Orion Office REIT (ONL) Risk Factors

The market price of our common stock may fluctuate widely as a result of a number of factors, many of which are outside of our control. In addition, the stock market is subject to fluctuations in share prices and trading volumes that affect the market prices of the shares of many companies. These fluctuations in the stock market may adversely affect the market price of our common stock. Among the factors that could affect the market price of our common stock are: - actual or anticipated quarterly fluctuations in our business, financial condition and operating results;- changes in revenues or earnings estimates or publication of research reports and recommendations by financial analysts or actions taken by rating agencies with respect to our securities or those of other REITs;- the ability of our tenants to pay rent to us and meet their other obligations to us under current lease terms;- our ability to re-lease spaces as leases expire;- our ability to extend or refinance our indebtedness as it matures;- any changes in our dividend policy;- any future issuances of equity securities;- strategic actions by us or our competitors, such as acquisitions or restructurings;- general economic, political and financial market conditions and, in particular, developments related to market conditions for the real estate industry; and - domestic and international economic factors unrelated to our performance.

In order to satisfy our REIT distribution requirements, we are permitted, subject to certain conditions and limitations, to make distributions that are in part payable in shares of our common stock. Distributions of cash and common stock will be treated as dividends to the extent of our current and accumulated earnings and profits, as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes. As a result, stockholders may be required to pay income tax with respect to such dividends in excess of the cash received in the distribution. If a stockholder sells shares of our stock to pay this tax, the sales proceeds may be less than the amount included in income with respect to the dividend, depending on the market price of the stock at the time of the sale. Moreover, if a significant number of our stockholders sell shares of our stock to pay such taxes, it may cause the stock distribution to be viewed as economically equivalent to a dividend reduction and put downward pressure on the market price of our stock. Furthermore, we may be required to withhold federal income tax with respect to dividends paid to certain non-U.S. stockholders, including dividends payable in our stock.

Certain provisions contained in our charter and certain provisions of Maryland law may have the effect of discouraging a third party from making an acquisition proposal for us and may thereby inhibit a change of control. Provisions of our charter are designed to assist us in maintaining our qualification as a REIT under the Code by preventing concentrated ownership of our capital stock that might jeopardize REIT qualification. Among other things, unless exempted by our board of directors, no person may actually or constructively own more than 9.8% of the aggregate of the outstanding shares of our common stock by value or by number of shares, whichever is more restrictive, or 9.8% of the aggregate of the outstanding shares of all classes and series of our outstanding stock by value. Our board of directors may, in its sole discretion, grant exemptions to the stock ownership limits, subject to such conditions and the receipt by our board of directors of certain representations and undertakings. In addition to these ownership limits, our charter also prohibits any person from: - beneficially or constructively owning, as determined by applying certain attribution rules of the Code, shares of our capital stock that would result in us being "closely held" under Section 856(h) of the Code;- transferring our capital stock if such transfer would result in our stock being owned by fewer than 100 persons (determined under the principles of Section 856(a)(5) of the Code);- beneficially or constructively owning shares of our capital stock to the extent such ownership would result in us owning (directly or indirectly) an interest in a tenant if the income derived by us from that tenant for our taxable year during which such determination is being made would reasonably be expected to equal or exceed the lesser of one percent of our gross income or an amount that would cause us to fail to satisfy any of the REIT gross income requirements; and - beneficially or constructively owning shares of our capital stock that would cause us otherwise to fail to qualify as a REIT. If any transfer of our shares of stock occurs which, if effective, would result in any person beneficially or constructively owning shares of stock in excess, or in violation, of the above transfer or ownership limitations (such person, a prohibited owner), then that number of shares of stock, the beneficial or constructive ownership of which otherwise would cause such person to violate the transfer or ownership limitations (rounded up to the nearest whole share), will be automatically transferred to a charitable trust for the exclusive benefit of a charitable beneficiary, and the prohibited owner will not acquire any rights in such shares. If the transfer to the charitable trust would not be effective for any reason to prevent the violation of the above transfer or ownership limitations, then the transfer of that number of shares of our capital stock that otherwise would cause any person to violate the above limitations will be void. The prohibited owner will not benefit economically from ownership of any shares of our capital stock held in the charitable trust, will have no rights to dividends or other distributions and will not possess any rights to vote or other rights attributable to the shares of our capital stock held in the charitable trust. Generally, the ownership limits imposed under the Code are based upon direct or indirect ownership by "individuals," but only during the last half of a taxable year. The ownership limits contained in our charter are based upon direct or indirect ownership at any time by any "person," which term includes entities. These ownership limitations in our charter are common in REIT governing documents and are intended to provide added assurance of compliance with the tax law requirements, and to minimize administrative burdens. However, the ownership limits on our common stock also might delay, defer or prevent a transaction or a change in control of our company that might involve a premium price for shares of our common stock or otherwise be in the best interest of our stockholders. Furthermore, under our charter, our board of directors has the authority to classify and reclassify any of our unissued shares of capital stock into shares of capital stock with such preferences, rights, powers and restrictions as our board of directors may determine. The authorization and issuance of a new class of capital stock could have the effect of delaying or preventing someone from taking control of us, even if a change in control were in our stockholders' best interests, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The Maryland General Corporation Law (the "MGCL") provides protection for Maryland corporations against unsolicited takeovers by limiting, among other things, the duties of the directors in unsolicited takeover situations. The duties of directors of Maryland corporations do not require them to: - accept, recommend or respond to any proposal by a person seeking to acquire control of the corporation;- authorize the corporation to redeem any rights under, or modify or render inapplicable, any stockholder rights plan;- make a determination under the Maryland Business Combination Act; or - act or fail to act solely because of the effect the act or failure to act may have on an acquisition or potential acquisition of control of the corporation or the amount or type of consideration that may be offered or paid to the stockholders in an acquisition. Moreover, under the MGCL, the act of a director of a Maryland corporation relating to or affecting an acquisition or potential acquisition of control is not subject to any higher duty or greater scrutiny than is applied to any other act of a director. The MGCL also contains a statutory presumption that an act of a director of a Maryland corporation satisfies the applicable standards of conduct for directors under the MGCL. The MGCL also provides that unless exempted, certain Maryland corporations may not engage in business combinations, including mergers, dispositions of 10% or more of its assets, certain issuances of shares of stock and other specified transactions, with an "interested stockholder" or an affiliate of an interested stockholder for five years after the most recent date on which the interested stockholder became an interested stockholder, and thereafter unless specified criteria are met. An interested stockholder is generally a person owning or controlling, directly or indirectly, 10% or more of the voting power of the outstanding stock of the Maryland corporation, unless the stock had been obtained in a transaction approved by its board of directors. These and other provisions of the MGCL could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a proxy contest, tender offer, merger or other change in control, which may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.