Company: IPST
Filing Date: 2025-05-30
Form Type: PRE 14A
Source: 0001788230-25-000100
Chunk: 17

Company: Heritage Distilling Holding Company, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-05-30
Form: PRE 14A
Chunk 17
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 considered as a group, should provide a significant mix of experience, knowledge, and abilities that will allow our Board of Directors to fulfill its responsibilities. When considering whether directors and nominees have the experience, qualifications, attributes or skills, taken as a whole, to enable our Board of Directors to satisfy its oversight responsibilities effectively in light of our business and structure, the Board of Directors focuses primarily on each person’s background and experience as reflected in the information discussed in each

| 2025 Proxy Statement |     | 8 |     | HERITAGE DISTILLING HOLDING COMPANY, INC. |

Corporate Governance

of our director nominees’ individual biographies set forth below. We believe that our directors and director nominees will provide an appropriate mix of experience and skills relevant to the size and nature of our business.

Our Board of Directors expects a culture of ethical business conduct. Our Board of Directors encourages each member to conduct a self-review to determine if he or she is providing an effective service to our Company and our stockholders. Should it be determined that a member of our Board of Directors is unable to effectively act in the best interests of our stockholders, such member would be encouraged to resign.

Director Nominations

The NCG Committee will consider candidates for director recommended by stockholders so long as the recommendations comply with our Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws and applicable laws, rules, and regulations, including those promulgated by the SEC. The NCG Committee will evaluate such recommendations in accordance with its charter, our Bylaws, and the regular nominee criteria described above. Stockholders wishing to recommend a candidate for nomination should comply with the procedures set forth in the section above entitled "Questions and Answers - How do I recommend a director nominee?"

Attendance at Annual Meeting

All of the members of our Board of Directors are expected to attend our annual meetings of stockholders.

Related-Party Transaction Policy

Our Audit Committee has the primary responsibility for reviewing and approving or ratifying transactions with related parties. Our Audit Committee has adopted a formal Related-Party Transaction Policy, pursuant to which the Audit Committee reviews all transactions that involve more than $120,000 when aggregated with all similar transactions in which we and each of our executive officers, directors (including director nominees), and stockholders owning in excess of 5% of any class of our common stock or their immediate family members are participants. The Audit Committee must approve or ratify any covered related-party transaction for it to be consummated or continue.

The Audit Committee reviews these related-party transactions as they arise and are