1847 Holdings LLC - Annual Report: 2017 (Form 10-K)

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

x ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended: December 31, 2017

¨ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from ____________ to _____________

Commission File No. 333-193821

590 Madison Avenue, 21st Floor, New York, NY 10022

(Address of principal executive offices)

(212) 521-4052

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: None.

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ¨ No x

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes x No ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes x No ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Website, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes x No ¨

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. x

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ¨

Indicate by check mark whether registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes ¨ No x

The aggregate market value of common shares held by non-affiliates of the registrant on June 30, 2017 was $0 based on a $0 average bid and asked price of such common equity, as of the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter. This determination of affiliate status is not necessarily a conclusive determination for other purposes.

There were a total of 623,125 shares of the registrant’s common stock outstanding as of April 16, 2018.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

None.

1847 Holdings LLC

Annual Report on Form 10-K

Year Ended December 31, 2017

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

Use of Terms

Except as otherwise indicated by the context and for the purposes of this report only, references in this report to:

Special Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements

Certain information contained in this report includes forward-looking statements. The statements herein which are not historical reflect our current expectations and projections about our company’s future results, performance, liquidity, financial condition, prospects and opportunities and are based upon information currently available to our company and our management and our interpretation of what is believed to be significant factors affecting the businesses, including many assumptions regarding future events. The following factors, among others, may affect our forward-looking statements:

Forward-looking statements, which involve assumptions and describe our future plans, strategies, and expectations, are generally identifiable by use of the words “may,” “should,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “believe,” “intend,” or “project” or the negative of these words or other variations on these words or comparable terminology. Actual results, performance, liquidity, financial condition, prospects and opportunities could differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements as a result of various risks, uncertainties and other factors. These statements may be found under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Item 1. Business,” as well as in this report generally. Actual events or results may differ materially from those discussed in forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, without limitation, the risks outlined under “Item 1A. Risk Factors” and matters described in this report generally. In light of these risks and uncertainties, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking statements contained in this report will in fact occur.

Potential investors should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Except as expressly required by the federal securities laws, there is no undertaking to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, changed circumstances or any other reason.

The specific discussions herein about our company include financial projections and future estimates and expectations about our business. The projections, estimates and expectations are presented in this report only as a guide about future possibilities and do not represent actual amounts or assured events. All the projections and estimates are based exclusively on our management’s own assessment of our business, the industry in which we work and the economy at large and other operational factors, including capital resources and liquidity, financial condition, fulfillment of contracts and opportunities. The actual results may differ significantly from the projections.

Potential investors should not make an investment decision based solely on our projections, estimates or expectations.

Stock Splits

On June 9, 2017, we completed a 1-for-25 reverse stock split of our outstanding common shares. As a result of this stock split, our issued and outstanding common shares decreased from 77,887,500 to 3,115,500 shares. On January 22, 2018, we completed a 1-for-5 reverse stock split of our outstanding common shares. As a result of this stock split, our issued and outstanding common shares decreased from 3,115,500 to shares 623,125 shares. Accordingly, all share and per share information contained in this report has been restated to retroactively show the effect of these stock splits.

PART I

ITEM 1. BUSINESS.

OVERVIEW OF OUR BUSINESS

We are an acquisition holding company focused on acquiring and managing a group of small businesses in a variety of different industries headquartered in North America. Through our subsidiaries, we currently provide products and services to the agriculture, construction, lawn and garden industries, which we refer to as our land application business. We have also entered into an agreement for the acquisition of four Florida health clubs and have plans to acquire additional small businesses in a variety of different industries. Through our structure, we plan to offer investors an opportunity to participate in the ownership and growth of a portfolio of businesses that traditionally have been owned and managed by private equity firms, private individuals or families, financial institutions or large conglomerates. We believe that our management and acquisition strategies will allow us to achieve our goals to begin making and growing regular monthly distributions to our shareholders and increasing shareholder value over time.

We seek to acquire controlling interests in small businesses that we believe operate in industries with long-term macroeconomic growth opportunities, and that have positive and stable earnings and cash flows, face minimal threats of technological or competitive obsolescence and have strong management teams largely in place. We believe that private company operators and corporate parents looking to sell their businesses will consider us to be an attractive purchaser of their businesses. Like we did when we acquired our land application business, we intend to make these future businesses our majority-owned subsidiaries and intend to actively manage and grow such businesses. We expect to improve our businesses over the long term through organic growth opportunities, add-on acquisitions and operational improvements.

Market Opportunity

We seek to acquire and manage small businesses, which we characterize as those that have an enterprise value of less than $50 million. We believe that the merger and acquisition market for small businesses is highly fragmented and provides significant opportunities to purchase businesses at attractive prices. For example, according to GF Data, platform acquisitions with enterprise values greater than $50.0 million commanded valuation premiums 30% higher than platform acquisitions with enterprise values less than $50.0 million (8.2x trailing twelve month adjusted EBITDA versus 6.3x trailing twelve month adjusted EBITDA, respectively).

We believe that the following factors contribute to lower acquisition multiples for small businesses:

We believe that our management team’s strong relationships with business brokers, investment and commercial bankers, accountants, attorneys and other potential sources of acquisition opportunities offers us substantial opportunities to purchase small businesses. See “—Our Manager—Key Personnel of our Manager” for more information about our management team.

We also believe that significant opportunities exist to improve the performance of the businesses upon their acquisition. In the past, our manager has acquired businesses that are often formerly owned by seasoned entrepreneurs or large corporate parents. In these cases, our manager has frequently found that there have been opportunities to further build upon the management teams of acquired businesses. In addition, our manager has frequently found that financial reporting and management information systems of acquired businesses may be improved, both of which can lead to substantial improvements in earnings and cash flow. Finally, because these businesses tend to be too small to have their own corporate development efforts, we believe opportunities exist to assist these businesses in meaningful ways as they pursue organic or external growth strategies that were often not pursued by their previous owners.

Our Strategy

Our long-term goals are to begin making and growing monthly distributions to our shareholders and to increase shareholder value over the long-term. We acquired Neese primarily so that we can achieve a base of cash flow to build our company and begin making and growing monthly distributions. We believe this acquisition will help us achieve our long-term goals.

We plan to continue focusing on acquiring other businesses. Therefore, we intend to continue to identify, perform due diligence on, negotiate and consummate platform acquisitions of small businesses in attractive industry sectors.

Unlike buyers of small businesses that rely on significant leverage to consummate acquisitions (as demonstrated by the data below), we plan to limit the use of third party (i.e., external) acquisition leverage so that our debt will not exceed the market value of the assets we acquire and so that our debt to EBITDA ratio will not exceed 1.25x to 1 for our operating subsidiaries. We believe that limiting leverage in this manner will avoid the imposition on stringent lender controls on our operations that would otherwise potentially hamper the growth of our operating subsidiaries and otherwise harm our business even during times when we have positive operating cash flows. Additionally, in our experience, leverage rarely leads to “break-out” returns and often creates negative return outcomes that are not correlated with the profitability of the business.

Source: GF Data M&A Report (August 2017)

Source: GF Data Leverage Report (August 2017)

In addition to acquiring businesses, we expect to sell businesses that we own from time to time when attractive opportunities arise. Upon the sale of a business, we may use the resulting proceeds to retire debt or retain proceeds for future acquisitions or general purposes. Generally, we do not expect to make special distributions at the time of a sale of one of our businesses; instead, we expect that we will seek to gradually increase monthly shareholder distributions over time.

Management Strategy

Our management strategy involves the identification, performance of due diligence, negotiation and consummation of acquisitions. After acquiring businesses, we will attempt to grow the businesses both organically and through add-on or bolt-on acquisitions. Add-on or bolt-on acquisitions are acquisitions by a company of other companies in the same industry. Following the acquisition of companies, we will seek to grow the earnings and cash flow of acquired companies and, in turn, begin making and growing regular monthly distributions to our shareholders and to increase shareholder value over time. We believe we can increase the cash flows of our businesses by applying our intellectual capital to improve and grow our future businesses.

We will seek to acquire and manage small businesses, which we characterize as those that have an enterprise value of less than $50 million. We believe that the merger and acquisition market for small businesses is highly fragmented and provides opportunities to purchase businesses at attractive prices. We believe we will be able to acquire small businesses for multiples ranging from three to six times EBITDA. We also believe, and our manager has historically found, that significant opportunities exist to improve the performance of these businesses upon their acquisition.

In general, our manager will oversee and support the management team of our future platform businesses by, among other things:

We also believe that our long-term perspective provides us with certain additional advantages, including the ability to:

We intend to continually increase our intellectual capital as we operate our businesses and acquire new businesses and as our manager identifies and recruits qualified operating partners and managers for our businesses.

Acquisition Strategy

Our acquisition strategies involve the acquisition of small businesses in various industries that we expect will produce positive and stable earnings and cash flow, as well as achieve attractive returns on our invested capital. In this respect, we expect to make acquisitions in industries wherein we believe an acquisition presents an attractive opportunity from the perspective of both (i) return on assets or equity and (ii) an easily identifiable path for growing the acquired businesses. We believe that attractive opportunities will increasingly present themselves as private sector owners seek to monetize their interests in longstanding and privately-held businesses and large corporate parents seek to dispose of their “non-core” operations.

We believe that the greatest opportunities for generating consistently positive annual returns and, ultimately, residual returns on capital invested in acquisitions will result from targeting capital light businesses operating in niche geographical markets with a clearly identifiable competitive advantage within the following industries: business services, consumer services, consumer products, consumable industrial products, industrial services, niche light manufacturing, distribution, alternative/specialty finance and in select cases, specialty retail. While we believe that the professional experience of our management team within the industries identified above will offer the greatest number of acquisition opportunities, we will not eschew opportunities if a business enjoys an inarguable moat around its products and services in an industry which our management team may have less familiarity.

From a financial perspective, we expect to make acquisitions of small businesses that are stable, have minimal bad debt, and strong accounts receivable. In addition, we expect to acquire companies that have been able to generate positive pro forma cash available for distribution for a minimum of three years prior to acquisition.

We expect to benefit from our manager’s ability to identify diverse acquisition opportunities in a variety of industries. In addition, we intend to rely upon our management teams’ experience and expertise in researching and valuing prospective target businesses, as well as negotiating the ultimate acquisition of such target businesses. In particular, because there may be a lack of information available about these target businesses, which may make it more difficult to understand or appropriately value such target businesses, we expect our manager will:

We expect the process of acquiring new businesses to be time-consuming and complex. Our manager has historically taken from 2 to 24 months to perform due diligence on, negotiate and close acquisitions. Although we expect our manager to be at various stages of evaluating several transactions at any given time, there may be significant periods of time during which it does not recommend any new acquisitions to us.

Upon an acquisition of a new business, we intend to rely on our manager’s experience and expertise to work efficiently and effectively with the management of the new business to jointly develop and execute a business plan.

While we will primarily seek to acquire controlling interests in a business, we may also acquire non-control or minority equity positions in businesses where we believe it is consistent with our long-term strategy.

As discussed in more detail below, we intend to raise capital for additional acquisitions primarily through debt financing, primarily at our operating company level, additional equity offerings by our company, the sale of all or a part of our businesses or by undertaking a combination of any of the above.

In addition to acquiring businesses, we expect to sell businesses that we own from time to time when attractive opportunities arise. Our decision to sell a business will be based on our belief that the sale will provide our shareholders with a more favorable return on the investment than continued ownership, and will be consistent with the disposition criteria to be established by our company’s board of directors from time to time. Upon the sale of a business, we may use the resulting proceeds to retire debt or retain proceeds for future acquisitions or general purposes. Generally, we do not expect to make special distributions at the time of a sale of one of our businesses; instead, we expect that we will seek to gradually increase monthly shareholder distributions over time.

There are several risks associated with our acquisition strategy, including the following risks, which are described more fully in “Item 1A. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Business and Structure”:

Strategic Advantages

Based on the experience of our manager and its ability to identify and negotiate acquisitions, we expect to be strongly positioned to acquire additional businesses. Our manager has strong relationships with business brokers, investment and commercial bankers, accountants, attorneys and other potential sources of acquisition opportunities. In negotiating these acquisitions, we believe our manager will be able to successfully navigate complex situations surrounding acquisitions, including corporate spin-offs, transitions of family-owned businesses, management buy-outs and reorganizations.

We expect that the flexibility, creativity, experience and expertise of our manager in structuring transactions will provide us with strategic advantages by allowing us to consider non-traditional and complex transactions tailored to fit a specific acquisition target.

Our manager also has a large network of deal intermediaries who we expect to expose us to potential acquisitions. Through this network, we expect to have a substantial pipeline of potential acquisition targets. Our manager also has a well-established network of contacts, including professional managers, attorneys, accountants and other third-party consultants and advisors, who may be available to assist us in the performance of due diligence and the negotiation of acquisitions, as well as the management and operation of our businesses once acquired.

Valuation and Due Diligence

When evaluating businesses or assets for acquisition, we will perform a rigorous due diligence and financial evaluation process. In doing so, we will seek to evaluate the operations of the target business as well as the outlook for the industry in which the target business operates. While valuation of a business is, by definition, a subjective process, we will be defining valuations under a variety of analyses, including:

One outcome of this process is an effort to project the expected cash flows from the target business as accurately as possible. A further outcome is an understanding of the types and levels of risk associated with those projections. While future performance and projections are always uncertain, we believe that our detailed due diligence review process allows us to more accurately estimate future cash flows and more effectively evaluate the prospects for operating the business in the future. To assist us in identifying material risks and validating key assumptions in our financial and operational analysis, in addition to our own analysis, we intend to engage third-party experts to review key risk areas, including legal, tax, regulatory, accounting, insurance and environmental. We may also engage technical, operational or industry consultants, as necessary.

A further critical component of the evaluation of potential target businesses will be the assessment of the capability of the existing management team, including recent performance, expertise, experience, culture and incentives to perform. Where necessary, and consistent with our management strategy, we will actively seek to augment, supplement or replace existing members of management who we believe are not likely to execute the business plan for the target business. Similarly, we will analyze and evaluate the financial and operational information systems of target businesses and, where necessary, we will actively seek to enhance and improve those existing systems that are deemed to be inadequate or insufficient to support our business plan for the target business.

Financing

We will finance future acquisitions primarily through additional equity and debt financings. We believe that having the ability to finance most, if not all, acquisitions with the general capital resources raised by our company, rather than financing relating to the acquisition of individual businesses, provides us with an advantage in acquiring attractive businesses by minimizing delay and closing conditions that are often related to acquisition-specific financings. In this respect, we believe that, at some point in the future, we may need to pursue additional debt or equity financings, or offer equity in our company or target businesses to the sellers of such target businesses, in order to fund acquisitions.

Our Competitive Advantages

We believe that our manager’s collective investment experience and approach to executing our investment strategy provide our company with several competitive advantages. These competitive advantages, certain of which are discussed below, have enabled our management to generate very attractive risk- adjusted returns for investors in their predecessor firms.

Robust Network. Through their activities with their predecessor firms and their comprehensive marketing capabilities, we believe that the management team of our manager has established a “top of mind” position among investment bankers and business brokers targeting small businesses. By employing an institutionalized, multi-platform marketing strategy, we believe our manager has established a robust national network of personal relationships with intermediaries, seasoned operating executives, entrepreneurs and managers, thereby firmly establishing our company’s presence and credibility in the small business market. In contrast to many other buyers of and investors in small businesses, we believe that we can buy businesses at value-oriented multiples and through our asset management activities with a group of professional, experienced and talented operating partners, create appreciable value. We believe our experience, track record and consistent execution of our marketing and investment activities will allow us to maintain a leadership position as the preferred partner for today’s small business market.

Disciplined Deal Sourcing. We employ an institutionalized, multi-platform approach to sourcing new acquisition opportunities. Our deal sourcing efforts include leveraging relationships with more than 3,000 qualified deal sources through regular calling, mail and e-mail campaigns, assignment of regional marketing responsibilities, in-person visits and high-profile sponsorship of important conferences and industry events. We supplement these activities by retaining selected intermediary firms to conduct targeted searches for opportunities in specific categories on an opportunistic basis. As a result of the significant time and effort spent on these activities, we believe we established close relationships and unique “top of mind” awareness with many of the most productive intermediary sources for small business acquisition opportunities in the United States. While reinforcing our market leadership, this capability enables us to generate a large number of attractive acquisition opportunities.

Differentiated Acquisition Capabilities in the Small Business Market. We deploy a differentiated approach to acquiring businesses in the small business market. Our management concentrates their efforts on mature companies with sustainable value propositions, which can be supported by our resources and institutional expertise. Our evaluation of acquisition opportunities typically involves significant input from a seasoned operating partner with relevant experience, which we believe enhances both our diligence and ongoing monitoring capabilities. In addition, we approach every acquisition opportunity with creative structures, which we believe enables us to engineer mutually attractive scenarios for sellers, whereas competing buyers may be limited by their rigid structural requirements. We believe our commitment to conservative capital structures and valuation will enhance each acquired operating subsidiary’s ability to deliver consistent levels of cash available for distribution, while additionally supporting reinvestment for growth.

Value Proposition for Business Owners. We employ a creative, flexible approach by tailoring each acquisition structure to meet the specific liquidity needs and certain qualitative objectives of the target’s owners and management team. In addition to serving as an exit pathway for sellers, we seek to align our interests with the sellers by enabling them to retain and/or earn (through incentive compensation) a substantial economic interest in their businesses following the acquisition and by typically allowing the incumbent management team to retain operating control of the acquired operating subsidiary on a day-to-day basis. We believe that our company is an appealing buyer for small business owners and managers due to our track record of capitalizing portfolio companies conservatively, enhancing the company’s ability to execute on its strategic initiatives and adding equity value. As a result, we believe business owners and managers will find in our company to be a dynamic, value-added buyer that brings considerable resources to achieve their strategic, capital and operating needs, resulting in substantial value creation for the operating subsidiary.

Operating Partner. Our manager has consistently worked with a strong network of seasoned operating partners - former entrepreneurs and executives with extensive experience building, managing and optimizing successful small businesses across a range of industries. We believe that our operating partner model will enable our company to make a significant improvement in the operating subsidiary, as compared to other buyers, such as traditional private equity firms, which rely principally upon investment professionals to make acquisition/investment and monitoring decisions regarding not only the business, financial and legal due diligence aspects of a business but also the more operational aspects including industry dynamics, management strength and strategic growth initiatives. We typically engage an operating partner soon after identifying a target business for acquisition, enhancing our acquisition judgment and building the acquisition team’s relationship with the subsidiary’s management team. Operating partners usually serve as a member of the board of directors of an operating subsidiary and spend two to four days per month working with the subsidiary’s management team. We leverage the operating partner’s extensive experience to build the management team, improve operations and assist with strategic growth initiatives, resulting in value creation.

Small Business Market Experience. We believe the history and experience of our manager’s partnering with companies in the small business market allows us to identify highly attractive acquisition opportunities and add significant value to our operating subsidiaries. Our manager’s investment experience in the small business market prior to forming our company has further contributed to our institutional expertise in the acquisition, strategic and operational decisions critical to the long-term success of small businesses. Since 2000, the management team of our manager has collectively been presented with several thousand investment opportunities and actively worked with more than 30 small businesses on all facets of their strategy, development and operations, which we have successfully translated into unique, institutionalized capabilities directed towards creating value in small businesses.

Intellectual Property

Our manager owns certain intellectual property relating to the term “1847.” Our manager has granted our company a license to use the term “1847” in its business.

Employees

As of the date of this report, the only full-time employee at the holding company, 1847 Holdings LLC, is Ellery W. Roberts, our Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, President and Chief Financial Officer.

OUR CORPORATE STRUCTURE AND HISTORY

Our company is a Delaware limited liability company that was formed on January 22, 2013. Your rights as a holder of common shares, and the fiduciary duties of our board of directors and executive officers, and any limitations relating thereto, are set forth in the operating agreement governing our company and may differ from those applying to a Delaware corporation. However, subject to certain exceptions, the documents governing our company specify that the duties of our directors and officers will be generally consistent with the duties of directors and officers of a Delaware corporation.

Our company will be classified as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Under the partnership income tax provisions, our company will not incur any U.S. federal income tax liability; rather, each of our shareholders will be required to take into account his or her allocable share of company income, gain, loss, and deduction. As a holder of common shares, you may not receive cash distributions sufficient in amount to cover taxes in respect of your allocable share of our company’s net taxable income. Our company will file a partnership return with the IRS and will issue tax information, including a Schedule K-1, to you that describes your allocable share of our company’s income, gain, loss, deduction, and other items. The U.S. federal income tax rules that apply to partnerships are complex, and complying with the reporting requirements may require significant time and expense. See “Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations” included in the registration statement for more information.

Our company has two classes of limited liability company interests - the common shares and the allocation shares, all of which have been and will continue to be held by our manager. See “Description of Securities” included in the registration statement for more information about the common shares and the allocation shares.

On September 15, 2013, our subsidiary, 1847 Management Services Inc., a Delaware corporation, or 1847 Management, acquired a 50% interest in each of PPI Management Group, LLC, or PPI Management, and Christals Management LLC, or Christals Management, from our Chief Executive Officer and controlling shareholder, Ellery W. Roberts. Each of PPI Management and Christals Management were management consulting and advisory firms. On October 3, 2017, our board decided to discontinue our management consulting operations in order to devote more time and resources to Neese and our proposed acquisition of Fitness CF.

On March 3, 2017, our wholly-owned subsidiary 1847 Neese acquired all of the issued and outstanding capital stock of Neese for an aggregate purchase price of $6,655,000, consisting of: (i) $2,225,000 in cash (subject to certain adjustments); (ii) 450 shares of the common stock of 1847 Neese, valued by the parties at $1,530,000, constituting 45% of its capital stock; (iii) the issuance of a vesting promissory note in the principal amount of $1,875,000 (which was determined to have a fair value of $395,634) due June 30, 2020; and (iv) the issuance of a short-term promissory note in the principal amount of $1,025,000 due March 3, 2018. Neese was formed in January 1993.

On July 6, 2017, we formed 1847 Fitness as a wholly-owned subsidiary for the purpose of entering into the purchase agreement with Fitness CF.

The following chart depicts our current organizational structure.

See “—Our Manager” for more details regarding the ownership of our manager.

OUR MANAGER

Overview of Our Manager

Our manager, 1847 Partners LLC, is a Delaware limited liability company. It has two classes of limited liability interests known as Class A interests and Class B interests. The Class A interests, which give the holder the right to the profit allocation received by our manager as a result of holding our allocation shares, are owned in their entirety by 1847 Partners Class A Member LLC; and the Class B interests, which give the holder the right to all other profits or losses of our manager, including the management fee payable to our manager by us, are owned in their entirety by 1847 Partners Class B Member LLC. 1847 Partners Class A Member LLC is owned 52% by Ellery W. Roberts, our Chief Executive Officer, and 38% by 1847 Founders Capital LLC, which is owned by Edward J. Tobin. 1847 Partners Class B Member LLC is owned 54% by Ellery W. Roberts and 36% by 1847 Founders Capital LLC. Mr. Roberts is also the sole manager of both entities. In the future, Mr. Roberts may cause 1847 Partners Class A Member LLC or 1847 Partners Class B Member LLC to issue units to employees of the manager to incentivize those employees by providing them with the ability to participate in our manager’s incentive allocation and management fee.

Key Personnel of Our Manager

The key personnel of our manager are Ellery W. Roberts, our Chief Executive Officer, and Edward J. Tobin. Please see “Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance” for a description of the business experience of these individuals. Each of these individuals will be compensated entirely by our manager from the management fees it receives. As employees of our manager, these individuals devote a substantial majority of their time to the affairs of our company.

Collectively, the management team of our manager has more than 60 years of combined experience in acquiring and managing small businesses and has overseen the acquisitions and financing of over 50 businesses.

Acquisition and Disposition Opportunities

Our manager has exclusive responsibility for reviewing and making recommendations to our board of directors with respect to acquisition and disposition opportunities. If our manager does not originate an opportunity, our board of directors will seek a recommendation from our manager prior to making a decision concerning such opportunity. In the case of any acquisition or disposition opportunity that involves an affiliate of our manager or us, our nominating and corporate governance committee, or, if we do not have such a committee, the independent members of our board of directors, will be required to authorize and approve such transaction.

Our manager will review each acquisition or disposition opportunity presented to our manager to determine if such opportunity satisfies the acquisition and disposition criteria established by our board of directors. The acquisition and disposition criteria provide that our manager will review each acquisition opportunity presented to it to determine if such opportunity satisfies our company’s acquisition and disposition criteria, and if it is determined, in our manager’s sole discretion, that an opportunity satisfies the criteria, our manager will refer the opportunity to our board of directors for its authorization and approval prior to the consummation of any such opportunity.

Our investment criteria include the following:

We believe we will be able to acquire small businesses for multiples ranging from three to six times EBITDA. With respect to investment opportunities that do not fall within the criteria set forth above our manager must first present such opportunities to our board of directors. Our board of directors and our manager will review these criteria from time to time and our board of directors may make changes and modifications to such criteria as our company makes additional acquisitions and dispositions.

If an acquisition opportunity is referred to our board of directors by our manager and our board of directors determines not to timely pursue such opportunity in whole or in part, any part of such opportunity that our company does not promptly pursue may be pursued by our manager or may be referred by our manager to any person, including affiliates of our manager. In this case, our manager is likely to devote a portion of its time to the oversight of this opportunity, including the management of a business that we do not own.

If there is a disposition, our manager must use its commercially reasonable efforts to manage a process through which the value of such disposition can be maximized, taking into consideration non-financial factors such as those relating to competition, strategic partnerships, potential favorable or adverse effects on us, our businesses, or our investments or any similar factors that may reasonably perceived as having a short- or long-term impact on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Management Services Agreement

The management services agreement sets forth the services to be performed by our manager. Our manager will perform such services subject to the oversight and supervision of our board of directors.

In general, our manager will perform those services for our company that would be typically performed by the executive officers of a company. Specifically, our manager will perform the following services, which we refer to as the management services, pursuant to the management services agreement:

Our company and our manager have the right at any time during the term of the management services agreement to change the services provided by our manager. In performing management services, our manager will have all necessary power and authority to perform, or cause to be performed, such services on behalf of our company, and, in this respect, our manager will be the only provider of management services to our company. Nonetheless, our manager will be required to obtain authorization and approval of our board of directors in all circumstances where executive officers of a corporation typically would be required to obtain authorization and approval of a corporation’s board of directors, including, for example, with respect to the consummation of an acquisition of a target business, the issuance of securities or the entry into credit arrangements.

While our Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Ellery W. Roberts, intends to devote substantially all of his time to the affairs of our company, neither Mr. Roberts, nor our manager, is expressly prohibited from investing in or managing other entities. In this regard, the management services agreement will not require our manager and its affiliates to provide management services to our company exclusively.

Secondment of Our Executive Officers

In accordance with the terms of the management services agreement, our manager may second to our company our executive officers, which means that these individuals will be assigned by our manager to work for us during the term of the management services agreement. Our board of directors has appointed Mr. Roberts as an executive officer of our company. Although Mr. Roberts is an employee of our manager, he will report directly, and be subject, to our board of directors. In this respect, our board of directors may, after due consultation with our manager, at any time request that our manager replace any individual seconded to our company and our manager will, as promptly as practicable, replace any such individual; however, our Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Roberts, controls our manager, which may make it difficult for our board of directors to completely sever ties with Mr. Roberts. Our manager and our board of directors may agree from time to time that our manager will second to our company one or more additional individuals to serve on behalf of our company, upon such terms as our manager and our board of directors may mutually agree.

Indemnification by our Company

Our company has agreed to indemnify and hold harmless our manager and its employees and representatives, including any individuals seconded to our company, from and against all losses, claims and liabilities incurred by our manager in connection with, relating to or arising out of the performance of any management services. However, our company will not be obligated to indemnify or hold harmless our manager for any losses, claims and liabilities incurred by our manager in connection with, relating to or arising out of (i) a breach by our manager or its employees or its representatives of the management services agreement, (ii) the gross negligence, willful misconduct, bad faith or reckless disregard of our manager or its employees or representatives in the performance of any of its obligations under the management services agreement, or (iii) fraudulent or dishonest acts of our manager or its employees or representatives with respect to our company or any of its businesses.

We expect that our directors and officers insurance policy for our directors and officers will be expanded, or supplemental insurance will be obtained, to cover this indemnification obligation.

Termination of Management Services Agreement

Our board of directors may terminate the management services agreement and our manager’s appointment if, at any time:

In addition, our manager may resign and terminate the management services agreement at any time upon 120 days prior written notice to our company, and this right is not contingent upon the finding of a replacement manager. However, if our manager resigns, until the date on which the resignation becomes effective, it will, upon request of our board of directors, use reasonable efforts to assist our board of directors to find a replacement manager at no cost and expense to our company.

Upon the termination of the management services agreement, seconded officers, employees, representatives and delegates of our manager and its affiliates who are performing the services that are the subject of the management services agreement will resign their respective position with our company and cease to work at the date of such termination or at any other time as determined by our manager. Any director appointed by our manager may continue serving on our board of directors subject to the terms of the operating agreement.

If we terminate the management services agreement, our company and its businesses have agreed to cease using the term “1847”, including any trademarks based on the name of our company that may be licensed to them by our manager, under the licensing provisions of the management services agreement, entirely in their businesses and operations within 180 days of such termination. Such licensing provisions of the management services agreement would require our company and its businesses to change their names to remove any reference to the term “1847” or any reference to trademarks licensed to them by our manager. In this respect, our right to use the term “1847” and related intellectual property is subject to licensing provisions between our manager, on the one hand, and our company and our businesses, on the other hand.

Except with respect to the termination fee payable to our manager due to a termination of the management services agreement based solely on a vote of our board of directors and our shareholders, no other termination fee is payable upon termination of the management services agreement for any other reason. See “Our Manager—Our Manager as a Service Provider—Termination Fee” for more information about the termination fee payable upon termination of the management services agreement.

While termination of the management services agreement will not affect any terms and conditions, including those relating to any payment obligations, that exist under any offsetting management services agreements or transaction services agreements, such agreements will be terminable by future businesses that we acquire upon 60 days prior written notice and there will be no termination or other similar fees due upon such termination. Notwithstanding termination of the management services agreement, our manager will maintain its rights with respect to the allocation shares it then owns, including its rights under the supplemental put provision of our operating agreement. See “—Our Manager—Our Manager as an Equity Holder—Supplemental Put Provision” for more information on our manager’s put right with respect to the allocation shares.

Our Relationship with Our Manager, Manager Fees and Manager Profit Allocation

Our relationship with our manager is based on our manager having two distinct roles: first, as a service provider to us and, second, as an equity holder of the allocation shares.

As a service provider, our manager performs a variety of services for us, which entitles it to receive a management fee. As holder of our company’s allocation shares, our manager has the right to a preferred distribution in the form of a profit allocation upon the occurrence of certain events. Our manager paid $1,000 for the allocation shares. In addition, our manager will have the right to cause our company to purchase the allocation shares then owned by our manager upon termination of the management services agreement.

These relationships with our manager are governed principally by the following agreements:

We also expect that our manager will enter into offsetting management services agreements and transaction services agreements with our businesses directly. These agreements, and some of the material terms relating thereto, are discussed in more detail below. The management fee, profit allocation and put price under the supplemental put provision will be payment obligations of our company and, as a result, will be paid, along with other company obligations, prior to the payment of monthly distributions to shareholders.

The following table provides a simplified description of the fees and profit allocation rights held by our manager. Further detail is provided in the following subsections.

Our Manager as a Service Provider

Management Fee

Our company will pay our manager a quarterly management fee equal to 0.5% (2.0% annualized) of its adjusted net assets, as discussed in more detail below.

Subject to any adjustments discussed below, for performing management services under the management services agreement during any fiscal quarter, our company will pay our manager a management fee with respect to such fiscal quarter. The management fee to be paid with respect to any fiscal quarter will be calculated as of the last day of such fiscal quarter, which we refer to as the calculation date. The management fee will be calculated by an administrator, which will be our manager so long as the management services agreement is in effect. The amount of any management fee payable by our company as of any calculation date with respect to any fiscal quarter will be (i) reduced by the aggregate amount of any offsetting management fees, if any, received by our manager from any of our businesses with respect to such fiscal quarter, (ii) reduced (or increased) by the amount of any over-paid (or under-paid) management fees received by (or owed to) our manager as of such calculation date, and (iii) increased by the amount of any outstanding accrued and unpaid management fees.

As an obligation of our company, the management fee will be paid prior to the payment of monthly distributions to our shareholders. If we do not have sufficient liquid assets to pay the management fee when due, we may be required to liquidate assets or incur debt in order to pay the management fee.

Offsetting Management Services Agreements

Pursuant to the management services agreement, we have agreed that our manager may, at any time, enter into offsetting management services agreements with our businesses pursuant to which our manager may perform services that may or may not be similar to management services. Any fees to be paid by one of our businesses pursuant to such agreements are referred to as offsetting management fees and will offset, on a dollar-for-dollar basis, the management fee otherwise due and payable by our company under the management services agreement with respect to a fiscal quarter. The management services agreement provides that the aggregate amount of offsetting management fees to be paid to our manager with respect to any fiscal quarter shall not exceed the management fee to be paid to our manager with respect to such fiscal quarter.

Our manager entered into offsetting management services agreements with 1847 Neese and 1847 Fitness and may enter into offsetting management services agreements with our future subsidiaries, which agreements would be in the form prescribed by our management services agreement.

The services that our manager will provide to future subsidiaries under the offsetting management services agreements will include: conducting general and administrative supervision and oversight of the subsidiary’s day-to-day business and operations, including, but not limited to, recruiting and hiring of personnel, administration of personnel and personnel benefits, development of administrative policies and procedures, establishment and management of banking services, managing and arranging for the maintaining of liability insurance, arranging for equipment rental, maintenance of all necessary permits and licenses, acquisition of any additional licenses and permits that become necessary, participation in risk management policies and procedures; and overseeing and consulting with respect to the company’s business and operational strategies, the implementation of such strategies and the evaluation of such strategies, including, but not limited to, strategies with respect to capital expenditure and expansion programs, acquisitions or dispositions and product or service lines. If our manager and the subsidiary do not enter into an offsetting management services agreement, our manager will provide these services for our subsidiaries under our management services agreement.

The offsetting management fee paid to our manager for providing management services to a future subsidiary will vary.

On March 3, 2017, in connection with the acquisition of Neese, 1847 Neese entered into an offsetting management services agreement with our manager. Pursuant to the offsetting management services agreement, 1847 Neese appointed the manager to provide certain services to it for a quarterly management fee equal to $62,500 per quarter; provided, however, that (i) pro rated payments shall be made in the first quarter and the last quarter of the term, (ii) if the aggregate amount of management fees paid or to be paid by 1847 Neese, together with all other management fees paid or to be paid by all other subsidiaries of the company to the manager, in each case, with respect to any fiscal year exceeds, or is expected to exceed, 9.5% of the company’s gross income with respect to such fiscal year, then the management fee to be paid by 1847 Neese for any remaining fiscal quarters in such fiscal year shall be reduced, on a pro rata basis determined by reference to the management fees to be paid to the manager by all of the subsidiaries of the company, until the aggregate amount of the management fee paid or to be paid by 1847 Neese, together with all other management fees paid or to be paid by all other subsidiaries of the company to the manager, in each case, with respect to such fiscal year, does not exceed 9.5% of the company’s gross income with respect to such fiscal year, and (iii) if the aggregate amount the management fee paid or to be paid by 1847 Neese, together with all other management fees paid or to be paid by all other subsidiaries of the company to the manager, in each case, with respect to any fiscal quarter exceeds, or is expected to exceed, the aggregate amount of the management fee (before any adjustment thereto) calculated and payable under the management services agreement, which we refer to as the parent management fee, with respect to such fiscal quarter, then the management fee to be paid by 1847 Neese for such fiscal quarter shall be reduced, on a pro rata basis, until the aggregate amount of the management fee paid or to be paid by 1847 Neese, together with all other management fees paid or to be paid by all other subsidiaries of the company to the manager, in each case, with respect to such fiscal quarter, does not exceed the parent management fee calculated and payable with respect to such fiscal quarter.

1847 Neese shall also reimburse the manager for all costs and expenses of 1847 Neese which are specifically approved by the board of directors of 1847 Neese, including all out-of-pocket costs and expenses, which are actually incurred by the manager or its affiliates on behalf of 1847 Neese in connection with performing services under the offsetting management services agreement.

The services provided by the manager include: conducting general and administrative supervision and oversight of 1847 Neese’s day-to-day business and operations, including, but not limited to, recruiting and hiring of personnel, administration of personnel and personnel benefits, development of administrative policies and procedures, establishment and management of banking services, managing and arranging for the maintaining of liability insurance, arranging for equipment rental, maintenance of all necessary permits and licenses, acquisition of any additional licenses and permits that become necessary, participation in risk management policies and procedures; and overseeing and consulting with respect to 1847 Neese’s business and operational strategies, the implementation of such strategies and the evaluation of such strategies, including, but not limited to, strategies with respect to capital expenditure and expansion programs, acquisitions or dispositions and product or service lines.

We expect that 1847 Fitness will enter into a similar offsetting management services agreement with our manager upon closing of the acquisition of Fitness CF. We expect that the quarterly management fee will be equal to $75,000.

Example of Calculation of Management Fee with Adjustment for Offsetting Management Fees

In order to better understand how the management fee is calculated, we are providing the following example:

The foregoing example provides hypothetical information only and does not intend to reflect actual or expected management fee amounts.

For purposes of the calculation of the management fee:

Transaction Services Agreements

Pursuant to the management services agreement, we have agreed that our manager may, at any time, enter into transaction services agreements with any of our businesses relating to the performance by our manager of certain transaction-related services in connection with the acquisitions of target businesses by our company or its businesses or dispositions of our company’s or its businesses’ property or assets. These services may include those customarily performed by a third-party investment banking firm or similar financial advisor, which may or may not be similar to management services, in connection with the acquisition of target businesses by us or our subsidiaries or disposition of subsidiaries or any of our property or assets or those of our subsidiaries. In connection with providing transaction services, our manager will generally receive a fee equal to the sum of (i) 2.0% of the aggregate purchase price of the target business up to and equal to $50 million, plus (ii) 1.5% of the aggregate purchase price of the target business in excess of $50 million and up to and equal to $100 million, plus (iii) 1.0% of the aggregate purchase price over $100 million, subject to annual review by our board of directors. The purchase price of a target business shall be defined as the aggregate amount of consideration, including cash and the value of any shares issued by us on the date of acquisition, paid for the equity interests of such target business plus the aggregate principal amount of any debt assumed by us of the target business on the date of acquisition or any similar formulation. The other terms and conditions relating to the performance of transaction services will be established in accordance with market practice.

Our manager may enter into transaction services agreements with our subsidiaries and future subsidiaries, which agreements would be in the form prescribed by our management services agreement.

The services that our manager will provide to our subsidiaries and future subsidiaries under the transaction services agreements will include the following services that would be provided in connection with a specific transaction identified at the time that the transaction services agreement is entered into: reviewing, evaluating and otherwise familiarizing itself and its affiliates with the business, operations, properties, financial condition and prospects of the future subsidiary and its target acquisition and preparing documentation describing the future subsidiary’s operations, management, historical financial results, projected financial results and any other relevant matters and presenting such documentation and making recommendations with respect thereto to certain of the manager’s affiliates.

Any fees received by our manager pursuant to such a transaction services agreement will be in addition to the management fee payable by our company pursuant to the management services agreement and will not offset the payment of such management fee. A transaction services agreement with any of our businesses may provide for the reimbursement of costs and expenses incurred by our manager in connection with the acquisition of such businesses.

Transaction services agreements will be reviewed, authorized and approved by our company’s board of directors on an annual basis.

Reimbursement of Expenses

Our company will be responsible for paying costs and expenses relating to its business and operations. Our company agreed to reimburse our manager during the term of the management services agreement for all costs and expenses of our company that are incurred by our manager or its affiliates on behalf of our company, including any out-of-pocket costs and expenses incurred in connection with the performance of services under the management services agreement, and all costs and expenses the reimbursement of which are specifically approved by our company’s board of directors.

Our company will not be obligated or responsible for reimbursing or otherwise paying for any costs or expenses relating to our manager’s overhead or any other costs and expenses relating to our manager’s conduct of its business and operations. Also, our company will not be obligated or responsible for reimbursing our manager for costs and expenses incurred by our manager in the identification, evaluation, management, performance of due diligence on, negotiation and oversight of potential acquisitions of new businesses for which our company (or our manager on behalf of our company) fails to submit an indication of interest or letter of intent to pursue such acquisition, including costs and expenses relating to travel, marketing and attendance of industry events and retention of outside service providers relating thereto. In addition, our company will not be obligated or responsible for reimbursing our manager for costs and expenses incurred by our manager in connection with the identification, evaluation, management, performance of due diligence on, negotiating and oversight of an acquisition by our company if such acquisition is actually consummated and the business so acquired entered into a transaction services agreement with our manager providing for the reimbursement of such costs and expenses by such business. In this respect, the costs and expenses associated with the pursuit of add-on acquisitions for our company may be reimbursed by any businesses so acquired pursuant to a transaction services agreement.

All reimbursements will be reviewed and, in certain circumstances, approved by our company’s board of directors on an annual basis in connection with the preparation of year-end financial statements.

Termination Fee

We will pay our manager a termination fee upon termination of the management services agreement if such termination is based solely on a vote of our company’s board of directors and our shareholders; no other termination fee will be payable to our manager in connection with the termination of the management services agreement for any other reason. The termination fee that is payable to our manager will be equal to the product of (i) two (2) multiplied by (ii) the sum of the amount of the quarterly management fees calculated with respect to the four fiscal quarters immediately preceding the termination date of the management services agreement. The termination fee will be payable in eight equal quarterly installments, with the first such installment being paid on or within five business days of the last day of the fiscal quarter in which the management services agreement was terminated and each subsequent installment being paid on or within five business days of the last day of each subsequent fiscal quarter, until such time as the termination fee is paid in full to our manager.

Our Manager as an Equity Holder

Manager’s Profit Allocation

Our manager owns 100% of the allocation shares of our company, which generally will entitle our manager to receive a 20% profit allocation as a form of preferred distribution. Upon the sale of a company subsidiary, the manager will be paid a profit allocation if the sum of (i) the excess of the gain on the sale of such subsidiary over a high water mark plus (ii) the subsidiary’s net income since its acquisition by the company exceeds the 8% hurdle rate. The 8% hurdle rate is the product of (i) a 2% rate per quarter, multiplied by (ii) the number of quarters such subsidiary was held by the company, multiplied by (iii) the subsidiary’s average share (determined based on gross assets, generally) of our consolidated net equity (determined according to GAAP with certain adjustments). In certain circumstances, after a subsidiary has been held for at least 5 years, the manager may also trigger a profit allocation with respect to such subsidiary (determined based solely on the subsidiary’s net income since its acquisition). The calculation of the profit allocation and the rights of our manager, as the holder of the allocation shares, are governed by the operating agreement.

Our audit committee, which will be comprised solely of independent directors, will have the opportunity to review and approve the calculation of manager’s profit allocation when it becomes due and payable. Our manager will not receive a profit allocation on an annual basis. Instead, our manager will be paid a profit allocation only upon the occurrence of one of the following events, which we refer to collectively as the trigger events:

We believe this payment timing, rather than a method that provides for annual allocation payments, more accurately reflects the long-term performance of each of our businesses and is consistent with our intent to hold, manage and grow our businesses over the long term. We refer generally to the obligation to make this payment to our manager as the “profit allocation” and, specifically, to the amount of any particular profit allocation as the “manager’s profit allocation.”

Definitions used in, and an example of the calculation of profit allocation, are set forth in more detail below.

The amount of the manager’s profit allocation will be based on the extent to which the “total profit allocation amount” (as defined below) with respect to any business, as of the last day of any fiscal quarter in which a trigger event occurs, which date we refer to as the “calculation date”, exceeds the relevant hurdle amounts (as described below) with respect to such business, as of such calculation date. The manager’s profit allocation will be calculated by an administrator, which will be our manager so long as the management services agreement is in effect, and such calculation will be subject to a review and approval process by our company’s board of directors. For this purpose, “total profit allocation amount” will be equal to, with respect to any business as of any calculation date, the sum of:

Specifically, manager’s profit allocation will be calculated and paid as follows:

The administrator will calculate the manager’s profit allocation on or promptly following the relevant calculation date, subject to a “true-up” calculation upon availability of audited or unaudited consolidated financial statements, as the case may be, of our company to the extent not available on such calculation date. Any adjustment necessitated by the true-up calculation will be made in connection with the next calculation of manager’s profit allocation. Because of the length of time that may pass between trigger events, there may be a significant delay in our company’s ability to realize the benefit, if any, of a true-up of the manager’s profit allocation.

Once calculated, the administrator will submit the calculation of the manager’s profit allocation, as adjusted pursuant to any true-up, to our company’s board of directors for its review and approval. The board of directors will have ten business days to review and approve the calculation, which approval shall be automatic absent disapproval by the board of directors. The manager’s profit allocation will be paid ten business days after such approval.

If the board of directors disapproves of the administrator’s calculation of manager’s profit allocation, the calculation and payment of manager’s profit allocation will be subject to a dispute resolution process, which may result in manager’s profit allocation being determined, at our company’s cost and expense, by two independent accounting firms. Any determination by such independent accounting firms will be conclusive and binding on our company and our manager.

We will also pay a tax distribution to our manager if our manager is allocated taxable income by our company but does not realize distributions from our company at least equal to the taxes payable by our manager resulting from allocations of taxable income. Any such tax distributions will be paid in a similar manner as profit allocations are paid.

For any fiscal quarter in which a trigger event occurs with respect to more than one business, the calculation of the manager’s profit allocation, including the components thereof, will be made with respect to each business in the order in which controlling interests in such businesses were acquired or obtained by our company and the resulting amounts shall be aggregated to determine the total amount of manager’s profit allocation. If controlling interests in two or more businesses were acquired at the same time and such businesses give rise to a calculation of manager’s profit allocation during the same fiscal quarter, then manager’s profit allocation will be further calculated separately for each such business in the order in which such businesses were sold.

As obligations of our company, profit allocations and tax distributions will be paid prior to the payment of distributions to our shareholders. If we do not have sufficient liquid assets to pay the profit allocations or tax distributions when due, we may be required to liquidate assets or incur debt in order to pay such profit allocation. Our manager will have the right to elect to defer the payment of the manager’s profit allocation due on any payment date. Once deferred, our manager may demand payment thereof upon 20 business days’ prior written notice.

Termination of the management services agreement, by any means, will not affect our manager’s rights with respect to the allocation shares that it owns, including its right to receive profit allocations, unless our manager exercises its put right to sell such allocation shares to our company.

Example of Calculation of Manager’s Profit Allocation

The manager will receive a profit allocation at the end of the fiscal quarter in which a trigger event occurs, as follows (all dollar amounts are in millions):

Assumptions

Year 1:

Acquisition of Company A

Acquisition of Company B

Year 4

Company A (or assets thereof) sold for $25 capital gain (as defined below) over its net book value of assets at time of sale, which is a qualifying trigger event

Company A’s average allocated share of our consolidated net equity over its ownership is $50

Company A’s holding period in quarters is 12

Company A’s contribution-based profit since acquisition is $5

Year 6:

Company B’s contribution-based profit since acquisition is $7

Company B’s average allocated share of our consolidated net equity over its ownership is $25

Company B’s holding period in quarters is 20

Company B’s cumulative gains and losses are $20

Manager elects to have holding period measured for purposes of profit allocation for Company B

For purposes of calculating profit allocation:

Supplemental Put Provision

In addition to the provisions discussed above, in consideration of our manager’s acquisition of the allocation shares, our operating agreement contains a supplemental put provision pursuant to which our manager will have the right to cause our company to purchase the allocation shares then owned by our manager upon termination of the management services agreement.

If the management services agreement is terminated at any time or our manager resigns, then our manager will have the right, but not the obligation, for one year from the date of such termination or resignation, as the case may be, to elect to cause our company to purchase all of the allocation shares then owned by our manager for the put price as of the put exercise date.

For purposes of this provision, the “put price” is equal to, as of any exercise date, (i) if we terminate the management services agreement, the sum of two separate, independently made calculations of the aggregate amount of manager’s profit allocation as of such exercise date or (ii) if our manager resigns, the average of two separate, independently made calculations of the aggregate amount of manager’s profit allocation as of such exercise date, in each case, calculated assuming that (x) all of the businesses are sold in an orderly fashion for fair market value as of such exercise date in the order in which the controlling interest in each business was acquired or otherwise obtained by our company, (y) the last day of the fiscal quarter ending immediately prior to such exercise date is the relevant calculation date for purposes of calculating manager’s profit allocation as of such exercise date. Each of the two separate, independently made calculations of the manager’s profit allocation for purposes of calculating the put price will be performed by a different investment bank that is engaged by our company at its cost and expense. The put price will be adjusted to account for a final “true-up” of the manager’s profit allocation.

Our manager and our company can mutually agree to permit our company to issue a note in lieu of payment of the put price when due; provided, that if our manager resigns and terminates the management services agreement, then our company will have the right, in its sole discretion, to issue a note in lieu of payment of the put price when due. In either case the note would have an aggregate principal amount equal to the put price, would bear interest at a rate of LIBOR plus 4.0% per annum, would mature on the first anniversary of the date upon which the put price was initially due, and would be secured by the then-highest priority lien available to be placed on our equity interests in each of our businesses.

Our company’s obligations under the put provision of our operating agreement are absolute and unconditional. In addition, our company will be subject to certain obligations and restrictions upon exercise of our manager’s put right until such time as our company’s obligations under the put provision of our operating agreement, including any related note, have been satisfied in full, including:

Our company also has agreed to indemnify our manager for any losses or liabilities it incurs or suffers in connection with, arising out of or relating to its exercise of its put right or any enforcement of terms and conditions of the supplemental put provision of our operating agreement.

As an obligation of our company, the put price will be paid prior to the payment of distributions to our shareholders. If we do not have sufficient liquid assets to pay the put price when due, we may be required to liquidate assets or incur debt in order to pay the put price.

Termination of the management services agreement, by any means, will not affect our manager’s rights with respect to the allocation shares that it owns. In this regard, our manager will retain its put right and its allocation shares after ceasing to serve as our manager. As a result, if we terminate our manager, regardless of the reason for such termination, it would retain the right to exercise the put right and demand payment of the put price.

OUR LAND APPLICATION BUSINESS

Overview

Headquartered in Grand Junction, Iowa and founded in 1991, Neese is an established business specializing in providing a wide range of land application services and selling equipment and parts, primarily to the agricultural industry, but also to the construction and lawn and garden industries. Neese’s revenue mix is composed of waste disposal and a variety of agricultural services, wholesaling of agricultural equipment and parts, local trucking services, various shop services, and other products and services. Services to the local agricultural and farming communities include manure spreading, land rolling, bin whipping, cleaning of bulk storage bins and silos, equipment rental, trucking, vacuuming, building erection, and others.

Neese carries high-quality farm and ranch equipment from prominent manufacturers, including Buhler Versatile Tractors, Harvest International, Nuhn Industries Ltd., Twinstar, Fantini, Loftness, Roto-Grind, Sage Oil Vac, Dixie Chopper, and many others.

Products and Services

Waste Disposal and Land Application Services

Neese’s largest revenue source is providing waste disposal and land application services, primarily for the agricultural industry, and to a lesser extent, industrial and municipal customers. Services to the local agricultural and farming communities include manure spreading and land rolling. Neese also has a fleet of trucks that haul products for a variety of customers. Such services accounted for approximately 57.8% of Neese’s total revenues for the year ended December 31, 2017, as compared to approximately 59.5% for the year ended December 31, 2016.

Equipment and Parts Sales

Neese sells a wide range of farm and agricultural equipment. Some of the major brands offered include, but are not limited to, the following:

Such sales accounted for approximately 40.5% of Neese’s total revenues for the year ended December 31, 2017, as compared to approximately 36.2% for the year ended December 31, 2016.

Other Products and Services

Neese provides a variety of services to the local agricultural and farming communities, including bin whipping, cleaning all types of bulk storage bins and silos, equipment rental, trucking, vacuuming, building erection, and other services.

Pricing

Neese prices its products and services at what the market will bear. Pricing is generally determined by product and service mix, supply and demand, wholesale prices on equipment/parts, competitive forces, and other factors.

Supplier Relationships

Neese employs a variety of suppliers with two suppliers representing 10% or more of our total purchases. Neese maintains close relationships with its suppliers. Neese’s key vendors and suppliers are listed in the table below.

Products are purchased from these suppliers on an at-will basis. Such manufacturers could discontinue sales to Neese at any time or upon short notice. If any of these suppliers discontinued selling or were unable to continue selling to Neese, there could be a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

Relationships with suppliers are subject to change from time to time. Changes in Neese’s relationships with suppliers occur periodically, and could positively or negatively impact our net sales and operating profits. Please see “Item 1A. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Land Application Business—We depend upon manufacturers who may be unable to provide products of adequate quality or who may be unwilling to continue to supply products to us.” However, we believe that we can be successful in mitigating negative effects resulting from unfavorable changes in the relationships between Neese and its suppliers through, among other things, the development of new or expanded supplier relationships.

Sales and Marketing

Neese relies primarily on the following methods to generate new business:

We believe that Neese’s growth to date is also the result of the creation and maintenance of an excellent reputation with numerous farms and other players throughout the agricultural community of central Iowa. In addition, we believe that the founders have been instrumental in building the account base through extensive industry experience and product knowledge. Neese has a firm commitment to product quality and timely delivery, and customer satisfaction.

Customers and Markets

Neese currently serves approximately 375 active accounts. The end user market is the agricultural industry (livestock and crop production markets). Neese also performs work for and sells to industrial and municipal customers. The general service area is within a 60-mile radius of Neese’s headquarters in Grand Junction, Iowa.

We believe that Neese’s established customer base is a strong asset that contributes to its stability and presents opportunities for sales growth. Neese has a diversified customer base without reliance on several large customers. For the year ended December 31, 2017, one customer accounted for more than 12% of sales, and no other customers accounted for more than5% of total sales.

Competition

According to the Farm & Garden Equipment Wholesalers Industry Profile published by First Research, Inc. (June 2017), the U.S. farm and garden equipment wholesalers industry includes about 7,800 establishments (single-location companies and units of multi-location companies) with combined annual revenue of about $90 billion. This industry includes manufacturers’ wholesale sales branches as well as retail dealers in farm equipment, which are grouped with wholesalers because their products are sold primarily for business use rather than personal or household use. Large distributors have few economies of scale but can offer customers a wider range of products. Small distributors can compete successfully by holding exclusive territory rights to popular products. According to the Farm & Garden Equipment Wholesalers Industry Profile, the U.S. industry is fragmented, with the 50 largest companies generating about 40% of revenue, and no major companies dominate.

Neese competes with numerous companies that offer similar products and/or services. We believe that Neese’s primary competitive advantage is its decades-long, superior reputation for high quality products, service, reliability and stability, and safety record. Additionally, Neese is located in central Iowa, a strategic location due to its proximity to the State’s agricultural industry and its easy access to Interstate 35.

Competitive Strengths

Based on our management’s belief and experience in the industry, we believe that the following competitive strengths enable Neese to compete effectively.

Growth Strategies

We will strive to grow Neese’s business by pursuing the following growth strategies.

Intellectual Property

We do not own or license any material intellectual property in connection with the operation of Neese.

Employees

As of December 31, 2017, Neese employed 31 full-time workers and 2 part-time workers, as depicted in the table below.

None of Neese’s employees are represented by labor unions, and Neese believes that it has an excellent relationship with its employees.

Regulation

Neese is subject to a wide variety of laws and regulations, which historically have not had a material effect on our business. For example, most of the products sold and service provided are regulated by a host of state and federal agencies, including, one or more of the following: the Environmental Protection Agency, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the Consumer Products Safety Commission. Since we are a wholesaler (and not a manufacturer) of these products, responsibility for compliance generally falls upon the manufacturer. Neese is required to hold a commercial manure handler license which requires an annual training program.

PROPOSED ACQUISITION OF FITNESS CF

On July 7, 2017, our wholly-owned subsidiary 1847 Fitness entered into a membership interest purchase agreement with the following four Florida health clubs: (1) Central Florida Health Clubs, LLC d/b/a Fitness CF Orlando, a Florida limited liability company; (2) CLFL, LLC d/b/a Fitness CF Clermont, a Florida limited liability company; (3) MTDR LLC d/b/a Fitness CF Mt. Dora, a Florida limited liability company; and (4) SCFL, LLC d/b/a Fitness CF St. Cloud, a Florida limited liability company, collectively referred to as Fitness CF. On November 7, 2017 and December 18, 2017, the parties entered into amendments to the membership interest purchase agreement.

Fitness CF consists of four fitness centers in and around Orlando, Florida. Each gym offers fitness equipment and training, a wide variety of nutrition and wellness programs, and amenities including a juice bar, tanning rooms, a pro shop, self-defense classes and childcare facilities. Fitness CF serves nearly 27,000 members across central Florida with its flagship facility - a 56,000-square foot fitness center in Orlando - located just two miles from Universal Orlando Resort and seven miles from Disney World. Fitness CF’s other locations include a 47,800-square foot gym in Clermont, 30 miles west of Orlando; a 45,300-square foot gym in Mount Dora, 40 miles northwest of Orlando; and a 42,100-square foot gym in St. Cloud, 37 miles south of Orlando.

Pursuant to the membership interest purchase agreement, as amended, 1847 Fitness will acquire all of the issued and outstanding equity interests in Fitness CF for an aggregate purchase price of $15,908,000 (assuming full payment of the Gross-Up Amount described below), consisting of: (i) $14,500,000 in cash (subject to adjustment), which includes a non-refundable deposit in the amount of $50,000 that has been paid; (ii) the Gross-Up Amount (as described below); (iii) 135 shares of the common stock of 1847 Fitness, valued by the parties at $170,000, constituting 13.5% of the capital stock of 1847 Fitness; and (iv) the issuance of promissory notes in the aggregate principal amount of $1,000,000, in the form and upon such terms as are mutually agreed upon by the parties before the closing date. The “Gross-Up Amount” means the amount the cash portion of the purchase price will be increased, up to a maximum of $238,000, if, subsequent to the date of the membership interest purchase agreement and prior to the closing date, any seller who receives shares of 1847 Fitness determines that he, she or it will incur a federal tax liability resulting from the receipt of shares as a portion of the purchase price.

The cash portion of the purchase price is subject to several pre-closing adjustments. If Fitness CF’s working capital is less than -$40,000, then the cash portion of the purchase price will be reduced by an amount equal to such difference. In addition, the cash portion will be decreased by the amount of any outstanding indebtedness of Fitness CF existing as of the closing date. If Fitness CF completes the acquisition of an additional fitness club located in Clermont, Florida, then the cash portion will be increased by an amount equal to 125% of the capitalized costs associated with the new club. Finally, the cash portion will be increased by an amount equal to the aggregate amounts actually paid by MTDR LLC and CLFL, LLC to third parties on or prior to the closing date for locker room renovations; provided, however that the amount of such increase shall not exceed $100,000 in the aggregate; and provided, further, that the amount of such increase shall be reduced, on a dollar for dollar basis, to the extent that the sellers directly receive the benefit of any of the annual fee billings due from MTDR LLC’s and CLFL, LLC’s members in January 2018.

The cash portion of the purchase price is also subject to a post-closing working capital adjustment provision. Under this provision, the cash portion of the purchase price will be adjusted upward if the working capital reflected in the final certified balance sheet of Fitness CF as of a date on or about the closing date exceeds the working capital reflected in the preliminary balance sheet of Fitness CF. The cash portion of the purchase price will be adjusted downward if the working capital reflected in the final certified balance sheet of Fitness CF as of a date on or about the closing date is less than the working capital reflected in the preliminary balance sheet of Fitness CF. In each case, the working capital adjustment will be calculated in accordance with the working capital details specified in the membership interest purchase agreement.

The membership interest purchase agreement contains customary representations, warranties and covenants, including a covenant that the sellers will not compete with the business of Fitness CF for a period of three years following closing. The membership interest purchase agreement also contains mutual indemnification for breaches of representations or warranties and failure to perform covenants or obligations contained in the membership interest purchase agreement. In the case of the indemnification provided by the sellers with respect to breaches of certain non-fundamental representations and warranties, the sellers will only become liable for indemnified losses if the amount exceeds $150,000. Furthermore, the liability of the sellers for breaches of certain non-fundamental representations and warranties shall not exceed the purchase price payable under the membership interest purchase agreement.

The closing of the membership interest purchase agreement is subject to customary closing conditions, including, without limitation: (1) the completion of business, accounting and legal due diligence investigations; the receipt of all authorizations, consents and approvals of all governmental authorities or agencies; (2) the receipt of any required consents of any third parties; the release of any security interests; and (3) delivery of all documents required for the transfer of shares of Fitness CF to 1847 Fitness.

Under the membership interest purchase agreement, the closing of the Fitness CF transaction was to occur during February 2018 and the agreement would automatically terminate if the closing did not occur by February 28, 2018. The parties are currently negotiating an amendment to extend the termination date.

OUR HISTORIC MANAGEMENT CONSULTING BUSINESS

Through 1847 Management, we previously operated a consulting and advisory services business focused on providing management consulting, finance, marketing, operational and strategic planning, relationship access, corporate development and merger and acquisition analysis services.

On September 15, 2013, our subsidiary, 1847 Management, acquired a 50% interest in each of PPI Management and Christals Management from our Chief Executive Officer and controlling shareholder, Ellery W. Roberts. Each of PPI Management and Christals Management were management consulting and advisory firms. PPI Management acted as an advisor to PPI Acquisition Holdings, LLC, or PPI Acquisition, and its subsidiary, Pawn Plus, Inc., or Pawn Plus, and Christals Management acted as an advisor to Peekay Acquisition, LLC, or Peekay Acquisition, and its subsidiary Peekay Boutiques, Inc., or Peekay.

On December 31, 2012, PPI Management entered into an advisory agreement with PPI Acquisition. Under the advisory agreement, PPI Management was retained as a consultant to render management and consulting services to PPI Acquisition and its subsidiary, Pawn Plus. As compensation for the services provided by PPI Management, PPI Acquisition was required to pay PPI Management a fee equal to 5.75% of PPI Acquisition’s EBITDA, payable as follows: (i) 3.75% of EBITDA for any fiscal quarter is payable quarterly in advance and (ii) the difference between 5.75% of EBITDA for any fiscal year and the aggregate quarterly payments previously paid with respect to fiscal quarters in such fiscal year, payable yearly in arrears.

On March 1, 2016, PPI Acquisition entered into a strict foreclosure agreement with its secured lender, HD Special-Situations III, LP, or HD, pursuant to which HD foreclosed upon certain stock of Pawn Plus that was pledged to HD and HD thereby became the sole owner of Pawn Plus. On the same date, PPI Management entered into an assumption agreement with Pawn Plus pursuant to which Pawn Plus agreed to assume PPI Acquisition’s obligations under the advisory agreement with PPI Management to pay accrued management fees owed to PPI Management up to a cap of $120,000. PPI Management agreed that the accrued management fees in excess of $120,000 are forgiven and that no further fees were to accrue under the advisory agreement. In addition, PPI Management agreed that the payment of accrued management fees were subordinate to the payment by Pawn Plus of all of its obligations to HD.

On December 31, 2012, Christals Management and CP IV SPV, LLC, or CP IV, entered into an advisory agreement with Peekay Acquisition, pursuant to which each of Christals Management and CP IV, an entity that is not affiliated with Christals Management, our company, or Mr. Roberts, were retained to provide advisory services to Peekay Acquisition, Peekay, and its subsidiaries and affiliates. As compensation for the services provided by Christals Management, Peekay Acquisition paid Christals Management a one-time payment of $250,000 at the time the advisory agreement was entered into and was required to pay Christals Management an additional $250,000 for each fiscal year during the term.

On November 19, 2015, Christals Management entered into a termination agreement with Peekay Acquisition and CP IV, which terminates the advisory agreement effective as of the closing of Peekay’s public offering, which was later abandoned. After entering into the termination agreement with Peekay Acquisition, in order to accommodate Peekay Acquisition so that it could satisfy the requirements of its senior lender, Christals Management agreed that it would further postpone receipt of any remaining accrued fees or unreimbursed expenses through the date that Peekay Acquisition repays amounts owed to its senior lenders under its senior credit facility. During the year ending December 31, 2016, our company wrote off accrued fees in the amount of $100,000 due from Peekay Acquisition and Christals Management.

On October 3, 2017, our board decided to discontinue our management consulting operations in order to devote more time and resources to Neese and the proposed acquisition of Fitness CF.

ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS.

An investment in our common shares involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully read and consider all of the risks described below, together with all of the other information contained or referred to in this report, before making an investment decision with respect to our common shares or our company. If any of the following events occur, our financial condition, business and results of operations (including cash flows) may be materially adversely affected. In that event, the market price of our common shares could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment.

Risks Related to Our Business and Structure

We may not be able to effectively integrate the business that we acquired from Neese or additional businesses that we may acquire in the future.

Our ability to realize the anticipated benefits of the Neese acquisition or any future acquisitions will depend on our ability to integrate those businesses with our own. The combination of two independent businesses is a complex, costly and time-consuming process and there can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully integrate the Neese business or additional businesses into our business, or if such integration is successfully accomplished, that such integration will not be costlier or take longer than presently contemplated. Integration of the Neese acquisition or future acquisitions may include various risks and uncertainties, including the factors discussed in the paragraph below. If we cannot successfully integrate and manage the Neese business or additional businesses within a reasonable time, we may not be able to realize the potential and anticipated benefits of the such acquisitions, which could have a material adverse effect on our share price, business, cash flows, results of operations and financial position.

We will consider other acquisitions that we believe will complement, strengthen and enhance our growth. We evaluate opportunities on a preliminary basis from time to time, but these transactions may not advance beyond the preliminary stages or be completed. Such acquisitions are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including:

We are a new company with limited history and we may not be able to manage our future businesses on a profitable basis.

We were formed on January 22, 2013 and operated our management consulting business from inception through October 3, 2017. On March 3, 2017, we acquired Neese, which is a business that provides a wide range of products and services for the agriculture, construction, lawn and garden industries. We plan to acquire additional operating businesses in the future. Our manager will manage the day-to-day operations and affairs of our company and oversee the management and operations of our future businesses, subject to the oversight of our board of directors. If we do not develop effective systems and procedures, including accounting and financial reporting systems, to manage our operations as a consolidated public company, we may not be able to manage the combined enterprise on a profitable basis, which could adversely affect our ability to pay distributions to our shareholders.

Our future success is dependent on the employees of our manager, our manager’s operating partners and the management team of our business, the loss of any of whom could materially adversely affect our financial condition, business and results of operations.

Our future success depends, to a significant extent, on the continued services of the employees of our manager. The loss of their services may materially adversely affect our ability to manage the operations of our future businesses. The employees of our manager may leave our manager and go to companies that compete with us in the future. In addition, we will depend on the assistance provided by our manager’s operating partners in evaluating, performing diligence on and managing our businesses. The loss of any employees of our manager or any of our manager’s operating partners may materially adversely affect our ability to implement or maintain our management strategy or our acquisition strategy.

The future success of Neese and our future businesses also depends on the respective management teams of those businesses because we intend to operate our businesses on a stand-alone basis, primarily relying on their existing management teams for day-to-day operations. Consequently, their operational success, as well as the success of any organic growth strategy, will be dependent on the continuing efforts of the management teams of our future businesses. We will seek to provide these individuals with equity incentives in our company and to have employment agreements with certain persons we have identified as key to their businesses. However, these measures may not prevent these individuals from leaving their employment. The loss of services of one or more of these individuals may materially adversely affect our financial condition, business and results of operations.

We may experience difficulty as we evaluate, acquire and integrate Neese and future businesses that we may acquire, which could result in drains on our resources, including the attention of our management, and disruptions of our on-going business.

A component of our strategy is to acquire a platform operating business in a particular industry and then acquire other businesses in the same industry. We will focus on small businesses in various industries. Generally, because such businesses are privately held, we may experience difficulty in evaluating potential target businesses as much of the information concerning these businesses is not publicly available. Therefore, our estimates and assumptions used to evaluate the operations, management and market risks with respect to potential target businesses may be subject to various risks and uncertainties. Further, the time and costs associated with identifying and evaluating potential target businesses and their industries may cause a substantial drain on our resources and may divert our management team’s attention away from the operations of our businesses for significant periods of time.

In addition, we may have difficulty effectively integrating and managing Neese and future acquisitions. The management or improvement of businesses we acquire may be hindered by a number of factors, including limitations in the standards, controls, procedures and policies implemented in connection with such acquisitions. Further, the management of an acquired business may involve a substantial reorganization of the business’ operations resulting in the loss of employees and customers or the disruption of our ongoing businesses. We may experience greater than expected costs or difficulties relating to an acquisition, in which case, we might not achieve the anticipated returns from any particular acquisition.

We face competition for businesses that fit our acquisition strategy and, therefore, we may have to acquire targets at sub-optimal prices or, alternatively, forego certain acquisition opportunities.

We have been formed to acquire and manage small businesses. In pursuing such acquisitions, we expect to face strong competition from a wide range of other potential purchasers. Although the pool of potential purchasers for such businesses is typically smaller than for larger businesses, those potential purchasers can be aggressive in their approach to acquiring such businesses. Furthermore, we expect that we may need to use third-party financing in order to fund some or all of these potential acquisitions, thereby increasing our acquisition costs. To the extent that other potential purchasers do not need to obtain third-party financing or are able to obtain such financing on more favorable terms, they may be in a position to be more aggressive with their acquisition proposals. As a result, in order to be competitive, our acquisition proposals may need to be aggressively priced, including at price levels that exceed what we originally determined to be fair or appropriate. Alternatively, we may determine that we cannot pursue on a cost-effective basis what would otherwise be an attractive acquisition opportunity.

We may not be able to successfully fund future acquisitions of new businesses due to the unavailability of debt or equity financing on acceptable terms, which could impede the implementation of our acquisition strategy.

In order to make future acquisitions, we intend to raise capital primarily through debt financing, primarily at our operating company level, additional equity offerings, the sale of equity or assets of our businesses, offering equity in our company or our businesses to the sellers of target businesses or by undertaking a combination of any of the above. Because the timing and size of acquisitions cannot be readily predicted, we may need to be able to obtain funding on short notice to benefit fully from attractive acquisition opportunities. Such funding may not be available on acceptable terms. In addition, the level of our indebtedness may impact our ability to borrow at our company level. The sale of additional common shares will also be subject to market conditions and investor demand for the common shares at prices that may not be in the best interest of our shareholders. These risks may materially adversely affect our ability to pursue our acquisition strategy.

We may change our management and acquisition strategies without the consent of our shareholders, which may result in a determination by us to pursue riskier business activities.

We may change our strategy at any time without the consent of our shareholders, which may result in our acquiring businesses or assets that are different from, and possibly riskier than, the strategy described in this report. A change in our strategy may increase our exposure to interest rate and currency fluctuations, subject us to regulation under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, which we refer to as the Investment Company Act, or subject us to other risks and uncertainties that affect our operations and profitability.

We have identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. If we fail to develop or maintain an effective system of internal controls, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results and prevent fraud. As a result, current and potential shareholders could lose confidence in our financial statements, which would harm the trading price of our common shares.

Companies that file reports with the SEC, including us, are subject to the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or SOX 404. SOX 404 requires management to establish and maintain a system of internal control over financial reporting and annual reports on Form 10-K filed under the Exchange Act to contain a report from management assessing the effectiveness of a company's internal control over financial reporting. Separately, under SOX 404, as amended by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, public companies that are large accelerated filers or accelerated filers must include in their annual reports on Form 10-K an attestation report of their regular auditors attesting to and reporting on management's assessment of internal control over financial reporting. Non-accelerated filers and smaller reporting companies, like us, are not required to include an attestation report of their auditors in annual reports.

A report of our management is included under “Item 9A. Controls and Procedures.” We are a smaller reporting company and, consequently, are not required to include an attestation report of our auditor in our annual report. However, if and when we become subject to the auditor attestation requirements under SOX 404, we can provide no assurance that we will receive a positive attestation from our independent auditors.

During its evaluation of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2017, management identified material weaknesses. These material weaknesses were associated with (i) our lack of appropriate policies and procedures to evaluate the proper accounting and disclosures of key documents and agreements and (ii) our lack of sufficient and skilled accounting personnel with an appropriate level of technical accounting knowledge and experience in the application of GAAP commensurate with our financial reporting requirements. We are undertaking remedial measures, which measures will take time to implement and test, to address these material weaknesses. There can be no assurance that such measures will be sufficient to remedy the material weaknesses identified or that additional material weaknesses or other control or significant deficiencies will not be identified in the future. If we continue to experience material weaknesses in our internal controls or fail to maintain or implement required new or improved controls, such circumstances could cause us to fail to meet our periodic reporting obligations or result in material misstatements in our financial statements, or adversely affect the results of periodic management evaluations and, if required, annual auditor attestation reports. Each of the foregoing results could cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information and lead to a decline in our stock price.

Because our Chief Executive Officer controls our manager and owns a controlling interest in our company, he is able to designate our directors and officers and control all major decisions and corporate actions and, so long as our Chief Executive Officer retains ownership of a majority of our outstanding common shares and control over our manager, you will not be able to elect any directors or have a meaningful say in any major decisions or corporate actions, which could decrease the price and marketability of our shares.

Our Chief Executive Officer owns 525,000 common shares constituting approximately 84.3% of our outstanding common shares. Our Chief Executive Officer also controls our manager. As a result, our Chief Executive Officer is able to elect all of our directors, appoint all of our officers, control the shareholder vote on any major decision or corporate action and control our operations. Our Chief Executive Officer can unilaterally decide major corporate actions such as mergers, acquisitions, future securities offerings, amendments to our operating agreement and other significant company events. Our Chief Executive Officer’s unilateral control over us could decrease the price and marketability of our common shares.

Although we currently intend to make regular cash distributions to our shareholders following the acquisition by us of operating businesses with sufficient cash flow to permit such distributions, our board of directors has full authority and discretion over the distributions of our company, other than the profit allocation, and it may decide to reduce or not declare distributions at any time, which may materially adversely affect the market price of our common shares.

To date, we have not declared or paid any distributions, but our board of directors intends to declare and pay regular monthly cash distributions to our common shareholders following the acquisition by us of operating businesses with sufficient cash flow, to permit such distributions. Although we currently intend to pursue a policy of paying regular monthly distributions, our board of directors will have full authority and discretion to determine whether or not a distribution by our company should be declared and paid to our shareholders, as well as the amount and timing of any distribution. Our board of directors may, based on their review of our financial condition and results of operations and pending acquisitions, determine to reduce or not declare distributions, which may have a material adverse effect on the market price of our common shares.

In addition, the management fee, put price and profit allocation will be payment obligations of our company and, as a result, will be senior in right to the payment of any distributions to our shareholders. Further, we are required to make a profit allocation to our manager upon satisfaction of applicable conditions to payment.

If we are unable to generate sufficient cash flow from the anticipated future dividends and interest payments that we expect to receive from Neese or our future businesses, we may not be able to make distributions to our shareholders.

We expect that our company’s primary business will be the holding and managing of controlling interests in Neese and the other operating businesses that we expect to acquire in the future. Therefore, we will be dependent upon the ability of our businesses to generate cash flows and, in turn, distribute cash to us in the form of interest and principal payments on indebtedness and distributions on equity to enable us, first, to satisfy our financial obligations and, second, to make monthly distributions to our shareholders. The ability of our future businesses to make payments to us may also be subject to limitations under laws of the jurisdictions in which they are incorporated or organized. If, as a consequence of these various restrictions or otherwise, we are unable to generate sufficient cash flow from our businesses, we may not be able to declare, or may have to delay or cancel payment of, distributions to our shareholders. See “Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities—Dividend Policy” for a more detailed description of these restrictions.

Certain provisions of operating agreement of our company could make it difficult for third parties to acquire control of our company and could deprive you of the opportunity to obtain a takeover premium for your common shares.

Our operating agreement contains a number of provisions that could make it more difficult for a third-party to acquire, or may discourage a third-party from acquiring, control of our company. These provisions, among other things:

These provisions, as well as other provisions in the operating agreement, may delay, defer or prevent a transaction or a change in control that might otherwise result in you receiving a takeover premium for your common shares. See “Description of Securities—Anti-Takeover Provisions” included in the registration statement for more information about voting and consent rights and the anti-takeover provisions.

In the future, we will seek to enter into a credit facility to help fund our acquisition capital and working capital needs. This credit facility may expose us to additional risks associated with leverage and may inhibit our operating flexibility and reduce cash flow available for distributions to our shareholders.

Following the identification of future platform acquisitions, we will seek to enter into a credit facility with a third-party lender. Such credit facility will likely require us to pay a commitment fee on the undrawn amount and will likely contain a number of affirmative and restrictive covenants.

If we violate any such covenants, our lender could accelerate the maturity of any debt outstanding and we may be prohibited from making any distributions to our shareholders. Such debt may be secured by our assets, including the stock we may own in businesses that we may acquire in the future and the rights we have under intercompany loan agreements that we may enter into in the future with our businesses. Our ability to meet our debt service obligations may be affected by events beyond our control and will depend primarily upon cash produced by businesses that we currently manage and may acquire in the future and distributed or paid to our company. Any failure to comply with the terms of our indebtedness may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition.

We expect that a future third-party credit facility will bear interest at floating rates. Such fluctuating interest rates could materially adversely affect our financial condition, including our ability to service our debt.

Following the identification and future acquisition of additional platform businesses, we will seek to enter into a third-party credit facility with a leading institution. We expect that such credit facility will bear interest at floating rates which will generally change as interest rates change. We bear the risk that the rates we are charged by our lender will increase faster than we can grow the cash flow of a platform business and any other businesses that we may acquire in the future, which could reduce profitability, materially adversely affect our ability to service our debt, cause us to breach covenants contained in our proposed third-party credit facility and reduce cash flow available for distribution.

Our existing master lease agreement contains certain terms that could limit our ability to operate and could materially adversely affect our financial condition.

The cash portion of the acquisition of Neese was financed under a capital lease transaction for Neese’s equipment with Utica Leaseco, LLC, or the Lessor, pursuant to a master lease agreement, as amended, under which we are obligated to repay the Lessor an aggregate of $3,878,337 as of December 31, 2017 for certain of Neese’s equipment that it leases to 1847 Neese and Neese. In connection with the master lease agreement, we granted the Lessor a security interest in and lien on all of Neese’s equipment, accounts receivable, general intangibles, inventory and certain other properties.

The master lease agreement contains customary events of default, including non-payment of rent or other payment within five (5) days of the due date, failure to maintain, use or operate the equipment in compliance with applicable law, or failure to perform any other terms, covenants or conditions under the master lease agreement. If an event of default were to occur, the Lessor may pursue all remedies available to it, including terminating our right to use the equipment and other rights but not our obligations under the master lease agreement, and recover liquidating damages. The loss of our ability to use the equipment could limit our ability to operate and could materially adversely affect our financial condition.

We may engage in a business transaction with one or more target businesses that have relationships with our executive officers, our directors, our manager, our manager’s employees or our manager’s operating partners, or any of their respective affiliates, which may create or present conflicts of interest.

We may decide to engage in a business transaction with one or more target businesses with which our executive officers, our directors, our manager, our manager’s employees, our manager’s operating partners, or any of their respective affiliates, have a relationship, which may create or present conflicts of interest. Regardless of whether we obtain a fairness opinion from an independent investment banking firm with respect to such a transaction, conflicts of interest may still exist with respect to a particular acquisition and, as a result, the terms of the acquisition of a target business may not be as advantageous to our shareholders as it would have been absent any conflicts of interest.

The operational objectives and business plans of our businesses may conflict with our operational and business objectives or with the plans and objective of another business we own and operate.

Our businesses will operate in different industries and face different risks and opportunities depending on market and economic conditions in their respective industries and regions. A business’ operational objectives and business plans may not be similar to our objectives and plans or the objectives and plans of another business that we own and operate. This could create competing demands for resources, such as management attention and funding needed for operations or acquisitions, in the future.

If, in the future, we cease to control and operate our land application business or other businesses that we acquire in the future or engage in certain other activities, we may be deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act.

We have the ability to make investments in businesses that we will not operate or control. If we make significant investments in businesses that we do not operate or control, or that we cease to operate or control, or if we commence certain investment-related activities, we may be deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act. If we were deemed to be an investment company, we would either have to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act, obtain exemptive relief from the SEC or modify our investments or organizational structure or our contract rights to fall outside the definition of an investment company. Registering as an investment company could, among other things, materially adversely affect our financial condition, business and results of operations, materially limit our ability to borrow funds or engage in other transactions involving leverage and require us to add directors who are independent of us or our manager and otherwise will subject us to additional regulation that will be costly and time-consuming.

As an “Emerging Growth Company” under the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, we are permitted to rely on exemptions from certain disclosure requirements.

We qualify as an “emerging growth company” under the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, or the JOBS Act. As a result, we are permitted to, and intend to, rely on exemptions from certain disclosure requirements. For so long as we are an emerging growth company, we will not be required to:

In addition, 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 for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an emerging growth company can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We have elected to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period. Our financial statements may therefore not be comparable to those of companies that comply with such new or revised accounting standards.

We will remain an “emerging growth company” for up to five years, or until the earliest of (i) the last day of the first fiscal year in which our total annual gross revenues exceed $1 billion, (ii) the date that we become a “large accelerated filer” as defined in Rule 12b-2 under the Exchange Act, which would occur if the market value of our ordinary shares that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the last business day of our most recently completed second fiscal quarter or (iii) the date on which we have issued more than $1 billion in non-convertible debt during the preceding three year period.

Until such time, however, we cannot predict if investors will find our common shares less attractive because we may rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our common shares less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our common shares and our share price may be more volatile.

Risks Related to Our Relationship with Our Manager

Termination of the management services agreement will not affect our manager’s rights to receive profit allocations and removal of our manager may cause us to incur significant fees.

Our manager owns all of the allocation shares of our company, which generally will entitle our manager to receive a profit allocation as a form of preferred distribution. In general, this profit allocation is designed to pay our manager 20% of the excess of the gains upon dispositions of our subsidiaries, plus an amount equal to the net income of such subsidiaries since their acquisition by the company, over an annualized hurdle rate. If our manager resigns or is removed, for any reason, it will remain the owner of our allocation shares. It will therefore remain entitled to all profit allocations while it holds our allocation shares regardless of whether it is terminated as our manager. If we terminate our manager, it may therefore be difficult or impossible for us to find a replacement to serve the function of our manager, because we would not be able to force our manager to transfer its allocation shares to a replacement manager so that the replacement manager could be entitled to a profit allocation. Therefore, as a practical matter, it may be difficult for us to replace our manager without its cooperation. If it becomes necessary to replace our manager and we are unable to replace our manager without its cooperation, we may be unable to continue to manage our operations effectively and our business may fail.

If we terminate the management services agreement with our manager, any fees, costs and expenses already earned or otherwise payable to the manager upon termination would become immediately due. Moreover, if our manager were to be removed and our management services agreement terminated by a vote of our board of directors and a majority of our common shares other than common shares beneficially owned by our manager, we would also owe a termination fee to our manager on top of the other fees, costs and expenses. In addition, the management services agreement is silent as to whether termination of our manager “for cause” would result in a termination fee; there is therefore a risk that the agreement may be interpreted to entitle our manager to a termination fee even if terminated “for cause”. The termination fee would equal twice the sum of the amount of the quarterly management fees calculated with respect to the four fiscal quarters immediately preceding the termination date of the management services agreement. As a result, we could incur significant management fees as a result of the termination of our manager, which may increase the risk that our business may be unable to meet its financial obligations or otherwise fail.

Mr. Ellery W. Roberts, our Chief Executive Officer, director and majority shareholder, controls our manager. If some event were to occur to cause Mr. Roberts (or his designated successor, heirs, beneficiaries or permitted assigns) not to control our manager without the prior written consent of our board of directors, our manager would be considered terminated under our agreement. In addition, in his capacity as one of our directors and our majority shareholder, Mr. Roberts has the power to cause us to voluntarily terminate the management services agreement, although such voluntary termination would also require the vote of a majority of our board of directors. As such, Mr. Roberts may directly or jointly cause the adverse consequences from termination of our manager discussed above to occur.

Our manager and the members of our management team may engage in activities that compete with us or our businesses.

Although our Chief Executive Officer intends to devote substantially all of his time to the affairs of our company and our manager must present all opportunities that meet our company’s acquisition and disposition criteria to our board of directors, neither our manager nor our Chief Executive Officer is expressly prohibited from investing in or managing other entities. In this regard, the management services agreement and the obligation to provide management services will not create a mutually exclusive relationship between our manager and its affiliates, on the one hand, and our company, on the other. See “Item 1. Business—Our Manager” for more information about our relationship with our manager and our management team.

Our manager need not present an acquisition opportunity to us if our manager determines on its own that such acquisition opportunity does not meet our company’s acquisition criteria.

Our manager will review any acquisition opportunity to determine if it satisfies our company’s acquisition criteria, as established by our board of directors from time to time. If our manager determines, in its sole discretion, that an opportunity fits our criteria, our manager will refer the opportunity to our board of directors for its authorization and approval prior to signing a letter of intent, indication of interest or similar document or agreement. Opportunities that our manager determines do not fit our criteria do not need to be presented to our board of directors for consideration. In addition, upon a determination by our board of directors not to promptly pursue an opportunity presented to it by our manager, in whole or in part, our manager will be unrestricted in its ability to pursue such opportunity, or any part that we do not promptly pursue, on its own or refer such opportunity to other entities, including its affiliates. If such an opportunity is ultimately profitable, we will have not participated in such opportunity. See “Item 1. Business—Our Manager—Acquisition and Disposition Opportunities” for more information about our company’s current acquisition criteria.

Our Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Ellery W. Roberts, controls our manager and, as a result we may have difficulty severing ties with Mr. Roberts.

Under the terms of the management services agreement, our board of directors may, after due consultation with our manager, at any time request that our manager replace any individual seconded to our company, and our manager will, as promptly as practicable, replace any such individual. However, because Mr. Roberts controls our manager, we may have difficulty completely severing ties with Mr. Roberts absent terminating the management services agreement and our relationship with our manager. Further, termination of the management services agreement could give rise to a significant financial obligation of our company, which may have a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition. See “Our Manager” for more information about our relationship with our manager.

If the management services agreement is terminated, our manager, as holder of the allocation shares, has the right to cause our company to purchase its allocation shares, which may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition.

If: (i) the management services agreement is terminated at any time other than as a result of our manager’s resignation, subject to (ii); or (ii) our manager resigns, our manager will have the right, but not the obligation, for one year from the date of termination or resignation, as the case may be, to cause our company to purchase the allocation shares for the put price. The put price shall be equal to, as of any exercise date: (i) if we terminate the management services agreement, the sum of two separate, independently made calculations of the aggregate amount of the “base put price amount” as of such exercise date; or (ii) if our manager resigns, the average of two separate, independently made calculations of the aggregate amount of the “base put price amount” as of such exercise date. If our manager elects to cause our company to purchase its allocation shares, we are obligated to do so and, until we have done so, our ability to conduct our business, including our ability to incur debt, to sell or otherwise dispose of our property or assets, to engage in certain mergers or consolidations, to acquire or purchase the property, assets or stock of, or beneficial interests in, another business, or to declare and pay dividends, would be restricted. These financial and operational obligations of our company may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, business and results of operations. See “Item 1. Business—Our Manager—Our Manager as an Equity Holder—Supplemental Put Provision” for more information about our manager’s put right and our obligations relating thereto, as well as the definition and calculation of the base put price amount.

If the management services agreement is terminated, we will need to change our name and cease our use of the term “1847”, which in turn could have a material adverse impact upon our business and results of operations as we would be required to expend funds to create and market a new name.

Our manager controls our rights to the term “1847” as it is used in the name of our company. Our company, 1847 Neese, and any future businesses that we may acquire must cease using the term “1847,” including any trademark based on the name of our company that may be licensed to them by our manager under the license provisions of our management services agreement, entirely in their businesses and operations within 180 days of our termination of the management services agreement. The sublicense provisions of the management services agreement would require our company and its businesses to change their names to remove any reference to the term “1847” or any reference to trademarks licensed to them by our manager. This also would require us to create and market a new name and expend funds to protect that name, which may have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

We have agreed to indemnify our manager under the management services agreement that may result in an indemnity payment that could have a material adverse impact upon our business and results of operations.

The management services agreement provides that we will indemnify, reimburse, defend and hold harmless our manager, together with its employees, officers, members, managers, directors and agents, from and against all losses (including lost profits), costs, damages, injuries, taxes, penalties, interests, expenses, obligations, claims and liabilities of any kind arising out of the breach of any term or condition in the management services agreement or the performance of any services under such agreement except by reason of acts or omissions constituting fraud, willful misconduct or gross negligence. If our manager is forced to defend itself in any claims or actions arising out of the management services agreement for which we are obligated to provide indemnification, our payment of such indemnity could have a material adverse impact upon our business and results of operations.

Our manager can resign on 120 days’ notice and we may not be able to find a suitable replacement within that time, resulting in a disruption in our operations that could materially adversely affect our financial condition, business and results of operations, as well as the market price of our common shares.

Our manager has the right, under the management services agreement, to resign at any time on 120 days written notice, whether we have found a replacement or not. If our manager resigns, we may not be able to contract with a new manager or hire internal management with similar expertise and ability to provide the same or equivalent services on acceptable terms within 120 days, or at all, in which case our operations are likely to experience a disruption, our financial condition, business and results of operations, as well as our ability to pay distributions are likely to be materially adversely affected and the market price of our common shares may decline. In addition, the coordination of our internal management, acquisition activities and supervision of our business is likely to suffer if we are unable to identify and reach an agreement with a single institution or group of executives having the experience and expertise possessed by our manager and its affiliates. Even if we are able to retain comparable management, whether internal or external, the integration of such management and their lack of familiarity with our businesses may result in additional costs and time delays that could materially adversely affect our financial condition, business and results of operations as well as the market price of our common shares.

The amount recorded for the allocation shares may be subject to substantial period-to-period changes, thereby significantly adversely impacting our results of operations.

Our company will record the allocation shares at the redemption value at each balance sheet date by recording any change in fair value through its income statement as a dividend between net income and net income available to common shareholders. The redemption value of the allocation shares is largely related to the value of the profit allocation that our manager, as holder of the allocation shares, will receive. The redemption value of the allocation shares may fluctuate on a period-to-period basis based on the monthly distributions we pay to our shareholders, the earnings of our businesses and the price of our common shares, which fluctuation may be significant, and could cause a material adverse effect on our company’s results of operations. See “Item 1. Business—Our Manager—Our Manager as an Equity Holder” for more information about the terms and calculation of the profit allocation and any payments under the supplemental put provisions of our operating agreement.

We cannot determine the amount of management fee that will be paid to our manager over time with certainty, which management fee may be a significant cash obligation of our company and may reduce the cash available for operations and monthly distributions to our shareholders.

Our manager’s management fee will be calculated by reference to our company’s adjusted net assets, which will be impacted by the following factors:

We cannot predict these factors, which may cause significant fluctuations in our adjusted net assets and, in turn, impact the management fee we pay to our manager. Accordingly, we cannot determine the amount of management fee that will be paid to our manager over time with any certainty, which management fee may represent a significant cash obligation of our company and may reduce the cash available for our operations and monthly distributions to our shareholders.

We must pay our manager the management fee regardless of our performance. Therefore, our manager may be induced to increase the amount of our assets rather than the performance of our businesses.

Our manager is entitled to receive a management fee that is based on our adjusted net assets, as defined in the management services agreement, regardless of the performance of our businesses. In this respect, the calculation of the management fee is unrelated to our company’s net income. As a result, the management fee may encourage our manager to increase the amount of our assets by, for example, recommending to our board of directors the acquisition of additional assets, rather than increase the performance of our businesses. In addition, payment of the management fee may reduce or eliminate the cash we have available for monthly distribution to our shareholders.

The management fee is based solely upon our adjusted net assets; therefore, if in a given year our performance declines, but our adjusted net assets remain the same or increase, the management fee we pay to our manager for such year will increase as a percentage of our net income and may reduce the cash available for monthly distribution to our shareholders.

The management fee we pay to our manager will be calculated solely by reference to our company’s adjusted net assets. If in a given year the performance of our company declines, but our adjusted net assets remains the same or increases, the management fee we pay to our manager for such year will increase as a percentage of our net income and may reduce the cash available for monthly distributions to our shareholders. See “Item 1. Business—Our Manager—Our Manager as a Service Provider—Management Fee” for more information about the terms and calculation of the management fee.

The amount of profit allocation to be paid to our manager could be substantial. However, we cannot determine the amount of profit allocation that will be paid over time or the put price with any certainty.

We cannot determine the amount of profit allocation that will be paid over time or the put price with any certainty. Such determination would be dependent on, among other things, the number, type and size of the acquisitions and dispositions that we make in the future, the distributions we pay to our shareholders, the earnings of our businesses and the market value of common shares from time to time, factors that cannot be predicted with any certainty at this time. Such factors will have a significant impact on the amount of any profit allocation to be paid to our manager, especially if our share price significantly increases. See “Item 1. Business—Our Manager—Our Manager as an Equity Holder —Manager’s Profit Allocation” for more information about the calculation and payment of profit allocation. Any amounts paid in respect of the profit allocation are unrelated to the management fee earned for performance of services under the management services agreement.

The management fee and profit allocation to be paid to our manager may significantly reduce the amount of cash available for monthly distribution to our shareholders and for operations.

Under the management services agreement, our company will be obligated to pay a management fee to and, subject to certain conditions, reimburse the costs and out-of-pocket expenses of our manager incurred on behalf of our company in connection with the provision of services to our company. Similarly, our businesses will be obligated to pay fees to and reimburse the costs and expenses of our manager pursuant to any offsetting management services agreements entered into between our manager and our businesses, or any transaction services agreements to which such businesses are a party. In addition, our manager, as holder of the allocation shares, will be entitled to receive a profit allocation upon satisfaction of applicable conditions to payment and may be entitled to receive the put price upon the occurrence of certain events. While we cannot quantify with any certainty the actual amount of any such payments in the future, we do expect that such amounts could be substantial. See “Our Manager” for more information about these payment obligations of our company. The management fee, put price and profit allocation will be payment obligations of our company and, as a result, will be senior in right to the payment of any distributions to our shareholders. Likewise, the profit allocation may also significantly reduce the cash available for operations.

Our manager’s influence on conducting our business and operations, including acquisitions, gives it the ability to increase its fees and compensation to our Chief Executive Officer, which may reduce the amount of cash available for monthly distribution to our shareholders.

Under the terms of the management services agreement, our manager is paid a management fee calculated as a percentage of our company’s adjusted net assets for certain items and is unrelated to net income or any other performance base or measure. See “Item 1. Business—Our Manager—Our Manager as a Service Provider—Management Fee” for more information about the calculation of the management fee. Our manager, which Ellery W. Roberts, our Chief Executive Officer, controls, may advise us to consummate transactions, incur third-party debt or conduct our operations in a manner that may increase the amount of fees paid to our manager which, in turn, may result in higher compensation to Mr. Roberts because his compensation is paid by our manager from the management fee it receives from our company.

Fees paid by our company and our businesses pursuant to transaction services agreements do not offset fees payable under the management services agreement and will be in addition to the management fee payable by our company under the management services agreement.

The management services agreement provides that businesses that we may acquire in the future may enter into transaction services agreements with our manager pursuant to which our businesses will pay fees to our manager. See “Item 1. Business—Our Manager—Our Manager as a Service Provider” for more information about these agreements. Unlike fees paid under the offsetting management services agreements, fees that are paid pursuant to such transaction services agreements will not reduce the management fee payable by our company. Therefore, such fees will be in addition to the management fee payable by our company or offsetting management fees paid by businesses that we may acquire in the future.

The fees to be paid to our manager pursuant to these transaction service agreements will be paid prior to any principal, interest or dividend payments to be paid to our company by our businesses, which will reduce the amount of cash available for monthly distributions to shareholders.

Our manager’s profit allocation may induce it to make decisions and recommend actions to our board of directors that are not optimal for our business and operations.

Our manager, as holder of all of the allocation shares in our company, will receive a profit allocation based on the extent to which gains from any sales of our subsidiaries plus their net income since the time they were acquired exceed a certain annualized hurdle rate. As a result, our manager may be encouraged to make decisions or to make recommendations to our board of directors regarding our business and operations, the business and operations of our businesses, acquisitions or dispositions by us or our businesses and monthly distributions to our shareholders, any of which factors could affect the calculation and payment of profit allocation, but which may otherwise be detrimental to our long-term financial condition and performance.

The obligations to pay the management fee and profit allocation, including the put price, may cause our company to liquidate assets or incur debt.

If we do not have sufficient liquid assets to pay the management fee and profit allocation, including the put price, when such payments are due and payable, we may be required to liquidate assets or incur debt in order to make such payments. This circumstance could materially adversely affect our liquidity and ability to make monthly distributions to our shareholders. See “Our Manager” for more information about these payment obligations of our company.

Risks Related to Taxation

Our shareholders will be subject to taxation on their share of our company’s taxable income, whether or not they receive cash distributions from our company.

Our company is a limited liability company and will be classified as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Consequently, our shareholders will be subject to U.S. federal income taxation and, possibly, state, local and foreign income taxation on their share of our company’s taxable income, whether or not they receive cash distributions from our company. There is, accordingly, a risk that our shareholders may not receive cash distributions equal to their portion of our company’s taxable income or even in an amount sufficient to satisfy the tax liability that results from that income. This risk is attributable to a number of variables, such as results of operations, unknown liabilities, government regulations, financial covenants relating to the debt of our company, funds needed for future acquisitions and/or to satisfy short- and long-term working capital needs of our businesses, and the discretion and authority of our company’s board of directors to make distributions or modify our distribution policy.

As a partnership, our company itself will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax (except as may be imposed under certain recently enacted partnership audit rules), although it will file an annual partnership information return with the IRS. The information return will report the results of our company’s activities and will contain a Schedule K-1 for each company shareholder reflecting allocations of profits or losses (and items thereof) to members of our company, that is, to the shareholders. Each partner of a partnership is required to report on his or her income tax return his or her share of items of income, gain, loss, deduction, credit, and other items of the partnership (in each case, as reflected on such Schedule K-1) without regard to whether cash distributions are received. Each holder will be required to report on his or her tax return his or her allocable share of company income, gain, loss, deduction, credit and other items for our company’s taxable year that ends with or within the holder’s taxable year. Thus, holders of common shares will be required to report taxable income (and thus be subject to significant income tax liability) without a corresponding current receipt of cash if our company were to recognize taxable income and not make cash distributions to the shareholders.

Generally, the determination of a holder’s distributive share of any item of income, gain, loss, deduction, or credit of a partnership is governed by the operating agreement. The income tax laws governing the allocation of company income, gains, losses, deductions or credits set forth in a particular Schedule K-1 are complex and there can be no assurance that the IRS would not successfully challenge any allocation set forth in any such Schedule K-1. Whether an allocation set forth in any particular K-1 issued to a shareholder will be accepted by the IRS depends on a facts and circumstances analysis of the underlying economic arrangement of our company’s shareholders. If the IRS were to prevail in challenging the allocations provided by the operating agreement, the amount of income or loss allocated to holders for U.S. federal income tax purposes could be increased or reduced or the character of the income or loss could be modified. See “Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations” included in the registration statement for more information.

All of our company’s income could be subject to an entity-level tax in the United States, which could result in a material reduction in cash flow available for distribution to holders of common shares and thus could result in a substantial reduction in the value of the common shares.

Based on the number of shareholders we have and because our shares are listed for trading on the Over-The-Counter market, we believe that our company will be regarded as a publicly-traded partnership. Under the federal tax laws, a publicly-traded partnership generally will be treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes. A publicly-traded partnership will be treated as a partnership, however, and not as a corporation, for U.S. federal tax purposes, so long as 90% or more of its gross income for each taxable year in which it is publicly traded constitutes “qualifying income” within the meaning of section 7704(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the Code, and our company is not required to register under the Investment Company Act. Qualifying income generally includes dividends, interest (other than interest derived in the conduct of a lending or insurance business or interest the determination of which depends in whole or in part on the income or profits of any person), certain real property rents, certain gain from the sale or other disposition of real property, gains from the sale of stock or debt instruments which are held as capital assets, and certain other forms of “passive-type” income. Our company expects to realize sufficient qualifying income to satisfy the qualifying income exception. Our company also expects that we will not be required to register under the Investment Company Act.

In certain cases, income that would otherwise qualify for the qualifying income exception may not so qualify if it is considered to be derived from an active conduct of a business. For example, the IRS may assert that interest received by our company from its subsidiaries is not qualifying income because it is derived in the conduct of a lending business. If our company fails to satisfy the qualifying income exception or is required to register under the Investment Company Act, our company will be classified as a corporation for U.S. federal (and certain state and local) income tax purposes, and shareholders of our company would be treated as shareholders in a domestic corporation. Our company would be required to pay federal income tax at regular corporate rates on its income. In addition, our company would likely be liable for state and local income and/or franchise taxes on its income. Distributions to the shareholders would constitute ordinary dividend income (taxable at then existing ordinary income rates) or, in certain cases, qualified dividend income (which is generally subject to tax at reduced tax rates) to such holders to the extent of our company’s earnings and profits, and the payment of these dividends would not be deductible to our company. Taxation of our company as a corporation could result in a material reduction in distributions to our shareholders and after-tax return and, thus, would likely result in a substantial reduction in the value of, or materially adversely affect the market price of, the common shares.

The present U.S. federal income tax treatment of an investment in common shares may be modified by administrative, legislative, or judicial interpretation at any time, and any such action may affect investments previously made. For example, changes to the U.S. federal tax laws and interpretations thereof could make it more difficult or impossible to meet the qualifying income exception for our company to be classified as a partnership, and not as a corporation, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, necessitate that our company restructure its investments, or otherwise adversely affect an investment in the common shares.

In addition, our company may become subject to an entity level tax in one or more states. Several states are evaluating ways to subject partnerships to entity level taxation through the imposition of state income, franchise, or other forms of taxation. If any state were to impose a tax upon our company as an entity, our distributions to you would be reduced.

Complying with certain tax-related requirements may cause our company to forego otherwise attractive business or investment opportunities or enter into acquisitions, borrowings, financings, or arrangements our company may not have otherwise entered into.

In order for our company to be treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes and not as a publicly traded partnership taxable as a corporation, our company must meet the qualifying income exception discussed above on a continuing basis and our company must not be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. In order to effect such treatment, our company may be required to invest through foreign or domestic corporations, forego attractive business or investment opportunities or enter into borrowings or financings our company (o any of our subsidiaries, as the case may be) may not have otherwise entered into. This may adversely affect our ability to operate solely to maximize our cash flow. In addition, our company may not be able to participate in certain corporate reorganization transactions that would be tax free to our shareholders if our company were a corporation.

Non-corporate investors who are U.S. taxpayers will not be able to deduct certain fees, costs or other expenses for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

Our company will pay a management fee (and possibly certain transaction fees) to our manager. Our company will also pay certain costs and expenses incurred in connection with activities of our manager. Our company intends to deduct such fees and expenses to the extent that they are reasonable in amount and are not capital in nature or otherwise nondeductible. It is expected that such fees and other expenses will generally constitute miscellaneous itemized deductions for non-corporate U.S. taxpayers who hold common shares. Under current law that is in effect for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017 and before January 1, 2026, non-corporate U.S. taxpayers may not deduct any such miscellaneous itemized deductions for U.S. federal income tax purposes. A non-corporate U.S. taxpayer’s inability to deduct such items could result in such holder reporting as his or her share of company taxable income an amount that exceeds any cash actually distributed to such U.S. taxpayer for the year. Corporate U.S. holders of common shares generally will be able to deduct these fees, costs and expenses in accordance with applicable U.S. federal income tax law.

A portion of the income arising from an investment in our common shares may be treated as unrelated business taxable income and taxable to certain tax-exempt holders despite such holders’ tax-exempt status.

Our company expects to incur debt that would be treated as “acquisition indebtedness” under section 514 of the Code with respect to certain of its investments. To the extent our company recognizes income from any investment with respect to which there is “acquisition indebtedness” during a taxable year, or to the extent our company recognizes gain from the disposition of any investment with respect to which there is “acquisition indebtedness,” a portion of the income received will be treated as unrelated business taxable income and taxable to tax-exempt investors. In addition, if the IRS successfully asserts that we are engaged in a trade or business for U.S. federal income tax purposes (for example, if it determines we are engaged in a lending business), then tax-exempt and in certain cases non-U.S. holders would be subject to U.S. income tax on any income generated by such business. The foregoing only applies if the amount of such business income does not cause the company to fail to meet the qualifying income test (which would happen if such income exceeded 10% of our gross income, and in which case such failure would cause us to be taxable as a corporation).

A portion of the income arising from an investment in our common shares may be treated as income that is effectively connected with our conduct of a U.S. trade or business, which income would be taxable to holders who are not U.S. taxpayers.

If the IRS successfully asserts that we are engaged in a trade or business in the United States for U.S. federal income tax purposes (for example, if it determines we are engaged in a lending business), then in certain cases non-U.S. holders would be subject to U.S. income tax on any income that is effectively connected with such business. It could also cause the non-U.S. holder to be subject to U.S. federal income tax on a sale of his or her interest in the company under recently enacted tax law. The foregoing only applies if the amount of such business income does not cause the company to fail to meet the qualifying income test (which would happen if such income exceeded 10% of our gross income, and in which case such failure would cause us to be taxable as a corporation).

Risks related to recently enacted legislation.

The rules dealing with U.S. federal income taxation are constantly under review by persons involved in the legislative process and by the IRS and the U.S. Treasury Department. No assurance can be given as to whether, when or in what form the U.S. federal income tax laws applicable to us and our shareholders may be enacted. Changes to the U.S. federal income tax laws and interpretations of U.S. federal income tax laws could adversely affect an investment in our common shares.

We cannot predict whether, when or to what extent new U.S. federal tax laws, regulations, interpretations or rulings will be issued, nor is the long-term impact of recently enacted tax legislation clear. Prospective investors are urged to consult their tax advisors regarding the effect of potential changes to the U.S. federal income tax laws on an investment in our common shares.

Risks Related to Our Land Application Business

Adverse weather conditions, including as a result of future climate change, may adversely affect the availability, quality and price of agricultural commodities and agricultural commodity products, which may impact our land application business, as well as our operations and operating results.

Adverse weather conditions have historically caused volatility in the agricultural commodity industry by causing crop failures or significantly reduced harvests, which may affect the supply and pricing of agricultural commodities, and result in reduce demand for our products and services and negatively affect the creditworthiness of agricultural producers who do business with us.

Severe adverse weather conditions, such as hurricanes or severe storms, may also result in extensive property damage, extended business interruption, personal injuries and other loss and damage to agricultural producers who do business with us. Our operations also rely on dependable and efficient transportation services. A disruption in transportation services, as a result of weather conditions or otherwise, may also significantly adversely impact our operations.

Additionally, the potential physical impacts of climate change are uncertain and may vary by region. These potential effects could include changes in rainfall patterns, water shortages, changing sea levels, changing storm patterns and intensities, and changing temperature levels that could adversely impact our costs and business operations, the location and costs of global agricultural commodity production and the supply and demand for agricultural commodities. These effects could be material to our results of operations, liquidity or capital resources.

Government policies and regulations, particularly those affecting the agricultural sector and related industries, could adversely affect our operations and profitability.

Agricultural commodity production and trade flows are significantly affected by government policies and regulations. Governmental policies affecting the agricultural industry, such as taxes, tariffs, duties, subsidies, import and export restrictions on agricultural commodities and commodity products and energy policies (including biofuels mandates), can influence industry profitability, the planting of certain crops versus other uses of agricultural resources, the location and size of crop production, whether unprocessed or processed commodity products are traded and the volume and types of imports and exports. In addition, international trade disputes can adversely affect agricultural commodity trade flows by limiting or disrupting trade between countries or regions.

Increases in prices for, among other things, food, fuel and crop inputs, such as fertilizers, have become the subject of significant discussion by governmental bodies and the public throughout the world in recent years. In some countries, this has led to the imposition of policies such as price controls, tariffs and export restrictions on agricultural commodities. Future governmental policies, regulations or actions affecting our industries may adversely affect the supply of, demand for and prices of our products and services, restrict our ability to do business and cause our financial results to suffer.

We depend upon manufacturers who may be unable to provide products of adequate quality or who may be unwilling to continue to supply products to us.

We do not manufacture any products we sell, and instead purchase our products from manufacturers. Since we purchase products from many manufacturers under at-will contracts and contracts which can be terminated without cause upon 90 days’ notice or less, or which expire without express rights of renewal, manufacturers could discontinue sales to us immediately or upon short notice. In lieu of termination, a manufacturer may also change the terms upon which it sells, for example, by raising prices or broadening distribution to third parties. For these and other reasons, we may not be able to acquire desired merchandise in sufficient quantities or on acceptable terms in the future.

Any significant interruption in the supply of products by manufacturers could disrupt our ability to deliver merchandise to our customers in a timely manner, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Manufacturers are subject to certain risks that could adversely impact their ability to provide us with their products on a timely basis, including industrial accidents, environmental events, strikes and other labor disputes, union organizing activity, disruptions in logistics or information systems, loss or impairment of key manufacturing sites, product quality control, safety, and licensing requirements and other regulatory issues, as well as natural disasters and other external factors over which neither they nor we have control. In addition, our operating results depend to some extent on the orderly operation of our receiving and distribution processes, which depend on manufacturers’ adherence to shipping schedules and our effective management of our distribution facilities and capacity.

If a material interruption of supply occurs, or a significant manufacturer ceases to supply us or materially decreases its supply to us, we may not be able to acquire products with similar quality as the products we currently sell or to acquire such products in sufficient quantities to meet our customers’ demands or on favorable terms to our business, any of which could adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Competition in the land application business and agricultural equipment industry could adversely affect our business.

Neese sells products and services into a regional market. The principal competitive factors in our regional market includes product performance, innovation and quality, distribution, customer service and price. The competitive environment in the land application business and agricultural equipment industry includes global competitors and many regional and local competitors. These competitors have varying numbers of product lines competing with our products and services and each has varying degrees of regional focus. An important part of the competition within the agricultural equipment industry during the past decade has come from a variety of short-line and specialty manufacturers, as well as indigenous regional competitors, with differing manufacturing and marketing methods. Due to industry conditions, including the merger of certain large integrated competitors, we believe the agricultural equipment business continues to undergo change and is becoming more competitive. Our inability to successfully compete with respect to product performance, innovation and quality, distribution, customer service and price could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

Risks Related to Ownership of Our Common Shares

Although we have filed a listing application with the Nasdaq Capital Market, we may be unable to list on that exchange. If we are unable to list on a national securities exchange, it will be difficult for you to sell your common shares.

We are currently eligible for quotation on the Pink Open Market operated by OTC Markets Group and not listed on a national securities exchange. We have filed an application to have our common shares listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market, but no assurance can be given that our application will be approved. If we are unable to list our shares on a national securities exchange, it may be difficult to sell your shares. If you sell your shares, it will likely be at a substantial discount.

Our common shares are eligible for quotation on the Pink Open Market but no quotations have been made and no trading has occurred in our common shares. Due to the lack of an active trading market for our securities, you may have difficulty selling any common shares you purchase, which could result in the loss of your investment.

There is presently no demand for our common shares and no active public market exists for our common shares. Our common shares are eligible for quotation on the Pink Open Market. The Pink Open Market is a regulated quotation service that displays real-time quotes, last sale prices and volume information in over-the-counter securities. The Pink Open Market is not an issuer listing service, market or exchange. The requirements for quotation on the Pink Open Market are considerably lower and less regulated than those of the OTC Bulletin Board or an exchange. Because of this, it is possible that fewer brokers or dealers will be interested in making a market in our common shares because the market for such securities is more limited, the stocks are more volatile, and the risk to investors is greater, which may impact the liquidity of our common shares. Even if a market begins to develop in our common shares, the quotation of our common shares on the Pink Open Market may result in a less liquid market available for existing and potential shareholders to trade common shares, could depress the trading price of our common shares and could have a long-term adverse impact on our ability to raise capital in the future. We have applied for listing of our common shares on the Nasdaq Capital Market, but an active trading market may not develop even if we are successful in arranging for our common shares to be listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market. If an active market is never developed for our common shares, it will be difficult or impossible for you to sell any common shares you purchase. In such case, you may find that you are unable to achieve any benefit from your investment or liquidate your shares without considerable delay, if at all.

If an active public market develops, the market price for our common shares may be volatile, and an investor may not be able to sell our common shares at a favorable price or at all.

If an active public market develops, the market price of our common shares is likely to fluctuate significantly from time to time in response to factors including:

In addition, public announcements by our competitors concerning, among other things, their performance, strategy, or accounting practices could cause the market price of our common shares to decline regardless of our actual operating performance.

Future sales of common shares may affect the market price of our common shares.

We cannot predict what effect, if any, future sales of our common shares, or the availability of common shares for future sale, will have on the market price of our common shares. Sales of substantial amounts of our common shares in the public market following our public offering, or the perception that such sales could occur, could materially adversely affect the market price of our common shares and may make it more difficult for you to sell your common shares at a time and price which you deem appropriate.

Rule 144 sales in the future may have a depressive effect on our stock price.

All of the outstanding common shares held by the present officers, directors, and affiliate shareholders are “restricted securities” within the meaning of Rule 144 under the Securities Act. As restricted shares, these shares may be resold only pursuant to an effective registration statement or under the requirements of Rule 144 or other applicable exemptions from registration under the Act and as required under applicable state securities laws. Rule 144 provides in essence that a person who is an affiliate or officer or director who has held restricted securities for six months may, under certain conditions, sell every three months, in brokerage transactions, a number of shares that does not exceed the greater of 1.0% of a company’s outstanding common shares. There is no limitation on the amount of restricted securities that may be sold by a non-affiliate after the owner has held the restricted securities for a period of six months if the company is a current, reporting company under the Exchange Act. A sale under Rule 144 or under any other exemption from the Act, if available, or pursuant to subsequent registration of common shares of present shareholders, may have a depressive effect upon the price of the common shares in any market that may develop.

We may issue additional debt and equity securities, which are senior to our common shares as to distributions and in liquidation, which could materially adversely affect the market price of our common shares.

In the future, we may attempt to increase our capital resources by entering into additional debt or debt-like financing that is secured by all or up to all of our assets, or issuing debt or equity securities, which could include issuances of commercial paper, medium-term notes, senior notes, subordinated notes or shares. In the event of our liquidation, our lenders and holders of our debt securities would receive a distribution of our available assets before distributions to our shareholders. Any preferred securities, if issued by our company, may have a preference with respect to distributions and upon liquidation, which could further limit our ability to make distributions to our shareholders. Because our decision to incur debt and issue securities in our future offerings will depend on market conditions and other factors beyond our control, we cannot predict or estimate the amount, timing or nature of our future offerings and debt financing.

Further, market conditions could require us to accept less favorable terms for the issuance of our securities in the future. Thus, you will bear the risk of our future offerings reducing the value of your common shares and diluting your interest in us. In addition, we can change our leverage strategy from time to time without approval of holders of our common shares, which could materially adversely affect the market share price of our common shares.

The market price, trading volume and marketability of our common shares may, from time to time, be significantly affected by numerous factors beyond our control, which may materially adversely affect the market price of your common shares, the marketability of your common shares and our ability to raise capital through future equity financings.

The market price and trading volume of our common shares may fluctuate significantly. Many factors that are beyond our control may materially adversely affect the market price of your common shares, the marketability of your common shares and our ability to raise capital through equity financings. These factors include the following:

Our potential future earnings and cash distributions to our shareholders may affect the market price of our common shares.

Generally, the market price of our common shares may be based, in part, on the market’s perception of our growth potential and our current and potential future cash distributions, whether from operations, sales, acquisitions or refinancings, and on the value of our businesses. For that reason, our common shares may trade at prices that are higher or lower than our net asset value per share. Should we retain operating cash flow for investment purposes or working capital reserves instead of distributing the cash flows to our shareholders, the retained funds, while increasing the value of our underlying assets, may materially adversely affect the market price of our common shares. Our failure to meet market expectations with respect to earnings and cash distributions and our failure to make such distributions, for any reason whatsoever, could materially adversely affect the market price of our common shares.

Were our common shares to be considered penny stock, and therefore become subject to the penny stock rules, U.S. broker-dealers may be discouraged from effecting transactions in our common shares.

Our common shares may be subject to the penny stock rules under the Exchange Act. These rules regulate broker-dealer practices for transactions in “penny stocks.” Penny stocks are generally equity securities with a price of less than $5.00 per share. The penny stock rules require broker-dealers that derive more than 5% of their customer transaction revenues from transactions in penny stocks to deliver a standardized risk disclosure document that provides information about penny stocks, and the nature and level of risks in the penny stock market, to any non-institutional customer to whom the broker-dealer recommends a penny stock transaction. The broker-dealer must also provide the customer with current bid and offer quotations for the penny stock, the compensation of the broker-dealer and its salesperson and monthly account statements showing the market value of each penny stock held in the customer’s account. The bid and offer quotations and the broker-dealer and salesperson compensation information must be given to the customer orally or in writing prior to completing the transaction and must be given to the customer in writing before or with the customer’s confirmation. In addition, the penny stock rules require that prior to a transaction, the broker and/or dealer must make a special written determination that the penny stock is a suitable investment for the purchaser and receive the purchaser’s written agreement to the transaction. The transaction costs associated with penny stocks are high, reducing the number of broker-dealers who may be willing to engage in the trading of our shares. These additional penny stock disclosure requirements are burdensome and may reduce all the trading activity in the market for our common shares. As long as our common shares are subject to the penny stock rules, holders of our common shares may find it more difficult to sell their common shares.

ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS.

Not applicable.

ITEM 2. PROPERTIES.

Our principal office is located at 590 Madison Avenue, 21st Floor, New York, NY 10022. We entered into an office service agreement with Regus Management Group, LLC for use of office space at this location effective January 22, 2013. Under the agreement, in exchange for our right to use the office space at this location, we are required to pay a monthly fee of $479 (excluding taxes).

Neese is headquartered at 303 Division St. E., Grand Junction, Iowa 50107. Neese operates from one facility totaling 9,150-square feet on an eight-acre property. The layout consists of a 5,400-square foot wash bay and 3,750-square feet of shop and office space. Neese leases this facility pursuant to an agreement of lease entered into with K&A Holdings, LLC, which is owned by Neese’s founders, on March 3, 2017. The lease is for a term of ten (10) years and provides for a base rent of $8,333 per month. In the event of late payment, interest shall accrue on the unpaid amount at the rate of eighteen percent (18%) per annum.

We believe that all our properties have been adequately maintained, are generally in good condition, and are suitable and adequate for our businesses.

ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS.

From time to time, we may become involved in various lawsuits and legal proceedings, which arise, in the ordinary course of business. However, litigation is subject to inherent uncertainties, and an adverse result in these, or other matters, may arise from time to time that may harm our business. We are currently not aware of any such legal proceedings or claims that we believe will have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition or operating results.

ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES.

Not applicable.

PART II

ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES.

Market Information

Our common shares are quoted on the Pink Open Market operated by OTC Markets Group under the symbol “EFSH,” however, no trading has occurred in our common shares. An active public market may never develop for our common shares, or, if a market develops, it may not be sustained. We have filed an application to have our common shares listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “SBIZ.” No assurance can be given that our application will be approved.

Approximate Number of Holders of Our Common Stock

As of April 16, 2018, there were approximately 34 holders of record of our common shares. This number excludes the shares owned by shareholders holding shares under nominee security position listings.

Dividend Policy

We will pursue a policy of making regular monthly distributions on our outstanding common shares. We plan to pay our first distribution on the first business day of the month following the month in which the initial closing of the public offering occurs; provided that if such first business day occurs less than twenty days following the initial closing, then we will pay our first distribution on the first business day of the following month and the amount of such distribution will include accrued distribution amount from the initial closing until the day before the distribution payment date. The declaration and payment of our first monthly distribution if declared, and the amount of any future distributions will be subject to the approval of our board of directors, and will be based on the results of operations of our operating subsidiaries and the desire to provide sustainable distributions to our shareholders.

Our distribution policy will be based on the liquidity and capital of our businesses and on our intention to pay out as distributions to our shareholders most of the cash resulting from the ordinary operation of the businesses, and not to retain significant cash balances in excess of what is prudent for our company or our businesses, or as may be prudent for the consummation of attractive acquisition opportunities. If our strategy is successful, we expect to maintain and increase the level of monthly distributions to shareholders in the future.

The declaration and payment of our initial distribution and any future monthly distribution will be subject to the approval of our board of directors. Our board of directors will take into account such matters as general business conditions, our financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements and any contractual, legal and regulatory restrictions on the payment of distributions by us to our shareholders or by our subsidiaries to us, and any other factors that the board of directors deems relevant. However, even if our board of directors were to decide to declare and pay distributions, our ability to pay such distributions may be adversely impacted due to unknown liabilities, government regulations, financial covenants of the debt of the company, funds needed for acquisitions and to satisfy short- and long-term working capital needs of our businesses, or if our operating subsidiaries do not generate sufficient earnings and cash flow to support the payment of such distributions. In particular, we may incur debt in the future to acquire new businesses, which debt will have substantial debt commitments, which must be satisfied before we can make distributions. These factors could affect our ability to continue to make monthly distributions.

We may use cash flow from our operating subsidiaries, capital resources of our company, including borrowings under any third-party credit facility that we establish, or reduction in equity to pay a distribution. See “Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations” included in the registration statement for more information about the tax treatment of distributions to our shareholders.

Securities Authorized for Issuance under Equity Compensation Plans

We do not have in effect any compensation plans under which our equity securities are authorized for issuance.

Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities

We have not sold any equity securities during the 2017 fiscal year that were not previously disclosed in a quarterly report on Form 10-Q or a current report on Form 8-K that was filed during the 2017 fiscal year.

Purchases of Equity Securities

No repurchases of our common stock were made during the fourth quarter of 2017.

ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA.

Not applicable.

ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS.

The following management’s discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with our financial statements and the notes thereto and the other financial information appearing elsewhere in this report.

Overview

We are an acquisition holding company focused on acquiring and managing a group of small businesses, which we characterize as those that have an enterprise value of less than $50 million, in a variety of different industries headquartered in North America. Through our subsidiaries, we currently provide products and services to the agriculture, construction, lawn and garden industries, which we refer to as our land application business. We have also entered into an agreement for the acquisition of four Florida health clubs and have plans to acquire additional small businesses in a variety of different industries. Through our structure, we plan to offer investors an opportunity to participate in the ownership and growth of a portfolio of businesses that traditionally have been owned and managed by private equity firms, private individuals or families, financial institutions or large conglomerates. We believe that our management and acquisition strategies will allow us to achieve our goals to begin making and growing regular monthly distributions to our shareholders and increasing shareholder value over time.

We seek to acquire controlling interests in small businesses that we believe operate in industries with long-term macroeconomic growth opportunities, and that have positive and stable earnings and cash flows, face minimal threats of technological or competitive obsolescence and have strong management teams largely in place. We believe that private company operators and corporate parents looking to sell their businesses will consider us to be an attractive purchaser of their businesses. Like we did when we acquired our land application business, we intend to make these future businesses our majority-owned subsidiaries and intend to actively manage and grow such businesses. We expect to improve our businesses over the long term through organic growth opportunities, add-on acquisitions and operational improvements.

We entered into a management services agreement with our manager on April 15, 2013, pursuant to which we are required to pay our manager a quarterly management fee equal to 0.5% (2.0% annualized) of our company’s adjusted net assets for services performed.

On March 3, 2017, in connection with the acquisition of Neese, 1847 Neese entered into an offsetting management services agreement with our manager. Pursuant to the offsetting management services agreement, 1847 Neese appointed our manager to provide certain services to it for a quarterly management fee equal to $62,500 per quarter; provided, however, that (i) pro rated payments shall be made in the first quarter and the last quarter of the term, (ii) if the aggregate amount of management fees paid or to be paid by 1847 Neese, together with all other management fees paid or to be paid by all other subsidiaries of our company to our manager, in each case, with respect to any fiscal year exceeds, or is expected to exceed, 9.5% of our gross income with respect to such fiscal year, then the management fee to be paid by 1847 Neese for any remaining fiscal quarters in such fiscal year shall be reduced, on a pro rata basis determined by reference to the management fees to be paid to our manager by all of the subsidiaries of our company, until the aggregate amount of the management fee paid or to be paid by 1847 Neese, together with all other management fees paid or to be paid by all other subsidiaries of our company to our manager, in each case, with respect to such fiscal year, does not exceed 9.5% of our gross income with respect to such fiscal year, and (iii) if the aggregate amount the management fee paid or to be paid by 1847 Neese, together with all other management fees paid or to be paid by all other subsidiaries of our company to our manager, in each case, with respect to any fiscal quarter exceeds, or is expected to exceed, the aggregate amount of the management fee (before any adjustment thereto) calculated and payable under the management services agreement, which we refer to as the parent management fee, with respect to such fiscal quarter, then the management fee to be paid by 1847 Neese for such fiscal quarter shall be reduced, on a pro rata basis, until the aggregate amount of the management fee paid or to be paid by 1847 Neese, together with all other management fees paid or to be paid by all other subsidiaries of our company to our manager, in each case, with respect to such fiscal quarter, does not exceed the parent management fee calculated and payable with respect to such fiscal quarter.

Our Land Application Business

Through Neese, which we acquired on March 3, 2017, we provide a wide range of products and services for the agriculture, construction, lawn and garden industries. Neese’s revenue mix is composed of waste disposal and a variety of agricultural services, wholesaling of agricultural equipment and parts, local trucking services, various shop services, and other products and services. Services to the local agricultural and farming communities include manure spreading, land rolling, bin whipping, cleaning of bulk storage bins and silos, equipment rental, trucking, vacuuming, building erection, and others.

Neese was acquired pursuant to a stock purchase agreement that our wholly-owned subsidiary 1847 Neese entered into with Neese and Alan Neese and Katherine Neese on March 3, 2017. Pursuant to the stock purchase agreement, 1847 Neese acquired all of the issued and outstanding capital stock of Neese for an aggregate purchase price of $6,655,000, consisting of: (i) $2,225,000 in cash (subject to certain adjustments); (ii) 450 shares of the common stock of 1847 Neese, valued by the parties at $1,530,000, constituting 45% of its capital stock; (iii) the issuance of a vesting promissory note in the principal amount of $1,875,000 (which was determined to have a fair value of $395,634) due June 30, 2020; and (iv) the issuance of a short-term promissory note in the principal amount of $1,025,000 due March 3, 2018. The short-term promissory note has not been repaid, so we are in default under this note.

Proposed Acquisition of Fitness CF

On July 7, 2017, our wholly-owned subsidiary 1847 Fitness entered into a membership interest purchase agreement with Fitness CF. On November 7, 2017 and December 18, 2017, the parties entered into amendments to the membership interest purchase agreement. Fitness CF consists of four fitness centers in and around Orlando, Florida.

Pursuant to the membership interest purchase agreement, as amended, 1847 Fitness will acquire all of the issued and outstanding equity interests in Fitness CF for an aggregate purchase price of $15,908,000 (assuming full payment of the Gross-Up Amount described below), consisting of: (i) $14,500,000 in cash (subject to adjustment), which includes a non-refundable deposit in the amount of $50,000 that has been paid; (ii) the Gross-Up Amount (as described below); (iii) 135 shares of the common stock of 1847 Fitness, valued by the parties at $170,000, constituting 13.5% of the capital stock of 1847 Fitness; and (iv) the issuance of promissory notes in the aggregate principal amount of $1,000,000, in the form and upon such terms as are mutually agreed upon by the parties before the closing date. The “Gross-Up Amount” means the amount the cash portion of the purchase price will be increased, up to a maximum of $238,000, if, subsequent to the date of the membership interest purchase agreement and prior to the closing date, any seller who receives shares of 1847 Fitness determines that he, she or it will incur a federal tax liability resulting from the receipt of shares as a portion of the purchase price.

Please see “Item 1. Business—Proposed Acquisition of Fitness CF” for more information about Fitness CF and the terms of the membership interest purchase agreement.

Our Historic Management Consulting Business

On September 15, 2013, our subsidiary 1847 Management acquired a 50% interest in each of PPI Management and Christals Management from our Chief Executive Officer and controlling shareholder, Ellery W. Roberts. Each of PPI Management and Christals Management were management consulting and advisory firms. On October 3, 2017, our board decided to discontinue our management consulting operations in order to devote more time and resources to Neese and our proposed acquisition of Fitness CF.

Recent Developments

On January 3, 2018, we issued a grid promissory note to our manager in the initial principal amount of $50,000. The note provides that we may from time to time request additional advances from our manager up to an aggregate additional amount of $100,000, which will be added to the note if our manager, in its sole discretion, so provides. Interest shall accrue on the unpaid portion of the principal amount and the unpaid portion of all advances outstanding at a fixed rate of 8% per annum, and along with the outstanding portion of the principal amount and the outstanding portion of all advances, shall be payable in one lump sum due on the maturity date, which is the first anniversary of the date of the note. If all or a portion of the principal amount or any advance under the note, or any interest payable thereon is not paid when due (whether at the stated maturity, by acceleration or otherwise), such overdue amount shall bear interest at a rate of 12% per annum. In the event we complete a financing involving at least $500,000, we must, contemporaneously with the closing of such financing transaction, repay the entire outstanding principal and accrued and unpaid interest on the note. The note is unsecured and contains customary events of default.

Emerging Growth Company

We qualify as an “emerging growth company” under the JOBS Act. As a result, we are permitted to, and intend to, rely on exemptions from certain disclosure requirements. For so long as we are an emerging growth company, we will not be required to:

In addition, 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 for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an emerging growth company can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We have elected to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period. Our financial statements may therefore not be comparable to those of companies that comply with such new or revised accounting standards.

We will remain an “emerging growth company” for up to five years, or until the earliest of (i) the last day of the first fiscal year in which our total annual gross revenues exceed $1 billion, (ii) the date that we become a “large accelerated filer” as defined in Rule 12b-2 under the Exchange Act, which would occur if the market value of our common shares that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the last business day of our most recently completed second fiscal quarter or (iii) the date on which we have issued more than $1 billion in non-convertible debt during the preceding three year period.

Results of Operations

The following table sets forth key components of our results of operations during the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, both in dollars and as a percentage of our revenue.

Revenue. We did not generate revenue from our management consulting business for the years ended December 31, 2017 or December 31, 2016. Revenue from our land application business, which we acquired on March 3, 2017, were $6,410,620 for the period from March 3, 2017 through the year ended December 31, 2017. Our land application business generates revenues through the provision of waste disposal and a variety of land application services, wholesaling of agricultural equipment and parts, local trucking services, various shop services, and other products and services.

Cost of sales. Our cost of sales for our land application business consists of the direct costs of our equipment and parts it sells in its business. Our cost of sales, attributable to our land application business, was $1,904,712 for the period from March 3, 2017 through the year ended December 31, 2017, as compared to $0 for the year ended December 31, 2016.

Personnel costs. Personnel costs, attributable to our land application business, include employee salaries and bonuses plus related payroll taxes.  It also includes health insurance premiums, 401(k) contributions, and training costs. Personnel costs for the period from March 3, 2017 through the year ended December 31, 2017 amounted to 2,061,932, or 32.2% of revenue.

Fuel costs. Fuel costs, attributable to our land application business, include fuel for our on-road trucking and off-road manure spreading services. Fuel costs for the period from March 3, 2017 through the year ended December 31, 2017 amounted to 700,315, or 10.9% of revenue.

General and administrative expenses, other. Our general and administrative expenses consist primarily of compensation and benefits to our general management, finance and administrative staff, professional advisor fees, bad debts reserve and other expenses incurred in connection with general operations. Our total general and administrative expenses increased by $1,736,248 to $2,006,092 for the year ended December 31, 2017, from $269,844 for the year ended December 31, 2016. As a percentage of revenue, general and administrative expenses was 31.3% for the year ended December 31, 2017.

General and administrative expenses for our land application business amounted to $1,769,781 for the period from March 3, 2017 through the year ended December 31, 2017. The primary components were professional fees of $296,190, primarily in conjunction with the sale to 1847 Neese, management fees of $219,986, insurance of $190,725, and other general and administrative of $1,062,880. As a percentage of revenue, general and administrative expenses for our land application business amounted to 27.6% for the year ended December 31, 2017.

General and administrative expenses for our holding company decreased by $33,533, or 12.4%, to $236,311 for the year ended December 31, 2017, from $269,844 for the year ended December 31, 2016. The decrease was due to the reduction of professional fees compared to the prior year.

Total other income (loss). We had $370,166 in total other loss for the year ended December 31, 2017, as compared to other income of $0 for the year ended December 31, 2016. Other loss in the year ended December 31, 2017 consisted of a gain on sale of fixed assets of $275,499, and interest expense and amortization of financing costs of $29,282 and $616,383, respectively, related to the Neese’s financings.

Net loss attributable to company shareholders. As a result of the cumulative effect of the factors described above, our net loss attributable to our shareholders increased to $473,837 for the year ended December 31, 2017, as compared to $269,844 for the year ended December 31, 2016.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

As of December 31, 2017, we had cash and cash equivalents of $501,422. To date, we have financed our operations primarily through cash flow from operations, augmented by cash proceeds from financing activities, short-term borrowings and equity contributions by our shareholders.

We must raise additional cash to implement our strategy and stay in business. If we are unable to obtain additional working capital our business may fail. Accordingly, we must raise cash from sources other than operations. We intend to raise funds for additional acquisitions primarily through debt financing at our company level, additional equity offerings, the sale of all or a part of our businesses or by undertaking a combination of any of the above. In addition to acquiring businesses, we expect to sell businesses that we own from time to time when attractive opportunities arise.

Our primary use of funds will be for future acquisitions, public company expenses including monthly distributions to our shareholders, investments in future acquisitions, payments to our manager pursuant to the management services agreement, potential payment of profit allocation to our manager and potential put price to our manager in respect of the allocation shares it owns. The management fee, expenses, potential profit allocation and potential put price are paid before monthly distributions to shareholders and may be significant and exceed the funds held by our company, which may require our company to dispose of assets or incur debt to fund such expenditures. See “Item 1. Business—Our Manager” for more information concerning the management fee, the profit allocation and put price.

The amount of management fee paid to our manager by our company is reduced by the aggregate amount of any offsetting management fees, if any, received by our manager from any of our businesses. As a result, the management fee paid to our manager may fluctuate from quarter to quarter. The amount of management fee paid to our manager may represent a significant cash obligation and will be senior in right to payments of distributions to our shareholders. In this respect, the payment of the management fee will reduce the amount of cash available for distribution to shareholders. See “Item 1. Business—Our Manager—Our Manager as a Service Provider—Management Fee” for more information on the calculation of the management fee.

Our manager, as holder of 100% of our allocation shares, is entitled to receive a twenty percent (20%) profit allocation as a form of preferred equity distribution, subject to an annual hurdle rate of eight percent (8%), as follows. Upon the sale of a company subsidiary, the manager will be paid a profit allocation if the sum of (i) the excess of the gain on the sale of such subsidiary over a high water mark plus (ii) the subsidiary’s net income since its acquisition by the company exceeds the 8% hurdle rate. The 8% hurdle rate is the product of (i) a 2% rate per quarter, multiplied by (ii) the number of quarters such subsidiary was held by the company, multiplied by (iii) the subsidiary’s average share (determined based on gross assets, generally) of our company’s consolidated net equity (determined according to GAAP with certain adjustments). In certain circumstances, after a subsidiary has been held for at least 5 years, the manager may also trigger a profit allocation with respect to such subsidiary (determined based solely on the subsidiary’s net income since its acquisition). The amount of profit allocation may represent a significant cash payment and is senior in right to payments of distributions to our shareholders. Therefore, the amount of profit allocation paid, when paid, will reduce the amount of cash available to our company for its operating and investing activities, including future acquisitions. See “Item 1. Business—Our Manager—Our Manager as an Equity Holder—Manager’s Profit Allocation” for more information on the calculation of the profit allocation.

Our operating agreement also contains a supplemental put provision, which gives our manager the right, subject to certain conditions, to cause our company to purchase the allocation shares then owned by our manager upon termination of the management services agreement. The amount of put price under the supplemental put provision is determined by assuming all of our subsidiaries are sold at that time for their fair market value and then calculating the amount of profit allocation would be payable in such a case. If the management services agreement is terminated for any reason other than the manager’s resignation, the payment to our manager could be as much as twice the amount of such hypothetical profit allocation. As is the case with profit allocation, the calculation of the put price is complex and based on many factors that cannot be predicted with any certainty at this time. See “Item 1. Business—Our Manager—Our Manager as an Equity Holder—Supplemental Put Provision” for more information on the calculation of the put price. The put price obligation, if the manager exercises its put right, will represent a significant cash payment and is senior in right to payments of distributions to our shareholders. Therefore, the amount of put price will reduce the amount of cash available to our company for its operating and investing activities, including future acquisitions.

Summary of Cash Flow

The following table provides detailed information about our net cash flow for all financial statement periods presented in this report:

Cash Flow

Operating Activities

Net cash used in operating activities was $416,695 for the year ended December 31, 2017, as compared to $11,158 net cash used in operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2016. For the year ended December 31, 2017, the net loss of $606,576, offset by depreciation and amortization of $1,125,667 and amortization of financing costs of 29,282, and adjusted for a gain on sale of fixed assets of $275,499, an increase in current assets, net, of $20,384 and an increase in current liabilities, net, of $851,605 were the primary drivers of the cash provided by operating activities. For the year ended December 31, 2016, the net loss of $269,844, net of an increase in current liabilities of $169,429, were the primary drivers of the cash used in operating activities.

Investing Activities

Net cash used in investing activities was $438,206 for the year ended December 31, 2017, consisting of $338,411 from the acquisition of Neese and $369,272 from the proceeds of fixed assets from March 3, 2017 through December 31, 2017, offset by the purchase of $1,145,889 in equipment for Neese. There was no investing activity in the year ended December 31, 2016.

Financing Activities

Net cash provided by financing activities was $1,427,149 for the year ended December 31, 2017, as compared to $10,743 net cash provided by financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2016. For the year ended December 31, 2017, net cash provided by financing activities consisted of proceeds from a line of credit of $675,000 and proceeds from a note payable of $193,017, financing costs payments related to the acquisition of Neese of $214,629, principal payments on the capital lease of $702,935 and advances received from related party of $70,826. There were no financing activities in 2016.

Vesting Promissory Note

A portion of the purchase price for the acquisition of Neese was paid by the issuance of a vesting promissory note in the principal amount of $1,875,000 (which was determined to have a fair value of $395,634) by 1847 Neese and Neese to the sellers of Neese. Payment of the principal and accrued interest on the vesting promissory note is subject to vesting and a contingent consideration subject to fair market valuation adjustment at each reporting period. The vesting promissory note bears interest on the vested portion of the principal amount at the rate of eight percent (8%) per annum and is due and payable in full on June 30, 2020. The principal of the vesting promissory note vests in accordance with the following formula:

For purposes of the vesting promissory note, “Adjusted EBITDA” means the earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization expenses, in accordance with GAAP applied on a basis consistent with the accounting policies, practices and procedures used to prepare the financial statements of Neese as of the closing date, plus to the extent deducted in calculating such net income: (i) all expenses related to the transactions contemplated hereby and/or potential or completed future financings or acquisitions, including legal, accounting, due diligence and investment banking fees and expenses; (ii) all management fees, allocations or corporate overhead (including executive compensation) or other administrative costs that arise from the ownership of Neese by 1847 Neese including allocations of supervisory, centralized or other parent-level expense items; (iii) one-time extraordinary expenses or losses; and (iv) any reserves or adjustments to reserves which are not consistent with GAAP. Additionally, for purposes of calculating Adjusted EBITDA, the purchase and sales prices of goods and services sold by or purchased by Neese to or from 1847 Neese, its subsidiaries or affiliates shall be adjusted to reflect the amounts that Neese would have realized or paid if dealing with an independent third-party in an arm’s-length commercial transaction, and inventory items shall be properly categorized as such and shall not be expenses until such inventory is sold or consumed.

The vesting promissory note contains customary events of default, including in the event of: (i) non-payment; (ii) a default by 1847 Neese or Neese of any of their covenants under the stock purchase agreement, the vesting promissory note, or any other agreement entered into in connection with the acquisition of Neese, or a breach of any of their representations or warranties under such documents; or (iii) the bankruptcy of 1847 Neese or Neese.

Short-Term Promissory Note

A portion of the purchase price for the acquisition of Neese was paid by the issuance of a short-term promissory note in the principal amount of $1,025,000 by 1847 Neese and Neese to the sellers of Neese. The short-term promissory note bears interest on the outstanding principal amount at the rate of ten percent (10%) per annum and is due and payable in full on March 3, 2018; provided, however, that the unpaid principal, and all accrued, but unpaid, interest thereon shall be prepaid if at any time, and from time to time, the cash on hand of 1847 Neese and Neese exceeds $250,000 and, then, the prepayment shall be equal to the amount of cash in excess of $200,000 until the unpaid principal and accrued, but unpaid, interest thereon is fully prepaid. The short-term promissory note contains the same events of default as the vesting promissory note. The short-term promissory note has not been repaid, so we are in default under this note.

Line of Credit

On September 26, 2017, Neese entered into a promissory note and security agreement with Home State Bank, an Iowa state chartered bank, governing a new revolving credit facility in a principal amount not to exceed $1,000,000. This loan is available for working capital and other general business purposes. Availability of borrowings under this loan agreement from time to time is subject to discretionary advances approved by Home State Bank. The outstanding principal balance amounted to $675,000 as of December 31, 2017 and the loan bears interest at 4.85%. The loan is due September 1, 2018. The loan is secured by certain assets of Neese.

Notes Payable

On July 21, 2017, Neese entered into a promissory note with Home State Bank in the principal amount of $76,806, which is secured by a 2018 Kenworth T800 Semi Tractor, bears interest at 4.5%, amortized over 5 years, is payable in monthly installments of principal and interest of $1,434, and is due August 1, 2022.

On September 18, 2017, Neese entered into two promissory notes in the principal amount of $160,329 (totaling $320,658) with Home State Bank, which are secured by two 2017 Versatile 450 Tractors, bear interest at 4.5%, amortized over 5 years, are payable in monthly installments of principal and interest of $5,980, and are due September 20, 2022. This loan was repaid on October 31, 2017.

Master Lease Agreement

The cash portion of the purchase price for the acquisition of Neese was financed under a capital lease transaction for Neese’s equipment with Utica Leaseco, LLC, or the Lessor, pursuant to a master lease agreement, dated March 3, 2017, between the Lessor and 1847 Neese and Neese, as co-lessees (collectively, referred to as the Lessee). Under the master lease agreement, the Lessor loaned an aggregate of $3,240,000 for certain of Neese’s equipment listed therein, which it leases to the Lessee. The initial term of the master lease agreement was for 51 months. Under the master lease agreement, the Lessee agreed to pay a monthly rent of $53,000 for the first three (3) months, with such amount increasing to $85,321.63 for the remaining forty-eight (48) months.

On June 14, 2017, the parties entered into a first amendment to lease documents, pursuant to which the parties agreed to, among other things, extend the term of the master lease agreement from 51 months to 57 months and amend the payments due thereunder. Under the amendment, the Lessee agreed to pay a monthly rent of $53,000 for the first ten (10) months, with such amount increasing to $85,321.63 for the remaining forty-seven (47) months. In connection with the extension of the term of the master lease agreement, the parties also amended the schedule of stipulated loss values and early termination payment schedule attached thereto. In connection with the amendment, the Lessee agreed to pay the Lessor an amendment fee of $2,500.

On October 31, 2017, the Lessee and the Lessor entered into a second equipment schedule to the master lease agreement, pursuant to which the Lessor loaned an aggregate of $980,000 for certain of Neese’s equipment listed therein. The term of the second equipment schedule is 51 months and agreed monthly payments are $25,807.

If any rent is not received by the Lessor within five (5) calendar days of the due date, the Lessee shall pay a late charge equal to ten (10%) percent of the amount. In addition, in the event that any payment is not processed or is returned on the basis of insufficient funds, upon demand, the Lessee shall pay the Lessor a charge equal to five percent (5%) of the amount of such payment. The Lessee is also required to pay an annual administration fee of $3,000. Upon the expiration of the term of the master lease agreement, the Lessee is required to pay, together with all other amounts then due and payable under the master lease agreement, in cash, an end of term buyout price equal to the lesser of: (a) five percent (5%) of the Total Invoice Cost (as defined in the master lease agreement); or (b) the fair market value of the equipment, as determined by the Lessor.

Provided that no default under the master lease agreement has occurred and is continuing beyond any applicable grace or cure period, the Lessee has an early buy-out option with respect to all but not less than all of the equipment, upon the payment of any outstanding rental payments or other fees then due, plus an additional amount set forth in the master lease agreement, which represents the anticipated fair market value of the equipment as of the anticipated end date of the master lease agreement. In addition, the Lessee shall pay to the Lessor an administrative charge to be determined by the Lessor to cover its time and expenses incurred in connection with the exercise of the option to purchase, including, but not limited to, reasonable attorney fees and costs. Furthermore, upon the exercise by the Lessee of this option to purchase the equipment, the Lessee shall pay all sales and transfer taxes and all fees payable to any governmental authority as a result of the transfer of title of the equipment to Lessee.

In connection with the master lease agreement, the Lessee granted a security interest on all of its right, title and interest in and to: (i) the equipment, together with all related software (embedded therein or otherwise) and general intangibles, all additions, attachments, accessories and accessions thereto whether or not furnished by the supplier; (ii) all accounts, chattel paper, deposit accounts, documents, other equipment, general intangibles, instruments, inventory, investment property, letter of credit rights and any supporting obligations related to any of the foregoing; (iii) all books and records pertaining to the foregoing; (iv) all property of such Lessee held by the Lessor, including all property of every description, in the custody of or in transit to the Lessor for any purpose, including safekeeping, collection or pledge, for the account of such Lessee or as to which such Lessee may have any right or power, including but not limited to cash; and (v) to the extent not otherwise included, all insurance, substitutions, replacements, exchanges, accessions, proceeds and products of the foregoing.

Contractual Obligations

We have engaged our manager to manage the day-to-day operations and affairs of our company. Our relationship with our manager will be governed principally by the following agreements:

Pursuant to the management services agreement that we entered into with our manager, our manager will have the right to cause our company to purchase the allocation shares then owned by our manager upon termination of the management services agreement. The redemption value of the allocation shares will be recorded outside of permanent equity in the mezzanine section of the balance sheet. We will recognize any change in the redemption value of the allocation shares by recording a dividend between net income and net income available to common shareholders. The amount recorded for the allocation shares is largely related to the fair value of the profit allocation that our manager, as holder of the allocation shares, will receive. The carrying value of the allocation shares will represent an estimate of the amounts to ultimately be paid to our manager, whether as a result of the occurrence of one or more of the various trigger events or upon the exercise of the supplemental put provision contained in our operating agreement following the termination of the management services agreement. See “Item 1. Business—Our Manager—Our Manager as an Equity Holder—Supplemental Put Provision” for more information about this agreement.

We also expect that our manager will enter into offsetting management services agreements, transaction services agreements and other agreements, in each case, with some or all of the businesses that we acquire in the future. See “Item 1. Business—Our Manager” for more information about these and other agreements our company intends to enter into with our manager.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

We have no off-balance sheet arrangements that have or are reasonably likely to have a current or future effect on our financial condition, changes in financial condition, revenues or expenses, results of operations, liquidity, capital expenditures or capital resources.

Critical Accounting Policies

The following discussion relates to critical accounting policies for our consolidated company. The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires our management to make assumptions, estimates and judgments that affect the amounts reported, including the notes thereto, and related disclosures of commitments and contingencies, if any. We have identified certain accounting policies that are significant to the preparation of our financial statements. These accounting policies are important for an understanding of our financial condition and results of operation. Critical accounting policies are those that are most important to the portrayal of our financial condition and results of operations and require management’s difficult, subjective, or complex judgment, often as a result of the need to make estimates about the effect of matters that are inherently uncertain and may change in subsequent periods. Certain accounting estimates are particularly sensitive because of their significance to financial statements and because of the possibility that future events affecting the estimate may differ significantly from management’s current judgments. We believe the following critical accounting policies involve the most significant estimates and judgments used in the preparation of our financial statements:

Revenue Recognition. We recognize revenue when it is realized or realizable and earned. Specifically, revenue will be recognized when all of the following criteria are met: (1) persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists; (2) service has occurred, customer acceptance has been achieved; (3) our selling price to the buyer is fixed and determinable; and (4) collection is reasonably assured. Our company recognizes revenue when services have been provided and collection is reasonably assured.

Inventory. Inventory consists of finished products acquired for resale and is valued at the lower-of-cost-or-market with cost determined on a specific item basis.

Property and Equipment. Property and equipment is stated at cost. Depreciation of furniture, vehicles and equipment is calculated using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives (three to ten years), and leasehold improvements are amortized on a straight-line basis over the shorter of their estimated useful lives or the lease term (which is three to five years).

Long-Lived Assets. Our company reviews its property and equipment and any identifiable intangibles for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable. The test for impairment is required to be performed by management at least annually. Recoverability of assets to be held and used is measured by a comparison of the carrying amount of an asset to the future undiscounted operating cash flow expected to be generated by the asset. If such assets are considered to be impaired, the impairment to be recognized is measured by the amount by which the carrying amount of the asset exceeds the fair value of the asset. Long-lived assets to be disposed of are reported at the lower of carrying amount or fair value less costs to sell.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments. Our financial instruments consist of cash and cash equivalents and amounts due to shareholders. The carrying amount of these financial instruments approximates fair value due either to length of maturity or interest rates that approximate prevailing market rates unless otherwise disclosed in these financial statements.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

We have reviewed all other Financial Accounting Standards Board issued ASU accounting pronouncements and interpretations thereof that have effective dates during the period reported and in future periods. We have carefully considered the new pronouncements that alter the previous GAAP and do not believe that any new or modified principles will have a material impact on our reported financial position or operations in the near term.

Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

From time to time we may publicly disclose certain “non-GAAP” financial measures, such as EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA, during our investor presentations, earnings releases, earnings conference calls or other venues. A non-GAAP financial measure is a numerical measure of historical or future performance, financial position or cash flow that excludes amounts, or is subject to adjustments that effectively exclude amounts, included in the most directly comparable measure calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP in our financial statements, and vice versa for measures that include amounts, or are subject to adjustments that effectively include amounts, that are excluded from the most directly comparable measure as calculated and presented.

Non-GAAP financial measures are provided as additional information to investors in order to provide them with an alternative method for assessing our financial condition and operating results. These measures are not meant to be a substitute for GAAP, and may be different from or otherwise inconsistent with non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies.

The tables below reconcile the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures to adjusted EBITDA and cash flow available for distribution and reinvestment.

Reconciliation of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA

To provide investors with additional information about our financial results, we disclose within this report EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA, which are non-GAAP financial measures, of Neese. These metrics are derived exclusively from the operations of Neese as reflected in the financial statements of Neese. We have provided below a reconciliation between EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA and net income (loss). Net income (loss) is the most directly comparable financial measure prepared in accordance with GAAP.

EBITDA, or earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization, is calculated as net income (loss) before interest expense, income tax expense (benefit), depreciation expense and amortization expense. Amortization expenses consist of amortization of intangibles and debt charges, including debt issuance costs, discounts and the like.

Adjusted EBITDA is calculated utilizing the same calculation as described above in arriving at EBITDA further adjusted by: (i) non-controlling stockholder compensation, which generally consists of non-cash stock option expense; (ii) acquisition costs, which consist of transaction costs (legal, accounting, due diligence and the like) incurred in connection with the acquisition of a business expensed during the period; (iii) management fees, which reflect fees due quarterly to our manager in connection with our management services agreement; (iv) allocations of corporate overhead (including executive compensation) or other administrative costs that arise from the ownership of our operating subsidiaries (once acquired) by our acquisition subsidiary or by us as the ultimate holding company, including allocations of supervisory, centralized or other parent level expense items; (v) one-time extraordinary expenses or losses; (vi) impairment charges, which reflect write downs to goodwill or other intangible assets; (vii) gains or losses recorded in connection with the sale of fixed assets; and (vii) gains or losses recognized upon the sale of a business.

We have included EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA in this report because we believe it enhances investors’ understanding of the operating results of Neese. EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA is provided because management believes it is an important measure of financial performance commonly used to determine the value of companies, to define standards for borrowing from institutional lenders and because it is the primary measure used by management to evaluate our performance.

Some limitations of EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA are:

Because of these limitations, you should consider EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA alongside other financial performance measures, including net income of Neese and audited historical financial results presented elsewhere in the report in accordance with GAAP.

The following table presents a reconciliation of net income to EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA for the year ended December 31, 2017:

Cash Available for Distribution

The table below details cash receipts and payments that are not reflected on our income statement in order to provide an additional measure of management’s estimate of cash available for distribution, or CAD. CAD is a non-GAAP measure that we believe provides additional, useful information to our shareholders in order to enable them to evaluate our ability to make anticipated monthly distributions. CAD is not meant to be a substitute for GAAP, and may be different from or otherwise inconsistent with non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies.

The following table reconciles CAD to net income (loss) and cash flows provided by (used in) operating activities, which we consider to be the most directly comparable financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP.

ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK.

Not applicable.

ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA.

The full text of our audited consolidated financial statements begins on page F-1 of this annual report.

ITEM 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE.

None.

ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES.

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

We maintain disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 13a-15(e) under the Exchange Act). Disclosure controls and procedures refer to controls and other procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in the reports we file or submit under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the rules and forms of the SEC and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our chief executive officer and chief financial officer, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

As required by Rule 13a-15(e) of the Exchange Act, our management has carried out an evaluation, with the participation and under the supervision of our chief executive officer and chief financial officer, of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures, as of December 31, 2017. Based upon, and as of the date of this evaluation, our chief executive officer and chief financial officer determined that, because of the material weaknesses described below, our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective.

Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting for the Company. Internal control over financial reporting refers to the process designed by, or under the supervision of, our principal executive officer and principal financial and accounting officer, and effected by our board of directors, management and other personnel, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of our financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with GAAP, and includes those policies and procedures that:

Our management evaluated the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2017. In making this evaluation, management used the framework established in Internal Control - Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission, or COSO. The COSO framework summarizes each of the components of a company’s internal control system, including (i) the control environment, (ii) risk assessment, (iii) control activities, (iv) information and communication, and (v) monitoring. Based on our evaluation, we determined that, as of December 31, 2017, our internal control over financial reporting was not effective due to the following material weaknesses.

In order to cure the foregoing material weakness, we have taken or plan to take the following remediation measures:

We intend to complete the remediation of the material weaknesses discussed above as soon as practicable but we can give no assurance that we will be able to do so. Designing and implementing an effective disclosure controls and procedures is a continuous effort that requires us to anticipate and react to changes in our business and the economic and regulatory environments and to devote significant resources to maintain a financial reporting system that adequately satisfies our reporting obligations. The remedial measures that we have taken and intend to take may not fully address the material weaknesses that we have identified, and material weaknesses in our disclosure controls and procedures may be identified in the future. Should we discover such conditions, we intend to remediate them as soon as practicable. We are committed to taking appropriate steps for remediation, as needed.

All internal control systems, no matter how well designed, have inherent limitations. Therefore, even those systems determined to be effective can provide only reasonable assurance with respect to financial statement preparation and presentation. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

Changes in Internal Controls over Financial Reporting

We regularly review our system of internal control over financial reporting and make changes to our processes and systems to improve controls and increase efficiency, while ensuring that we maintain an effective internal control environment. Changes may include such activities as implementing new, more efficient systems, consolidating activities, and migrating processes.

Except for the matters described above, there have been no changes in our internal control over financial reporting during the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2017 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION.

We have no information to disclose that was required to be disclosed in a report on Form 8-K during fourth quarter of fiscal year 2017, but was not reported.

PART III

ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE.

Directors and Executive Officers

The following sets forth information about our directors and executive officers: