SYNTEC OPTICS HOLDINGS INC

All references in this report to “Syntec Optics,” “Syntec”, the “Company,” “we,” “us,” or “our” mean Syntec Optics Holdings, Inc. and its subsidiaries unless stated otherwise or the context otherwise indicates.

Overview

Syntec Optics believes that photon enabled technologies are more than just a trend. Syntec Optics goal is to deliver impactful solutions for optics and photonics enabled solutions globally. We believe that the innovative design for manufacturing of our optics and photonics enabling products is ideally suited for the demands of modern original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”) who rely on opto-electronics, light enabled devices, and intelligence that require high-precision and reliability. Ultimately, our vertically integrated advanced manufacturing platform of various different but complimentary technologies offers our clients across several end markets competitively priced and disruptive light-enabled technologies and sub-systems.

Syntec Optics was formed more than two decades ago from the aggregation of three advanced manufacturing companies (Wordingham Machine Co., Inc., Rochester Tool and Mold, Inc. and Syntec Technologies, Inc.) that were started in the 1980s. In 2000, Syntec Technologies, Inc created the “doing business as” name of Syntec Optics to unify the three companies’ respective offerings under a single trade name. Wordingham Machine Co., Inc, and Rochester Tool and Mold, Inc. became wholly owned subsidiaries of Syntec Technologies, Inc. in 2018 and the three companies legally merged in December 2022 as Syntec Optics, Inc. Syntec Optics has addressed the optical needs of customers in defense, consumer, biomedical, and communications industries. Over the past 20 years, Syntec has been based in the Greater Rochester, New York area, and steadily growing and developing the unifying platform. Our intellectual property is protected with a portfolio of over 4 issued and/or pending patents, with several proprietary trade secrets surrounding our advanced manufacturing techniques. One in five employees has been with Syntec Optics for over a decade.

Syntec Optics is vertically integrated from design and component manufacturing for lens system assembly to imaging module integration for opto-electronic system solutions. Making our own housings, mold tools, molding parts, and nanomachining allows close interaction and recut ability, enabling special techniques to hold tolerances to sub-micron level. Syntec has assembled a world class design for manufacturability team to augment its production team with deep expertise to fully leverage our vertical integration from component making to optics and electronics assembly. Syntec Optics has steadily developed variety of other complementary manufacturing techniques to provide a wide suite of horizontal capabilities including thin films deposition coatings, glass molding, polymer molding, tool-making, mechanicals manufacturing, and nanomachining.

Syntec became a leader in the industry by pioneering polymer-based optics and then subsequently adding glass optics and optics made from other materials including crystals and metals. Polymer-based optics provide numerous advantages compared to incumbent glass-based optics. Polymer-based optics are smaller, lower weight, lower cost, and offer very high-performance optical solutions. For all these reasons, Syntec is able to deliver products to our clients that are lighter, smaller, and suitable for cutting edge technology products including the newly evolving silicon photonics industry. For defense applications, lighter weight optics are critical advantage. For example, less weight can reduce on helmet equipment can reduce neck trauma for army soldiers’ helmets or less equipment weight is beneficial for air force pilots. For biomedical applications, biocompatible polymer-based optics are considered safer. For satellite communications, the use of lighter weight metal and polymer optics reduces installation costs.

Our designs and assembly processes are developed in-house in the United States. In 2016, Syntec Optics expanded its manufacturing facility to nearly 90,000 square-feet, allowing us to increase our production capacity and offer additional advanced manufacturing processes under one roof which provide us the ability to increase sales to existing customers and increase penetration of our end-markets. Our facility provides a streamlined, partially autonomous production process for our current customers, which comprises optical assembly, electro-optics assembly, polymer optics molding, glass optics molding, opto-mechanical assembly, nanomachining and thin films coating. Our facility also provides availability to expand the number of advanced manufacturing processes to handle increased volumes of existing and new customer orders.

Syntec had focused on three key end markets of defense, biomedical, and consumer all with several mission-critical applications with strong tailwinds, then also added communications in 2023. We believe these end markets to be acyclical based upon the company having positive aggregate cash flow for the past decade in spite of economic downturns. We believe the consistency of revenues over the past decade of operations, independent of the trends of the general economy, and the mission-critical nature of our product offerings, are our bases that these markets are acyclical. We believe our platform is well positioned as the foundation for further organic and inorganic growth with quality earnings and high margin offerings.

According to the SPIE Optics and Photonics most recent Industry Report (2022), optics is currently enabling 11% of the global economy, from smart phone cameras and extended reality devices to low orbit satellite telescopes to keeping our soldiers safe with night vision devices and patients healthy with intelligent light. This 11% figure represents the estimated value of the global optics and photonics products relative to annual global gross domestic product. As the world transitions to further adopt optically and photonically enabled products, we will continue our mission of developing innovative technology to serve these markets with affordable high-performance products globally. We intend to continue to focus on our core competencies of providing innovative technology, expanding our brand portfolio and providing affordable, sustainable and accessible optics and photonics enablers, all while being designed and manufactured in the United States.

Industry Background

For decades, optics and photonics have been enabling end market products worldwide. Today Syntec Optics light-enables products with a wide variety of materials from aluminum, crystals, glass, and polymers, Syntec’s ground-breaking work in polymer-based optics starting in 2000 created numerous advantages over the incumbent glass-based optics used in today’s markets:

Tailwinds have propelled Syntec’s innovative hybrid optics where outside durable glass elements are unchanged but inside elements of optical assemblies are changed to polymers providing lighter weight advantage. Soldiers want lower weight on helmets that are now overloaded with devices.

Syntec Optics added glass optics in 2018, leveraging its expertise in molding technology. Certain glasses can be molded for visible and near IR spectrum. Glass molding has also emerged as a leading technology to address growing needs in mid wave infrared and long wave infrared, especially with growing limitations on availability of Germanium.

Syntec Optics has offered aluminum or other metal precision-machined and nano-machined opto-mechanicals since 2000. Optical components often require thin-films coating. Syntec Optics developed unique coating technologies by 2014 to forward integrate.

In the year 2000, Syntec Optics developed capabilities to assembly its components into sub-system both integrating optics as well as adding electronics to the optics.

Addressable Markets

Optics and Photonics Industry Report 2024 estimated that in 2023, the manufacturing sector contributed ~27% of global gross domestic product (“GDP”) annually, or an estimated $28.3 trillion, and optics and photonics comprise a substantial amount of this market. The optics and photonics market, the value of light-enabled products and services, is estimated to be $16 trillion annually, and represents roughly 15% of the world’s economy. This 15% figure represents the estimated value of the global optics and photonics products relative to annual global gross domestic product. Within this end-market, it is estimated that global annual revenue for photonics-enabled products and services had exceeded $2.3 trillion in 2023. Photonics touches most sectors of our economy including consumer electronics (barcode scanners, DVD players, TV remote controls), telecommunications (fiber optics, lasers, switches), health (eye surgery, biomedical instruments, and imaging), industrial (laser cutting and machining), Defense and Security (night vision, infrared cameras, remote sensing, aiming) and entertainment (holography and cinema projection). We believe accelerating optics and photonics innovation will continue to drive economic growth and increase its share of the global GDP.

The most recent review from the Optics & Photonics 2024 Industry Report valued the 2023 photonics-enabled products and services at $2.39 trillion – an increase of 40% over the ten-year period, and a compound annual growth (CAGR) rate of 4.3%, from 2012 to 2023, shown below by end market.

The potential use of photonics in varied industries is fueling growth of the optics and photonics market. We believe sectors including telecom, transportation, healthcare, energy, aerospace, security, defense & space exploration, consumer, retail, electronics, food & agriculture, artificial intelligence software, and robotics are in the early stages of a dramatic transformation of scope and scale due to the unprecedented developments in advanced manufacturing of optics and photonics products, sub-systems, components, and materials. Continued mobility, intelligence, automation, sensing, and safety needs will accelerate in years to come, which will create a large market opportunity for such enabling businesses at the forefront of optics and photonics. The global optics and photonics sectors have experienced demand increasing use of photonics in various applications.

The Optics & Photonics 2024 Industry Report estimated revenue growth for six of the top areas based on CAGR from 2012 to 2023. These areas are listed below, as examples of verticals that we intend to focus on:

Revolutionary Advanced Manufacturing Tailwinds

This fourth industrial revolution (“Industry 4.0”), which encompasses the internet-of-things and smart manufacturing, marries physical production and operations with digital technology, machine learning / artificial intelligence and big data to create a more holistic and connected ecosystem for companies that focus on manufacturing and supply chain management. As Industry 4.0 continues to bring changes in manufacturing, technological advancements leading to innovative photonics-enabled products, and photonics are improving manufacturing performance with photonics-enabled technology. We expect Industry 4.0 to transform production by driving faster, more flexible and more efficient processes which will be monetized by companies through the production of higher-quality goods at reduced costs.

Beyond the traditional industrial automation, new transforming products from unmanned aircrafts and driverless cars, smart robots in the operating rooms and artificial intelligence of organ and tissue imaging, to augmented and virtual reality increasingly require optics and photonics imagers, sensors, and detectors. We expect this trend to be especially pronounced in the United States, which has seen automation as a way to be globally competitive in spite of rising wages.

Optics and photonics are an integral aspect of the ongoing advancement of traditional manufacturing and industrial practices. Optics and photonics can reduce cost, size, weight, and power consumption in all spheres of technology that is making us smarter. These include our content, its context, inter-connection for exchange, and various types of content – from imaging to detection and sensing.

Syntec Platform Overview

Our unifying platform is a key differentiator. We believe the unifying platform is an aggregation of horizontal and vertical optics and photonics capabilities that span through the value-chain across materials, spectrum and advanced manufacturing processes. This unifying platform works by providing customers with several manufacturing capabilities in one location that saves time and reduces logistical burdens and costs. In 1999 Syntec brought precision machining capabilities into the company with the addition of Wordingham, Technologies, enabling broader capabilities for integrated optical assemblies. The acquisition of Rochester Tool and Mold provided control over making very precise tools for molded polymer components and molded glass components in hybrid systems. Close collaboration of these acquired entities began in 2000 and then all three acquired companies moved into one building in the city of Rochester by 2016. Investments from the cash flow and the unification was achieved to offer customers vertical and horizontal integrated critical capabilities under one-roof for mission critical sub-system solutions with well demonstrated metrology in both clean room optics and electro-optics assemblies. Thin film coating laboratory and glass molding technique was developed from grounds up organically to further support the optical element performances. Altogether, such a vertically and horizontal integrated company offers a further unification platform for consolidation through further acquisition in a fragmented industry of advanced manufacturers for mission critical application of optics and photonics even beyond biomedical, defense, and consumer end markets.

Syntec Optics has built its brand over two decades and is known as a leader to OEMs in optics and photonics sub-systems production. We won the Accelerator Award in 2004 from Raytheon by meeting the challenge of delivering alpha and beta samples fast and ramping up production in groundbreaking manufacturing of components and sub-systems for laser guides for missiles. The dome was made from glass-filled polymer that replaced Sapphire for domes that had to not only meet high optical performance expected from windows, but be light weight, less expensive and rapidly scale. Ever since, we have ramped up rapidly many devices ranging from blood analyzers for patients in hospitals to night vison goggles to keep soldiers safe. The brand has been very visible at the pivotal show for optics and photonics solution providers annually in San Francisco’s Photonics West trade show.

We currently offer a number of vertically integrated advanced manufacturing processes that deliver to our customers optically enabled products serving mission critical applications.

Syntec’s vertical integration strategy delivers many advantages, including greater economies of scale, lower variable production costs, decreased logistics costs and quality concerns. Advantages of vertical integration specific at Syntec include:

Positive differentiation is created.

Asset investments can focus on specialization.

Transaction costs are lower throughout the supply chain.

Quality assurance can be built into the system.

It opens new markets.

Our Competitive Strengths

We believe that we possess the largest share in the markets we operate in, due to our following business strengths, which distinguish us in this competitive landscape and position us to capitalize on the anticipated continued growth in the optics and photonics enabled market:

Our Growth Strategy

We intend to leverage our competitive strengths, technology leadership and market share position to pursue our growth strategy through the following:

Our core growth strategy also involves inorganic growth with complementary businesses to augment our existing unifying platform. Syntec plans to run a disciplined process to arrive at a targeted list of companies it would like to acquire. Selected companies will have a good management team and ownership that can apply industry findings to build the next great public company that enables light. Such a company shall serve as a platform to add more diverse end-markets, achieve stable earnings growth, and build an R&D pipeline that brings sustainable future growth.

Optics and photonics companies are not clearly categorized in a small number of SIC codes but Syntec’s long-term relationships with companies led to a list of 100+ SICs where optics and photonics companies live. Quality of earnings, financial reporting, forecasting, controls, and systems technology will also be used in the selection process for the roll-up.

Our Products and Technology

Syntec has built a solid foundation over many decades of developing new processes that produce various geometries and shapes of optical elements used in both visible and IR spectrums. Syntec started with custom polymer optics to find a foothold and then expanded into various materials for the Biomedical, Defense & Security, and Consumer/Industrial sectors. In 2023 it added communications as an additional end-market. Syntec is at the forefront of innovation in single point diamond turning and has been pushing the frontiers of polymer and other materials for use in a wide variety of optics applications and requiring tight tolerances.

Syntec’s pioneering polymer-based optics provided numerous advantages compared to incumbent products, such as glass-based optics. Polymer-based optics are smaller sized, lower weight, lower in power consumption, and a high cost-effective optical solution. Polymer-based optics use polymers throughout the fabrication process which offers high production volume and fast repeatability. Other advantages of polymers are their high impact resistance; polymers do not split like glass, making this type of optics highly durable and cost effective in applications such as heads-up displays, goggles, and biomedical disposable optics. Another key advantage we offer customers is fast prototyping. While advanced molding techniques are used for high volume productions and beta samples, we use nanomachining of polymers and other materials for quick alpha samples. We further increased the competitive advantage by providing lower cost by manufacturing with in-house lower cost glass molded glass. Often in cameras or optics sub-systems, glass and polymer elements are combined for a lower cost solution with durability and higher performance.

Thanks to their low density or low weight by volume, polymers are well adapted for making cutting-edge-technology products lighter and smaller. Polymers are between two and half and five times lighter than comparable glass products and are suitable for difficult and sophisticated refractive, reflective, and diffractive substrates with spherical, aspherical, and cylindrical prescriptions, thus reducing the number of optical components needed in a given optical system. Molding is the most repeatable, consistent, and economical way to produce complex-shaped optics in large volume or to integrate them onto a common substrate. Optical-grade polymers exhibit high light transmittance and are comparable to high-grade glasses. The optical-grade polymer market is growing rapidly; new polymers with low birefringence as well as higher and more stable refractive indices are available, offering design flexibility not possible with glass optics on their own.

Customers

Our components are used in a variety of applications ranging from biometric, imaging, illumination, scanning, projection, blood analysis, point of care diagnosis and fingerprint identification. Our components are also used in DNA sequencing, laser cutting, thermal imaging, retinal eye scanning, military applications and blood analysis. By investing in new technology and reliable equipment Syntec Optics provides low-cost precision solutions for challenging optical needs.

We have deep, long-standing relationships with many of our customers. Our customers primarily utilize our products for defense and security, optical diagnosis and imaging and projection lenses and heads-up displays. We work directly with customers to ensure compatibility with existing designs and collaborate on custom design for new applications.

We continue to seek to grow our customer base within our existing segments; however, we also believe that our products are well suited to address the needs in additional segments, including semiconductor, communication, advanced manufacturing, sensing, lighting Solar-PV, and displays and we will seek to expand our market share in these segments in the future.

Facilities

Our corporate headquarters is in an approximately 90 thousand square foot facility that we lease in Rochester, New York. The lease expires in May 2025, and we have the option to extend for an additional five-year period. We believe we will be able to obtain additional space on commercially reasonable terms.

Our manufacturing departments and respective activity is shown below. In addition, the flow of materials and knowledge between departments for Alpha, Beta, and production are shown in the facilities chart.

Supplier Relationships

We have a well-established global supply chain that underlies the sourcing of the components of our products, although we source domestically whenever possible. We follow a lean manufacturing process and align our purchases with customer backlog. We prefer to pre-order in advance for the year to ensure adequate supply. For nearly all our components, we ensure that we have alternate suppliers available. As a result of our long-standing relationships with our suppliers, we are able to source materials on favorable terms within reasonable lead-times.

Sales and Marketing

Our proven sales and marketing strategy has allowed us to penetrate our current end markets efficiently. We use a variety of methods to educate consumers on the benefits of optics and photonics-enabled technologies and why they are a better investment compared to electronically enabled technologies found in our target end markets today. Through information found on our website and social media platforms that educate consumers on the benefits of optics and photonics-enabled technologies, we assist consumers on how they may benefit from the advanced manufacturing processes and technologies that we offer.

We use a multi-pronged sales and marketing strategy to ensure that the Syntec Optics brand is at the forefront of its respective end markets. We have established strong relationships, particularly in the defense and biomedical industries through participation in trade shows and other sponsored industry events, which have allowed us to reach customers to ensure we are aware of evolving customer preferences. We are then able to leverage this customer feedback to collaborate on custom designs for new and existing applications.

We value our customer relationships. Our website and our customer service are key elements to our sales strategy. Our website enables customers to purchase off the shelf optics and provides access to a range of product information, technical benefits, and advanced manufacturing services. We have a team of experts dedicated to supporting our customers’ sales, technical and service needs.

Competition

Syntec is a vertically integrated advanced manufacturer of optics and photonics. At the public company level, competitors may have Syntec’s suite of advanced manufacturing techniques under its corporate umbrella, but not likely under the same roof. This differentiation allows Syntec to successfully serve OEM and Tier 1 suppliers in the Defense, Biomedical and Consumer/Industrial end markets.

Advanced manufacturers in the optics and photonics space enable end-products generally through a combination of materials, electromagnetic spectrum or processes. Many of Syntec’s competitors specialize in aspects of these three areas and may not have in-house capabilities across all three areas. For example, some of Syntec’s competitors specialize in precision motion optics, vision specialists, high-resolution spectral cameras, electro-optical aerospace systems and or machine vision systems. Syntec can provide solutions to each of these specialty areas by deploying its highly trained employee base and its patented intellectual property and trade secret processes.

In certain instances, Syntec may collaborate on design and development of mission critical sub-components in its competitors’ products given its broad advanced manufacturing capabilities. Syntec is excited to bring its unifying value proposition to the public market.

Intellectual Property

The success of our business and our technology leadership is supported by our proprietary optics and photonics enabling advanced manufacturing processes and technologies. We have received patents and filed patent applications in the United States and other jurisdictions to provide protection for our technology. We rely upon a combination of patent, trademark and trade secret laws in the United States and other jurisdictions, as well as license agreements and other contractual protections, to establish, maintain and enforce rights in our proprietary technologies. In addition, we seek to protect our intellectual property rights through non-disclosure and invention assignment agreements with our employees and consultants and through non-disclosure agreements with business partners and other third parties.

As of December 31, 2024 and as of December 31, 2023, we owned three active issued patents and one pending patent applications. The patents and patent applications cover the United States. We periodically review and update our patent portfolio to protect our products and newly developed technologies.

US Patent 9192298B2 “Contact lens for intraocular pressure measurement” is an active worldwide application patent that is assigned to and owned by Syntec Optics. The patent was granted November 2015 and expires April 2034.

US Patent 10052731B2 “Flycutter having forced air cleaning” is an active worldwide application patent that is assigned to and owned by Syntec Optics. The patent was granted August 2018 and expires December 2036.

US Patent 11383414B2 “Parts degating apparatus using laser” is an active worldwide application patent that is assigned to and owned by Syntec Optics. The patent was granted July 2022 and expires August 2040.

US Patent Provisional 63/449,362 “Imaging Apparatus with Thermal Augmentation” is a provisional United States application. The provisional patent application was filed on March 2, 2023.

We periodically review our development efforts to assess the existence and patentability of new intellectual property. We pursue the registration of our domain names and trademarks and service marks in the United States and other jurisdictions.

Government Regulations

We currently operate from a dedicated leased manufacturing facility located in Rochester, New York. We have never owned any facility at which we operated. Operations at our facilities are subject to a variety of environmental, health and safety regulations, including those governing the generation, handling, storage, use transportation, and disposal of hazardous materials. To conduct our operations, we have to obtain environmental, health and safety permits and registrations and prepare plans. We are subject to inspections and possible citations by federal, state, and local environmental, health, and safety regulators. We have policies in place to assure compliance with our obligations (for example, machine guarding, hot work, hazardous material management and transportation). We train our employees and conduct audits of our operations to assess our fulfillment of these policies.

We are also subject to laws imposing liability for the clean up and release of hazardous substances. Under the law, we can be liable even if we did not cause a release on real property that we lease. We believe we have taken commercially reasonable steps to avoid such liability with respect to our current leased facilities.

Environmental Matters

We are subject to domestic and foreign environmental laws and regulations governing our operations, including, but not limited to, emissions into the air and water and the use, handling, disposal and remediation of hazardous substances. A certain risk of environmental liability is inherent in our production activities, operation of our systems and the disposal of our systems. These laws and regulations govern, among other things, the generation, use, storage, registration, handling and disposal of chemicals and waste materials, the presence of specified substances in electrical products, the emission and discharge of hazardous materials into the ground, air or water, the clean up of contaminated sites, including any contamination that results from spills due to our failure to properly dispose of chemicals and other waste materials and the health and safety of our employees.

Export and Trade Matters

We are subject to anti-corruption laws and regulations imposed by governments around the world with jurisdiction over our operations, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, as well as the laws of the countries where we do business. We are also subject to various trade restrictions, including trade and economic sanctions and export controls, imposed by governments around the world with jurisdiction over our operations. For example, in accordance with trade sanctions administered by the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and export controls administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce, we are prohibited from engaging in transactions involving certain persons and certain designated countries or territories, including Cuba, Iran, Syria, North Korea and the Crimea Region of Ukraine. In addition, our systems may be subject to export regulations that can involve significant compliance time and may add additional overhead cost to our systems. In recent years the United States government has a renewed focus on export matters. For example, the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 and regulatory guidance thereunder have imposed additional controls and may result in the imposition of further additional controls, on the export of certain “emerging and foundational technologies.” Our current and future systems may be subject to these heightened regulations, which could increase our compliance costs.

See “Risk Factors—We are subject to U.S. and foreign anti-corruption and anti-money laundering laws and regulations and could face criminal liability and other serious consequences for violations, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations” for additional information about the anti-corruption and anti-money laundering laws that may affect our business.

We may be subject to legal proceedings, investigations and claims incidental to the conduct of our business from time to time. We are not currently a party to any material litigation or other legal proceedings brought against us. We are also not aware of any legal proceeding, investigation or claim, or other legal exposure that has a more than remote possibility of having a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

See “Risk Factors—Any future litigation against us could be costly and time-consuming to defend.”

Employees and Human Capital Resources

As of December 31, 2024, we have 159 employees. We have adopted our Code of Ethics to support and protect our culture, and we strive to create a workplace culture in line with our values: “Integrity”, “Humility”, “Innovation”, “Discipline”, and “Continuous Improvement” and help our customers “Change the way the world views itself, one optic at a time.” As part of our initiative to retain and develop our talent, we focus on these key areas:

Attracting and retaining high quality talent at every level of our business is crucial to our continuing success. We have developed relationships with the University of Rochester to further our recruitment reach. We provide competitive compensation and benefit packages, including performance-based compensation that rewards individual and organizational achievements.

The Business Combination

On November 7, 2023 (the “Closing Date”), Syntec Optics Holdings, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”) (f/k/a OmniLit Acquisition Corp. (“OmniLit”)), consummated the previously announced merger (the “Closing”) pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement, dated May 9, 2023, (the “Business Combination Agreement”), by and among OmniLit, Optics Merger Sub Inc., a Delaware corporation and a wholly owned subsidiary of OmniLit (“Merger Sub”), and Syntec Optics, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Legacy Syntec”). OmniLit’s stockholders approved the Transactions (as defined below) at an annual meeting of stockholders held on October 31, 2023 (the “Annual Meeting”).

Pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement, Merger Sub merged with and into Legacy Syntec (the “Merger” and, together with the other transactions contemplated by the Business Combination Agreement, the “Transactions”), with Legacy Syntec continuing as the surviving corporation in the Merger and a wholly-owned subsidiary of OmniLit. On the Closing Date, the registrant changed its name from OmniLit Acquisition Corp. to Syntec Optics Holdings, Inc.

Merger Consideration

At the Closing, by virtue of the Merger and without any action on the part of OmniLit, Merger Sub, Legacy Syntec or the holders of any of the following securities:

Earnout Merger Consideration

In addition to the Merger Consideration set forth above, additional contingent shares (“Contingent Earnout Shares”) may be payable to each holder of shares of Legacy Syntec Common Stock in the Merger, subject to achieving specified milestones, up to an aggregate of 26,000,000 additional shares of Common Stock in three tranches.

Syntec Optics Holdings, Inc. will issue 26,000,000 additional shares of Common Stock (the “Contingent Earnout”) to Legacy Syntec’s existing stockholders at the Closing, which Contingent Earnout shares will vest upon achievement of the targets set forth in Section 3.4(b) of the Business Combination Agreement. The Contingent Earnout shares will vest upon the Company’s Common Stock achieving the following stock trading price thresholds (the “Contingent Earnout Trigger Price”) following the Closing: one-third (1/3 rd) at $12.50 per share, one-third (1/3 rd) at $14.00 per share, and one-third (1/3 rd) at $15.50 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like). The Contingent Earnout shares which remain unvested as of the date five (5) years from the Closing (the “Earnout Period”) will be deemed cancelled and no longer subject to vesting. The achievement of the Contingent Earnout Trigger Price will be based on either (a) the closing price of the Company’s common stock equaling or exceeding the specified threshold for twenty (20) trading days within any thirty (30)-trading day period following the Closing, or (b) upon the consummation of a change of control transaction in which the per share price implied in such change of control transaction is greater than or equal to the applicable threshold. All Contingent Earnout shares will be issued pro rata to Legacy Syntec stockholders in proportion to their owned shares of Legacy Syntec common stock immediately prior to the Closing.

Syntec Optics Holdings, Inc. will issue up to 2,000,000 shares of Common Stock (the “Performance-based-Earnout”) to members of the management team of the Company from time to time, to the extent determined by the Board of Directors in its sole discretion, to be issued as restricted stock units or incentive equity grants pursuant to the Incentive Plan described below in Note 14. The Performance-based Earnout shares shall be awarded by the Board of Directors based on achieving the following performance thresholds following the Closing: one-half (1/2) at achieving revenue of $75 million and adjusted EBITDA of $22.6 million based on 2024 financial audited statements, and one-half (1/2) at achieving revenue of $196 million and adjusted EBITDA of $50.6 million based on the 2025 financial audit statement. No such awards have been made as of October 3, 2025.

A description of the Merger and the terms of the Business Combination Agreement are included in the proxy statement/prospectus, dated October 5, 2023 (the “Proxy Statement/Prospectus”) as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) in the section entitled “Proposal No. 1 — The Business Combination Proposal” of the Proxy Statement/Prospectus.

The foregoing description of the Business Combination Agreement is a summary only and is qualified in its entirety by the full text of the Business Combination Agreement, a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit 2.1, which are incorporated herein by reference.

Capitalized terms used but not defined in this Report have the meanings set forth in the Proxy Statement/Prospectus.

Debt Financing

Loan Agreement

Syntec Optics Holdings, Inc. refinanced its existing loans in November 2023 with a similar structure but more favorable terms. Pursuant to the terms of the new Credit Agreement with the lender, the proceeds of the refinancing were used (i) to payoff on the Closing Date prior indebtedness, and (ii) to pay any fees associated with transactions contemplated under the Credit Agreement. The payoff of prior indebtedness included, (i) payoff for line of credit with the outgoing lender in the amount of approximately $6,092,560, (ii) payoff for term loan in the amount of approximately $1,109,789, and (iii) payoff for mortgage loan in the amount of approximately $863,607.

The existing revolving credit facility decreased the line of credit from $10,000,000 to $8,000,000 with a maturity date of 3 years from closing. The interest rate decreased from 310 basis points to 300 basis points added to the one month term Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) adjusting daily. The term loan facility was set at up to $1,775,000 at the same rate option as line of credit and maturity up to 5 years from closing. An additional facility for equipment line was added with a $5,000,000 discretionary loan/lease limit with the same interest rate option and maturity of 7 years from closing. At the time of refinancing, the mortgage facility was paid off from the new open line of credit until a new mortgage facility was set up with a 7-year maturity from closing and the same interest rate option.

Usual and customary credit facilities of this type, size and purpose also include a minimum fixed charge ratio greater than or equal to 1.10x along with a maximum leverage ratio of 3.5x (up from 3.0x with the outgoing lender). Usual and customary negative covenants are also included.

As the result of defaults on the loan covenant calculations for the quarterly periods ended June 30 2024 and September 30, 2024, on November 29, 2024 the Company’s credit agreement dated November 8, 2023 was amended. The bank waived certain criteria, including a minimum fixed charge coverage ratio and a maximum total leverage ratio, subject to certain modifications of the agreement, specifically, a reduction of the revolving line of credit to $8,000,000 and a reduction of the equipment loan amount to $3,000,000. The modified interest margin rate margin was adjusted to 3.00%. The leverage ratio was modified to be no greater than 5.25 for 1Q 2025, no greater than 5.0 for 2Q 2025, no greater than 4.75 for 3Q 2025, no greater than 4.25 for 4Q 2025, and no greater than 3.50 after that. The fixed charge ratio was suspended for 1Q 2025 and no less than 1.10 : 1.00 after that. As of December 31, 2024 the Company was not in compliance with the loan covenants and received a waiver letter from the lender.

Warrant Agreements

The shares issuable upon exercise of the Warrants have customary registration rights, which are contained in the respective forms of the Warrants, requiring the Company to file and keep effective a resale registration statement registering the resale of the shares of Common Stock underlying the Warrants.

The foregoing description of the Warrants is a summary only and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the Warrants, copies of which are attached hereto as Exhibit 4.4, respectively, and are incorporated herein by reference.

Related Agreements

Concurrently with the execution of the Business Combination Agreement, OmniLit, Legacy Syntec and the Sponsor entered into a sponsor support agreement, a copy of which is attached as Exhibit 10.4 and is incorporated herein by reference.

Indemnification of Directors and Officers

On the Closing Date, in connection with the consummation of the Transactions, the Company entered into indemnification agreements with each of its directors and executive officers. These agreements, among other things, will require the Company to indemnify the Company’s directors and executive officers for certain expenses, including attorneys’ fees, judgments and fines incurred by a director or executive officer in any action or proceeding arising out of their services as one of the Company’s directors or executive officers or any other company or enterprise to which the person provides services at the Company’s request.

The foregoing description of the indemnification agreements does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the form of indemnification agreement, a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit 10.7 and is incorporated herein by reference.

Registration Rights Agreement

On the Closing Date, in connection with the consummation of the Transactions, the Company entered into the Amended and Restated Registration Rights Agreement (the “Registration Rights Agreement”) with the Sponsor, OmniLit’s officers, directors, initial stockholders, non-redemption agreement investors (collectively, the “Insiders”) and certain Legacy Syntec stockholders.

The foregoing description of the Registration Rights Agreement does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the Registration Rights Agreement, a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit 4.6 and is incorporated herein by reference.

Corporate Information

The mailing address of our principal executive office is 515 Lee Rd., Rochester, New York 14606, and our telephone number is (585) 768-2513.

We file periodic reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. Such reports, proxy statements and other information may be obtained, free of charge, by visiting the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov that contains all of the reports, proxy and information statements, and other information that we electronically file or furnish to the SEC. We also maintain a website at www.syntecoptics.com where we make available the proxy statements, press releases, registration statements and reports on Forms 3, 4, 8-K, 10-K and 10-Q that we (and in the case of Section 16 reports, our insiders) file with the SEC. These forms are made available as soon as reasonably practicable after such material is electronically filed with or furnished to the SEC. Press releases are also issued via electronic transmission to provide access to our financial and product news, and we provide notification of and access to voice and internet broadcasts of our quarterly and annual results. Our website also includes investor presentations and corporate governance materials.