maintain our IT infrastructure, and any failure or interruption of our IT system could adversely impact our operations. In addition, our IT is vulnerable to cyber-attacks, computer viruses, worms and other malicious software programs, physical and electronic break-ins, sabotage and similar disruptions from unauthorized tampering with our computer systems. We believe that we have adopted appropriate measures to mitigate potential risks to our technology infrastructure and our operations from these IT-related and other potential disruptions. However, given the unpredictability of the timing, nature, and scope of any such IT failures or disruptions, we could potentially be subject to downtimes, transactional errors, processing inefficiencies, operational delays, other detrimental impacts on our operations or ability to provide products to our customers, the compromising of confidential or personal information, destruction or corruption of data, security breaches, other manipulation or improper use of our systems and networks, financial losses from remedial actions, loss of business or potential liability, and/or damage to our reputation, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our cash flows, competitive position, financial condition, or results of operations.
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If we fail to comply with personal data protection and privacy laws, we could be subject to adverse publicity, government enforcement actions, and/or private litigation, which could negatively affect our business and operating results.
In the ordinary course of our business, we receive, process, transmit, and store information relating to identifiable individuals (“personal data”), primarily employees, former employees, and consumers with whom we interact. As a result, we are subject to various U.S. federal and state and foreign laws and regulations relating to personal data. These laws have been subject to frequent changes, and new legislation in this area may be enacted in other jurisdictions at any time. These laws impose operational requirements for companies receiving or processing personal data, and many provide for significant penalties for noncompliance. These requirements with respect to personal data have subjected and may continue in the future to subject us to, among other things, additional costs and expenses and have required and may in the future require costly changes to our business practices and information security systems, policies, procedures, and practices. Our security controls over personal data, the training of employees and vendors on data privacy and data security, and the policies, procedures, and practices we implemented or may implement in the future may not prevent the improper disclosure of personal data by us or the third-party service providers and vendors whose technology, systems and services we use in connection with the receipt, storage, and transmission of personal data. Unauthorized access or improper disclosure of personal data in violation of personal data protection or privacy laws could harm our reputation, cause loss of consumer confidence, subject us to regulatory enforcement actions (including fines), and result in private litigation against us, which could result in loss of revenue, increased costs, liability for monetary damages, fines, and/or criminal prosecution, all of which could negatively affect our business and operating results.
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International operations, worldwide and domestic economic trends, financial market conditions, geopolitical uncertainty, changes to international trade agreements and import and excise duties, other taxes, or other governmental rules and regulations could have a material adverse effect on our business and operations.
Risks associated with international operations, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, liquidity, financial condition, and/or results of operations, include:
● changes in local political, economic, social, and labor conditions; ● potential disruption from socio-economic violence, including terrorism and drug-related violence; ●
restrictions on foreign ownership and investments or on repatriation of cash earned in countries outside the U.S.;
● import and export requirements and border accessibility; ● currency exchange rate fluctuations; ● a less developed and less certain legal and regulatory environment in some countries, which, among other things, can create uncertainty regarding contract enforcement, intellectual property rights, privacy obligations, real property rights, and liability issues; and ● inadequate levels of compliance with applicable anti-bribery laws, including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Unfavorable global or regional economic conditions, including economic slowdown and the disruption, volatility, and tightening of credit and capital markets, as well as unemployment, tax increases, governmental spending cuts, or a return of high levels of inflation, could affect consumer spending patterns and purchases of our products. These could also create or exacerbate credit issues, cash flow issues, and other financial hardships for us and our suppliers, distributors, retailers, and consumers. The inability of suppliers, distributors, and retailers to access liquidity could impact our ability to produce and distribute our products.
We are also exposed to risks associated with interest rate fluctuations. We could experience changes in our ability to manage fluctuations in interest rates and, accordingly, there can be no assurance that we will be successful in reducing those risks.
We could also be affected by nationalization of our international operations, unstable governments, unfamiliar or biased legal systems, intergovernmental disputes or animus against the U.S. Any determination that our operations or activities did not comply with applicable U.S. or foreign laws or regulations could result in the imposition of fines and penalties, interruptions of business, terminations of necessary licenses and permits, and other legal and equitable sanctions.
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We are subject to risks inherent in sales of products in international markets.
Our operations outside of the United States constitute a significant portion of our revenue and profitability, and we believe that developing and emerging markets could present future growth opportunities for us. However, there can be no assurance that existing or new products that we manufacture, distribute, or sell will be accepted or be successful in any particular foreign market, due to local or global competition, product price, cultural differences, consumer preferences, or otherwise. There are many factors that could adversely affect demand for our products in foreign markets, including our inability to attract and maintain key distributors in these markets; volatility in the economic growth of certain of these markets; changes in economic, political or social conditions; the status and renegotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement; imposition of new or increased labeling, product or production requirements, or other legal restrictions; restrictions on the import or export of our products or ingredients or substances used in our products; inflationary currency, devaluation or fluctuation; and increased costs of doing business due to compliance with complex foreign and U.S. laws and regulations. If we are unable to effectively operate or manage the risks associated with operating in international markets, our business, financial condition, or results of operations could be adversely affected.
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Damage to our reputation could harm our business and cause a decline in our sales.
The success of our brands depends upon the positive image that consumers have of those brands and maintaining a good reputation is critical to selling our branded products. Our reputation could also be impacted negatively by public perception, adverse publicity (whether or not valid, such as the similarity of the name of certain of our brands or trademarks and a type of virus), negative comments in social media, or our responses relating to:
● a perceived failure to maintain high ethical and ESG standards and practices for all our operations and activities; ● a perceived failure to address concerns relating to the quality, safety, or integrity of our products, including from contamination, whether arising accidentally or through deliberate third-party action; ● allegations that we, or persons associated with us or formerly associated with us, have violated applicable laws or regulations, including but not limited to those related to safety, employment, discrimination, harassment, whistle-blowing, privacy, corporate citizenship, improper business practices, or cyber-security; ● our environmental impact, including use of agricultural materials, packaging, water and energy use, and waste management; or ● efforts that are perceived as insufficient to promote the responsible use of alcohol.
Failure to comply with federal, state, or local laws and regulations, maintain an effective system of internal controls, provide accurate and timely financial statement information, or protect our information systems against service interruptions, misappropriation of data, or breaches of security, could also hurt our reputation. Damage to our reputation or loss of consumer confidence in our products for any of these or other reasons could result in decreased demand for our products and could have a material adverse effect on our business, liquidity, financial condition, and/or results of operations, as well as require additional resources to rebuild our reputation, competitive position, and brand equity and renew investor confidence.
Due to the highly competitive market we operate in, our sales and operations could be negatively affected by our competitors.
We are in a highly competitive industry and our sales could be negatively affected by numerous factors including:
● our inability to maintain or increase prices; ● new entrants in our market or categories; ● the decision of wholesalers, retailers, or consumers to purchase competitors’ products instead of ours; or ●
a general decline in beverage alcohol consumption due to consumer dietary preference changes or consumers substituting legalized marijuana or other similar products in lieu of beverage alcohol.
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Sales could also be affected by pricing, purchasing, financing, operational, advertising, or promotional decisions made by wholesalers, state and other local agencies, and retailers which could affect their supply of, or consumer demand for, our products. We could also experience higher than expected selling, general, and administrative expenses if we find it necessary to increase the number of our personnel or our advertising or marketing expenditures to maintain our competitive position or for other reasons. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to increase our prices to pass along to our customers any increased costs we incur.
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Our intangible assets, such as customer contracts, software development costs, a liquor license and contract services, could have a material adverse effect in the event of a write-down of the assets.
We have a significant amount of intangible assets such as customer contracts, software development costs, a liquor license and contract services and may acquire more intangible assets in the future. Intangible assets are subject to a periodic impairment evaluation under applicable accounting standards. The write-down of any of these intangible assets could have a material adverse effect on our business, liquidity, financial condition, and/or results of operations.
Changes to tax laws, fluctuations in our effective tax rate, accounting for uncertain tax positions, the resolution of tax disputes, and changes to accounting standards, elections, or assertions could harm our business and operations.
The U.S. federal budget and individual state, provincial, local municipal budget deficits, or deficits in other governmental entities, could result in increased taxes on our products, business, customers, or consumers. Various proposals to increase taxes on beverage alcohol products have been made at the federal and state levels or at other governmental bodies in recent years. Federal, state, provincial, local, or foreign governmental entities may consider increasing taxes upon beverage alcohol products as they explore available alternatives for raising funds.
In addition, significant judgment is required to determine our effective tax rate and evaluate our tax positions. Our provision for income taxes includes a provision for uncertain tax positions. Fluctuations in federal, state, local, and foreign taxes, or a change to uncertain tax positions, including related interest and penalties, may impact our effective tax rate and our financial results. When tax matters arise, several years may elapse before such matters are audited and finally resolved. Unfavorable resolution of any tax matter could increase our effective tax rate and resolution of a tax issue may require the use of cash in the year of resolution.
U.S. tax changes or changes in how international corporations are taxed, including changes in how existing tax laws are interpreted or enforced, or changes to accounting standards, elections or assertions could have a material adverse effect on our business, liquidity, financial condition, and/or results of operations.
We may be required in the future to record a significant charge to earnings if our intangible assets become impaired.
Under United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“U.S. GAAP”), we are required to review our intangible assets for impairment when events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying value may not be recoverable. Factors that may be considered a change in circumstances indicating that the carrying value of our intangible assets may not be recoverable include, declining or slower than anticipated growth rates for certain of our existing products, a decline in stock price and market capitalization, and slower growth rates in our industry. We may be required in the future to record a significant charge to earnings during the period in which we determine that our intangible assets have been impaired. Any such charge would adversely impact our results of operations. We had a zero balance for the years ended December 31, 20234 and 20245.
Our results of operations may fluctuate from quarter to quarter for many reasons, including seasonality.
Our sales are seasonal and we experience fluctuations in quarterly results as a result of many factors. Companies similar to ours have historically generated a greater percentage of our revenues during the warm weather months of September through December. Timing of customer purchases will vary each year and sales can be expected to shift from one quarter to another. As a result, management believes that period-to-period comparisons of results of operations are not necessarily meaningful and should not be relied upon as any indication of future performance or results expected for the fiscal year.
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Changes in accounting standards and subjective assumptions, estimates and judgments by management related to complex accounting matters could significantly affect our financial results.
U.S. GAAP and related pronouncements, implementation guidelines, and interpretations with regard to a wide variety of matters that are relevant to our business, such as, but not limited to, stock-based compensation, trade spend and promotions, and income taxes are highly complex and involve many subjective assumptions, estimates, and judgments by our management. Changes to these rules or their interpretation or changes in underlying assumptions, estimates, or judgments by our management could significantly change our reported results.
If we are unable to maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting, our stock price and investor confidence could be materially and adversely affected.
We are required to maintain both disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting that are effective. Because of their inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting, however well designed and operated, can only provide reasonable, and not absolute, assurance that the controls will prevent or detect misstatements. Because of these and other inherent limitations of control systems, there is only the reasonable assurance that our controls will succeed in achieving their goals under all potential future conditions. The failure of controls by design deficiencies or absence of adequate controls could result in a material adverse effect on our business and financial results, which could also negatively impact our stock price and investor confidence.
We face substantiahave identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, which resulted in the restatement of our previously issued financial statements for fiscal year 2024. If we fail to maintain effective internal controls over financial reporting, we may be unable to accurately report our results of operations, meet our reporting obligations and/or prevent fraud.
Our management identified material weaknesses in our internal competitntrol over financial reporting relating to (i) insufficient written policies and procedures to ensure the correct application of accounting and financial reporting with respect to current U.S. GAAP and SEC disclosure requirements; (ii) the lack of segregation of duties, because, due to our size and nature, segregation of all conflicting duties may not always be possible or economically feasible; and (iii) inadequate controls to ensure that all material transaction in the alcoholic beverage industry, and s and developments with related parties are properly identified, approved and reported. These material weaknesses contributed to errors requiring the restatement of our previously issued consolidated financial statements for fiscal year 2024, as described in Note 3 to the consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report. We have begun remediation efforts, including enhancing our accounting policies and procedures, evaluating additional accounting resources, and strengthening our controls over the identification and reporting of related-party transactions, but our remediation efforts may be time-consuming and costly and may not be successful. If we may not be able to eare unable to remediate these material weaknesses, we may be unable to provide reliable financial information, meet our reporting obligations or prevent fraud, and could be subject to sanctions or other regulatory action. Any of these outcomes could adversely affectively compete.
our business, financial condition and results of operations, our stock price and investor confidence. As an emerging growth company, our independent registered public accounting firm is not required to provide an attestation report on management’s assessment of our internal control over financial reporting.
The restatement of our previously issued financial statements may subject us to additional risks and uncertainties, including increased regulatory scrutiny, litigation risk, and loss of investor confidence.
The restatement could lead to an SEC inquiry or investigation and may subject us to shareholder litigation or other claims. It could also make it more difficult for us to maintain compliance with Nasdaq listing requirements, impair our ability to raise capital on acceptable terms or at all, and subject the Company to reputational harm. Any of these risks could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, stock price and investor confidence.
We face substantial competition in the alcoholic beverage industry, and we may not be able to effectively compete.
Consolidation among spirits producers, distributors, wholesalers, or retailers could create a more challenging competitive landscape for our products. Consolidation at any level could hinder the distribution and sale of our products as a result of reduced attention and resources allocated to our brands, both during and after transition periods, because our brands might represent a smaller portion of the new business portfolio. Expansion into new product categories by other suppliers, or innovation by new entrants into the market, could increase competition in our product categories. Changes to our distribution channels or partners in important markets could result in temporary or longer-term sales disruption, higher implementation-related or fixed costs, and could negatively affect other business relationships we might have with that partner. Distribution network disruption or fluctuations in our product inventory levels with distributors, wholesalers, or retailers could negatively affect our results for a particular period.
Our competitors may respond to industry and economic conditions more rapidly or effectively than we do. Our competitors offer products that compete directly with ours for shelf space, promotional displays, and consumer purchases. Pricing, (including price promotions, discounting, couponing, and free goods), marketing, new product introductions, entry into our distribution networks, and other competitive behavior by our competitors could adversely affect our sales margins, and profitability.
Our business operations may be adversely affected by social, political, and economic conditions affecting market risks and the demand for and pricing of our products.
These risks include:
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● Unfavorable economic conditions and related low consumer confidence, high unemployment, weak credit or capital markets, sovereign debt defaults, sequestrations, austerity measures, higher interest rates, political instability, higher inflation, deflation, lower returns on pension assets, or lower discount rates for pension obligations; ● Changes in laws, regulations, or policies –- especially those that affect the production, importation, marketing, sale, or consumption of our beverage alcohol products; ● Tax rate changes (including excise, sales, duties, corporate, individual income, dividends, capital gains), or changes in related reserves, changes in tax rules or accounting standards, and the unpredictability and suddenness with which they can occur; ● Dependence upon the continued growth of brand names;
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● Changes in consumer preferences, consumption, or purchase patterns, and our ability to anticipate and react to them; ● Bar, restaurant, travel, or other on premise declines; ● Unfavorable consumer reaction to our products, package changes, product reformulations, or other product innovation; ● Decline in the social acceptability of beverage alcohol products in our markets; ● Production facility or supply chain disruption; ● Imprecision in supply/demand forecasting; ● Higher costs, lower quality, or unavailability of energy, input materials, labor, or finished goods; ● Direct-to-consumer changes that affect the timing of our sales, temporarily disrupt the marketing or sale of our products, or result in higher implementation--related or fixed costs; ● Inventory fluctuations in our products by distributors, wholesalers, or retailers; ● Competitors’ consolidation or other competitive activities, such as pricing actions (including price reductions, promotions, discounting, couponing, or free goods), marketing, category expansion, product introductions, or entry or expansion in our geographic markets; ● Insufficient protection of our intellectual property rights; ● Product recalls or other product liability claims; ● Product counterfeiting, tampering, or product quality issues; ● Significant legal disputes and proceedings; ● Government investigations (particularly of industry or company business, trade or marketing practices); ● Failure or breach of key information technology systems; ● Negative publicity related to our company, brands, marketing, personnel, operations, business performance or prospects; and ● Business disruption, decline, or costs related to organizational changes, reductions in workforce, or other cost-cutting measures, or our failure to attract or retain key executive or employee talent.
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Uncertainty in the financial markets and other adverse changes in general economic or political conditions in any of the major countries in which we do business could adversely affect our industry, business and results of operations.
Global economic uncertainties, including foreign currency exchange rates, affect businesses such as ours in a number of ways, making it difficult to accurately forecast and plan our future business activities. There can be no assurance that economic improvements will occur, or that they would be sustainable, or that they would enhance conditions in markets relevant to us.
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The market price of our ordinary shares may be highly volatile, and you could lose all or part of your investment.
The trading price of our ordinary shares is likely to be volatile. We have a relatively small public float due to the relatively small size of our initial public offering, and the concentrated ownership of our ordinary shares among our executive officers, directors and greater than 5% stockholders. As a result of our small public float, our ordinary shares may be less liquid and have greater stock price volatility than the ordinary shares of companies with broader public ownership.
Our stock price could be subject to wide fluctuations in response to a variety of other factors, which include:
● whether we achieve our anticipated corporate objectives; ● changes in financial or operational estimates or projections; ● general economic or political conditions in the United States or elsewhere.
In addition, the stock market in general has recently experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of these companies. Such rapid and substantial price volatility, including any stock run-up, may be unrelated to our actual or expected operating performance and financial condition or prospects, making it difficult for prospective investors to assess the rapidly changing value of our ordinary shares. This volatility may prevent you from being able to sell your ordinary shares at or above the price you paid for them. If the market price of our ordinary shares after this offering does not exceed the price at which you purchase our ordinary shares, you may not realize any return on your investment in us and may lose some or all of your investment.
An investment in our ordinary shares is speculative and there can be no assurance of any return on any such investment.
An investment in our ordinary shares is speculative and there is no assurance that investors will obtain any return on their investment. Investors will be subject to substantial risks involved in an investment in the Company, including the risk of losing their entire investment.
Future sales of ordinary shares, or the perception of such future sales, by some of our existing shareholders could cause the price of our ordinary shares to decline.
The market price of our ordinary shares could decline as a result of sales of a large number of shares of our ordinary shares in the market or the perception that these sales may occur. These sales, or the possibility that these sales may occur, also might make it more difficult for us to sell ordinary shares in the future at a time and at a price that we deem appropriate.
From time to time, certain of our shareholders may be eligible to sell all or some of their ordinary shares by means of ordinary brokerage transactions in the open market pursuant to Rule 144 promulgated under the Securities Act, subject to certain limitations. In general, pursuant to Rule 144, non-affiliate shareholders may sell freely subject only to the current public information requirement. Affiliates may sell subject to the Rule 144 volume, manner of sale (for equity securities), and current public information and notice requirements.
Because certain shareholders own a large percentage of our voting stock, other shareholders’ voting power may be limited.
As of May 7, 2025, three of our shareholders own or control approximately 30% of our outstanding ordinary shares. If those shareholders act together, they would have the ability to have a substantial influence on matters submitted to our shareholders for approval, including the election and removal of directors and the approval of any merger, consolidation or sale of all or substantially all of our assets. As a result, our other shareholders may have little or no influence over matters submitted for shareholder approval. In addition, the ownership of such shareholders could preclude any unsolicited acquisition of us, and consequently, adversely affect the price of our ordinary shares. These shareholders may make decisions that are adverse to your interests.
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We do not expect to pay dividends and investors should not buy our ordinary shares expecting to receive dividends.
We do not anticipate that we will declare or pay any dividends in the foreseeable future. Consequently, you will only realize an economic gain on your investment in our ordinary shares if the price appreciates. You should not purchase our ordinary shares expecting to receive cash dividends. Since we do not pay dividends, in the absence of an orderly trading market for our ordinary shares, then you may not have any manner to liquidate or receive any payment on your investment. Therefore, our failure to pay dividends may cause you to not see any return on your investment even if we are successful in our business operations. In addition, because we do not anticipate that we will pay dividends, we may have trouble raising additional funds which could affect our ability to expand our business operations.
There can be no assurances that our ordinary shares will not be subject to potential delisting if we do not continue to maintain the listing requirements of Nasdaq.
Nasdaq has rules for continued listing, including, without limitation, minimum market capitalization and other requirements. Failure to maintain our listing (i.e., being de-listed from the Nasdaq), would make it more difficult for shareholders to sell our ordinary shares and more difficult to obtain accurate price quotations on our ordinary shares. This could have an adverse effect on the price of our ordinary shares. Our ability to issue additional securities for financing or other purposes, or otherwise to arrange for any financing we may need in the future, may also be materially and adversely affected if our ordinary shares are not traded on a national securities exchange.
Our ordinary shares could be further diluted as the result of the issuance of additional ordinary shares, convertible securities, options, or warrants.
Our issuance of additional ordinary shares, convertible securities, options, and warrants could affect the rights of our shareholders, result in a reduction in the overall percentage holdings of our shareholders, could put downward pressure on the market price of our ordinary shares, could result in adjustments to conversion and exercise prices of outstanding notes and warrants, and could obligate us to issue additional ordinary shares to certain of our shareholders.
We are an “emerging growth company,” and any decision on our part to comply with certain reduced disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies could make our ordinary shares less attractive to investors.
We are an “emerging growth company” as defined in the JOBS Act, and, for as long as we continue to be an emerging growth company, we may choose to take advantage of exemptions from various reporting requirements applicable to other public companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, not being required to comply with any new requirements adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, or the PCAOB, requiring mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the auditor’s report in which the auditor would be required to provide additional information about the audit and the financial statements of the issuer, not being required to comply with any new audit rules adopted by the PCAOB after April 5, 2012 unless the SEC determines otherwise, reduced disclosure obligations
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regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. We could remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of: (i) the last day of the fiscal year in which we have total annual gross revenues of $1.235 billion or more; (ii) the last day of our fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of the date of our first sale of common equity securities pursuant to an effective registration statement; (iii) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in nonconvertible debt during the previous three years; or (iv) the date on which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer. We cannot predict if investors will find our ordinary shares less attractive if we choose to rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our ordinary shares less attractive as a result of any choices to reduce future disclosure, there may be a less active trading market for our ordinary shares and our share price may be more volatile. Further, as a result of these scaled regulatory requirements, our disclosure may be more limited than that of other public companies and you may not have the same protections afforded to shareholders of such companies.
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Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an emerging growth company can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), for complying with new or revised accounting standards. We have opted for taking advantage of the extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards pursuant to Section 107(b) of the Jobs Act.
Because we have elected to use the extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards for an emerging growth company, our financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with public company effective dates.
We have elected to use the extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards under Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act. This election allows us to delay the adoption of new or revised accounting standards that have different effective dates for public and private companies until those standards apply to private companies. As a result of this election, our consolidated financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with public company effective dates, and thus investors may have difficulty evaluating or comparing our business, performance or prospects in comparison to other public companies, which may have a negative impact on the value and liquidity of our ordinary shares.
Breaches of our online commerce security could occur and could have an adverse effect on our reputation.
A significant barrier to online commerce and communications is the secure transmission of confidential information over public networks. There can be no assurance that advances in computer capabilities, new discoveries in the field of cryptography and cybersecurity, or other events or developments will not result in a compromise or breach of the technology used by the Company to protect customer transaction data. If any such compromise of the Company’s security were to occur, it could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s reputation and, therefore, on its business, results of operations and financial condition. Furthermore, a party who is able to circumvent the Company’s security measures could misappropriate proprietary information or cause interruptions in the Company’s operations. The Company may be required to expend significant capital and other resources to protect against such security breaches or to alleviate problems caused by such breaches. Concerns over the security of transactions conducted on the Internet and other online services and the privacy of users may also inhibit the growth of the Internet and other online services generally, and the web in particular, especially as a means of conducting commercial transactions. To the extent that activities of the Company involve the storage and transmission of proprietary information, security breaches could damage the Company’s reputation and expose the Company to a risk of loss or litigation and possible liability. There can be no assurance that the Company’s security measures will prevent security breaches or that failure to prevent such security breaches will not have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, results of operations and financial condition.
Increased IT security threats and more sophisticated cybercrimes and cyberattacks, including computer viruses and other malicious codes, ransomware, unauthorized access attempts, denial of service attacks, phishing, social engineering, hacking and other types of attacks pose a potential risk to the security of our IT systems, networks and services, as well as the confidentiality, availability, and integrity of our data. We may in the future experience cyberattacks and other unauthorized access attempts to our IT systems. Because the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access are constantly changing and often are not recognized until launched against a target, we or our vendors may be unable to anticipate these techniques or implement sufficient preventative or remedial measures.
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If we are unable to efficiently and effectively maintain and upgrade our system safeguards, we may incur unexpected costs and certain of our systems may become more vulnerable to unauthorized access. In the event of a ransomware or other cyber-attack, the integrity and safety of our data could be at risk or we may incur unforeseen costs impacting our financial position. Although we carry insurance covering cyber-attacks including ransomware, these coverages are subject to deductibles and self-insurance obligation, as well as caps on coverage that could be below the value of losses we could incur. If the IT systems, networks or service providers we rely upon fail to function properly, or if we suffer a loss or disclosure of business or other sensitive information due to any number of causes ranging from catastrophic events, power outages, security breaches, unauthorized use or usage errors by employees, vendors or other third parties and other security issues, we may be subject to legal claims and proceedings, liability under laws that protect the privacy and security of personal information (also known as personal data), litigation, governmental investigations and proceedings and regulatory penalties, and we may suffer interruptions in our ability to manage our operations and reputational, competitive or business harm, which may adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial results. In addition, such events could result in unauthorized disclosure of material
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confidential information, and we may suffer financial and reputational damage because of lost or misappropriated confidential information belonging to us or to our employees, stockholders, customers, suppliers, consumers or others. In any of these events, we could also be required to spend significant financial and other resources to remedy the damage caused by a security breach or technological failure and the reputational damage resulting therefrom, to pay for investigations, forensic analyses, legal advice, public relations advice or other services, or to repair or replace networks and IT systems. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, a greater number of our employees are working remotely and accessing our IT systems and networks remotely, which may further increase our vulnerability to cybercrimes and cyberattacks and increase the stress on our technology infrastructure and systems. Even though we maintain cyber risk insurance, this insurance may not be sufficient to cover all of our losses from any future breaches or failures of our IT systems, networks and services.
A failure of one or more of our key IT systems, networks, processes, associated sites or service providers could have a material adverse impact on our business operations, and if the failure is prolonged, our financial condition.
We rely on IT systems, networks, and services, including internet sites, data hosting and processing facilities and tools, hardware (including laptops and mobile devices), software and technical applications and platforms, some of which are managed, hosted, provided and used by third-parties or their vendors, to assist us in the management of our business. The various uses of these IT systems, networks and services include, but are not limited to: hosting our internal network and communication systems; supply and demand planning; production; shipping our products to customers; hosting our brand websites and marketing products to consumers; collecting and storing customer, consumer, employee, shareholder, and other data; processing transactions; summarizing and reporting results of operations; hosting, processing and sharing confidential and proprietary research, business plans and financial information; complying with regulatory, legal or tax requirements; providing data security; and handling other processes necessary to manage our business.
Any significant disruption in or unauthorized access to our computer systems and other technology or those of our customers, partners and other third parties that we utilize in our operations, could result in a loss or degradation of service, unauthorized disclosure of data, or theft or tampering of intellectual property, any of which could materially adversely impact our business.
Our operations, products, data and intellectual property are inherently at risk of loss, inappropriate access, or tampering by both insider threats and external bad actors. In particular, our operations face various cyber and other security threats, including attempts to gain unauthorized access to sensitive information, intellectual property, mission operations, systems and networks. Our systems (internal, customer and partner systems) and assets may also be subject to damage or interruption from natural and other disaster events or disruptions including hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, fires, other extreme weather conditions, epidemics or pandemics, acts of terrorism, power shortages and blackouts, aging infrastructures and telecommunications failures. In addition, insider threats, threats to the safety of our directors and employees, threats to the security of our facilities, infrastructure and supply chain and threats from terrorist acts or other acts of aggression could have a material adverse impact on our business.
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Our customers and partners (including our supply chain) face similar threats. Customer or partner proprietary, classified, or sensitive data and information transmitted to, from, or stored on our networks are at risk. Assets and intellectual property and products in customer or partner environments are also at risk. We also have risk where we have access to customer and partner networks and face risks of breach, disruption or loss as well. Our supply chain for products and services is becoming more diverse and therefore that risk is also growing.
While we have implemented reasonable measures consistent with government regulations aimed at reducing the risk of cyber threats as well as to help thwart bad actors and protect our data and our systems and assets, the techniques used to gain unauthorized access are constantly evolving, and we may be unable to anticipate or prevent all unauthorized access, disruption, loss, or harm. Because of our desired data and intellectual property, we (and/or partners we use) may be an attractive target for such attacks. We cannot offer assurances, however, that future attacks will not materially adversely affect our business or reputation.
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Unstable market and economic conditions caused by the ongoing conflict between the Ukraine and Russia, and Israel and Hamas, could have adverse consequences on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The global economy, including credit and financial markets, has experienced extreme volatility and disruptions as a result of the ongoing conflict between the Ukraine and Russia and between Israel and Hamas, including severely diminished liquidity and credit availability, declines in consumer confidence, declines in economic growth, increases in unemployment rates, increases in inflation rates and uncertainty about economic stability. We could suffer inflationary pressure in our business such as through the increased costs of the supplies that we use to manufacture our products, bottling our bitters, and distributing our products to all our customers where we do business. Any such volatility and disruptions could have adverse consequences on us or the third parties upon whom we rely.
You should consult your independent tax advisor regarding any tax matters arising with respect to our ordinary shares.
All prospective purchasers of our ordinary shares are advised to consult their own tax advisors regarding the U.S. federal, state, local and non-U.S. tax consequences relevant to the purchase, ownership, and disposition of our ordinary shares.
Some of our directors and executive officers are non-residents of the United States and as a result, it may not be possible for shareholders to enforce civil liabilities against those directors and executive officers.
Some of our directors and executive officers are non-residents of the United States, and all or a substantial portion of the assets of such persons are located outside the United States. As a result, it may not be possible for stockholders to effect service of process within the United States upon such persons or to enforce against them judgments obtained in U.S. courts predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States. There is doubt as to the enforceability in Australia in original actions, or in actions for enforcement of judgments of U.S. courts, of civil liabilities to the extent predicated upon the federal securities laws of the United States.
The proposed merger with BlockFuel Energy, Inc. may not be completed, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and share price.
On October 14, 2025, we entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”) with BlockFuel Energy Inc., a Texas corporation (“BlockFuel”), and InnoBev Merger Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company (“Merger Sub”). The completion of the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement is subject to a number of conditions, including, among others, approval by Nasdaq. There can be no assurance that these conditions will be satisfied or that the merger will be completed on the anticipated timeline, or at all.
In addition, we have undertaken a series of transactions in connection with the proposed merger, including the use of proceeds from our public offering completed on March 16, 2026, which generated approximately $6,000,000 in gross proceeds, to fund a $2,500,000 loan to BlockFuel and the acquisition of a controlling interest in BlockFuel. If the merger is not completed, we may not realize the anticipated benefits of these transactions, and we may be exposed to risks associated with such loan and investment.
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If the merger is not completed, we may experience negative market reactions, including a decline in the trading price of our ordinary shares, incur significant transaction costs, including legal, accounting and advisory fees, and face uncertainty in our business strategy, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The proposed merger will result in a significant change in our business and operations.
If the merger with BlockFuel is completed, our business will shift from a beverage-focused company to a company primarily engaged in the acquisition, development and operation of oil and gas assets and the integration of those assets with digital energy infrastructure. This transition may subject us to new risks and uncertainties, including those related to operating in unfamiliar industries, integrating new operations, and managing a significantly different business model.
Following the proposed merger with BlockFuel, our existing shareholders are expected to experience substantial dilution and reduced ownership.
Upon completion of the merger, the equityholders of BlockFuel are expected to own approximately 90% of our outstanding ordinary shares on a fully diluted basis, subject to customary adjustments. As a result, our existing shareholders are expected to experience significant dilution of their ownership interests and voting power.
Following the merger, the BlockFuel equityholders are expected to have a controlling interest in the combined company and will be able to exert significant influence over matters requiring shareholder approval, including the election of directors and the approval of significant corporate transactions. Accordingly, our existing shareholders will have limited ability to influence the management, policies and operations of the combined company.
We may require additional financing, which may not be available on favorable terms, or at all.
We may require additional capital to fund our operations and to satisfy conditions to the proposed merger. There can be no assurance that we will be able to obtain additional financing on acceptable terms, or at all. Failure to secure additional capital could adversely affect our ability to complete the merger and execute our business plan.
Our at-the-market offering program may result in dilution to existing shareholders and could adversely affect the market price of our ordinary shares.
In January 2026, we established an at-the-market offering program pursuant to which we may sell up to $2,500,000 of our ordinary shares from time to time. Any sales of ordinary shares under this program will be made at prevailing market prices or at negotiated prices, and the issuance of such shares will result in dilution to existing shareholders, including a reduction in their ownership interests and voting power.
In addition, because shares may be sold into the market over time, the actual or potential issuance of ordinary shares under the at-the-market program could place downward pressure on the market price of our ordinary shares. The perception that we may issue additional shares under the program, or the timing and amount of any such sales, could also increase volatility in the trading price of our ordinary shares.