Company: OCEA
Filing Date: 2025-04-08
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001641172-25-003155
Chunk: 2282

Company: Ocean Biomedical, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-04-08
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1A
Chunk 2282
---
 of substantial numbers of such shares in the public market could adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

The
Excise Tax included in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 may decrease the value of our securities or decrease the amount of funds available
for distribution in connection with a liquidation.

On
August 16, 2022, President Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the “IR Act”), which, among other things,
imposes a 1% excise tax on certain repurchases (including certain redemptions) of stock by publicly traded domestic (i.e., U.S.) corporations
and certain domestic subsidiaries of publicly traded foreign (i.e., non-U.S.) corporations (each, a “covered corporation”).
The excise tax will apply to repurchases occurring in 2023 and beyond. The amount of the excise tax is generally 1% of the fair market
value of the shares repurchased at the time of the repurchase. The U.S. Department of Treasury has authority to provide regulations and
other guidance to carry out, and prevent the abuse or avoidance of, the excise tax. On December 27, 2022, the U.S. Department of the
Treasury issued a notice that provides interim operating rules for the excise tax, including rules governing the calculation and reporting
of the excise tax, on which taxpayers may rely until the forthcoming proposed Treasury regulations addressing the excise tax are published.
Although such notice clarifies certain aspects of the excise tax, the interpretation and operation of other aspects of the excise tax
remain unclear, and such interim operating rules are subject to change. Because Ocean Biomedical is a Delaware corporation and its securities
are trading on Nasdaq, it is expected that Ocean Biomedical is a “covered corporation” for this purpose, and it is expected
that Ocean Biomedical will be subject to the excise tax with respect to any redemptions of its shares in connection with the Business
Combination that are treated as repurchases for this purpose.

132

The
extent of the excise tax that may be incurred would depend on a number of factors, including (i) whether the redemption is treated as
a repurchase of stock for purposes of the excise tax, (ii) the fair market value of the redemption treated as a repurchase of stock in
connection with the Business Combination, (iii) the nature and amount of the equity issued in connection with the Business Combination