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Commitment and Contingencies
3 Months Ended 12 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2025
Dec. 31, 2024
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]    
Commitments and Contingencies

14. Commitments and Contingencies

Leases

The Company leases office space under operating lease agreements having initial lease terms ranging from one to five years, including certain renewal options available to the Company at market rates. See Note 10.

 

Legal Matters

 

From time to time, the Company may be subject to legal proceedings, actions, claims, suits, or investigations arising from the ordinary course of our business, including actions with respect to intellectual property claims, breach of contract claims, claims relating to our products, labor and employment claims and other matters. Any litigation or other proceedings could divert management time and attention, could involve significant amounts of legal fees and other fees and expenses, or could result in an adverse outcome having a material adverse effect on our financial condition, cash flows or results of operations. Actions, claims, suits, investigations and proceedings are inherently uncertain and their results cannot be predicted with certainty. Except as described below, the Company is not currently involved in any legal proceedings that the Company believes are, individually or in the aggregate, material to our business, results of operations or financial condition. However, regardless of the outcome, litigation can have an adverse impact on us because of associated cost and diversion of management time.

On March 6, 2025, a complaint was filed in the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of San Francisco by the Center for Environmental Health, a non-profit corporation (the "plaintiff"), against approximately 28 named companies, including several major retailers and manufacturers such as Walmart, Whole Foods Market, Smart & Final Stores, and Raleys, as well as many companies that manufacture and market coconut water products, including the Company, alleging violations of the California Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act, known as Proposition 65. Proposition 65 requires, among things, that a specific warning appear on any product sold in California containing a substance listed by that state as having been found to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity. The complaint contends that the defendants violated Proposition 65 by knowingly and intentionally exposing individuals in California to Bisphenol A ("BPA") in coconut water containers. The complaint states that the plaintiff's claims against the Company are limited to the Company's coconut water products packaged in cans. The complaint seeks injunctive relief, including an injunction prohibiting defendants from offering coconut water products sold in California without either reducing the BPA level in the product such that no Proposition 65 warnings are required or providing prior clear and reasonable warnings, and civil penalties. As of the date of this

Report, the Company has not responded to the complaint, and intends to vigorously defend against the claims. Due in part to the early stage of the proceedings, the Company cannot predict the outcome of this matter at this time.

As disclosed above, on December 4, 2024, the Company entered into the Exchange Agreement with Roosevelt providing for the Exchange transaction, and on February 14, 2025, the Company filed a registration statement on Form S-4 with the SEC, including a preliminary proxy statement/prospectus, relating to shares to be issued in the transaction and a meeting of stockholders of the Company to be held to approve the issuance of shares in the transaction and related proposals. Since the date of filing of the registration statement, the Company has received several letters (the "Demand Letters") from counsel to purported stockholders of the Company. Each letter asserts that the preliminary proxy statement included in the registration statement was deficient and demanded that the alleged deficiencies be rectified. The Demand Letters allege, among other matters, that corrective disclosures are required to be included in the registration statement to address alleged material misstatements and omissions in the registration statement and that the proxy statement/prospectus contains materially incomplete and misleading information concerning, among other matters, financial projections, financial analysis performed by the entity that provided a fairness opinion to the Company's board of directors in connection with the transaction, potential conflicts of interest involving the Company's financial advisor in connection with the transaction and the Company's insiders, and possible breach of fiduciary duties by the directors of executive officers of the Company in connection with the transaction. Certain of the Demand Letter include a request for inspection of certain books and records of the Company pursuant to Delaware corporate law. It is possible that additional, similar letters may be received, or complaints filed. If this occurs, except as may be required by law, the Company does not intend to announce the filing of any such additional demand letter or any such complaint. The Company believes that the allegations in the Demand Letters are without merit and intends to vigorously defend itself against any complaint that may be filed.

The matters described in this section could divert management time and attention from the Company, and could involve significant amounts of legal fees and other fees and expenses. An adverse outcome in any such proceedings could have a material adverse effect on the Company.

 

Contingent Liability Related to the Anawah Acquisition

In June 2005, the Company completed its agreement and plan of merger and reorganization with Anawah, to purchase Anawah’s food and agricultural research company through a non-cash stock purchase. Pursuant to the merger with Anawah, and in accordance with ASC 805 - Business Combinations, the Company incurred a contingent liability not to exceed $5.0 million. This liability represents amounts to be paid to Anawah’s previous stockholders for cash collected on revenue recognized by the Company upon commercial sale of certain specific products developed using technology acquired in the purchase. During 2010, the Company ceased activities relating to three of the six Anawah product programs thus, the contingent liability was reduced to $3.0 million. During 2016, one of the programs previously accrued for was abandoned and another program previously abandoned was reactivated. During 2019, the Company determined that one of the technologies was no longer active and decided to abandon the previously accrued program. During March 2025, the Company decided to abandon one of the two remaining technologies. As of March 31, 2025, the Company continues to pursue or is otherwise liable for a development program using the one remaining technology and believes that the contingent liability is probable. As a result, $1.0 million remains on the condensed consolidated balance sheet as an other noncurrent liability.

 

Contracts

The Company has exited all contract research agreements and has no additional funding commitments previously associated with these agreements.

The Company licenses certain technologies via executed agreements (“In-Licensing Agreements”) that were used to develop and advance the Company’s own technologies. These technologies have subsequently been sublicensed to unrelated parties.

 

The Company could be adversely affected by certain actions by the government as it relates to government contract revenue received in prior years. Government agencies, such as the Defense Contract Audit Agency routinely audit and investigate government contractors. These agencies review a contractor’s performance under its agreements; cost structure; and compliance with applicable laws, regulations and standards. The agencies also review the adequacy of, and a contractor’s compliance with, its internal control systems and policies, including the contractor’s purchasing, property, estimating, compensation and management information systems. While the Company’s management anticipates no adverse result from an audit, should any costs be found to be improperly allocated to a government agreement, such costs will not be reimbursed, or if already reimbursed, may need to be refunded. If an

audit uncovers improper or illegal activities, civil and criminal penalties and administrative sanctions, including termination of contracts, forfeiture of profits, suspension of payments or fines, and suspension or prohibition from doing business with the government could occur. In addition, serious reputational harm or significant adverse financial effects could occur if allegations of impropriety were made against the Company.

Note 15. Commitments and Contingencies

Leases

The Company leases office and laboratory space, warehouse space, and equipment under operating lease agreements having initial lease terms ranging from one to five years, including certain renewal options available to the Company at market rates. See Note 16.

 

Legal Matters

From time to time, in the ordinary course of business, the Company may become involved in certain legal proceedings. The Company currently is not a party to any material litigation or other material legal proceedings. Refer to Note 22 for more information.

 

Contingent Liability Related to the Anawah Acquisition

In June 2005, the Company completed its agreement and plan of merger and reorganization with Anawah to purchase the Anawah’s food and agricultural research company through a non-cash stock purchase. Pursuant to the merger with Anawah, the Company incurred a contingent liability not to exceed $5.0 million. This liability represents amounts to be paid to Anawah’s previous stockholders for cash collected on revenue recognized by the Company upon commercial sale of certain specific products developed using technology acquired in the purchase. During 2010, the Company ceased activities relating to three of the six Anawah product programs thus, the contingent liability was reduced to $3.0 million. During 2016, one of the programs previously accrued for was abandoned and another program previously abandoned was reactivated. During 2019, the Company determined that one of the technologies was no longer active and decided to abandon the previously accrued program. As of December 31, 2024, the Company continues to pursue or are otherwise liable for a total of two development programs using this technology and believes that the contingent liability is probable. As a result, $2.0 million remains on the consolidated balance sheet as an other noncurrent liability.

 

Contracts

The Company has entered into contract research agreements with unrelated parties that require the Company to pay certain funding commitments. The initial terms of these agreements range from one to three years in duration and in certain cases are cancelable.

The Company licenses certain technologies via executed agreements (“In-Licensing Agreements”) that are used to develop and advance the Company’s own technologies. The Company has entered into various In-Licensing Agreements with related and unrelated parties that require the Company to pay certain license fees, royalties, and/or milestone fees. In addition, certain royalty payments ranging from 2% to 15% of net revenue amounts as defined in the In-Licensing Agreements are or will be due.

The Company could be adversely affected by certain actions by the government as it relates to government contract revenue received in prior years. Government agencies, such as the Defense Contract Audit Agency routinely audit and investigate government contractors. These agencies review a contractor’s performance under its agreements; cost structure; and compliance with applicable laws, regulations and standards. The agencies also review the adequacy of, and a contractor’s compliance with, its internal control systems and policies, including the contractor’s purchasing, property, estimating, compensation and management information systems. While the Company’s management anticipates no adverse result from an audit, should any costs be found to be improperly allocated to a government agreement, such costs will not be reimbursed, or if already reimbursed, may need to be refunded. If an audit uncovers improper or illegal activities, civil and criminal penalties and administrative sanctions, including termination of contracts, forfeiture of profits, suspension of payments or fines, and suspension or prohibition from doing business with the government could occur. In addition, serious reputational harm or significant adverse financial effects could occur if allegations of impropriety were made against the Company. There currently are routine audits in process relating to government grant revenues.