CKX LANDS, INC.
For the period ended Dec 31, 2025. Filed Mar 31, 2026.
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FY2025 · Filed Mar 31, 2026
Contents
Item 1. BUSINESS
Business Description
CKX Lands, Inc., a Louisiana corporation, began operations in 1930 under the name Calcasieu Real Estate & Oil Co., Inc. It was originally organized as a spin-off by a bank operating in southwest Louisiana. The purpose of the spin-off was to form an entity to hold non-producing mineral interests which regulatory authorities required the bank to charge off. Over the years, as some of the mineral interests began producing, the Company used part of the proceeds to acquire land. In 1990, the Company made its largest acquisition when it was one of four purchasers who bought a fifty percent undivided interest in approximately 35,575 acres in southwest Louisiana.
Today the Company’s income is derived from mineral royalties, timber sales and surface payments from its lands. CKX receives income from royalty interests and mineral leases related to oil and gas production, timber sales, land sales and surface rents. Although CKX is active in the management of its land and planting and harvesting its timber, CKX is passive in the production of income from oil and gas production in that CKX does not explore for oil and gas or operate wells. These oil and gas activities are performed by unrelated third parties.
CKX leases its property to oil and gas operators and collects income through its land ownership in the form of oil and gas royalties and lease rentals and geophysical revenues. The Company’s oil and gas income fluctuates as new oil and gas production is discovered on Company land and then ultimately depletes or becomes commercially uneconomical to produce. The volatility in the daily commodity pricing of a barrel of oil or a thousand cubic feet, or “MCF,” of gas will also cause fluctuations in the Company’s oil and gas income. These commodity prices are affected by numerous factors and uncertainties external to CKX’s business and over which it has no control, including the global supply and demand for oil and gas, and domestic and global economic conditions, among other factors.
CKX has small royalty interests in 20 different producing oil and gas fields. The size of each royalty interest is determined by the Company’s net ownership in the acreage unit for the well. CKX’s royalty interests range from 0.0045% for the smallest to 7.62% for the largest. As the Company does not own or operate the wells, it does not have access to any reserve information. Eventually, the oil and gas reserves under the Company’s current land holdings will be depleted.
Timber income is derived from sales of timber on Company lands. The timber income will fluctuate depending on our ability to secure stumpage agreements in the regional markets, timber stand age, and/or stumpage commodity prices. Timber is a renewable resource that the Company actively manages.
Surface income is earned from various recurring and non-recurring sources. Recurring surface income is earned from lease arrangements for farming, recreational and commercial uses. Non-recurring surface income can include such activities as pipeline right of ways, and temporary worksite rentals.
In managing its lands, the Company relies on and has established relationships with real estate, forestry, environmental and agriculture consultants as well as attorneys with legal expertise in general corporate matters, real estate, and minerals.
The Company actively searches for additional real estate for purchase in Louisiana with a focus on southwest Louisiana and on timberland and agricultural land. When evaluating unimproved real estate for purchase, the Company will consider numerous characteristics including but not limited to, timber fitness, agriculture fitness, future development opportunities and/or mineral potential. When evaluating improved real estate for purchase, the Company will consider characteristics including, but not limited to, geographic location, quality of existing revenue streams, and/or quality of the improvements.
CKX does not perform or cause to be performed oil and gas producing activities inasmuch as: (1) we do not search for crude oil or natural gas in their natural states; (2) we do not acquire property for the purpose of exploration or the removing of oil and gas; and (3) we are not involved in construction, drilling and/or production activities necessary to retrieve oil and gas.
The Company does not spend any money on research and development.
Because of the nature of the Company’s revenue streams, the effect of competition on the Company and its results of operations is not material.
The Company’s Board of Directors regularly evaluates a range of strategic alternatives that could increase shareholder value, and the Board and management conduct due diligence activities in connection with such alternatives. These include opportunities for growth though the acquisitions of land or other assets, business combinations, dispositions of assets and reinvestment of the proceeds, and other alternatives.
On August 21, 2023, the Company announced that the Board had determined to initiate a formal process to evaluate strategic alternatives for the Company to enhance value for stockholders and had retained a financial advisor in connection with the process.
On April 18, 2024, the Company provided an update on the process, noting that it had received preliminary indications of interest from multiple parties related to the potential acquisition of the Company or its assets, and that the Company and its advisors were working with a select group of these parties to provide them with additional information. The Board has formed a subcommittee to provide oversight and management of the process.
On November 18, 2025, the Company sold to Southern Pine Plantations of Georgia, Inc. approximately 6,548 acres of land wholly-owned by the Company in Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, Jefferson Davis, Natchitoches, Rapides and Sabine Parishes of the State of Louisiana. The Company disclosed the completion of the transaction on its Current Report on Form 8-K filed November 20, 2025. The adjusted purchase price was $8,618,021.70, paid in cash. The transaction was executed pursuant to an Agreement of Purchase and Sale effective August 14, 2025, as amended, that contemplated the sale of approximately 7,014 acres. Certain portions of the originally contemplated property were excluded from the sale in accordance with the Agreement, resulting in a reduction of the original purchase price equal to $1,316.05 per excluded acre. The completion of this transaction represents a significant step in the Company’s ongoing evaluation of strategic alternatives.
As part of management’s efforts to maximize value for shareholders through the strategic alternative evaluation, the Company expects to seek to partition, in kind or by sale, ownership of its undivided interests in lands co-owned with others. There can be no assurance that such efforts will result in a negotiated partition of the Company’s co-owned acreage and that the Company can avoid a court-ordered partition.
Additionally, a sale of the Company or all or substantially all of its assets would be subject to a number of conditions and contingencies, including the approval of the Company’s shareholders. There can be no assurance that this process will result in the successful negotiation of a definitive agreement for a transaction or any other strategic outcome, or that the Board will recommend that CKX’s shareholders approve any transaction.
Employees
The Company has two employees, both of whom are part-time. The Company is not subject to union contracts nor does the Company have any medical benefit, pension, profit sharing, option or deferred compensation programs. The Company has a stock incentive plan adopted in connection with the Executive Employment Agreement effective July 15, 2020, as amended, with its President, and the Company’s Chief Financial Officer is also a participant in the plan. The plan permits the Company to grant restricted stock units or performance shares for up to 357,000 shares of its common stock. The Company granted awards for all 357,000 shares issuable under the plan on June 13, 2022. As of December 31, 2024, 76,755 restricted stock units and 83,345 performance shares had vested, representing a total of 160,100 issuable shares under the Plan. As of December 31, 2024, a total of 123,549 of the issuable shares had been issued to employees, with 36,551 shares underlying vested restricted stock units remaining unissued. The Company issued those shares on April 16, 2025. On July 15, 2024, all 196,900 unvested performance shares awarded to employees under the Plan lapsed without the performance criteria being achieved and were forfeited by the grantees. There are no further unvested awards outstanding under the Plan.
Customers
The Company’s customers are those who have mineral leases on Company lands, purchase timber in competitive bids or execute surface leases for farming, hunting, right of ways or other purposes. During 2025, the Company received approximately 64.02% of its total revenues from the following customers:
| Customer | Revenue Type | % of Total Revenue |
|---|---|---|
| Riceland Petroleum Company | Oil & Gas | 22.86% |
| Beau Shell Logging, LLC | Timber | 11.31% |
| Sunchase Power, LLC | Surface lease | 6.43% |
| Ballard Exploration Company | Oil & Gas | 5.36% |
| Cedar Holdco, LLC | Surface Lease | 5.28% |
| Daylight Petroleum | Oil & Gas | 5.03% |
| Chato Energy, LLC | Oil & Gas | 4.17% |
| Salty Oaks, LLC | Hunting Lease | 3.58% |
Loss of cash receipts from any of these customers or revenue streams would have a material adverse effect on the Company.
Environmental and Other Governmental Regulations
The Company does not need government approval of its principal products or services except that the State of Louisiana must permit the size and location of all oil and gas producing units. The operator of the oil and gas units is responsible for this permitting process.
The operators of the wells are responsible for complying with environmental and other governmental regulations. However, should an operator abandon a well located on Company land without following prescribed procedures, the landowners could possibly be held responsible. The Company does not believe this would have a material effect on its financial condition.
The text of this filing, as the company filed it with the SEC, without its images or exhibits. This is not investment advice.