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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 20-F

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For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023

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Commission File Number: 001-42040

SCHMID Group N.V.

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

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Robert-Bosch-Str. 32-36, 72250 Freudenstadt, Germany

(Address of principal executive offices)

Julia Natterer

c/o SCHMID Group N.V.

Robert-Bosch-Str. 32-36

72250 Freudenstadt

Germany

Tel: +49 7441 538 0

Email: natterer.ju@schmid-group.com

(Name, Telephone, E-mail and/or Facsimile number and Address of Company Contact Person)

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act.

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Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act.

Not Applicable

(Title of Class)

Securities for which there is a reporting obligation pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Act.

Not Applicable

(Title of Class)

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Indicate the number of outstanding shares of each of the issuer’s classes of capital or common stock as of the close of the period covered by the annual report: On April 30, 2024, the issuer had 42,974,862 ordinary shares, nominal value €0.01 per share, outstanding.

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.

Yes ☐   No ☑

If this report is an annual or transition report, indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Yes ☐   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 ☑   No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☑   No ☐

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

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If an emerging growth company that prepares its financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, 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. ☐

† The term “new or revised financial accounting standard” refers to any update issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board to its Accounting Standards Codification after April 5, 2012.

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☐

If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to § 240.10D-1(b). ☐

Indicate by check mark which basis for accounting the registrant has used to prepare the financial statements included in this filing:

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If “Other” has been checked in response to the previous question, indicate by check mark which financial statement item the registrant has elected to follow. Item 17 ☐  Item 18 ☐

If this is an annual report, indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐  No ☑

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EXPLANATORY NOTE

On April 30, 2024 (the “Closing Date”), SCHMID Group N.V. (“Schmid Group” or the “Company”), closed the previously announced business combination (the “Business Combination”) pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement, dated as of May 31, 2023, as amended by a first amendment agreement dated September 26, 2023 (the “First Business Combination Agreement”) and a second amendment agreement dated January 29, 2024, by and among Pegasus Digital Mobility Acquisition Corp., a Cayman Islands exempted company (“Pegasus”), Gebr. Schmid GmbH, a German limited liability company ("Schmid"), Pegasus TopCo B.V., a Dutch private liability company (which was converted into a Dutch public limited liability company, and renamed SCHMID Group N.V., prior to the closing of the Business Combination) (“TopCo”), and Pegasus MergerSub Corp., a Cayman Islands limited liability company and wholly-owned subsidiary of the Schmid Group (“Merger Sub”). References made to Schmid Group pertaining to occurrences predating the Business Combination closing, refer to Gebr. Schmid GmbH, which was the predecessor to SCHMID Group N.V. at the top of the group’s structure.

On the Closing Date, several transactions were completed pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement, including:

Prior to the Business Combination, SCHMID Group N.V. did not conduct any material activities other than those incident to its formation and the matters contemplated by the Business Combination Agreement, such as the making of certain required securities law filings, and the establishment of Merger Sub. Upon the closing of the Business Combination, SCHMID Group N.V. became the direct parent of Schmid, a Germany-based technology provider with extensive expertise in high-tech manufacturing processes.

Class A Shares, and warrants to purchase one Class A Share at a price of $11.50, subject to adjustment, Public Warrants (“Public Warrants”), began trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market (“Nasdaq”) under the symbols “SHMD” and “SHMD.WS”, respectively, on May 1, 2024.

Unless otherwise indicated, “SCHMID Group”, “the Company”, “we”, “us” and “our” refer to SCHMID Group N.V. after conversion into a Dutch public limited liability company and Pegasus TopCo B.V. prior to the conversion into a Dutch public liability company. References to “€” are to the common currency of the European Monetary Union and references to “U.S. dollars”, “$” or “cents” are to the lawful currency of the United States.

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FREQUENTLY USED TERMS

Unless otherwise stated in this Annual Report on Form 20-F or the context otherwise requires, references have the following meaning:

“Annual Report” means this annual report of the Company on Form 20-F.

“Board” means the board of directors of the Company.

“Business Combination” means the transactions contemplated by the Business Combination Agreement.

“Business Combination Agreement” means the Business Combination Agreement, dated May 31, 2023, by and among TopCo, Merger Sub, Pegasus and Gebr. Schmid GmbH, as amended by that First Amendment to Business Combination Agreement dated as of September 26, 2023 and as amended by the Second Amendment to Business Combination Agreement dated as of January 29, 2024, and as it may be further amended from time to time.

“Class A Shares” or the "Shares" means the shares of the Company.

“Closing Date” means April 30, 2024, the date of the closing of the Business Combination.

“Code” means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.

"Company" means SCHMID Group N.V.

“Continental” means Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, the transfer agent and warrant agent of the Company.

"ET" means embedded traces, a process which we believe the next level technology for high-end PCBs & Substrates.

“EU” means the European Union.

“Exchange Act” means the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

"FCPA" means U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

“GDPR” means the European General Data Protection Regulation.

“IAS” means the International Accounting Standard.

“IASB” means the International Accounting Standards Board. “IBR” means the incremental borrowing rate.

“IFRS” means the International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the IASB.

"mSAP" means modified semi additive processes.

"MergerSub" means Pegasus MergerSub Corp., a Cayman Islands exempted company.

“NASDAQ” means the Nasdaq Stock Exchange in New York.

“NYSE” means the New York Stock Exchange.

“OEMs” means original equipment manufacturers.

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“Pegasus” means Pegasus Digital Mobility Acquisition Corp., a Cayman Islands exempted company.

“Pegasus Private Placement Warrants” means the 9,750,000 warrants originally issued in the private placement that occurred concurrently with the closing of Pegasus’s IPO.

“Pegasus Public Warrants” means the 11,250,000 public warrants, each of which is a warrant to purchase one Pegasus Class A Ordinary Share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment in accordance with the Warrant Agreement.

“Pegasus Warrants” means collectively the Pegasus Public Warrants and the Pegasus Private Placement Warrants.

"PCB" means printed circuit board.

"RMB" means the Chinese Renminbi.

"SAP" means semi-additive processes.

“Sarbanes-Oxley Act” means the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

“Schmid” or “SCHMID” means SCHMID Group N.V.

“SEC” means the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

“Securities Act” means the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

“Sponsor” means Pegasus Digital Mobility Sponsor LLC., a Cayman Islands limited liability company, which is the sponsor of Pegasus.

“TopCo” means Pegasus TopCo B.V., a Dutch private liability company (besloten vennootschap met beperkte aansprakelijkheid) which has been converted and renamed to SCHMID Group N.V. on April 30, 2024.

"XJ Harbour" means XJ Harbour HK Limited.

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CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Annual Report contains or may contain forward-looking statements that involve significant risks and uncertainties. Statements contained in this Annual Report, other than statements of historical fact, including statements about SCHMID’s expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, intentions, assumptions and other statements that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Words or phrases such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “objective,” “ongoing,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “will” and “would,” or similar words or phrases, or the negatives of those words or phrases, may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not necessarily mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Examples of forward-looking statements in this Annual Report include, but are not limited to, statements regarding SCHMID’s operations, cash flows, financial position and dividend policy.

Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties. The risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to:

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Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties and are based on potentially inaccurate assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expected or implied by the forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in forward-looking statements for many reasons, including the factors described under the section titled “Item 3. Key Information — D. Risk Factors” in this Annual Report. Accordingly, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this Annual Report. We undertake no obligation to publicly revise any forward-looking statement to reflect circumstances or events after the date of this Annual Report or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. You should, however, review the factors and risks we describe in the reports we will file from time to time with the SEC after the date of this Annual Report.

In addition, statements that “Schmid believes” or “we believe” and similar statements reflect our beliefs and opinions on the relevant subject. These statements are based on information available to us as of the date such statements are made. And while we believe that information provides a reasonable basis for these statements, that information may be limited or incomplete. Our statements should not be read to indicate that we have conducted an exhaustive inquiry into, or review of, all relevant information. These statements are inherently uncertain, and you are cautioned not to unduly rely on these statements.

Although we believe the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements were reasonable at the time made, we cannot guarantee future results, level of activity, performance or achievements. Moreover, neither SCHMID nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of any of these forward-looking statements. You should carefully consider the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section in connection with the forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report and any subsequent written or oral forward-looking statements that may be issued by SCHMID or persons acting on our behalf. Our actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from those contemplated, expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report as described in “Item 3. Key Information — D. Risk Factors”, “Item 4 —Information on the Company” and “Item 5 — Operating and Financial Review and Prospects”. Given these risks, uncertainties and other important factors, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements set forth in this Annual Report. Also, these forward-looking statements represent our estimates and assumptions only as of the date such forward-looking statements are made. Except as required by law, we assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statements publicly, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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PART I.

ITEM 1. IDENTITY OF DIRECTORS, SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND ADVISERS

A. Directors and Senior Management

Information regarding the directors and executive officers of the Company after the closing of the Business Combination is included in Item 6.A, “Directors and Senior Management” below.

The business address for each of the directors and executive officers of the Company is Robert-Bosch-Str. 32-36, 72250 Freudenstadt, Germany.

B. Advisers

Clifford Chance PmbB, Junghofstrasse 14, 60311 Frankfurt, Germany, has acted as U.S. counsel for Pegasus and is acting as U.S. counsel to the Company following the closing of the Business Combination which occurred on April 30, 2024.

Clifford Chance LLP, Amsterdam Droogbak 1A 1013 GE, Netherlands, has acted as Dutch counsel for Pegasus and is acting as Dutch counsel to the Company following the closing of the Business Combination.

C. Auditors

For the fiscal years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, KPMG AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft, Friedenstraße 10, 81671 Munich, Germany has acted as independent registered public accounting firm for the Company.

ITEM 2. OFFER STATISTICS AND EXPECTED TIMETABLE

Not applicable.

ITEM 3. KEY INFORMATION

A. [Reserved]

B. Capitalization and Indebtedness

Not applicable.

C. Reasons for the Offer and Use of Proceeds

Not applicable.

D. Risk Factors

Our business faces significant risks and uncertainties. You should carefully consider all of the information set forth in this Annual Report, including without limitation “Item 5 — Operating and Financial Review and Prospects,” and in other documents we file with or furnish to the SEC, including the following risk factors, before deciding to invest in or to maintain an investment in our securities. Our business, as well as our reputation, financial condition, results of operations and share price, could be materially adversely affected by any of these risks, as well as other risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or not currently considered material. The following risk factors have been organized by category for ease of use; however, many of the risks may have impacts in more than one category.

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Risk Factors Summary

Our business faces significant risks and uncertainties. You should carefully consider all of the information set forth in this Annual Report and in other documents we file with or furnish to the SEC, including the following risk factors, before deciding to invest in or to maintain an investment in our securities. Our business, as well as our reputation, financial condition, results of operations and share price, could be materially adversely affected by any of these risks, as well as other risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or not currently considered material. These risks include, among others, the following:

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Risks Related to Our Business, Technology, and Industry

In the markets and industries in which we operate, we face intense competition and our failure to compete successfully in product development may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

The electronic and photovoltaic industries in which we operate are highly competitive. We encounter competition from numerous and varied competitors in all areas of our business, especially in photovoltaics. For example, the photovoltaic industry includes large Chinese players who often dominate equipment manufacturing as the market is highly commoditized, price driven and under the focus of the Chinese government, which seeks to implement favorable industry policy for local producers. Further, we face competition not only from competitors who manufacture similar products, but also those who may offer a variety of other alternative products. Additionally, industry consolidation may result in larger, more homogeneous, and potentially stronger competitors in the markets in which we compete in the future.

We compete primarily on the basis of product quality, innovation, technology, brand reputation as well as through the services and support we offer. Our competitors may continue to develop their existing portfolios of products, introduce new products and enhance their existing products, which could cause a decline in market acceptance of our products. Our competitors may also improve their manufacturing processes or expand their manufacturing capacity, which could make it more difficult or costly for us to compete successfully. In addition, our competitors could enter into exclusive arrangements with our existing or potential customers or suppliers, which could limit our ability, or make it significantly more costly, to acquire necessary raw materials or to generate sales.

Some of our competitors may have or may obtain greater financial, technical, and marketing resources than we do. This would allow them to devote greater resources to promoting and selling certain products. Unlike many of our competitors who specialize in a single or limited number of product lines, we have a portfolio of businesses and must allocate resources across those businesses. As a result, we may invest less in certain areas of our business than our competitors invest which may lead to a competitive disadvantage.

Further, because some of our competitors are small divisions of large, international businesses, these competitors may have access to greater resources than we do and may therefore be better able to withstand a change in conditions within our industry or the economy as a whole.

Some of our competitors may also incur fewer expenses than we do in creating, marketing, and selling certain products and may face fewer risks in introducing new products to the market. This circumstance results from the nature of our business model, which is based on providing innovative and high-quality products, and therefore may require us to spend a proportionately greater amount on R&D than some of our competitors. If our pricing, marketing resources or other factors are not sufficiently competitive, or if there is an adverse reaction to our product decisions, we may lose market share in certain areas, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

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Additionally, competitors could benefit from favorable tax regimes or additional governmental grants and subsidies. Certain of our competitors in various countries in which we do business, including China, may be owned by or affiliated with members of local governments and political entities. These competitors may receive special treatment with respect to regulatory compliance and product registration, while certain of our products, including those based on new technologies, may be delayed or even prevented from entering into the local market.

Escalating trade tensions, for example between the United States and China, can also lead to restrictions on the import and export of certain goods and technologies to or from certain countries. Further, additional trade import taxes can create disruption in competitiveness. Disruption in the global supply chain due to an escalation of trade tensions, the outbreak of war, a disease epidemic or other unexpected situation can cause certain services, goods and materials to be unavailable or in limited supply and can further limit production capability and result in an inability to produce equipment for customers within an acceptable timeframe and at the needed volume. Such disruptions can have a material impact on our business, results of operations and financial condition. in time and in the needed volume.

We are currently in the process of patenting the technology for embedded traces (“ET”) which we believe is the next level technology for high-end PCBs & substrates. We believe we are the only participant in the market that is currently able to supply equipment for ET production and our best estimate, based on third-party data from a leading international consultancy firm, assumes that the ET market for high-end PCB equipment will grow substantially in 2024. If competitors concentrate on the ET as well and develop either better or more cost competitive processes and machinery, we could fail to capture the growth we expect in the ET market, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

The reputation of our brand is an important company asset and is key to our ability to remain a trusted supplier of specialty products, equipment and services.

We have maintained a strong reputation in the electronics and photovoltaics industries for more than 160 years. Our products, equipment and services are associated with long-lasting and reliable high quality.

The reputation of our brand is an important company asset and is key to our ability to remain a trusted supplier of specialty products, equipment and services and to attract and retain customers. Negative publicity regarding our company or actual, alleged, or perceived issues regarding one of our products or services, particularly given the high cost-of-failure nature of our products and services, could harm our relationships with customers and may adversely affect our credibility and our business.

Our business is dependent on the continued acceptance by our customers of our existing products and services and the value placed on them. If these products and services do not maintain market acceptance, our revenues may decrease. A portion of our sales originate from our worldwide customer-oriented services, which is an important element of our business. If we do not devote sufficient resources or are otherwise unsuccessful in assisting our customers effectively with the products sold to them, we could adversely affect our ability to retain existing customers and could discourage prospective customers from adopting our services. We may be unable to respond quickly enough to accommodate short-term increases in demand for customer support. We may also be unable to modify the nature, scope and delivery of our customer support to compete with changes in the support services provided by our competitors. Increased demand for customer support, without corresponding revenue, could increase costs and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

We are also continually investing in new product development to expand our offerings beyond our traditional products and services. Market acceptance of any new products or services may be affected by customer confusion surrounding our introduction of new products and services. Our expansion into new offerings may present increased risks and efforts to expand beyond our traditional products and services may not succeed. However, if we do not continue to innovate and provide innovative machinery and technological solutions that are competitive within our industry, we may lose customers, and our revenues and results of operations could suffer.

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Through our products, we have established ourselves as one of the leaders in quality and innovation in the markets in which we operate. For that reason, our customers are willing to pay above market prices for our machinery and technological solutions. If we do not continue to innovate and provide innovative machinery and technological solutions that are competitive within our industry, our customers may no longer be willing to pay above market price for our machinery and technological solutions or may move to our competitors. Our customers moving to our competitors could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

In addition, our business is subject to constant and rapid technological change, product obsolescence, price erosion, evolving standards, and raw material price fluctuations. The industry is currently affected by localization and a shift in customers’ businesses. In particular, there is currently a reorganization of the global supply chain underway, with a focus on decreasing dependency on China. The trends and characteristics in these industries may cause significant fluctuations in our results of operations and cash flows and have a material adverse effect on our financial condition. Our growth and success depend upon our ability to enhance our existing products and services and to develop and introduce new products and services to keep pace with such changes and developments and to meet changing customer needs and preferences. However, newer products or services may not achieve market acceptance if current or potential customers do not value the benefits of using our products, do not achieve favorable results using our products, use their budgets for different products, experience difficulties in using our products, or believe that our products are not cutting edge or do not add as much value as our competition’s products. If these newer products and services do  not achieve market acceptance, there could be a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations and our profitability could decline. Additionally, changes, including technological changes, in our customers’ products or processes may make our specialty machines unnecessary or reduce the quantity of our specialty machines needed for a given product or process, which would reduce the demand for such. We have had, and may continue to have, customers who find alternative materials or processes and therefore no longer require our products, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Further, our plans for operating our business and leading further growth include adding new products and services. These investments could contribute to losses, and we cannot guarantee whether or when any of these plans will be successful with customers or result in an improvement in profits for our business.

In addition, we may fail to anticipate the impact of new and emerging technology or changes in trends, fail to accurately determine market demand for new products and services, experience cost overruns, delays in delivery or performance problems, or create market confusion by making changes to our existing products and services. If we are not successful in obtaining acceptance for new products or services, demand for our products and services may decline and/or we may not be able to grow our business or growth may occur more slowly than we anticipate. Some of our current or future products or services could also be rendered obsolete as a result of competitive offerings or market shifts. Furthermore, if our customers deviate from the envisaged timeline for the introduction of new technology, the sales of our newer products could be adversely affected. Failure to anticipate or quickly adapt to changes in our customers’ product introduction timelines could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our profitability could suffer if our cost management strategies are unsuccessful, or our competitors develop an advantageous cost structure that we cannot match.

Our ability to improve or maintain our profitability is dependent on our ability to successfully manage our costs. Our cost management strategies include maintaining appropriate alignment between the price of raw materials, the demand for our offerings and our resource capacity and maintaining or improving our sales and marketing and general and administrative costs as a percentage of revenues. If our cost management efforts are not successful, our efficiency may suffer, and we may not achieve desired levels of profitability. In addition, we may not be able to implement our cost management efforts in a manner that permits us to realize the cost savings we anticipate in the time, manner, or amount we currently expect, or at all due to a variety of risks, including, but not limited to, difficulties in integrating shared services within our business, higher than expected employee severance or retention costs, higher than expected overhead expenses, delays in the anticipated timing of activities related to our cost savings plans, and other unexpected costs associated with operating our business. If we are not effective in managing our operating costs in response to changes in demand or pricing, or if we are unable to absorb or pass on increases in the compensation of our employees or costs of raw materials, we may not be able to invest in our business in an amount necessary to achieve our planned rates of growth, and our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.

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It may be possible for our current or future competitors to gain an advantage in product technology, manufacturing technology, or process technology, which may allow them to offer products or services that have a significant advantage over our offerings. Advantages could be in price, capacity, performance, reliability, serviceability, industry standards or formats, brand and marketing, or other attributes. If we do not compete successfully by developing and deploying new cost-effective products, processes, and technologies on a timely basis and by adapting to changes in our industry and the global economy, there could be a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Similarly, our products are used by manufacturers of component parts for a variety of industries. To the extent these industries become more sensitive to input costs, we may face price pressure. Our ability to respond to such pressures depends on the strength and viability of our internal cost management and pricing programs. Any failure of these programs could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

If we fail to continuously develop new, improved and more cost-effective technologies and products, this could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We depend on our continued ability to develop new, improved and more cost-effective technologies and products, to produce the same in a cost-effective manner and to commercialize and distribute new products successfully. The trend towards commoditization and standardization in some of our markets is further increasing the importance of research and development as we need to offer specialized products that are offering higher value to customers in order to achieve satisfactory margins.

We may not be able to successfully and constantly adapt, expand and improve our research and development activities, product portfolio and our marketing strategy in a timely manner and to the necessary extent, or may lack the capacity to invest the required level of human or financial resources in the development of  new products required to respond to the existing trends and future changes. Competitors, in particular those with greater financial resources, might be able to outperform us by developing new technologies or products with favorable characteristics. In addition, the market for a newly developed technology or product may unexpectedly decline or could even disappear. In such case, all or part of our investments in the development of the relevant technology or product, which might be substantial, may be lost.

If we fail to continuously develop new, improved and more cost-effective technologies and products and to constantly adapt our research and development activities, product portfolio and marketing strategy to new trends and technological changes, this could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our direct customers and their direct and indirect customers face numerous competitive challenges, which may materially adversely affect their business and ours.

Factors adversely affecting our direct customers and their direct and indirect customers may also adversely affect us. These factors include recessionary periods in their markets, their inability to adapt to rapidly changing technology and evolving industry standards, their inability to develop, market, or gain commercial acceptance of their products, some of which are new and untested and their products becoming commoditized or obsolete. Our customers are also subject to a highly competitive consumer products industry, which may have shorter product lifecycles, shifting end-user preferences, and higher revenue volatility.

If our customers or our customers’ direct and indirect customers in the ultimate end-markets are unsuccessful in addressing these competitive challenges, their businesses may be materially adversely affected, reducing the demand for our offerings, decreasing our revenues, or altering our production cycles and inventory management, each of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our revenue, earnings, and other operating results have fluctuated in the past and may fluctuate in the future.

If demand for our products fluctuates as a result of economic conditions or for other reasons, our revenue and profitability could be impacted. Our future operating results will depend on many factors, including the following:

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It is likely that our future operating results could be adversely affected by one or more of the factors set forth above or other similar factors. If our future operating results are below the expectations of stock market analysts or our investors, our stock price may decline.

Any disruptions to our supply chain, significant increase in material costs, or shortages of critical components, could adversely affect our business and result in increased costs.

Any disruptions to our supply chain, significant increases in the cost of materials or shortages of critical components, could adversely affect our business and result in increased costs. Such a disruption could occur as a result of any number of events, including, but not limited to: market shortages due to surge in demand for any particular part or component, increases in prices or impact of  inflation, the imposition   of regulations, quotas or embargoes on components, labor stoppages, transportation delays or failures affecting the supply chain and shipment of materials and finished goods, supply bottlenecks resulting from plant closures and production adjustments due to public health crises, such as pandemics and epidemics, third-party interference in the integrity of the parts and components sourced through the supply chain, the unavailability of raw materials, severe weather conditions, adverse effects of climate change, natural disasters, geopolitical developments, war or terrorism, and disruptions in utilities and other services. In addition, any future updates or modifications to the anticipated design of Schmid products may increase the number of parts and components we would be required to source and increase the complexity of our supply chain management. Failure to effectively manage the supply of parts and components could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition and prospects.

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Any continued decline or disruption in the photovoltaics, and electronics markets or any economic downturn or uncertainty, in particular in Europe and Asia, could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition.

In recent years, we have generated a large percentage of our revenue in China and Europe. Any continued decline or disruptions in those markets, especially in respect to the photovoltaics and electronics market, could have a direct impact on our business. Trends in nearshoring global semiconductor supply chains could also directly impact our business as customers may choose to move to competitors whose production facilities are closer to their factories. We have also historically been impacted by economic declines or disruptions in those markets, for example the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic which led to severe interruptions to business operations generally and within China in particular. Any similar decline or disruption in the future could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition.

Our performance also depends on the financial health and strength of our customers, which in turn is dependent on the economic conditions of the markets in which we and our customers operate. Declines or uncertainties in Europe, the United States, China and other global economies may lead customers to delay or reduce purchases of our products and services as they take measures to reduce their operating costs, including by delaying the development or launch of new products and brands and/or reducing R&D spending generally.

We are also sensitive to general trends and changes in the key markets we serve. Some of these markets, including the market for substrate manufacturing, exhibit a degree of cyclicality. Decisions to purchase our products and equipment are largely the result of the performance of these and other end-markets. If demand for output in these end-markets decreases, demand for our offerings will decrease as well. Demand for the products produced by customers in our end-markets is impacted by numerous factors, including macroeconomic conditions, prices of commodities, rates of infrastructure spending, consumer confidence and spending, labor conditions, and fuel costs, among others. For example, public skepticism of autonomous driving may negatively impact the demand for high-frequency sensors, which could result in decreased demand for our products. Increases or decreases in these variables globally may significantly impact the demand for our offerings and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. If we are unable to accurately predict demand in our end-markets or of the customers we serve, we may be unable to meet our customers’ needs, resulting in the loss of potential sales.

Alternatively, we may manufacture excess products, resulting in increased inventories and overcapacity in our manufacturing facilities, increasing our incremental production costs and decreasing our operating margins. In addition, mergers or consolidations among our customers could reduce the number of our customers and potential customers. Consolidation in certain industries that we serve might also adversely affect or otherwise impact our revenues even if these events do not reduce the activities of the consolidated entities. When entities consolidate, overlapping services previously purchased separately are usually purchased only once by the consolidated entity, leading to loss of revenues. In addition, consolidated entities can better negotiate pricing terms while reducing spending on other services that were previously purchased by one of the merged or consolidated entities which may be deemed unnecessary or cancelled. Any such developments among our customers could have material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Most of our revenue is derived from our electronics business and while we believe that the business we operate in will grow significantly in the future, this may not materialize which could mean that we fail to reach our 2024 projected revenues and EBITDA.

While we focus on several sectors such as electronics and photovoltaics, the majority of our revenue is achieved from our business with electronics customers. If one or more of the products and services we offer in this business area does not continue to remain profitable or we fail to maintain the quality of the products we offer for any reason, our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be materially adversely affected.

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In particular, in our best estimate, based on third-party data from a leading international consultancy firm, the ET market for high-end PCB equipment will grow substantially in 2024. If the high-end PCB equipment market develops differently, for instance if traditional process technologies or other new technologies continue to capture most or all of the high-end PCB equipment market, we would not be able to grow our own revenues through our ET process technology, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our future business plans are formulated on the expectation of positive long-term trends and drivers in the market in which we operate. Key drivers of this growth are technology such as mobile devices and wearables as well as automotive and mobility innovations. If our expectations and estimates are not correct or do not materialize in the manner in which we anticipate, this could have a negative impact on our future business plans and results of operations. In particular, our current projections for our revenues and EBITDA for fiscal year 2024 are based on our current assessment of the macroeconomic conditions in our key target markets and in particular the development of the electronics businesses and significant customer orders. While we based our projections on market trends and discussions with key customers as well as our order backlog as of December 31, 2023, the forecasted revenues and EBITDA may not materialize as we project due to various external factors or delays in order timing or other factors such as competitors receiving orders which we have forecasted to be received by us in 2024.

Difficult and volatile conditions in the capital, credit and commodities markets and in the overall economy could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.

Difficult global economic conditions, including concerns about sovereign debt and significant volatility in the capital, credit, and commodities markets, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows. These global economic factors, combined with low levels of business and consumer confidence and high levels of unemployment, precipitated a slow recovery from the global recession and from time to time create a concern about a return to recessionary conditions. These difficult conditions and the overall economy can affect our business in several ways. For example:

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In general, downturns in economic conditions can cause fluctuations in demand for our and our customers’ products, product prices, volumes, and margins. Future economic conditions may not be favorable to our industry and future growth in demand for our products, if any, may not be sufficient to alleviate any existing or future conditions of excess industry capacity. A decline in the demand for our products or a shift to lower margin products due to deteriorating economic conditions could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations and could also result in impairments of certain of our assets. We do not know if market conditions or the state of the overall economy will maintain its current course, improve, or decline in the near future. We  cannot provide assurance that  any decline in economic conditions or economic downturn in one or more of the geographic regions in which we sell our products would not have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations and volatility in global currency markets could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our combined financial statements are presented in Euros. Our international sales and operations expose us to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. These movements in exchange rates may cause our revenues and expenses to fluctuate, impacting our profitability and cash flows and our results generally.

A significant part of our costs and revenues is denominated in currencies other than the Euro, with the significant majority of our non-Euro denominated revenues being in RMB and a significant majority of our costs being denominated in Euro. Because a majority of our revenues and costs are denominated in currencies other than the Euro, changes in foreign currency exchange rates, in particular a depreciation of the Euro against the RMB, could reduce our ability to service our debt.

These risks related to exchange rate fluctuations and currency volatility may increase in future periods as our operations outside of Europe continue to expand. Consequently, our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be materially adversely affected by fluctuations in currency exchange rates.

Natural disasters, catastrophes, fire, or other unexpected events could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Many of our business activities involve substantial investments in manufacturing facilities. These facilities could be materially damaged by natural disasters, such as floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, and earthquakes, or by catastrophes, fire or other unexpected events such as adverse weather conditions or other disruptions to our facilities, supply chain, or our customers’ facilities. We could incur uninsured losses and liabilities arising from any such events, including damage to our reputation, and/or suffer severe impairments to our operational capacity, which could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Any natural disaster, catastrophe, fire, or other unexpected event could result in personal injury and loss of life, damage to property, and contamination of the environment, which may result in a shutdown of our facilities, suspension of operations, and the imposition of civil or criminal fines, penalties and other sanctions, cleanup costs, and claims by governmental entities or third parties. We are dependent on the continued operation of our production facilities, and the loss or shutdown of operations over an extended period at any of our other major operating facilities could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

If we fail to retain existing key customers, or if our key customers fail to grow their own sales in the future, our business, results of operations, and financial condition could be materially adversely affected.

We have a concentrated customer base and are dependent on a small number of significant customers in the technology sector for a large percentage of our sales and revenue. For fiscal year 2023, the two largest customers measured in terms of sales volume represented approximately 38% of our revenues and the ten largest customers represented approximately 71% of our revenues. For the fiscal year 2021, we had more than 60 customers and in 2022 we had more than 70 customers with an approximately similar number of customers in 2023. If we fail to retain these key customers or if we fail to replace orders in one period from key customers with orders from other customers in subsequent periods our own results could be materially adversely impacted.

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After introducing our products into their operations, our customers often become highly dependent on our continued provision of products and services. This means that a part of our revenue is derived from subsequent business following the original customer purchase. If such customers were to switch to other providers, we would lose revenue from both initial business as well as subsequent business from follow-on sales and services.

Further, our key customers may fail to grow their own sales in the future which may result in withdrawing from business with us. Loss of any such customer or any disruption in our relationship with such customers could result in decreased revenues. If we are unable to replace revenue generated by one or more of our major customers, our revenue may significantly decrease, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be adversely affected by decreases in the average selling prices of products.

Decreases in the average selling prices of our products may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Our ability to maintain or increase our profitability will continue to be dependent, in large part, upon our ability to offset decreases in average selling prices by improving production efficiency or by shifting to higher margin products. In the past, we have elected to discontinue selling certain products as a result of sustained material decreases in the selling price of such products and our inability to effectively offset such decrease through shifts in operations. If we are unable to respond effectively to decreases in the average selling prices of our products in the future, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be materially adversely affected. Further, while we may elect to discontinue products that are significantly affected by such price decreases, we can provide no assurance that any such discontinuation will mitigate the related declines in our financial condition.

We may be required to record an impairment charge on our accounts receivable if we are unable to collect the outstanding balances from our customers.

We typically pre-finance a large portion of development services and resources for manufacturing customer-specific products and frequently sell products and services to customers on credit. While we carry out credit checks for our customers and generally require down payments for orders, there is a risk of delay for payments of the remaining amounts or that customers do not fulfil their payment obligations in full. We estimate the collectability of our accounts receivable based on our analysis of the accounts receivable, historical bad debts, customer creditworthiness, and current economic trends. We continuously monitor collections from our customers and maintain adequate impairment allowance for doubtful accounts. However, if the bad debts significantly exceed our impairment allowance, we may be required to record an impairment charge and our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.

Economic, financial, geopolitical, epidemiological, or other conditions could result in business disruptions which could seriously harm our future revenue and financial condition and increase our costs and expenses.

Concerns over inflation, geopolitical issues, the U.S. financial markets, foreign exchange rates, capital and exchange controls, unstable global credit markets and financial conditions, the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain disruptions and economic issues have led to periods of significant economic instability, declines in consumer confidence and discretionary spending, diminished expectations for the global economy and expectations of slower global economic growth going forward, and increased unemployment rates. Our general business strategy may be adversely affected by any such economic downturn, volatile business environment and continued unstable or unpredictable economic and market conditions. If these conditions continue to deteriorate or do not improve, it may make any necessary debt or equity financing more difficult to complete, more costly and more dilutive. In addition, there is a risk that one or more of our current or future service providers, manufacturers, suppliers and other partners could be negatively affected by difficult economic times, which could adversely affect our ability to attain our operating goals on schedule and on budget or meet our business and financial objectives.

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Our operations, and those of third-party contractors and consultants upon which we rely, could be subject to wildfires, earthquakes, tsunamis, power shortages or outages, floods or monsoons, public health crises, such as pandemics and epidemics, political crises, such as terrorism, war (including trade wars), political instability or other conflicts, and other natural or man-made disasters or other events outside of our control that could disrupt our business. In February 2022, armed conflict escalated between Russia and Ukraine. The sanctions announced by the United States and other countries, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, against Russia to date include restrictions on selling or importing goods, services or technology in or from affected regions and travel bans and asset freezes impacting connected individuals and political, military, business and financial organizations in Russia. It is not possible to predict further actions by the United States and other countries and the broader consequences of this war, which could include further sanctions, embargoes, regional instability, geopolitical shifts and adverse effects on macroeconomic conditions, currency exchange rates and financial markets, all of which could impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The occurrence of any of these business disruptions could seriously harm our operations and financial condition and increase our costs and expenses. Our ability to obtain supplies and materials for the production of our products could be disrupted if the operations of our suppliers are affected by a man-made or natural disaster or other business interruption. Damage or extended periods of interruption to our corporate, development or research facilities due to fire, natural disaster, power loss, communications failure, unauthorized entry or other events could cause us to cease or delay the marketing or development of some or all of our products and services. Although we maintain property damage and business interruption insurance coverage, our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be seriously harmed should the losses we suffer as a result of such property damage and/or business interruption substantially exceed our insurance coverage and we are required to make up for this shortfall.

Risks Related to our Operations

Our global operations subject us to increased risks.

We have global operations and, accordingly, our business is subject to risks resulting from differing legal and regulatory requirements, political, social, and economic conditions, and unforeseeable developments in a variety of jurisdictions. We have a significant presence in several major regions, including certain emerging markets such China, and we plan to continue and diversify global expansion. Our global operations are subject to the following risks, among others:

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Our overall success as a global business depends, in part, on our ability to anticipate and effectively manage these risks, but there can be no assurance that we will be able to do so without incurring unexpected costs. If we are not able to manage the risks related to our international operations, our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be materially adversely affected.

Our business in various markets requires us to respond to rapid changes in market conditions in these countries. Our overall success as a global business depends, in part, upon our ability to succeed in different legal, regulatory, economic, social, and political conditions. We may not succeed in developing and implementing policies and strategies which will be effective in each location where we do business.

Furthermore, any of the foregoing factors or any combination thereof could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We may also face difficulties managing and administering an internationally dispersed business. In particular, the management of our personnel across several countries can present logistical and managerial challenges. Additionally, international operations present challenges related to operating under different business cultures and languages. We may have to comply with unexpected changes in foreign laws and regulatory requirements, which could negatively impact our operations and ability to manage our global financial resources. Export controls or other regulatory restrictions could prevent us from shipping our products into and from some markets. Moreover, we may not be able to adequately protect our trademarks and other intellectual property overseas due to uncertainty of laws and enforcement in several countries.

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Changes in tax regulations in Germany or the United States and other jurisdictions, including under and with respect to bilateral and multilateral tax treaties, or the interpretation thereof, could significantly reduce the financial performance of our foreign operations or the magnitude of their contributions to our overall financial performance. In addition, the interpretation and application of consumer and data protection laws in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere are often uncertain, contradictory, and in flux. It is   possible that any such newly introduced or amended laws are interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent with our data practices. If so, this could result in government-imposed fines or orders requiring that we change our data practices, which could have an adverse effect on our business. Complying with these various laws could cause us to incur substantial costs or require us to change our business practices in a manner adverse to our business.

We are not insured against all potential risks.

To the extent available, we maintain insurance coverage that we believe is customary in our industry, covering our respective properties, operations, personnel, and businesses. Such insurance does not, however, provide coverage for all liabilities, including certain hazards incidental to our business, and we can provide no assurance that our insurance coverage will be adequate to cover claims that may arise or that we will be able to maintain adequate insurance at rates we consider reasonable. For example, the occurrence of a significant business interruption in the operation of one or more of our key facilities, countries, business partners, or systems could result in liability to us that is not insured and therefore could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. In addition, our products are used in or integrated with many high-risk end-products and therefore if such products were involved in a disaster or catastrophic accident, we could be involved in litigation arising out of such incidents and susceptible to significant expenses or losses.

In the event of a total or partial loss affecting any of our property, certain items of equipment and inventory may not be easily replaced. Accordingly, even though there may be insurance coverage, the extended period needed to obtain replacement units or inventory may cause significant delays, which may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. In addition, certain zoning laws and regulations may prevent rebuilding substantially the same facilities in the event of a casualty, which may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

As a result, we cannot assure you that we are insured against all potential risks or for those risks that are covered by insurance that the insurance proceeds will compensate us fully for our losses, which could result in a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our ability to use and operate certain portions of our facilities may be limited by the validity of, or a default or termination under, our real property leases.

Certain portions of our facilities are leased from third-party landlords, and we continue to lease facilities in the future. The invalidity of, or default or termination under, any of our leases may interfere with our ability to use and operate all or a portion of certain of our facilities, which may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

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Our operations and assets in foreign jurisdictions may be subject to significant political and economic uncertainties.

We operate and have subsidiaries and partners in various jurisdictions such as China, Taiwan, South Korea, Malaysia and the United States. Changes in laws and regulations, or their interpretation, or the imposition of unexpected or confiscatory taxation, restrictions on currency conversion, imports and sources of supply, devaluations of  currency, or the nationalization or other expropriation of  private enterprises could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations of our subsidiaries. For example, under its current leadership, the Chinese government has been pursuing economic reform policies that encourage private economic activity and greater economic decentralization. There is no assurance, however, that the Chinese government will continue to pursue these policies, or that it will not significantly alter these policies from time to time without notice.

The foreign economies may differ from the economies of Germany or the U.S. in many respects, including the amount of government involvement, level of development, growth rate, control of foreign exchange, and allocation of resources. While such economies may have experienced significant growth in the past 30 years, growth may have been uneven, both geographically and among various sectors of the economy. Such economies may not continue to grow and if there is growth, such growth may not be steady and uniform. If there is a slowdown, such slowdown may have a negative effect on our business and operations in such economies as well as on our business in general. We can provide no assurance that the various macroeconomic measures and monetary policies adopted by the foreign governments to guide economic growth and the allocation of resources will be effective in sustaining the growth rate of the respective foreign economies. If growth of such economies stagnates or there is an economic downturn, our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be materially adversely affected.

Uncertainties presented by the foreign legal systems could limit the legal protections available to us and subject us to legal risks, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We operate and have subsidiaries and partners in various jurisdictions such as China, Taiwan, Korea, Malaysia and the United States. Our operations in foreign jurisdictions are subject to foreign applicable laws, rules and regulations. In such jurisdictions, a fully integrated legal system may not yet be developed, or imposed laws may not sufficiently cover all aspects of economic activities and prior court decisions may have limited value as precedents. Additionally, foreign statutes may often be principle-oriented and require detailed interpretations by the enforcement bodies to further apply and enforce such laws. In particular, some of these laws and regulations may be relatively new, and there may be limited volume of published decisions. For that reason interpretation and enforcement of these laws and regulations involve uncertainties.

In addition, a legal system may be based in part on government policies and internal rules, some of which may not be published on a timely basis or at all, and some of which may have a retroactive effect. As a result, we may not be aware of our violation of these policies and rules until sometime after the violation. Any administrative and court proceedings may be protracted, resulting in substantial costs and diversion of resources and management attention. Further, as administrative and court authorities may have significant discretion in interpreting and implementing statutory, regulatory, and contractual terms, it may be more difficult to predict the outcome of administrative and court proceedings and the level of legal protection than in more developed legal systems. These uncertainties may also impede our ability to enforce the contracts we have entered into in foreign jurisdictions. As a result, these uncertainties could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

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Our management has limited experience in operating a public company.

Our management has limited experience in the management of a publicly listed company. Our management team may not successfully or effectively manage our transition to a public company that will be subject to significant regulatory oversight and reporting obligations under federal securities laws. Their limited experience in dealing with the increasingly complex laws pertaining to public companies could be a significant disadvantage in that it is likely that an increasing amount of their time may be devoted to these activities which will result in less time being devoted to the management and growth of the combined company. We may not have adequate personnel with the appropriate level of knowledge, experience, and training in the accounting policies, practices or internal controls over financial reporting required of public companies. The development and implementation of the standards and controls necessary for the combined company  to achieve the level of accounting standards required of a public company listed in the United States may require costs greater than expected. It is possible that we will be required to expand our employee base and hire additional employees to support our operations as a public company, which will increase our operating costs in future periods.

Material increases in labor costs in China could have an adverse impact on our business and operating results.

We operate a number of manufacturing facilities in China. In past years, we and other manufacturers have experienced increases in labor costs in our Chinese facilities due to rising inflation. Increases in the cost of labor in manufacturing facilities in China, including those of Schmid, are expected to continue to occur in the future.

To the extent we are unable to pass on increases in labor costs to our customers by increasing the prices for our products and services, minimum wage increases, or increases in other labor costs, or to move our operations into a jurisdiction where labor cost is lower, this could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Changes in the Chinese government’s policy on foreign investment in China may adversely affect our business and results of operations.

The Foreign Investment Access Special Management Measures (Negative List) (2019 Version) (“Negative List”), which became effective on July 30, 2019, has identified the industrial areas that are restricted or prohibited for foreign investors. The business of our Chinese subsidiaries does not fall within any of such restricted or prohibited areas and their business scope was duly approved by the Chinese foreign investment regulatory authority upon their establishment.

The Negative List may, however, be updated from time to time, and there can be no assurance that the Chinese government will not change its policies in a manner that would render part or all of our business to fall within the restricted or prohibited categories. If we cannot obtain approval from the relevant approval authorities to engage in a business that becomes prohibited or restricted for foreign investors pursuant to any applicable updates under the Negative List, we may be forced to sell or restructure our business in China. If we are forced to adjust our corporate structure or business as a result of changes in government policy on foreign investment, this could adversely affect our reputation, business, financial condition, and results of operations.

The Chinese government may enact further restrictive measures in the future which could adversely affect our reputation, business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our ability to obtain additional capital on commercially reasonable terms may be limited.

Although we believe our cash and cash equivalents, together with cash we expect to generate from operations and unused capacity available under our revolving credit facility, provide adequate resources to fund ongoing operating requirements, we may need to seek additional financing to compete effectively.

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If we are unable to obtain capital on commercially reasonable terms, it could:

We intend to continue to make investments to support our business and may require additional funds. In particular, we may seek additional funds to develop new products and enhance our platform and existing products, expand our operations, including our sales and marketing organizations, improve our infrastructure or acquire complementary businesses, technologies, services, products and other assets.

Accordingly, we may need to engage in equity or debt financings to secure additional funds. Any debt financing that we may secure in the future could involve restrictive covenants relating to our capital raising activities and other financial and operational matters, which may make it more difficult for us to obtain additional capital and to pursue business opportunities. We may not be able to obtain additional financing on reasonable terms or at all. If we are unable to obtain adequate financing or financing on terms satisfactory to us when we require it, our ability to continue to support our business growth, scale our infrastructure, develop product enhancements and to respond to business challenges could be significantly impaired, and our business, results of operations and financial condition may be adversely affected.

Risks Related to Regulation and Litigation

Our financial results may be affected by tariffs, border adjustment taxes or other adverse trade restrictions.

We have global operations, including a significant presence in several major regions, including markets such as Malaysia, Taiwan, South Korea, United States, and China. We cannot predict whether the countries in which we operate, or may operate in the future, could become subject to new or additional trade restrictions imposed by the United States or other governments, including the likelihood, type or effect of any such restrictions. The U.S. government imposed various actions regarding trade with China, including levying various tariffs on imports from China, and is contemplating imposing additional actions in the future. Imposing additional tariffs, border adjustment taxes or other adverse trade restrictions on countries where we have operations could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

The international scope of our operations and our corporate and financing structure may expose us to potentially adverse tax consequences.

We are subject to taxation in, and to the tax laws and regulations of, multiple jurisdictions as a result of the international scope of our operations and our corporate and financing structure. We are also subject to intercompany pricing laws, including those relating to the flow of funds between our companies pursuant to, for example, purchase agreements, licensing agreements, or other arrangements. Adverse developments in these laws or regulations, or any change in position regarding the application, administration, or interpretation of these laws or regulations in any applicable jurisdiction, or our inability to comply with all applicable requirements of these laws or regulations could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

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In addition, the tax authorities in any applicable jurisdiction may disagree with the positions we have taken or intend to take regarding the tax treatment or characterization of any of our activities or transactions, including the tax treatment or characterization of our tax residency. If any competent tax authorities were to successfully challenge the tax treatment or characterization of any of these, it could result in the disallowance of deductions, the imposition of additional or new taxation in certain jurisdictions, the imposition of withholding taxes on internal deemed transfers or in general, capital gains taxes, including on transfers that have been made and/or deemed to have been made in connection with the Transactions or otherwise, the reallocation of income, penalties, or other consequences that could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our failure to comply with trade restrictions such as economic sanctions and export controls could negatively impact our reputation and results of operations.

We are subject to trade restrictions, including economic sanctions and export controls, imposed by governments around the world with jurisdiction over our operations, which prohibit or restrict transactions involving certain designated persons and certain designated countries or territories, including Russia,  Cuba, Iran, Syria, North Korea, and the Crimea Region of  Ukraine. Our failure to successfully comply with any such laws and regulations may expose us to reputational harm as well as significant sanctions,

including criminal fines, imprisonment, civil penalties, disgorgement of profits, injunctions, debarment from government contracts, and other remedial measures. Investigations of alleged violations can be costly and disruptive. We maintain policies and procedures designed to comply with these laws and regulations. As part of our business, we may, from time to time, engage in limited sales and transactions involving certain countries that are targets of economic sanctions, provided that such sales and transactions are authorized pursuant to applicable economic sanctions laws and regulations. However, we cannot predict the nature, scope, or effect of future regulatory requirements, including changes that may affect existing regulatory authorizations, and we cannot predict the manner in which existing laws and regulations might be administered or interpreted. Any changes in economic sanctions laws in the future could adversely impact our business.

In addition, any perceived or actual breach of compliance by us with respect to applicable laws, rules, and regulations could have a significant impact on our reputation and could cause us to lose existing customers; prevent us from obtaining new customers; negatively impact investor sentiment about our company; require us to expend significant funds to remedy problems caused by violations and to avert further violations; and expose us to legal risk and potential liability — all of which may have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We are or will be subject to anti-corruption, anti-bribery, anti-money laundering, financial and economic sanctions and similar laws, and non-compliance with such laws can subject us to administrative, civil and criminal fines and penalties, collateral consequences, remedial measures and legal expenses, all of which could adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and reputation.

We are or will be subject to anti-corruption, anti-bribery, anti-money laundering, financial and economic sanctions and similar laws and regulations in various jurisdictions in which we conduct or in the future may conduct activities, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”), European anti- bribery and corruption laws, and other anti-corruption laws and regulations. The FCPA and European anti- bribery and corruption laws prohibit us and our officers, directors, employees and business partners acting on our behalf, including agents, from corruptly offering, promising, authorizing or providing anything of value to a “foreign official” for the purposes of influencing official decisions or obtaining or retaining business or otherwise obtaining favorable treatment. The FCPA also requires companies to make and keep books, records and accounts that accurately reflect transactions and dispositions of assets and to maintain a system of adequate internal accounting controls. A violation of these laws or regulations could adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and reputation. Our policies and procedures designed to ensure compliance with these regulations may not be sufficient and our directors, officers, employees, representatives, consultants, agents, and business partners could engage in improper conduct for which we may be held responsible.

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Non-compliance with anti-corruption, anti-bribery, anti-money laundering or financial and economic sanctions laws could subject us to whistleblower complaints, adverse media coverage, investigations, and severe administrative, civil and criminal sanctions, collateral consequences, remedial measures and legal expenses, all of which could materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and reputation.

We may be adversely affected by changes in legislation and regulation, which may impact how we provide products and services.

We are subject to extensive laws, regulations, and industry standards in the various jurisdictions where we operate, market, and distribute our products, including, inter alia, environmental, occupational health and safety, product regulatory and liability, patent and trademark, competition, financial, accounting, and  tax laws and regulations, which vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Legislative and regulatory changes that impact us and our customers’ industries may impact how we provide products and services to our customers. It is difficult to predict in what form laws and regulations will be adopted or how they will be construed by the relevant courts, or the extent to which any changes might adversely affect us. Delays in adapting our products and services to legislative and regulatory changes could harm our reputation. Also, we may not be as well-equipped to respond to changes in legislation or regulation as some of our competitors or we may become subject to new legislation or regulation with regard to the products and services we offer which could cause us to be prohibited from providing certain services or make provision of affected services more costly.

Although we have implemented policies and procedures that are designed to ensure compliance with applicable laws, rules, and regulations, there is no guarantee that we will remain in compliance. Any noncompliance could result in civil, criminal and administrative fees, fines, penalties, taxes, interruptions in our operations, and reputational harm for the company, which may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We operate in a litigious environment, which may adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We may become involved in legal actions and claims arising in the ordinary course of business, including litigation regarding employment matters, breach of contract, and other commercial matters. Due to the inherent uncertainty in the litigation process, the resolution of any particular legal proceeding could result in changes to our products and business practices and/or substantial payment obligations or costs to be borne by us, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We may be liable for damages based on product liability claims brought against our customers in our end- markets or from our customers and their employees, and any successful claim for damages could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

In addition, many of our products provide critical performance attributes to our customers’ products that are sold to consumers who could potentially bring product liability suits related to such products. Our sale of these products therefore involves the risk of product liability claims, including class action lawsuits that claim liability for death, injury, or property damage caused by products that we manufacture or that contain our components. If a person were to bring a product liability suit against one of our customers, this customer may attempt to seek contribution from us. A person may also bring a product liability claim directly against us. A successful product liability claim or series of claims against us in excess of our insurance coverage for payments, for which we are not otherwise indemnified, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. While we endeavor to protect ourselves from such claims and exposures in our contractual negotiations, we can provide no assurance that our efforts in this regard will ultimately protect us from any such claims.

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If we fail to comply with environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, we could become subject to fines or penalties or incur costs that could have a material adverse effect on our business.

We and any contract manufacturers and suppliers we engage are subject to numerous federal, state, and local environmental, health, and safety laws, regulations, and permitting requirements, including those governing generation, handling, use, storage, treatment, and disposal of hazardous and regulated materials and waste; the emission and discharge of hazardous materials into the ground, air, and water; and employee health and safety. We cannot eliminate the risk of contamination or injury from these materials. In the event of contamination or injury resulting from our use of hazardous materials, we could be held liable for any resulting damages, and any liability could exceed our resources. Under certain environmental laws, we could be held responsible for costs relating to any contamination at our current or past facilities and at third-party facilities. We also could incur significant costs associated with civil or criminal fines and penalties.

Compliance with applicable environmental laws and regulations may be costly, and current or future environmental laws and regulations may impair our research, product development and manufacturing efforts. In addition, we cannot entirely eliminate the risk of accidental injury or contamination from these materials or waste. Although we maintain workers’ compensation insurance to cover us for costs and expenses we may incur due to injuries to our employees resulting from the use of hazardous materials, this insurance may not provide adequate coverage against potential liabilities. We do not currently maintain insurance for environmental liability or toxic tort claims that may be asserted against us in connection with storage or disposal of hazardous and flammable materials, including chemicals and biological materials. Accordingly, in the event of contamination or injury, we could be held liable for damages or be penalized with fines in an amount exceeding our resources, and our clinical trials or regulatory approvals could be suspended, which could have a material adverse effect on business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.

In addition, we may incur substantial costs in order to comply with current or future environmental, health and safety laws and regulations. These current or future laws and regulations may impair research, development or commercialization efforts. Failure to comply with these laws and regulations also may result in substantial fines, penalties or other sanctions that could have a material adverse effect on our business, reputation and growth prospects.

Global climate change legislation could negatively impact our results of operations or limit our ability to operate our business.

We operate production facilities in several countries. In many of the countries in which we operate, legislation has been passed or proposed, or legislation is being considered, to limit greenhouse gases through various means, including the capping and trading of emissions credits. Greenhouse gas regulation in the jurisdictions in which we operate could negatively impact our future results from operations through increased costs of production. We may be unable to pass such increased costs on to our customers, which may decrease our revenues and net income and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of  operations. In addition, the potential impact of climate change regulation on our customers  is highly uncertain and may also materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Failure of information security and privacy concerns could subject us to penalties, damage our reputation and brand, and harm our business and results of operations.

We must comply with increasingly complex and rigorous regulatory standards enacted to protect business and personal data in the United States, Europe and elsewhere. For example, the European Union adopted the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), which became effective in 2018, and the State of California adopted the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”); additional U.S. states are likely to adopt measures similar to the CCPA in the near term. Both the GDPR and the CCPA impose additional obligations on companies regarding the handling of personal data and provides certain individual privacy rights to persons whose data is stored. Compliance with existing, proposed and recently enacted laws (including implementation of the privacy and process enhancements called for under the GDPR) and regulations can be costly; any failure to comply with these regulatory standards could subject us to legal and reputational risks.

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Compliance with any additional laws and regulations may incur significant costs and may place restrictions on the conduct of our business and the manner in which we interact with our customers. Any failure to comply with applicable regulations could also result in regulatory enforcement actions against us, and misuse of or failure to secure personal information could also result in violation of data privacy laws and regulations, proceedings against us by governmental entities or others, and damage to our reputation and credibility,  and could have a negative impact on revenues and profits.

Significant capital and other resources may be required to protect against information security  breaches or to alleviate problems caused by such breaches or to comply with our privacy policies or privacy- related legal obligations. The resources required may increase over time as the methods used by hackers and others engaged in online criminal activities are increasingly sophisticated and constantly evolving. Any failure or perceived failure by us to prevent information security breaches or to comply with privacy policies or privacy-related legal obligations, or any compromise of security that results in the unauthorized release or transfer of personally identifiable information or other customer data, could cause our customers to lose trust in us and could expose us to legal claims. Any perception by the public that online transactions or the privacy of user information are becoming increasingly unsafe or vulnerable to attacks could inhibit the growth of online retail and other online services generally, which may reduce the number of orders we receive.

Risks Related to Employee Matters, Managing Growth, and Relationships with Suppliers and Other Third Parties

If we do not continue to attract, motivate, and retain members of our senior management team and qualified employees, we may not be able to support our operations.

The completion and execution of our strategies depend on the continued service and performance of our senior management team. If we lose key members of our senior management team, we may not be able to effectively manage our transition to a public company or our current and future operations. The loss or incapacity of existing members of our senior management team or key scientists and engineers could adversely affect our operations, particularly if we experience difficulties hiring qualified successors.

In addition, our business depends on our ability to continue to attract, motivate, and retain many skilled employees across all of our operations. There is a limited pool of employees who have the requisite skills, training, and education. We compete with many businesses and organizations that are seeking skilled individuals, particularly those with experience in technology and the sciences fields. Competition for professionals across our entire business can be intense, as other companies seek to enhance their positions in the markets we serve. In addition, competition for experienced talent and employees can intensify globally, requiring us to increase our focus on attracting and developing highly skilled employees. We also face additional challenges in terms of recruiting a requisite number of skilled and qualified workers due to regional or global trends such as labor supply issues in connection with an aging workforce. As competition for experienced talent grows, we may be forced to increase spending on employee salaries which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Future organizational changes and the implementation of our cost savings initiatives could also cause our employee attrition rate to increase and may result in significant costs to us in connection with implementing such initiatives. If we are unable to continue to identify or be successful in attracting, motivating, and retaining appropriately qualified personnel, there could be a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

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We may acquire other businesses which could require significant management attention, disrupt our business, dilute shareholder value, and adversely affect our results of operations.

As part of our business strategy, we may acquire or make investments in complementary companies, products, or technologies. The identification of suitable acquisition candidates is difficult, and we may not be able to complete such acquisitions on favorable terms, if at all. If we do complete future acquisitions, we may not ultimately strengthen our competitive position or achieve our goals and business strategy; we may be subject to claims or liabilities assumed from an acquired company, product, or technology; and any acquisitions we complete could be viewed negatively by our customers, investors, and securities analysts. In addition, if we are unsuccessful at integrating future acquisitions, or the technologies associated with such acquisitions, into our company, the revenue and results of operations of the combined company could be adversely affected. Any integration process may require significant time and resources, which may disrupt our ongoing business and divert management’s attention, and we may not be able to manage the integration process successfully. We may not successfully evaluate or utilize the acquired technology or personnel, realize anticipated synergies from the acquisition, or accurately forecast the financial impact of an acquisition transaction and integration of such acquisition, including accounting charges. We may have to pay cash, incur debt, or issue equity or equity-linked securities to pay for any future acquisitions, each of which could adversely affect our financial condition or the market price of our common shares. The issuance of equity or equity-linked debt to finance any future acquisitions could result in dilution to our shareholders. The incurrence of indebtedness would result in increased liabilities and could also include covenants or other restrictions that would impede our ability to manage our operations. The occurrence of any of these risks could harm our business, results of operations, and financial condition.

We may be unable to successfully execute on our growth initiatives, business strategies, or operating plans.

We are continually executing on several growth initiatives, strategies, and operating plans designed to enhance our business. In addition to these growth strategies, our business plan incorporates certain transformational initiatives, including our enhanced senior leadership team, globalized management structure, renewed focus on customers, optimized R&D, cost management initiatives, and a new incentive structure and may include potential acquisitions.

The anticipated benefits from these strategies and initiatives are based on several assumptions that may prove to be inaccurate, including assumptions as to the key trends that will drive growth in our business. Moreover, we may not be able to successfully complete these growth initiatives, strategies, and operating plans without making additional expenditures or at all. If we are unable to complete these initiatives, strategies, and operating plans, we may not realize all the benefits we currently anticipate, including the growth targets and cost savings we expect to achieve. The anticipated cost savings disclosed elsewhere in this Annual Report are presented on a gross basis and do not reflect any expenses that may be required to achieve such cost savings.

A variety of risks could cause us not to realize some or all the expected benefits. These risks include, among others, delays in the anticipated timing of activities related to such growth initiatives, strategies, and operating plans; the secular trends on which many of our strategies and initiatives are based not materializing or not materializing to the degree expected; increased difficulty and cost in implementing our growth efforts; and the incurrence of other unexpected costs associated with operating the business. Moreover, our continued implementation of these programs may disrupt our operations and performance. Similarly, we may not realize the benefits we currently expect from our comprehensive systems and solutions approach.

If any of the assumptions underlying our growth initiatives prove to be inaccurate or any of the foregoing risks materialize, we may not realize the expected benefits of our initiatives and we may be adversely affected, including as the result of the costs associated with these initiatives. If, for any reason, the benefits we realize are less than our estimates or the implementation of these growth initiatives, strategies, and operating plans adversely affects our operations or cost more or take longer to effectuate than we expect, or if our assumptions, including our assumptions with respect to growth of our end-markets, prove inaccurate, our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be materially adversely affected.

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Our employees may engage in misconduct or other improper activities, including noncompliance with regulatory standards and requirements, internal codes of conduct, and insider trading prohibition.

We are exposed to the risk of employee fraud or other misconduct. Misconduct by employees could include intentional failures to comply with applicable regulations, to provide accurate information to the German, Chinese, United States or other regulators, to comply with manufacturing standards we have established, to comply with federal and state fraud and abuse laws and regulations in Germany, the United States and other countries or jurisdictions, to report financial information or data accurately, or to disclose unauthorized activities to us.

It is not always possible to identify and deter employee misconduct, and the precautions we take to detect and prevent this activity may not be effective in controlling unknown or unmanaged risks or losses or in protecting us from governmental investigations or other actions or lawsuits stemming from a failure to comply with such laws or regulations, including applicable environmental laws and regulations. If any such misconduct occurs or any related actions are instituted against us (and we are not successful in defending ourselves or asserting our rights) such misconduct or actions could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

If any of our suppliers become economically distressed or declare bankruptcy, we may be required to provide substantial financial support or take other measures to ensure supplies of components or materials, which could increase our costs, affect our liquidity or cause production disruptions.

We procure various types of materials and components from our suppliers. We have historically obtained a significant proportion of the materials we require to manufacture our products from a limited number of suppliers, for example in connection with sensor and control technology and pumps and filters.

If these suppliers experience substantial financial difficulties, cease operations, or otherwise face business disruptions, we may be required to provide substantial financial support to ensure supply continuity or would have to take other measures to ensure components and materials remain available. Any disruption could affect our ability to deliver orders to our clients and could increase our costs and negatively affect our liquidity and financial performance.

Increases in costs or reductions in the supplies of our specialty and commodity raw materials required for our manufacturing, testing, and operations processes could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We use a variety of specialty and commodity raw materials, including precious metals and specialty plastic materials, in our manufacturing processes, and our most significant raw material input by value is plastics. Our manufacturing operations depend upon obtaining adequate supplies of raw materials on a timely basis. We purchase our major raw materials on a contract or as-needed basis from outside sources. The availability and prices of raw materials may be subject to curtailment or change due to, among other things, the financial stability of our suppliers, suppliers’ allocations to other purchasers, interruptions in production by suppliers, new laws or regulations, changes in foreign currency exchange rates, and worldwide price levels. In addition, many of our raw materials and intermediate products are available in the quantities we require from a limited number of suppliers, which makes it more difficult to replace suppliers in the event of any supply disruption. Further, in some cases, we are limited in our ability to purchase certain raw materials from other suppliers by supply agreements that contain certain minimum purchase requirements. Additionally, we can provide no assurance that, as our supply contracts expire, we will be able to renew them or, if they are terminated, that we will be able to obtain replacement supply agreements on terms favorable to us.

In particular, we may face difficulties or delays in finding a new supplier should a critical supplier stop supplying us with components or software. In particular, while we may find a new supplier quickly, we will need to make sure that this new supplier meets our performance standards and that the component, materials and software can be integrated into our machinery without an impact on delivery timelines or the quality of our products. Our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be materially adversely affected if we are unable to obtain adequate supplies of raw materials in a timely manner or if the costs of raw materials increase significantly.

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From time to time, suppliers may extend lead times, limit supplies, or increase prices due to capacity constraints, environmental limitations, or other factors. We may not always be able to pass on these price increases, and price increases by our other suppliers, to our customers due to competitive pricing pressure, and, even when we are able to do so, there may be a time delay between increased raw material prices and our ability to increase the prices of our products. Any limitation on, or delay in, our ability to pass on any price increases could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We depend upon our information technology systems, which are subject to interruption and failure.

Our business operations could be disrupted if our information technology systems fail to perform adequately. The efficient operation of our business depends on our information technology systems, some of which are managed by third-party service providers. We rely on our information technology systems to effectively manage our business data, communications, supply chain, order entry and fulfillment, and other business processes. The failure of our information technology systems to perform as we anticipate could disrupt our business and could result in transaction errors, processing inefficiencies, and the loss of sales and customers, causing our business and results of operations to suffer. In addition, our information technology systems may be vulnerable to damage or interruption from circumstances beyond our control, including fire, natural disasters, power outages, systems failures and security breaches. Further, our information technology systems, including those managed by third-party service providers, may be subject to computer viruses, malicious software, attacks by hackers, and other forms of cyber intrusions or unauthorized access, any of which can create system disruptions, shutdowns, or unauthorized disclosure of sensitive data. Any such damage or interruption could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

In addition, a security breach that leads to disclosure of information protected by privacy laws could compel us to comply with breach notification requirements under state, national, and federal laws and regulations, potentially resulting in litigation or regulatory action, or otherwise subjecting us to liability under laws that protect personal data.

Moreover, there are inherent risks associated with developing, improving, expanding and updating our current systems, such as the disruption of our data management, procurement, production execution, finance, supply chain and sales and service processes. These risks may affect our ability to manage our data and inventory, procure parts or supplies or manufacture, deploy, deliver and service our machines, adequately protect our intellectual property or achieve and maintain compliance with, or realize available benefits under, applicable laws, regulations and contracts. We cannot be sure that these systems upon which we rely, including those of our third-party vendors or suppliers, will be effectively implemented, maintained or expanded as planned. If these systems do not operate as we expect them to, we may be required to expend significant resources to make corrections or find alternative sources for performing these functions.

We attempt to mitigate the above risks by employing several measures, including monitoring and testing of our security controls, employee training, maintenance of protective systems and contingency plans, and contracting with service providers to address third-party cybersecurity risks. Nonetheless, it is impossible to eliminate all cybersecurity risk and thus we remain potentially vulnerable to known or unknown threats. Information security risks have generally increased in recent years because of the increased proliferation, sophistication, and availability of complex malware and hacking tools to carry out cyber-attacks. As cyber threats continue to evolve, we may be required to expend additional resources to mitigate new and emerging threats while continuing to enhance our information security capabilities or to investigate and remediate security vulnerabilities.

Risks Related to Schmid’s Intellectual Property

Our know-how and innovations may not be adequately protected.

We believe that our product development, brand recognition and reputation, and the technological and innovative skills of our personnel are essential to establishing and maintaining our leadership position. We rely on a combination of patent, copyright, trademark, trade secrets, confidentiality procedures, technical measures, and contractual agreements with our customers, suppliers, and employees to establish and protect our know-how and innovations according to our products and services. If we fail to protect our know- how and innovations, our competitive position could suffer, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

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We may be forced to initiate litigation or other enforcement actions against third parties to protect our know-how and innovations as well as defend and enforce our intellectual property rights. Litigating claims related to the enforcement of intellectual property rights is very costly and can be burdensome in terms of management time and resources, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Moreover, the scope of our intellectual property rights may not prevent competitors from designing around such rights.

In some cases, we rely upon unpatented proprietary manufacturing expertise, continuing technological innovation, and other trade secrets to develop and maintain our competitive position. While we generally will enter into confidentiality agreements with our employees and third parties to protect our intellectual property, our confidentiality agreements could be breached and may not provide meaningful protection for our trade secrets or proprietary manufacturing expertise. In addition, adequate remedies may not be available in the event of unauthorized use or disclosure of our trade secrets or manufacturing expertise. Violations by others of our confidentiality agreements and the loss of employees who have specialized knowledge and expertise could harm our competitive position and cause our sales and operating results to decline as a result of increased competition.

In addition, we rely on both registered and unregistered trademarks to protect our name and brands.  We can provide no assurance that our pending trademark applications will be approved. Failure by us to adequately maintain the quality of our products and services associated with our trademarks or any loss to the distinctiveness of our trademarks may cause us to lose certain trademark protection, which could result in the loss of goodwill and brand recognition in relation to our name and products. In addition, successful third-party challenges to the use of any of our trademarks may require us to rebrand our business or certain products or services associated therewith.

The failure of our patents, applicable intellectual property law, or our confidentiality agreements to protect our intellectual property and other proprietary information, including our know-how and innovations relating to processes, apparatuses, technology, trade secrets, trade names and proprietary manufacturing expertise, methods, and compounds, or if we are unsuccessful in our judicial enforcement proceedings, could have a material adverse effect on our competitive advantages, business, financial condition, and results of operations, and could require us to devote resources to advertising and marketing these new brands. Further, we can provide no assurance that competitors will not infringe our trademarks or patents, or that we will have adequate resources to enforce our trademarks or patents.

From time to time, competitors challenge the validity of our patents and trademarks, and we challenge the validity of their patents and trademarks. Further, our competitors may circumvent our patents or our patents may not be of sufficient scope or strength to provide us with meaningful protection or commercial advantage. We cannot be certain either of successfully defending the validity of our patents and trademarks or of invalidating patents and trademarks of our competitors. Additionally, our patents will all eventually expire, after which we will not be able to prevent our competitors from using our previously patented technologies, which could materially adversely affect any competitive advantage we have stemming from those products and technologies. We also cannot assure that competitors will not infringe our patents, or that we will have adequate resources to enforce our patents.

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Our efforts to protect our intellectual property may be less effective in some countries where intellectual property rights are not as well protected as in Germany or the United States and changes in patent laws or their interpretations could diminish the value of patents in general, thereby impairing our ability to protect our products.

The laws of some countries regarding trademark, patent, copyright, and other intellectual property rights also do not protect proprietary rights to the same degree as the laws of Germany or the United States and there is a risk that our ability to protect our proprietary rights may not be adequate in these countries. Many companies have encountered significant problems in protecting their proprietary rights against copying or infringement in such countries, some of which are countries in which we intend to operate or to sell our products. In particular, the application of laws governing intellectual property rights in China, where we operate, has historically been less effective than those in other jurisdictions, mainly due to the lack of procedural rules for discovery of evidence, low damage awards, and low rates of criminal penalties against intellectual rights infringements. Accordingly, protection of intellectual property rights in China may not be as effective as other countries. Furthermore, the policing of unauthorized use of proprietary technology is difficult and costly, and we may need to commence and become involved in costly and lengthy proceedings to enforce or defend patents issued to us or determine the enforceability, scope, and validity of our proprietary rights or those of others. The experience and capabilities of different courts in handling intellectual property related matters vary, and outcomes are unpredictable. Therefore, it could involve substantial risks to us. If we are unable to adequately protect our intellectual property rights in China or elsewhere, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.

In addition, our competitors in China and these other countries may independently develop similar technology or duplicate our products, even if unauthorized, which could potentially reduce our sales in these countries and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. While we generally consider applying for patents in those countries where we intend to make, have made, use, or sell patented products, we may not accurately assess all the countries where patent protection will ultimately be desirable. If we fail to timely file a patent application in any such country, we may be precluded from doing so at a later date. Furthermore, our pending patent applications may be challenged by third parties and may not be issued by the applicable patent offices as patents. We also cannot assure you that the patents issued as a result of our foreign patent applications will have the same scope of coverage as our German, European or U.S. patents. It is possible that only a limited number of the pending patent applications will result in issued patents, which may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We may not be able to prevent others from unauthorized use of our intellectual property, which could harm our business and competitive position. We rely on a combination of patents, trade secrets (including know-how), employee and third-party nondisclosure agreements, copyrights, trademarks, intellectual property licenses, and other contractual rights to establish and protect our rights in our technology. Despite our  efforts to protect our proprietary rights, third parties may attempt to copy or otherwise obtain and use our intellectual property or seek court declarations that they do not infringe upon our intellectual property rights or those rights are not enforceable. Monitoring unauthorized use of our intellectual property is difficult and costly, and the steps we have taken or will take are aimed to prevent misappropriation. From time to time, we may have to resort to litigation to enforce our intellectual property rights, which could result in substantial costs and diversion of our resources, including significant amounts of time from our key executives and management, and may not have the desired outcome.

Filing, prosecuting, and defending patents covering our products throughout the world would be prohibitively expensive. Competitors may use our technologies in jurisdictions where we have not obtained patent or other intellectual property protection to develop their own products and, further, may export otherwise infringing products to territories where we may have or obtain patent or other intellectual property protection, but where patent or other intellectual property enforcement is not as strong as that in Germany or the United States. These unauthorized products may compete with our products in such jurisdictions and take away our market share where we do not have any issued or licensed patents or other intellectual property protection and any future patent claims or other intellectual property rights may not be effective or sufficient to prevent them from so competing.

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Our ability to protect and enforce our intellectual property rights may be further adversely affected by unforeseen changes in intellectual property laws. In general, changes in patent laws or their interpretations, including in the United States, Germany or other countries where available protections are generally stronger, could diminish the value of our patents, thereby impairing our ability to protect our products. This could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We may be subject to claims that our employees, consultants or independent contractors have infringed, misappropriated or otherwise violated the intellectual property of a third party, including trade secrets or know- how of their former employers or other third parties.

We may be subject to claims that our employees or consultants have wrongfully used for our benefit or disclosed to us confidential information of third parties. We employ individuals who were previously employed at other companies, or at research institutions. Some of these employees, consultants and contractors may have executed proprietary rights, non-disclosure and non-competition agreements in connection with such previous employment. Although we try to ensure that our employees and consultants do not use the intellectual property rights, proprietary information, know-how or trade secrets of others in their work for us and seek to protect our ownership of intellectual property rights by ensuring that our agreements with employees, collaborators, and other third parties with whom we do business include provisions requiring such parties to assign rights in inventions to us, we may be subject to claims that we or our employees, consultants or independent contractors have inadvertently or otherwise used or disclosed confidential information of our employees’ former employers or other third parties. To the extent that our employees, consultants or contractors use intellectual property rights or proprietary information owned by others in their work for us, disputes may arise as to the rights in any related or resulting know-how and inventions. We may also be subject to claims that former employers or other third parties have an ownership interest in our patents or other intellectual property or proprietary rights. Litigation may be necessary to defend against any of these claims. There is no guarantee of success in defending these claims, and if we fail in defending any such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights, such as exclusive ownership of, or right to use, valuable intellectual property. In addition, we may lose personnel as a result of such claims and any such litigation, or the threat thereof, may adversely affect our ability to hire employees or contract with independent contractors. Even if we are successful, litigation could result in substantial cost and be a distraction to our management and other employees.

If we fail to validly execute invention assignment agreements with our employees and contractors involved in the development of intellectual property, the value of our products, business and competitive position may be harmed. Our patent rights and other intellectual property may also be subject to priority, ownership or inventorship disputes, interferences, and similar proceedings.

To maintain the confidentiality of our trade secrets, proprietary information and other intellectual property rights, we have certain confidentiality and invention assignment provisions in place with our employees, consultants, suppliers, contract manufacturers, collaborators and others. However, we may not enter into such agreements with each party that may have or have had access to our trade secrets or proprietary technology and processes or who conceives or develops intellectual property rights that we regard as our own. Moreover, even when we obtain agreements assigning intellectual property to us, the assignment of intellectual property rights may not be self-executing, and we may be forced to bring claims against third parties or defend claims that they may bring against us to determine the ownership of what we regard as our intellectual property. There can be no assurance that such agreements and provisions are in place in all instances that may be needed or that where they are in place they will be upheld in the face of a potential challenge, that other parties will not breach their agreements with us or that we will have adequate remedies to address any breach.

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We may also be subject to claims that former employees, collaborators, or other third parties have an interest in our current or future patents and patent applications or other intellectual property rights, including as an inventor or co-inventor. If we are unable to obtain an exclusive license to any such third-party co- owners’ interest in such patents and patent applications, such co-owners rights may be subject, or in the future subject, to assignment or license to other third parties, including competitors. In addition, we may need the cooperation of any such co-owners to enforce any such patents and any patents issuing from such patent applications against third parties, and such cooperation may not be provided. Additionally, we may be subject to claims from third parties challenging our ownership interest in or inventorship of intellectual property we regard as our own, for example, based on claims that our agreements with employees or consultants obligating them to assign intellectual property rights to us are ineffective or in conflict with prior or competing contractual obligations to assign inventions to another employer, to a former employer, or to another person or entity, despite the inclusion of valid, present-tense intellectual property assignment obligations. Litigation may be necessary to defend against claims, and it may be necessary or we may desire to enter into a license to settle any such claim.

If we or our licensors are unsuccessful in any priority, validity (including any patent oppositions), ownership or inventorship disputes to which we or they are subject, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights through the loss of one or more of our patents, or such patent claims may be narrowed, invalidated, or held unenforceable, or through loss of exclusive ownership of or the exclusive right to use our owned or in-licensed patents. In the event of loss of patent rights as a result of any of  these disputes, we may be required to obtain and maintain licenses from third parties, including parties involved in any such interference proceedings or other priority or inventorship disputes. Such licenses may not be available on commercially reasonable terms or at all, or may be non-exclusive. If we are unable to obtain and maintain such licenses, we may need to cease the development, manufacture, and commercialization of one or more of the products we may develop. An inability to incorporate technologies, features or other intellectual property that are important or essential to our products could have a material adverse effect on our business and competitive position. The loss of exclusivity or the narrowing of our patent claims could limit our ability to stop others from using or commercializing similar or identical technology and products. Even if we are successful in priority, inventorship or ownership disputes, such disputes could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management and other employees. Any litigation or the threat thereof may adversely affect our ability to hire employees or contract with independent sales representatives. Any of the foregoing could result in a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or prospects.

Our patent applications may not be successful, which may have a material adverse effect on our ability to prevent others from commercially exploiting products similar to ours.

We are currently in the process of patenting the technology for embedded traces which is the next level technology for high-end PCBs & Substrates. While some parts of the patents have gone through, the official process for all the technology is not yet completed. We believe we are the only participant in the market that is currently able to supply equipment for ET production.

For this technology or for any other technology for which we have filed, or in the future may file, a particular patent application, we cannot be certain that we are the first inventor of the subject matter. Moreover, we cannot be certain if we are the first party to file such a patent application or that our application will ultimately be successful. If another party has filed a patent application for the same subject matter as we have, or similar subject matter is otherwise publicly disclosed, we may not be entitled to the protection sought by the patent application. Further, the scope of protection of issued patent claims is often difficult to determine. As a result, we cannot be certain that a patent, for which an application was filed, will actually be issued, or that our issued patents will afford protection against competitors with similar technology or will cover certain aspects of our products. In addition, our competitors may design around our issued patents, which may adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition or operating results.

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As our patents may expire and may not be extended, our patent applications may not be granted and our patent rights may be contested, circumvented, invalidated or limited in scope, our patent rights may not protect us effectively. In particular, we may not be able to prevent others from developing or exploiting competing technologies.

We cannot assure you that we will be granted patents pursuant to our pending applications or those we plan to file in the future. Even if our patent applications succeed and we are issued patents in accordance with them, these patents could be contested, circumvented or invalidated in the future. In addition, the rights granted under any issued patents may not provide us with meaningful protection or competitive advantages. The claims under any patents that issue from our patent applications may not be broad enough to prevent others from developing technologies that are similar or that achieve results similar to ours. The intellectual property rights of others could also bar us from licensing and exploiting any patents that issue from our pending applications. Numerous patents and pending patent applications owned by others exist in the fields in which we have developed and are developing our technology. These patents and patent applications  might have priority over our patent applications and could result in refusal or invalidation of our patent applications. Finally, in addition to those who may claim priority, any of our existing or pending patents may also be challenged by others on the basis that they are otherwise invalid or unenforceable.

We may need to defend ourselves against patent or trademark infringement claims, which may be time- consuming and would cause us to incur substantial costs.

Companies, organizations, or individuals, including our competitors, may hold or obtain patents, trademarks or other proprietary rights that would prevent, limit or interfere with our ability to make, use, develop, sell, leasing or market our products, which could make it more difficult for us to operate our business. As the number of products and services in our markets increases and the functionality of  these products and services further overlaps, we may become increasingly subject to claims by a third party that our products and services infringe such party’s intellectual property rights.

From time to time, we may receive communications from holders of patents (including non-practicing entities or other patent licensing organizations), trademarks or other intellectual property regarding their proprietary rights. Companies holding patents or other intellectual property rights may bring suits alleging infringement of such rights or otherwise assert their rights and urge us to take licenses. In addition, there is a growing occurrence of patent suits being brought by organizations that use patents to generate revenues without manufacturing, promoting or marketing products, or investing in R&D in bringing products to markets. These organizations continue to be active and target whole industries as defendants. We may not prevail in any such litigation given the complex technical issues and inherent uncertainties in intellectual property litigation.

In the event of a successful claim of infringement against us and our failure or inability to obtain a license to the infringed technology or other intellectual property right, our business, prospects, operating results and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected. In addition, any litigation or claims, whether or not valid, could result in substantial costs, negative publicity and diversion of resources and management attention. Further, we may be required to compensate the third-party bringing the suit either by paying a lump sum or ongoing license fees to be able to continue selling a particular product or service. This type of compensation could be significant. We might also be prevented or enjoined by a court from continuing to provide the affected product or service and may be forced to significantly increase our development efforts and resources to redesign such product or service. We may also be required to defend or indemnify any customers who have been sued for allegedly infringing a third-party’s patent in connection with using one of our products or services. Responding to intellectual property claims, regardless of the validity, can be time-consuming for our personnel and management, result in costly litigation, cause product shipment delays, and harm our reputation, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

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Being a Public Company listed on a U.S. Stock Exchange

We will need to improve our operational and financial systems to support our expected growth, increasingly complex business arrangements, and rules governing revenue and expense recognition and any inability to do so will adversely affect our billing and reporting.

To manage the expected growth of our operations and increasing complexity, we will need to improve our operational and financial systems, procedures, and controls and continue to increase systems automation to reduce reliance on manual operations. Any inability to do so will affect our manufacturing operations, customer billing and reporting. Our current and planned systems, procedures and controls may not be adequate to support our complex arrangements and the rules governing revenue and expense recognition for our future operations and expected growth. Delays or problems associated with any improvement or expansion of our operational and financial systems and controls could adversely affect our relationships with our customers, cause harm to our reputation and brand and could also result in errors in our financial and other reporting. We expect that complying with these rules and regulations will substantially increase our legal and financial compliance costs and will make some activities more time-consuming and costly. The increased costs will increase our net loss. We cannot predict or estimate the amount or timing of additional costs we may incur to respond to these requirements.

If Schmid is unable to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting, it may not be able to accurately report its financial results in a timely manner, which may adversely affect investor confidence in the company and materially and adversely affect its business and operating results.

Schmid's management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting, as defined in the Exchange Act Rule 13a-15(f). Schmid's internal control over financial reporting is designed to provide reasonable assurance to its management and board of directors regarding the preparation and fair presentation of published financial statements.

A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of Schmid's annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented, or detected and corrected on a timely basis. Schmid's annual report for the year ended December 31, 2023, identified two material weaknesses as of December 31, 2023. One related to the fact that Schmid did not have an adequate number of individuals within its accounting and financial reporting function with sufficient training and experience in IFRS and SEC reporting standards, including revenue recognition, accounting for financial instruments, income taxes, leases, and the consolidated statement of cash flows. A second because Schmid did not design and implement effective controls over certain general information technology controls for IT systems that are relevant to the preparation of the financial statements. As a result, a reasonable possibility exists that the Company’s business process controls that depend on the completeness and accuracy of financial information generated by these IT systems will not prevent or detect a material misstatement on a timely basis.

There can be no guarantee that any future possible weaknesses will be identified and addressed through current internal controls and procedures. In such case, Schmid may be unable to maintain compliance with securities law requirements regarding timely filing of periodic reports in addition to applicable stock exchange listing requirements or investors may lose confidence in Schmid's financial reporting and its stock price may decline as a result.

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We are a “foreign private issuer” and a “controlled company” within the meaning of the rules of the stock exchange on which we intend to list our common shares and, as a result, expect to qualify for, and intend to rely on, exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements. You will not have the same protections afforded to shareholders of companies that are subject to such requirements.

The corporate governance rules of the stock exchange on which we intend to list our common shares require listed companies to have, among other things, a majority of independent board members and independent director oversight of executive compensation, nomination of directors and corporate governance matters. While we expect to abide by the rules applicable to independent directors, by having a board of directors consisting of a majority of independent directors, as a foreign private issuer, we are permitted to, and we may, follow home country practice in lieu of the above requirements, subject to certain exceptions. As long as we would rely on the foreign private issuer exemption for certain of these corporate governance standards, a majority of our Board are not required to be independent directors and our Compensation Committee and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee are not required to be composed entirely of independent directors. In that case, management oversight may be more limited than if we were subject to all the corporate governance standards of the stock exchange on which we intend to list our common shares.

Following the consummation of this offering, Anette Schmid and Christian Schmid will continue to control a majority of the voting power of our outstanding common shares. As a result, we will be a “controlled company” within the meaning of the corporate governance standards of the stock exchange on which we intend to list our common shares. Under these rules, a company of which more than 50% of the voting power is held by an individual, group or another company is a “controlled company” and may elect not to comply with certain corporate governance requirements, including:

In the event we no longer qualify as a foreign private issuer, we may utilize these exemptions if we continue to qualify as a “controlled company.” If we were to utilize the controlled company exemption, we will not have a majority of independent directors and our Nominating and Corporate Governance and Compensation Committees will not consist entirely of independent directors and such committees will not be subject to annual performance evaluations. Accordingly, you will not have the same protections afforded to shareholders of companies that are subject to all the corporate governance requirements of the stock exchange on which we list our common shares.

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We will incur significant expenses and devote other significant resources and management time as a result of being a public company, which may negatively impact our financial performance and could cause our results of operations and financial condition to suffer.

We will incur significant legal, accounting, insurance and other expenses as a result of being a public company. We are subject to rules outlined by the SEC, NASDAQ and requirements under Dutch corporate law. We expect that compliance with these laws, rules and regulations and the move from a private to a public company will substantially increase our expenses, including our legal, accounting and information technology costs and expenses, and make some activities more time consuming and costly, and these new obligations will require attention from our executive officers and senior management and could divert their attention away from the day-to-day management of our business. We also expect these laws, rules and regulations and the move from a private to a public company to make it more costly for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance, and we may be required to accept reduced policy limits and coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain the same or similar coverage. Due to increased risks and exposure it may be more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified persons to serve on our board of directors or as officers. As a result of the foregoing, we expect a substantial increase in legal, accounting, insurance and certain other expenses in the future, which will negatively impact our financial performance and could cause our results of operations and financial condition to suffer. Furthermore, if we are unable to satisfy our obligations as a public company, we could be subject to delisting of our shares, fines, sanctions and other regulatory action and potentially civil litigation, which could adversely impact our business, results of operation, financial condition and the price of our shares.

A liquid market for our shares may not develop and/or persist.

Prior to the Business Combination which concluded on April 30, 2024, there has been no public market for the shares of Schmid. An active trading market for the shares may never develop or, if developed, it may not be sustained. You may be unable to sell your shares unless a market can be established and sustained. This risk will be exacerbated if there is a high level of redemptions of the Pegasus shares in connection with the closing of the Business Combination. Fluctuations in the price of the shares could contribute to the loss of all or part of your investment. The trading price of the shares could be volatile and subject to wide fluctuations in response to various factors.

Our failure to meet continued listing requirements could result in a delisting of our shares.

The NASDAQ requires companies to fulfill specific requirements in order for their shares to continue to be listed. If our common shares are delisted from the NASDAQ at some later date, our shareholders could find it difficult to sell our common shares. In addition, if our common shares are delisted at some later date, we may have our common shares quoted on the Bulletin Board or in the “pink sheets” maintained by the National Quotation Bureau, Inc. The Bulletin Board and the “pink sheets” are generally considered to be less efficient markets than the NASDAQ. In addition, if our common shares are not so listed or are delisted at some later date, our common shares may be subject to the “penny stock” regulations. These rules impose additional sales practice requirements on broker-dealers that sell low-priced securities to persons other than established customers and institutional accredited investors and require the delivery of a disclosure schedule explaining the nature and risks of the penny stock market. As a result, the ability or willingness of broker-dealers to sell or make a market in our common shares might decline. If our common shares are delisted at some later date or become subject to the penny stock regulations, it is likely that the price of our common shares would decline and that our shareholders would find it difficult to sell their shares.

If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about our business or publish negative reports about our business, our share price and trading volume could decline.

The trading market for our shares may depend on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business. Currently, we do not have any analyst coverage and may not obtain analyst coverage in the future. In the event we obtain analyst coverage, we will not have any control over such analysts. If one or more of the analysts who will cover Schmid downgrade our shares or change their opinion of our shares, our share price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of Schmid or fail to regularly publish reports on Schmid we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which could cause our share price or trading volume to decline.

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We are an “emerging growth company,” and our reduced SEC reporting requirements may make our shares less attractive to investors.

We are an “emerging growth company” as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (“JOBS Act”). We will remain an “emerging growth company” until the earliest to occur of (i) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the closing of the Business Combination, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of Schmid shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the last business day of our prior second fiscal quarter, and (ii) the date on which we issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt during the prior three-year period. We intend to take advantage of exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to most other public companies, such  as an exemption from the provisions of Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requiring our independent registered public accounting firm provide an attestation report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting and reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. We cannot predict if investors will find our shares less attractive because we intend to rely on certain of these exemptions and benefits under the JOBS Act. If some investors find our shares less attractive as a result, there may be a less active, liquid and/or orderly trading market for our shares and the market price and trading volume of our shares may be more volatile and decline significantly.

Compliance obligations under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may require substantial financial and management resources and shareholders may have fewer advantages until we cease to be an emerging growth company.

As indicated above, prior to the Business Combination, we were not a publicly reporting company required to comply with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (“Section 404”). Our management may not be able to effectively and timely implement controls and procedures that adequately respond to the increased regulatory compliance and reporting obligations that are applicable to us as a NASDAQ listed company, including the requirement to document and test our internal control over financial reporting so that our management can certify as to the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting. These regulatory compliance and reporting obligations as a public company are likely to place a considerable strain on our financial and management systems, processes and controls, as well as on its personnel. If we are not able to implement the requirements of Section 404, including any additional requirements when we are no longer an emerging growth company, in a timely manner or with adequate compliance, we may not be able to assess whether its internal control over financial reporting is effective, which may subject us to adverse regulatory consequences and could harm investor confidence and the market price of our securities.

As a foreign private issuer, we will be exempt from a number of rules under the U.S. securities laws and will be permitted to file less information with the SEC than a U.S. domestic public company, which may limit the information available to our shareholders.

We are a foreign private issuer, as such term is defined in Rule 405 under the Securities Act. As a foreign private issuer, we will not be subject to all of the disclosure requirements applicable to public companies organized within the United States. For example, we are exempt from certain rules under the Exchange Act that regulate disclosure obligations and procedural requirements related to the solicitation of proxies, consents or authorizations applicable to a security registered under the Exchange Act, including the U.S. proxy rules under Section 14 of the Exchange Act. As long as we are a foreign private issuer, we will not be required to obtain shareholder approval for certain dilutive events, such as the establishment or material amendment of certain equity-based compensation plans, we will not be required to provide detailed executive compensation disclosure in our periodic reports, and we will be exempt from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. In addition, our officers and directors will be exempt from the reporting and “short-swing” profit recovery provisions of Section 16 of the Exchange Act and related rules with respect to their purchases and sales of its securities.

As a foreign private issuer we will not be required to file periodic reports and financial statements with the SEC as frequently or as promptly as U.S. domestic public companies and will not be required to file quarterly reports on Form 10-Q or current reports on Form 8-K under the Exchange Act.

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Also, as a foreign private issuer, we will be permitted to follow home country practice in lieu of certain NASDAQ corporate governance rules, including those that require listed companies to have a majority of independent directors (although all of the members of the audit committee must be independent under the Exchange Act) and independent director oversight of executive compensation, nomination of directors and corporate governance matters; have regularly scheduled executive sessions with only independent directors; and adopt and disclose a code of ethics for directors, officers and employee. Accordingly, our shareholders may not have the same protections afforded to shareholders of listed companies that are subject to all of the applicable corporate governance requirements.

We may lose our foreign private issuer status in the future, which could result in significant additional cost and expense.

We are a “foreign private issuer,” as such term is defined in Rule 405 under the Securities Act. In the future, we would lose our foreign private issuer status if a majority of our shareholders, directors or management are U.S. citizens or residents and we fail to meet additional requirements necessary to avoid loss of foreign private issuer status. Although we have elected to comply with certain U.S. regulatory provisions, our loss of foreign private issuer status would make such provisions mandatory. The regulatory and compliance costs to us under U.S. securities laws as a U.S. domestic issuer may be significantly higher. If we are not a foreign private issuer, we will be required to file periodic reports and registration statements on U.S. domestic issuer forms with the SEC, which are more detailed and extensive than the forms available to a foreign private issuer. For example, the annual report on Form 10-K requires domestic issuers to disclose executive compensation information on an individual basis with specific disclosure regarding the domestic compensation philosophy, objectives, annual total compensation (base salary, bonus, and equity compensation) and potential payments in connection with change in control, retirement, death or disability, while the annual report on Form 20-F permits foreign private issuers to disclose compensation information on an aggregate basis. We will also have to mandatorily comply with U.S. federal proxy requirements, and our officers, directors, and principal shareholders will become subject to the short-swing profit disclosure and recovery provisions of Section 16 of the Exchange Act. We may also be required to modify certain of our policies to comply with good governance practices associated with U.S. domestic issuers. Such conversion and modifications will involve additional costs. In addition, we may lose our ability to rely upon exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements on U.S. stock exchanges that are available to foreign private issuers.

The rights of shareholders in companies subject to Dutch corporate law differ in material respects from the rights of shareholders of corporations incorporated in the United States.

We are a Dutch public company with limited liability (naamloze vennootschap). Our corporate affairs are governed by our articles of association, our internal rules and policies and by the laws governing companies incorporated in the Netherlands. The rights of shareholders may be different from the rights and obligations of shareholders in companies governed by the laws of U.S. jurisdictions. The role of the management board in a Dutch company is also materially different, and cannot be compared to, the role of a board of  directors in a corporation incorporated in the United States. In the performance of their duties, our management board is required by Dutch law to consider the interests of our company and the sustainable success of its business, with an aim to creating sustainable long-term value, taking into account the interests of its shareholders, its employees and other stakeholders of the company, in all cases with due observation of the principles of reasonableness and fairness. It is possible that some of these parties will have interests that are different from, or in addition to, your interests as a shareholder.

We are not obligated to, and do not, comply with all best practice provisions of the Dutch Corporate Governance Code.

We are subject to the Dutch Corporate Governance Code (the “DCGC”). The DCGC contains both principles and best practice provisions on corporate governance that regulate relations between the management board and the general meeting of the shareholder of SCHMID and matters in respect of financial reporting, auditors, disclosure, compliance and enforcement standards. The DCGC is based on a “comply or explain” principle. Accordingly, companies are required to disclose in their annual reports (which are filed in the Netherlands) whether they comply with the provisions of the DCGC. If they do not comply with those provisions (for example, because of a conflicting NASDAQ requirement, we are required to give the reasons for such noncompliance. The DCGC applies to Dutch companies listed on a government-recognized stock exchange, whether in the Netherlands or elsewhere, including the NASDAQ.

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We acknowledge the importance of good corporate governance. However, we do not comply with all the provisions of the DCGC, to a large extent because such provisions conflict with or are inconsistent with the corporate governance rules of the NASDAQ and U.S. securities laws, or because we believe such provisions do not reflect customary practices of global companies listed on the NASDAQ. Any such non-compliance may affect your rights as a shareholder, and you may not have the same level of protection as a shareholder in a Dutch company that fully complies with the DCGC.

Shareholders may not be able to exercise pre-emptive rights and, as a result, may experience substantial dilution upon future issuances of shares.

Shareholders may be restricted or excluded by a resolution proposed by the management and adopted by the Extraordinary General Meeting of shareholders to exercise preemptive rights in case of further issuances of shares. Shareholders may be restricted or excluded by a resolution proposed by the management and adopted by the General Meeting to exercise pre-emptive rights in case of further issuances of shares.

Dividend Policy

Under Dutch law, we may only pay dividends to the extent our shareholders’ equity (eigen vermogen) exceeds the sum of the issued share capital plus the reserves which must be maintained by Dutch law or by our articles of association and (if it concerns a distribution of profits) after adoption of the annual accounts by our General Meeting from which it appears that such distribution is allowed. Subject to such restrictions, any future determination to pay dividends will be at the discretion of our Board and will depend on a number of factors, including our results of operations, earnings, cash flow, financial condition, future prospects, contractual restrictions, capital investment requirements, restrictions imposed by applicable law and other factors considered relevant by our Board.

Our Board may decide that all or part of our remaining profits shall be added to our reserves. After such reservation, any remaining profit will be at the disposal of the General Meeting at the proposal of our Board, subject to the applicable restrictions of Dutch law. Our Board is permitted, subject to certain requirements, to declare interim dividends without the approval of the General Meeting. Unless our Board sets another date for payment, dividends and other distributions will be made payable pursuant to a resolution of our Board within four (4) weeks after adoption. Claims for payment of dividends and other distributions not made within five years from the date that such dividends or distributions became due for payment will lapse, and any such amounts will be considered to have been forfeited to SCHMID (verjaring).

Investors may have difficulty enforcing civil liabilities against us or the members of our management and our board.

SCHMID is incorporated in the Netherlands, and we expect to conduct most of our operations in Germany or outside of the United States through our subsidiaries. A majority of our management and our directors are not United States residents and do not have significant assets in the United States, and the majority of our assets are located outside the United States. As a result, it may not be possible, or may be very difficult, to serve process on company representatives or the company in the United States, or to enforce judgments obtained in U.S. courts against our representatives or SCHMID based on civil liability provisions of the securities laws of the United States. There is no treaty between the United States and the Netherlands for the mutual recognition and enforcement of judgments (other than arbitration awards) in civil and commercial matters. Therefore, a final judgment for the payment of money rendered by any federal or state court in the United States based on civil liability, whether or not predicated solely upon the U.S. federal securities laws, would not be enforceable in the Netherlands unless the underlying claim is re-litigated before a Dutch court of competent jurisdiction. U.S. investors will be unable to enforce any judgments obtained in U.S. courts in civil and commercial matters, including judgments under the U.S. federal securities laws, against us, members of our management and our directors. In addition, there is doubt as to whether a Dutch court would impose civil liability on us or the members of our management or our directors in an original action predicated solely upon the U.S. federal securities laws brought in a court of competent jurisdiction in the Netherlands against us or our management or directors.

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Dutch, German and European insolvency laws are substantially different from U.S. insolvency laws and may offer our shareholders less protection than they would have under U.S. insolvency laws.

As a Dutch public limited liability company and as a company with its ‘center of main interest’ in Germany, we are subject to Dutch and German insolvency laws in the event any insolvency proceedings are initiated against us including, among other things, Regulation (EU) 2015/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of May 20, 2015 on insolvency proceedings, as amended. Should courts in another European country determine that the insolvency laws of that country apply to us in accordance with and subject to such EU regulations, the courts in that country could have jurisdiction over the insolvency proceedings initiated against us. Insolvency laws in Germany, the Netherlands or the relevant other European country, if any, may offer our shareholders less protection than they would have under U.S. insolvency laws and make it more difficult for our shareholders to recover the amount they could expect to recover in a liquidation under U.S. insolvency laws.

Shareholders may be subject to limitations on transfer of their shares.

Our shares are transferable on the transfer agent’s books. However, the transfer agent may close its transfer books at any time or from time to time when it deems expedient in connection with the performance of its duties. In addition, the transfer agent may refuse to deliver, transfer or register transfers of shares generally when our books or the transfer agent’s books are closed, or at any time if we or the transfer agent deem it advisable to do so because of any requirement of law or of any government or governmental body, or under any provision of the deposit agreement, or for any other reason.

Our Articles of Association include sole and exclusive forum provisions.

The sole and exclusive forum for any action, proceeding or claim against us under the Securities Act, the Exchange Act or any claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum, relating to our Articles of Association, shall be the federal district courts of the United States of America. This forum selection provision in our Articles of Association may limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us. It is also  possible that, notwithstanding the forum selection clause included in our Articles of Association, a court could rule that such a provision is inapplicable or unenforceable. We further note that investors cannot waive compliance with US federal securities laws and rules or regulations thereunder.

Risks Related to Taxes

Our tax residency might change if Germany ratifies the MLI (as defined below) and changes its provisional election on the corporate residence tie-breaker.

Our tax residency in Germany for purposes of the convention between Germany and the Netherlands for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income (the “German-Dutch tax treaty”) is subject to the application of the provisions on tax residency as stipulated in the German-Dutch tax treaty as effective as of the date of this Annual Report.

However, among others treaties, Germany and the Netherlands entered into a Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (“MLI”). The MLI operates to amend bilateral tax treaties between participating states, provided there is a match between certain options made by the relevant states. The MLI provides, amongst others, for an amendment of relevant treaty rules regarding tax residency for purposes of relevant tax treaties. According to its elections, the Netherlands applies such deviating rules on tax residency, i.e., it did not opt out. However, currently, the MLI is not applicable between the Netherlands and Germany, because, inter alia, Germany has not included the German- Dutch tax treaty in the list of reservations and notifications attached to the Implementation Act of the MLI which entered into force on April 1, 2021. This is in line with the current draft of the MLI Application Law (Gesetz zur Anwendung des Mehrseitigen Übereinkommens vom 24.11.2016) dated 15 December 2023, which does not forsee any amendments to the German-Dutch tax treaty.

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Our ability to utilize our net operating loss and tax credit carryforwards to offset future taxable income may be subject to certain limitations, including losses as a result of the Business Combination.

We have incurred and are likely to continue incurring significant tax losses, which may be limited in their usability under German and other tax laws, in particular following significant shareholder changes. Although we do not expect the Business Combination to result in a forfeiture of our German tax loss attributes, the realization of future tax savings from such tax loss attributes depends on the tax authorities’ continued willingness to accept them and our ability to generate future taxable income in Germany against which such losses can be offset.

Future changes to tax laws could materially and adversely affect us and reduce net returns to our shareholders.

Our tax treatment is subject to changes in tax laws, regulations, and treaties, or the interpretation thereof, tax policy initiatives and reforms under consideration, and the practices of tax authorities in jurisdictions in which we operate. The income and other tax rules in the jurisdictions in which we operate are constantly under review by taxing authorities and other governmental bodies. Changes to tax laws (which may have retroactive application) could adversely affect us or our shareholders. The new Global Minimum Tax regime, which has already been implemented in Germany with effect from 31st of December 2023, may lead to an increase of our overall tax burden.

We are unable to predict what tax proposals may be proposed or enacted in the future or what effect such changes would have on our business, but such changes, to the extent they are brought into tax legislation, regulations, policies or practices, could affect our financial position overall or our effective tax rates in the future in countries where we have operations and where we are organized or deemed a resident for tax purposes, and increase the complexity, burden, and cost of tax compliance.

We may be or become a PFIC, which could result in adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences to U.S. holders of Class A Shares or Public Warrants.

In general, a non-U.S. corporation, such as us, will be a passive foreign investment company (“PFIC”) for U.S. federal income tax purposes in any taxable year in which, after applying relevant look-through rules with respect to the income and assets of its subsidiaries, (i) 75% or more of its gross income is passive income, and/or (ii) 50% or more of the value of its assets (generally based on the quarterly average of the value of its assets during such year) is attributable to assets, including cash, that produce passive income or are held for the production of passive income. Passive income generally includes dividends, interest, certain royalties and rents, annuities, net gains from the sale or exchange of property producing such income and net foreign currency gains.

Based on the expected composition of our gross assets and income and the manner in which we expect to operate our business in 2024 and future years, we do not expect to be classified as a PFIC for U.S. federal income tax purposes for our 2024 taxable year or in the foreseeable future. However, whether we are a PFIC is a factual determination made annually, and our status could change depending, among other things, upon changes in the composition and relative value of our gross receipts and assets. Accordingly, there can be no assurances that we will not be a PFIC for our 2024 taxable year or any future taxable years.

If we are a PFIC for any taxable year during which a U.S. holder owns Class A Shares, the U.S. holder generally will be subject to adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences and additional reporting requirements. U.S. holders of Class A Shares and Public Warrants should consult their tax advisors regarding the application of the PFIC rules to us and the risks of investing in a company that may be a PFIC. See “Certain Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations—Application of the PFIC Rules to Schmid Securities.”

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ITEM 4. INFORMATION ON THE COMPANY

A. History and Development of the Company

Pegasus TopCo B.V. was incorporated as a Dutch private limited liability corporation (besloten vennootschap met beperkte aansprakelijkheid) on February 7, 2023, and converted to a Dutch public limited liability company (naamloze vennootschap) and renamed SCHMID Group N.V. on April 30, 2024. As part of the Business Combination, the Company changed its legal form to a public limited liability company (naamloze vennootschap). The address of the registered office of the Company is Robert-Bosch-Str. 32-36, 72250 Freudenstadt, Germany, and the telephone number of Schmid Group is +49 7441 538 0.

See “Explanatory Note” in this Report for additional information regarding SCHMID Group and the Business Combination.

The Company is subject to certain of the informational filing requirements of the Exchange Act. Since the Company is a “foreign private issuer”, it is exempt from the rules and regulations under the Exchange Act prescribing the furnishing and content of proxy statements, and the officers, directors and principal shareholders of the Company are exempt from the reporting and “short-swing” profit recovery provisions contained in Section 16 of the Exchange Act with respect to their purchase and sale of Schmid Group Ordinary Shares. In addition, Schmid Group is not required to file reports and financial statements with the SEC as frequently or as promptly as U.S. public companies whose securities are registered under the Exchange Act. However, Schmid Group is required to file with the SEC an Annual Report on Form 20-F containing financial statements audited by an independent accounting firm. The SEC also maintains a website at http://www.sec.gov that contains reports and other information that Schmid Group files with or furnishes electronically to the SEC.

The website address of the Company is https://schmid-group.com/. The information contained on the website does not form a part of, and is not incorporated by reference into, this Report.

All trademarks, service marks and trade names appearing in this Annual Report are the property of their respective holders. Use or display by us of other parties’ trademarks, trade dress or products in this Annual Report is not intended to, and does not, imply a relationship with, or endorsements or sponsorship of, us by the trademark or trade dress owners.

Information on the Company’s principal capital expenditures and divestitures is included below under “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects.”

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B. Business Overview

Introduction

We are a global supplier of equipment, software and services for various industries such as printed circuit board (“PCB”), substrate manufacturing, photovoltaics, and glass and energy storage with a focus on the highest end of this market in terms of technology and performance. We are a long-established, fifth- generation family-controlled business that was founded in 1864 in Freudenstadt, Germany as an iron foundry and has a tradition of being at forefront of technology. Throughout the almost 160 years of our operations, we have maintained sustainable operations by developing our products following trends on the market. We have been developing machines for electronics industry since the 1960s, photovoltaics solutions since the early 2000s and energy storage for the last seven years. We focus on a modular product portfolio of machinery to use in the manufacturing of high-end PCB equipment and semiconductor packaging devices which includes common flexible circuit fabrication techniques such as subtractive, semi-additive processes (“SAP”) and modified semi additive processes (“mSAP”). We are a global supplier of capital equipment, software and services for the PCB and substrate manufacturing industry. We focus on the highest end of the market in terms of technology and performance. We do not only develop production techniques and build machines ourselves, we are also extensively working with our customers on joint research & development projects for the next generation of electronics and photovoltaics products. We produce our products in two manufacturing sites, one in Germany and one in China. In addition, we have built up an extensive service and sales network in five centers in the US, Europe, and Asia. In addition to our sale and service centers and two manufacturing sites, in South Korea we also work with our partners in the SCHMID Avaco Korea, Co. Ltd. which we account for using the equity method. We also provide customer service through which we assist our customers with machinery and software upgrades, spare parts, logistics, customer training in multiple languages, on-site management, maintenance contracts and project management.

We have developed and applied for patents for the embedded traces (“ET”), PCB and substrate production processes that allow a significant increase in manufacturing precision as well as enhanced design features while also achieving cost savings compared to traditional processes and reduce the CO2 emissions of the overall production processes. We believe that our ET technology will gain a significant share of the high- end PCB and substrate market as it has substantial advantages in technology capabilities, cost and to reduce emissions as well as water consumption for production processes (greener production processes). We believe these innovative production processes create a sustainable competitive advantage that helps us contract with new customers and allows us to continue to grow our market share and capitalize on the overall positive market growth trends.

Our customers include large, global original equipment manufacturer (OEMs) from the semi- conductor and consumer electronics industry and companies that are part of the supply chain of such global companies.

We have a research and development focused business model. We develop and build innovative machines and systems for wet- & vacuum processing in various industries spanning high-end electronics such as PCB and organic packaging, photovoltaics and special glass applications as well as other high-tech industries. We employ more than 150 scientists, engineers and development personnel to focus on new technologies and processes out of a total of approximately 800 employees (by headcount) globally. As a result, we consistently invest a significant amount in R&D. Our science, engineering and development staff work in close collaboration with our customers to jointly develop high-value solutions. Such collaboration may reduce commercial risk, given that solutions are specifically developed for customers. The remainder of our R&D investment is focused on developing next-generation technologies, often as part of a collaborative process with our customers. In addition, we work with universities and leading research institutes such as the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems.

We expect to continue to invest in the future focusing on three primary areas: (i) growth for ET and glass substrate projects, which have higher working capital needs compared to other technologies; (ii) strategic investments in automation solutions, such as the next generation of fully automatic factories; and (iii) software insourcing for semiconductor equipment communication standard (“SECS/GEM”), which can allow for more reliable data exchange and which will allow us to offer our own software as the interface to our customers’ software solutions.

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In fiscal year 2023 we generated €90.2 million in revenues. Our Adjusted EBITDA amounted to €39.1 million in fiscal year 2023. This total Adjusted EBITDA for the fiscal year 2023 has not be adjusted for several “one-off” effects as follows: (i) the €21.4 million reversal of an impairment in relation to the Silicon Group sales, (ii) the two exit bonuses of €9.2 million and (iii) Business Combination related legal, consulting, and other costs of approximately €8.7 million. Adjusted for such one-off effects in 2023, our Adjusted EBITDA would have amounted to €17.2 million.

Our Business Operations

We operate our business by providing machines for industries, including, but not limited to, electronics and photovoltaics, and provide after-sale services to customers across all industries. For all relevant industries which we see as our customer markets, we offer our core products, such as our machines, as well as technology and customer service support to our customers. Although these industries each have varied end-markets and customers, our expertise, high-quality standards and global scale are essential in both areas. Our equipment covers a wide range of production steps.

We leverage our research and development investment and cooperate with our research and development partners (universities and institutes) and our clients as we seek to benefit from technologies, innovations, best practices, and other key learnings across our product portfolio. These efforts often result in innovative strength, allowing us to be at the forefront of technology, with high-quality standards for long-lasting and reliable products to meet customer needs, such as understanding the needs of global electronics OEMs for efficient continuous production of higher spec devices with a reduced environmental footprint. We believe we have a track record of delivering disruptive technology solutions and that our strong, long-lasting relationships with key technology OEMs and other customers in their supply chain will remain the key drivers of demand for both our electronics and photovoltaics products and services in the future.

The following table shows our revenue by country for the fiscal year 2023:

​

Electronics

We generate by far the largest part of our revenues and profits in the electronics market. In this market we sell our machines globally and have a wide regional presence that allows us to serve both large OEM as well as the global electronics supply chain, as demonstrated by our longstanding relationships with our key customers that are leaders in their industry.

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The product portfolio of our electronics business is focused on what we have identified as attractive growth areas of the electronics market that involve technologically advanced production processes. Our modular equipment kit includes equipment for processes such as automation, wet processes (horizontal, vertical and single panel) and vacuum processes. This modular approach to design and manufacturing means that we are using the building kit concept that creates flexibility by using proven components that guarantee high-quality and enable industrial-scale production. Our modular approach to design and manufacturing is also a key advantage in relation to lead times and being able to optimize our cost structure, while maintaining a high level of customization for our customers. Our modular approach supports an increase in the useful life of our equipment by creating a path to upgrades to meet any changes in the needs of our customers after a machine has already been installed and used for several years.

The following graphic provides an overview of our key product lines and the processes where our machines are used (our machines are used in the process steps marked dark blue):

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Customers in Electronics

We work directly with many of the leading global technology companies and are able to satisfy their strict quality requirements. In the electronics market, our customers include well-known manufacturers of computers, mobile phones and tablets as well as the manufacturers of PCB boards and the suppliers of such manufacturers.

We partner with them during their product development processes and closely collaborate to have our products delivered to meet customer specifications as well as customer acceptance tests. We believe our quality commitment and technical competence have helped us establish a strong reputation in the industry, as well as our commitment to innovation and R&D. Through a combination of high-quality solutions and customized on-site management we have demonstrated a successful track record of consistently meeting the needs of our customers which has resulted in long-standing and trusting relationships. We serve some of the largest OEM and PCB/substrate manufacturers in the world and have historical or ongoing joint development projects for future technologies and products.

The ET Process

The ET process is a new way to produce substrates and HDI+ boards. We are currently the only company to offer a full solution, including key equipment and processes to customers in the electronics market for the ET process. In contrast to the standard conventional method of production which uses laser drilling, the ET process uses parallel plasma processing. Traces in ET boards are first embedded in the isolator material and then filled with copper in the already etched embedded structure using a proprietary and highly protected process. This new technology is a fully additive process, allows for flexibility in designing completely new types of 3D structures and can upgrade existing mSAP and SAP deployments. The ET process can also be combined with glass cores allowing for an extension of its use for such products.

The ET technology we have developed allows us to meet customers’ demands that could not be met by traditional PCB manufacturing techniques. For example, ET technology allows us to further miniaturize, increase complexity and incorporate advanced properties by producing better performing PCBs and/or substrates, with narrower line widths, increasing numbers of input and output devices, higher aspect ratios or using new materials, while maintaining acceptable manufacturing efficiency, meeting our customers’ environmental, social and government (“ESG”) goals and maintaining a resilient supply chain.

We provide a specialized equipment portfolio that allows our customers to produce embedded traces. This specialized equipment allows our customers to produce high-end-boards with the best yields at a compelling production cost. ET technology portfolio includes: (i) next generation production equipment which can be used for traditional board concepts typically produced with mSAP and SAP process; (ii) new high-end PCB or substrate which gives the designer of an OEM a new level of flexibility to redesign their products to meet higher performance requirements and (iii) urban, green fabrication facilities concept that allows high flexibility for production of a wider range of boards with one base technology which allows the customers a higher investment security.

The use of ET technology can (i) increase production yields with reduced facility requirements, (ii) enable new 3D packaging solutions that cover ratification intelligence and photonic applications, and (iii) improve the return on customers’ investment by allowing the manufacture of boards from HDI+ to substrate on the same equipment. Unlike with conventional production, ET technology replaces round holes with square holes, allows for 3D connections, increases the amount of copper for better thermal management, has full 3D, coreless and core, and single- and double-sided build up for substrates, optimizes glass substrates and replaces laser drilling with parallel plasma etching processes. The optimized process reduces the roughness and increases the adhesion between layer stacks and is compatible with future high- performance materials. The embedding concepts allow for implementation of chips directly inside the substrates. These advantages allow higher performance final applications such as those being demanded in AI, high-end consumer electronics and certain autonomous driving applications.

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Our management expects that the further penetration of the ET technology in the overall market will lead to a significant increase of the share of capital expenditure spending for a new factory from 30% of equipment spending for a traditional fabrication methods factory to 90% in an ET technology factory. This estimate is an internal management estimate based on the understanding of technical processes required for factory fabrication methods.

In 2023, the ET technology was estimated to only accounted for a small share of the total high-end PCB equipment market. The PCB market is expected to significantly expand in the next three years with ET technology gaining a significant market share starting in 2024 as new factories are expected to switch to ET technology machinery.

In addition to the growth prospects of ET technology, the total addressable market for PCB and substrate equipment in 2022 amounted to approximately $5 billion with an expected industry growth of serviceable addressable high-end PCB market at CAGR 38.3% in the period from 2022 until 2026 in the estimate of the Company based on third-party data by Prismark Partners, the leading source for PCB market data, and industry expert information by a leading international consultancy firm. Within this overall industry there is a shift to the high-end production technologies which are our key target focus.

Photovoltaics

Our business in the photovoltaics market is significantly smaller in terms of revenues compared to our business in the electronics market. However, we have been working on photovoltaics solutions for over 20 years and believe our machinery includes significant advantages for customers compared to processes and machines offered by our competitors. We have also developed solutions that allow photovoltaics to reach high volume at low cost. We are currently aiming to develop this business further and, subject to supportive market and economic conditions, anticipate significant growth in this area, fueled by customer demand, a transition to renewable energy and regional drivers in US, Europe and China.

We are also currently working on developing the next generation of wet process systems for combined alkaline texturing and alkaline polishing equipment as well as an atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition (“APCVD”) that can enable low-cost tunnel oxide passivated contact (“TOPCon”) and integrated back contact (“IBC”) cell manufacturing, amongst others. In addition to silicon based solar cell manufacturing, we also focus on horizontal inline wet process equipment for thin-film solar modules. Our glass know-how from our thin-film business is also used in other glass treatment processes such as glass surface structuring.

Customers in Photovoltaics

We have a customer base consisting of the larger producers and developers of solar cells and thin-film solar modules. For our existing customers we focus on building trusted, long-lasting relationships combined with an emphasis on our know-how. For new customers, we rely on our deep technological know-how as well as on our reliable availability of service personnel through our service hubs. That is coupled with our co- development approach and customer-supported R&D as part of our efforts to ensure the fit of SCHMID machines to an individual customer’s production requirements.

After Sales Services

Through our five service centers located around the world, we focus on offering worldwide customer-oriented services, including on-site management, remote maintenance and diagnosis, customer training and project management at our customers’ facilities.

We also provide customer support services through the provision of spare parts, upgrades, maintenance contracts and ancillary services allowing our customers to benefit from our service network in multiple jurisdictions globally and more than 100 service engineers capable of providing comprehensive on-site service.

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Business Strategies

We aim to continue our technological leadership by investing in product development on an ongoing basis. Our key growth strategy is to drive our revenues in the electronic market as a result of ET adoption in the PCB and substrate market over the next years, thus displacing traditional technologies such as mSAP and SAP. In addition, we aim to grow organically by focusing on an expansion of our product portfolio and increasing the penetration of the high-end PCB and organic substrate market. An additional growth field will be equipment and processes for glass substrate manufacturing. As part of our customer service business, we aim to benefit from economies of scale as the installed base of machinery increases and we as a result can grow revenues for services for our machinery proportionally to the installed base.

We also plan to consider selected strategic acquisitions that are aligned with our technology focus, in particular in the area of software for advanced connectivity and high-end automation.

Overall, we believe our revenue growth will be supported by a number of key trends that should increase the demand for our products such as substrates with higher density, higher frequencies and introduction of new materials all of which will require new production technologies, including:

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Geographically, we aim to further expand into new geographies and regions, in particular in Asia outside of China and in North America. We expect an increase of greenfield projects outside of China with the aim to reduce supply chain risks which have emerged as a concern of our customers after the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of this broader reach to supply customers, we may in the future also add an additional production location in Asia. In the North American market, we have in February 2024 entered into a strategic partnership with Calumet Electronics, a leading American printed circuit board manufacturer pioneering the domestic production of advanced packaging substrates. Through this strategic partnership, we are aligning efforts with Calumet to establish the first-ever US-based advanced substrate facility. We continuously review our geographic footprint to serve our customers and follow them to the locations they are operating in and aim to continue this dynamic approach in the future.

We have recently entered the glass substrate machining market and have offered specific machines in this sector to customers. We consider this technology to be suitable to be implemented at various original equipment manufacturers. Furthermore, it can be used in combination with ET layers.

Another growing market is equipment used for fuel cell production. Using our process know-how, we have been successful adapting our equipment for use in the production of bipolar plates.

Sales and Procurement

Through our sales, engineering, research and development and procurement teams, we combine deep product expertise of our engineering/R&D and procurement experts with our front-line customer-oriented sales staff. Our local presence in key markets ensures proximity to global customers. Our engineering team drives the technical specifications and can also decide on procurement deals with commercial terms. The procurement process is an important element in our overall sales strategy in which technical qualification and quotation are crucial factors for selection. We are present in all our key target markets when it comes to sales and services. While our global central organization for sales and services is located in Germany, our employees located in the countries in which we operate maintain their relationships with key customers.

We purchase local and imported parts, but also commodities. We have long-standing relationships with our most trusted suppliers and employ specified and diligent processes for qualifying new suppliers. Additionally, we have in-house product development and strict quality control standards that are expected to be followed during production as part of our efforts to ensure our high-quality standards are maintained. While we centrally monitor our purchasing activities, both factories can also make decisions locally in terms of decision making for sourced materials and components.

Research and Development

Our research and development efforts are focused on expanding the market position in all our target markets and to provide high-tech technology solutions for our customers. As a technology-oriented business, we research and develop in our own product-related technology center with 32,000 square feet laboratory and prototyping facility in Freudenstadt.

As part of our activities in basic research, we work with customers and cooperation partners as well as leading research institutes worldwide. In our research projects we undertake and focus on new technologies and research products in the fields of photovoltaics, electronics and energy storage:

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We employ over 150 scientists, researchers and engineers worldwide and have multiple laboratories equipped with state-of-the-art technology and research conditions. Of these 150 employees, our technology center in Freudenstadt alone employs over 30 scientists, researchers and process engineers who carry out research and development work such as testing equipment, developing processes and sampling for customers. We regularly register new patents and as of December 31, 2023 we had more than 100 patents and industrial property rights. Furthermore, we hold several global trade names and trademark registrations and applications for registration, which we consider to be of value in identifying our products.

We benefit from a network of cooperative partners from industry leading institutes such as the Institute of Photovoltaics, the Institute of Solar Energy Research, the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) and the University of Konstanz. We also focus on an efficient transfer from R&D to industrial applications and high-volume manufacturing which is crucial in our industry. Our technology center includes full prototyping capabilities for electronics, photovoltaics and glass applications. In addition, we have lamination, LDI, developing, etching, stripping and other capabilities along with extensive physical and chemical laboratories for basic research and statistical data analyses.

We have created additional opportunity for revenue generation through paid R&D. We expect our licensing revenue to increase due to growing installed base.

Competition

We believe we are well-positioned to compete in our target markets. In PCB high-end equipment, our market is generally consolidated with only a limited number of other major suppliers globally. Among our key competitors are several multinational competitors such as MKS Instruments, Inc., a NASDAQ listed company, but also more regionally operating companies. In the photovoltaics market, we also compete with multinational active companies such as Shenzhen SC New Energy Technology Corp, and depending on the specific applications also several other smaller companies. In other areas, such as machines for the energy sector and other specialty areas, we face a diverse set of competitors who specialize in such specific markets.

Employees

As of December 31, 2023, we had approximately 800 employees (by headcount). The biggest departments are production, engineering, sales and procurement. We have not experienced any work stoppages, slowdowns or other serious labor problems that have materially impeded our business operations.

Health, Safety and Environmental

We are subject to numerous laws and regulations relating to the environmental protection and the health and safety of our employees in multiple jurisdictions in which we operate. We are committed to maintaining compliance with all such applicable legal requirements. We have a strong record of safety and internal controls surrounding the manufacture and implementation of our products and systems and the health of our employees. While we are not subject to the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (Lieferkettensorgfaltspflichtengesetz), we have nevertheless implemented a Code of Conduct for our employees and suppliers that aims to ensure that working conditions in our supply chain are safe and suitable.

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Legal Proceedings

In the general course of business, we sometimes face legal proceedings and claims against us.

Our subsidiary Schmid China Ltd. filed a claim against Beyond Force Company Limited for an outstanding payment due to our subsidiary of RMB 53 million (approximately $7.3 million as of September 2023) plus interest amounting to approximately RMB 21 million (approximately $2.9 million as of September 2023). Beyond Force Company Limited has filed a counterclaim valued at approximately RMB 123 million (approximately $16.9 million as of September 2023). Schmid has challenged the jurisdiction of the local Chinese court in this matter. After the relevant Chinese court dismissed our challenge in relation to whether the local Chinese court has jurisdiction, we filed an appeal, which is currently pending at the High People’s Court of Guangdong Province.

Except for legal actions in China, we are currently not subject to any material litigation or other legal proceedings.

In June 2023, we settled a dispute with a lender. More information is set out in the combined financial statements filed as part of this Annual Report.

C. Organizational Structure

The following diagram depicts our organizational structure as of the date of this Annual Report (including the material subsidiaries):

* SCHMID Group N.V. and XJ Harbour have agreed that XJ Harbour will transfer the approximately 25% of shares held by XJ Harbour in SCHMID Technology Guangdong Co., Ltd. to Gebr. Schmid GmbH in three tranches. For more information, see “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects –C. Material Contracts.”

For a list of SCHMID’s subsidiaries see Exhibit 8.1 "List of Subsidiaries of SCHMID Group N.V." Our headquarters is located in Freudenstadt, Germany and includes one of our two production facilities with our Freudenstadt location focused on the production of machines and equipment for both electronics and photovoltaic business and global customer supply.

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D. Property, Plant and Equipment

In addition, our core research and development activities are located in Freudenstadt including our technology center. We also have a production facility in Zhongshan in China in which we produce machines and equipment for both electronics and photovoltaics with a particular focus on the Chinese market. The production facilities have comparable capacity. We can dynamically shift production between them based on requirements and capacity constraints.

We also maintain further facilities in the United States, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan, which are used primarily for customer service. Further facilities include those with our partners in South Korea which mainly serve as distribution centers and customer service centers. Furthermore, we have distribution partners located in Brazil, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Austria, Israel, India and Japan.

Our partner in Advanced Energy Storage Systems Investment Company, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, was SABIC Investment and Local Content Development Company, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The joint venture with SABIC (Saudi Arabia) has been terminated by mutual agreement in October 2023. The Company has made the strategic decision to relocate the manufacturing and technology development of machinery for vanadium redox flow-based energy storage systems back to Europe. Schmid has already started investigating suitable locations for the newly planned technology and production facility for its storage systems.

ITEM 4A. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

None.

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ITEM 5. OPERATING AND FINANCIAL REVIEW AND PROSPECTS

Following and as a result of the Business Combination, the business of the Schmid Group is conducted through Gebr. Schmid GmbH, its direct, wholly-owned subsidiary, as well as the direct, wholly owned subsidiaries of Schmid.

The following discussion and analysis provides information that our management believes is relevant to an assessment and understanding of Schmid’s combined results of operations and financial condition. The discussion should be read together with the combined audited financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021 and the related notes that are included elsewhere in this Annual Report. The following discussion and analysis is based on Schmid’s combined financial statements prepared in accordance with IFRS and the interpretations of the IFRS Interpretations Committee (IFRS IC) as issued by the IASB. Some of the information contained in this discussion and analysis or set forth elsewhere in this Annual Report, including information with respect to Schmid’s plans and strategy for its business, includes forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties.

Overview

We are a global supplier of equipment, software and services for various industries such as PCB, substrate manufacturing, photovoltaics, and glass and energy storage with a focus on the highest end of this market in terms of technology and performance. We are a long-established, fifth-generation family- controlled business that was founded in 1864 as an iron foundry located in Freudenstadt, Germany and has a tradition of being at the forefront of technology. Throughout the almost 160 years of our operations, we have maintained our operations by developing our products according to trends in the market. We have been developing machines for the electronics industry since the 1960s, and photovoltaic solutions since the early 2000s and energy storage for the last seven years. We focus on a modular product portfolio of machinery used in the manufacturing of high-end PCB equipment and semiconductor packaging devices which includes common flexible circuit fabrication techniques such as subtractive, SAP, and mSAP. We are a global supplier of capital equipment, software and services for the PCB and substrate manufacturing industries. We focus on the highest end of the market in terms of technology and performance. We not only develop production techniques and build machines ourselves, we are also extensively working with our customers on joint research & development projects for the next generation of electronics and photovoltaics products. We produce our products in two manufacturing sites: one in Germany and one in China. In addition, we have built up an extensive service and sales network in five centers in the US, Europe, and Asia. In addition to our sales and service centers and two manufacturing sites, we also work with partners in South Korea. We also provide customer service through which we assist our customers with machinery and software upgrades, spare parts, logistics, customer training in multiple languages, on-site management, maintenance contracts and project management.

Key Factors Affecting Our Results of Operations

We believe that our performance and future success depend on several factors which have affected our previous performance in the periods for which financial information is presented in this Annual Report. These factors include:

Market growth in our key PCB market and ET technology adoption

Our management expects that the further penetration of the ET technology in the overall market will lead to a significant increase of the share of capital expenditure spending for a new factory from 30% of equipment spending for a traditional fabrication methods factory to 90% in an ET technology factory. This estimate is an internal management estimate based on the understanding of technical processes required for factory fabrication methods. In 2023, ET technology only accounted for a small portion of the high-end PCB equipment market. The PCB market is expected to significantly expand in the next three years with ET technology gaining a significant market share starting in 2024 as new factories are expected to switch to ET technology machinery. ET technology is continuously showing a positive development with an increased customer base and new applications. The technology and its required equipment is showing the expected multi-usability approach to have a smooth transfer to ET or also a partial upgrade from mSAP & SAP. The customer base for these production lines could be increased, with the first packaging fabrication currently expected to be sold and delivered to the US high-end market in 2024. Due to positive feedback from our customers, we expect to receive orders for our ET technology in 2024.

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Developments in Orders from our Core Customers

In fiscal year 2023, approximately 38% of our revenues were generated from sales to our two largest customers (€17.7 million from our top customer and €16.4 million from our second largest customer) and our ten largest customers represented approximately 71% of our revenues. If we fail to retain these key customers our results could be materially adversely impacted. Our core customers were also the key drivers of our revenues from fiscal year 2022 to the fiscal year 2023. In 2022, a long-term order for technical developments from another large customer also had a positive impact on the developments of our sales. In 2023, the industry trend and orders were generally more subdued than expected.

Trends affecting the Demand for our Customers’ End Products

We sell our machines to large original equipment manufacturers and to companies in their global supply chain in various sectors such as the electronics and semiconductor industries but also the photovoltaics and energy systems industries. The demand for our products and our revenues are influenced by a number of larger trends impacting this diverse set of industries:

Macroeconomic and Geopolitical Factors

We operate across a wide range of countries. Not all of these countries are subject to the same economic and political forces at the same time, which usually provides us with a natural degree of macroeconomic and geopolitical diversification. There are, however, likely to be periods of time in which many, or even most, or all of the countries in which we operate will be subject to similar or identical forces that may impact our business negatively. An example of this is the geopolitical and macroeconomic headwinds that appear to have initially been set off by the Russian invasion of Ukraine launched on February 24, 2022, which resulted in increased volatility in the financial markets and disruptions to various industries that occurred simultaneously with the tightening of Covid-related monetary policy. In addition, it is currently not clear how other conflicts, such as the 2023 war between Hamas and Israel, will affect regional and global economies and financial markets.

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Segment Reporting

Schmid has prepared IFRS financial statements and segment reporting, see note 6 of the financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2023.

Key Components of Operating Results:

The following discussion sets forth certain components of our statement of profit and loss and certain factors that impact those items:

Revenue:

We generate revenues from contracts with customers across all major geographic areas from two operational segments: (i) technical equipment and processes, which includes mainly the sale of machines including installation, long-term development and extended warranties; and (ii) spare parts and services, which includes the sale of spare parts as well as services including repairs, modifications of machines and inspections.

Cost of sales:

Our cost of sales includes personnel expenses, material expenses, depreciation and amortization and certain other expenses such as costs for outward freight, production related short-term leases and facility costs.

Selling:

Selling expenses principally consist of personnel expenses, legal and consulting fees, sales commission, distribution related external administration, advertisement, and other expenses. Personnel expenses mainly include salary and salary-related expenses. Distribution-related external administration comprises administration cost including utilities, insurances, travel expenses and expenses for short-term leases. Other expenses include mainly depreciation and amortization.

General Administration Expenses:

General and administration expenses consist principally of expenditures incurred in connection with the personnel expenses, legal and consulting fees, external administrative expenses and other administrative expenses. External administrative expenses comprise cost like utilities, insurance, travel expenses and expenses for short-term leases. Other administrative expenses include mainly depreciation and amortization.

Research and development expenses

Research and development is an important factor for our sustainable and long-term success. Research and development expenses principally consist of personnel expenses, depreciation and amortization, legal and consulting fees, research and development-related external administration and certain other research and development related expenses. Research and development-related external administration comprises administration cost such as utilities, insurance, travel expenses and expenses for short-term leases.

Other income:

Other income principally consists of foreign currency gains and other miscellaneous income such as government grants.

Other expenses:

Other expenses include foreign currency losses, other taxes, disposal of assets, and miscellaneous other items. Miscellaneous other items mainly include banking fees and other service charges.

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A. Operating Results

The following table sets forth results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2023 and 2022.

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Comparison of the Years Ended December 31, 2023 and 2022

Revenue

Our revenues decreased by €4.8 million from €95.1 million in the year ended December 31, 2022, to €90.2 million in the year ended December 31, 2023. The majority of our revenue was generated from the sale of our technical equipment and processes in the amount of €78.7 million in the year ended December 31, 2023, compared to €78.8 million in the year ended December 31, 2022. The PCB and semiconductor market is subject to shifts in demand that are difficult to predict, and we cannot be certain when and to what extent future demand or future weakness in this industry will materialize. In 2023, we experienced weakened demand in our market, particularly in China and Taiwan, which has been accompanied by a decline in industry-wide spending on production equipment in this region. The main reason for the decline in sales is the weakened end-market demand for electronics, such as personal computers and smartphones. The longer-term markets in Europe, the USA and the rest of Asia were unable to compensate for this weakened demand, especially as certain projects of Chinese customers to relocate production capacity to the rest of Asia have also been delayed.

Our second largest revenue stream was the sale of our spare parts and the provision of services to our customers such as maintenance. In the year ended December 31, 2023, we generated €11.5 million from the sale of spare parts and provision of services, a significant decline from €16.3 million generated in 2022. The Spare parts and services division was also negatively impacted by the economic situation in China. The lack of sales in the services and spart parts business was mainly caused by a reduction of orders in China and Taiwan (including due to the geopolitical situation in Taiwan).

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Geographically, our revenue distribution across jurisdictions shifted. The weakening of the Chinese market in particular has a significant impact on our revenues in 2023. Although the strategic markets in the US, Europe and other Asian countries performed in line with expectations, they were unable to compensate for this. The following table shows the split in revenues across all our jurisdictions (we allocate revenues based on the country of the customer receiving the services or goods):

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On December 31, 2023, our order backlog for the sale of technical equipment and processes amounted to €55 million. We expect to recognize revenue from all order backlogs within one year.

Cost of Sales

Our cost of sales increased by €2.1 million from €61.7 million in the year ended December 31, 2022, to €63.8 million in the year ended December 31, 2023. The increase was generally due to higher material costs, higher personnel expenses and higher depreciation and amortization.

Gross Profit

Our gross profit decreased from €33.3 million in the year ended December 31, 2022, to €26.4 million in the year ended December 31, 2023. As a result, our gross profit margin decreased from 35.2% in the year ended December 31, 2022 to 29.3% in the year ended December 31, 2023. The decrease in the gross profit margin was principally due to slightly increased fixed costs and material costs, while revenue declined as set out above.

Selling

Selling expenses increased by €1.2 million from €11.4 million in the year ended December 31, 2022 to €12.6 million in the year ended December 31, 2023. The increase was mainly attributable to increased personnel expenses and distribution-related external administration (that comprises allocated costs such as utilities, insurance, travel expenses or expenses for short-term leases).

General and Administration

General and administration expenses increased from €7.0 million during the year ended December 31, 2022, to €12.5 million during the year ended December 31, 2023. The main driver for this increase was additional costs triggered incurred related to the Business Combination as well as general cost increases in personnel expenses, administrative expenses and legal and consulting fees.

Research and Development

Research and development expenses increased from €4.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, to €5.1 million during the year ended December 31, 2023. The change is attributable to a planned increase for personnel costs and expenses for R&D related administration.

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Other Income

Other income increased from €3.4 million in the year ended December 31, 2022, to €16.0 million during the year ended December 31, 2023.

The increase was mainly due to two exit bonus agreements. An exit bonus of €4.7 million related to the sale of a business group owned by Christian Schmid (the “Silicon Group”). The Silicon Group concluded several loan agreements with the Schmid Group, Silicon being the borrower. In 2021, Christian Schmid and the Schmid Group had entered into an agreement with respect to Silicon. Under this agreement, Christian Schmid was obliged to pay to the Schmid Group in case of a sale of Silicon a bonus of 5% from the net inflow of the Silicon sale as an exit bonus. Another exit bonus of €4.5 million related to the sale of subsidiary Montratec GmbH, to Montratec Sarl in 2018. The underlying stock purchase agreement included a clause on potential exit events, which requires Montratec Sarl to pay Schmid up to €4.5 million upon a future exit from Montratec. Schmid was informed in April 2023 about this exit event, i.e. that Montratec GmbH was sold by Montratec Sarl which resulted in an exit bonus of €4.5 million to Schmid.

Other miscellaneous income includes a gain resulting from a cancelled sale and leaseback agreement with a third party (€1.8 million) as well as government grants related to income in an amount of €356 thousand (2022: €519 thousand, 2021: €123 thousand). The grants are received in cash to compensate for expenses incurred in relation to research projects. In addition, other miscellaneous income includes income from asset disposals.

Other Expenses

Other expenses decreased from €3.0 million in the year ended December 31, 2022 to €2.6 million during the year ended December 31, 2023. The decrease is mainly attributable to expenses in 2022 attributable to the disposal of assets while in 2023 other expenses included a gain in relation to disposals of assets, as well as to a reduction in expenses for certain miscellaneous other items.

Reversal on impairment of financial assets

For the year ended December 31, 2023, a reversal of impaired financial assets in the amount of €21.4 million was recognized. The reversal of the impairment in 2023 relates to receivables from several legal entities of a business group owned by the shareholders of the Schmid Group  with a book value of €0 as the receivables had been fully impaired during 2014 due to the financial situation of the Silicon Group. In June 2023, the Silicon Group was sold to Group14 Technologies, USA and as part of the stock purchase agreement, Group14 Technologies, Inc. committed to the repayment of the receivables to Gebr. Schmid GmbH. Therefore, the impairment of the receivables to the Silicon Group has been fully reversed during the six months ended June 30, 2023.

Operating Profit

The Company’s operating profit increased from €13.7 million in the year ended December 31, 2022 to €31.3 million in the year ended December 31, 2023, principally driven by the reversal of the impairment and the existing bonus payments set out above.

Financial Result

Our financial result increased from a net expense of €12.0 million in the year ended December 31, 2022, to a net gain of €9.6 million in the year ended December 31, 2023. The change was mainly due to an extinguishment gain of €15.8 million related to our borrowings from debt funds for which we reached a settlement with the creditors resulting in loan extinguishment.

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Income Tax (Expense) Benefit

We accounted for an income tax benefit of €1.9 million in the year ended December 31, 2022 and an income tax expense of €2.8 million the year ended December 31, 2023. The tax rate in 2023 is significantly driven by the fact that the Company was able to use tax loss carryforwards for which no deferred tax assets have been recognized in prior years. The tax rate in 2023 is below the German average tax rate due to the fact that part of the gains realized by the Company are not taxable and for the remaining part tax loss carryforwards can be used to reduce the tax impact.

Non-IFRS Financial Information

This Annual Report includes Adjusted EBITDA, which is a non-IFRS company-specific performance measure that we use to supplement our results presented in accordance with IFRS. We present non-IFRS measures because our management uses Adjusted EBITDA in monitoring Schmid’s business and because we believe that similar measures are frequently used by securities analysts, investors and others in evaluating companies in our industry. The presentation of this non-IFRS information is not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for our combined financial results prepared in accordance with IFRS.

The following table summarizes our Adjusted EBITDA reconciled to our profit /(loss), the closest IFRS measure for each period presented:

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The total Adjusted EBITDA for various unusual income and expenses as follows: (i) the €21.4 million reversal of an impairment in relation to the Silicon Group sales, (ii) the two exit bonuses of €9.2 million and (iii) Business Combination related legal, consulting, and other costs of approximately €8.7 million. Adjusted for such one-off effects, our Adjusted EBITDA would have amounted to €17.2 million.

For more information see notes 5, 6, 11, 13 and 20 of our combined financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report.

B. Liquidity and Capital Resources

Sources of Liquidity and Operational and Funding Requirements

We principally finance our operations from our operating cash flows, i.e., the cash we generate by selling our machines, spare parts and services to customers. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, we also obtained significant financing from shareholders (including investments from minority shareholders) and third party lenders, but repaid these loans in June 2023. As of December 31, 2023, and 2022, we had cash and cash equivalents of €5.7 million and €8.3 million on our balance sheet, respectively.

As a result of our NASDAQ listing, we expect to incur additional costs associated with operating as a public company, including expenses related to legal, accounting and financial reporting and regulatory matters, maintaining compliance with exchange listing and SEC requirements, director and officer insurance premiums, and investor relations.

On a pro forma basis following the Business Combination, which was completed on April 30, 2024, we estimate that the pro forma cash on hand at December 31, 2023 would be sufficient to meet our operational needs for at least 12 months.

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On a pro forma basis, we believe that our current cash and cash equivalents, together with the cash that we expect to receive from the Business Combination will provide sufficient funding to continue to finance our future cash requirements, though we cannot assure that this will actually be the case. We have based this estimate on assumptions that may prove to be wrong, and we could utilize our available capital resources sooner than we expect. Additionally, changing circumstances may cause us to consume capital significantly faster than we currently anticipate, and we may need to spend more money than currently expected because of circumstances beyond our control. Some of these risks and uncertainties are described in more detail in this Annual Report under the heading “Risk Factors”.

As of December 31, 2023, we had current financial liabilities of €26.1 million (of which €8.1 million are loans from shareholders and €16.7 million are loans from other related parties) and non-current financial liabilities of €22.2 million (of which €19.9 million are loans from shareholders) on our balance sheet. For more information, see note 28 of the combined financial statements for the financial year 2023 included elsewhere in this Annual Report.

Cash Flows

The following table summarizes our cash flows for each period presented (in € thousands):

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Cash flow generated by operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2023, was €13.8 million, an increase compared with cash outflow of €0.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. The change in cash flow from operating activities reflected changes in working capital but is also related to more cash coming into the business operationally.

For the year ended December 31, 2023, net cash provided from investing activities amounted to €72.5 million compared to €7.2 million of net cash used in investing activities in the year ended December 31, 2022. The change was principally a result of the repayment of the shareholder loan by Christian Schmid as a result of the Silicon Business sale.

For the year ended December 31, 2023, net cash used in financing activities amounted to an outflow of approximately €89.1 million, while cash generated from financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2022, was €3.2 million. The main driver of the change was the payment of loans that came due during the year.

Future funding Requirements

While we fund our operations from our operating activities, we may enter into further debt instruments with lenders, or issue new shares to investors in private placements in order to increase our cash position for future growth initiatives. As of the date of this Annual Report, no such additional debt instruments or private placement agreements have been concluded, (equaling the estimated redemption price at the closing of the Business Combination) to the Company, noting that such investors are entitled to receive 41,610 shares from the Sponsor as part of the incentive share compensation for entering into an investment agreement before the closing of the Business Combination.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

As of December 31, 2023, the Schmid Group did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements as defined in Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of Regulation S-K.

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Financial Risk Management

We are exposed to a variety of risks in the ordinary course of our business, including, but not limited to, credit risk, liquidity risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk. Schmid regularly assesses each of these risks to minimize any adverse effects on our business as a result of those factors.

C. Research and Development, Patents and Licenses

Description of our Proprietary Technology and Intellectual Property

For information about our proprietary technology and intellectual property, please see “Item 4. Information on the Company — B. Business Overview.”

Research and Development

For information about our research and development activities, see “Item 4. Information on the Company — B. Business Overview.”

D. Trend Information

Based on our budget forecasts for the whole 2024 financial year, we estimate that our sales will be up to €130 million and our adjusted EBITDA will be up to €35 million (before de-SPAC, IPO-related or listing-related costs) for the financial year ended December 31, 2024.

The current forecasts for the financial year 2024 are mainly based on (i) the order backlog as at December 31, 2023, which amounted to €55 million (this order backlog covers a significant portion of our forecast for our full year sales in the 2024 financial year), and (ii) discussions with the Group’s most important customers about their project pipelines and potential orders that can be realized in the financial year 2024 and the assessment of macroeconomic conditions, in particular the expectation that the markets in China and Taiwan will return to their previous strength in the first half of the year 2024 and that the global economy will develop in line with the IMF’s expectations at the beginning of 2024.

The market for glass substrates and the demand for additional production lines for ET processes in particular are showing positive demand trends. We believe the demand for our ET technology will add further growth to our sales in the medium term beyond 2024.

Based on our budget projections and forecasts, we estimate that our operating cash flow (before de-SPAC, IPO-related or listing-related costs) will amount up to €21 million in financial year 2024. We plan a significant increase in capital expenditure up to €11 million in financial year 2024 compared to 2023 as a result of our plan to increase our growth-related capital expenditure.

In the North American market, we have in February 2024 entered into a strategic partnership with Calumet Electronics, a leading American printed circuit board manufacturer pioneering the domestic production of advanced packaging substrates. Through this strategic partnership, we are aligning efforts with Calumet to establish the first-ever US-based advanced substrate facility.

On April 17, 2024 we announced that Australian Flow Batteries Pty Ltd ("AFB"), a leader in innovative energy solutions and economical, safe, and reliable power storage, and SCHMID Energy Systems GmbH, one of our subsidiaries signed a memorandum of understanding in relation to a strategic partnership aimed at transforming the residential energy storage market. The memorandum of understing represents a collaborative effort to leverage AFB’s comprehensive approach to electricity independence and carbon footprint reduction. The common strategic goal is to develop and supply Vanadium-Redox-Flow-Battery systems. The agreement sets forth a joint development and supply framework for advancing the design, supply, and production of flow battery systems, with a focus on energy sustainability and innovation.

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Our independent registered public accounting firm, KPMG AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft, has not examined, compiled or otherwise applied procedures to the financial forecast presented herein and, accordingly, does not express an opinion or any other form of assurance on it.

BDO USA, P.C., Pegasus’s independent registered public accounting firm has not audited, reviewed, examined, compiled, nor applied agreed-upon procedures with respect to the financial projections contained in this Annual Report, and accordingly, BDO USA, P.C. does not express an opinion or any other form of assurance with respect thereto.

E. Critical Accounting Estimates

Our combined financial statements for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, have been prepared in accordance with IFRS as issued by the IASB. The preparation of the combined financial statements in accordance with IFRS requires the use of estimates and assumptions that affect the value of assets and liabilities — as well as contingent assets and liabilities — as reported on the balance sheet date, and revenues and expenses arising during the fiscal year. In preparing these combined financial statements, management exercises its best judgment based upon its experience and the circumstances prevailing at that time. The estimates and assumptions are based on available information and conditions at the end of the financial periods presented and are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions and conditions and may materially affect the financial results or the financial position reported in future periods.

For more information on critical accounting estimates, see the notes of the Company’s combined financial statements, which are included in Item 18 of this Annual Report.

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ITEM 6. DIRECTORS, SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND EMPLOYEES

A. Directors and Senior Management

The information about SCHMID’s management is based on the provisions of SCHMID’s Articles of Association, which is included as an exhibit to this Annual Report.

Overview

The following table lists the names and positions of those individuals are SCHMID’s directors and executive officers.