COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES |
3 Months Ended |
|---|---|
Mar. 31, 2023 | |
| Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] | |
| COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES |
(18) COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
Maryland Litigation
Following the consummation of the Kind Acquisition, in April 2022, litigation between the Company and the members of Kind was dismissed in its entirety with prejudice, and the parties have released one another of any and all claims between them.
DiPietro Lawsuit
In December 2021, the parties to this action entered into a global confidential settlement and release agreement, along with the parties to the aforementioned Maryland litigation. At the same date, the Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary MariMed Advisors Inc. (“MMA”) and Jennifer DiPietro (“Ms. DiPietro”), one of the former members of Kind, entered into a membership interest purchase agreement pursuant to which the Company would purchase Ms. DiPietro’s interests in Mia Development LLC, the Company's majority-owned subsidiary that owns production and retail cannabis facilities in Wilmington, Delaware, and Mari Holdings MD LLC ("Mari-MD"), the Company's majority-owned subsidiary that owns production and retail cannabis facilities in Hagerstown, Maryland and Annapolis Maryland. Upon the court’s approval of the parties’ joint motion for approval, on June 8, 2022, the purchase of Ms. DiPietro’s interests was consummated. The parties released all direct and derivative claims against one another, and a stipulation dismissing all claims and counterclaims with prejudice was filed with the court.
Bankruptcy Claim
During 2019, the Company’s MMH subsidiary sold and delivered hemp seed inventory to GenCanna Global Inc., a Kentucky-based cultivator, producer, and distributor of hemp (“GenCanna”). At the time of sale, the Company owned a 33.5% ownership interest in GenCanna. The Company recorded a related party receivable of approximately $29 million from the sale, which was fully reserved at December 31, 2019.
On January 24, 2020, an involuntary bankruptcy proceeding under Chapter 11 was filed against GenCanna and its wholly-owned subsidiary, OGGUSA Inc. (f/k/a GenCanna Global US, Inc.) ("OGGUSA" and together with GenCanna, the "OGGUSA Debtors") in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Eastern District of Kentucky (the "Bankruptcy Court"). In February 2020, the OGGUSA Debtors, under pressure from certain of its creditors including its senior lender MGG Investment Group LP ("MGG"), agreed to convert the involuntary bankruptcy proceeding into a voluntary Chapter 11
proceeding. The OGGUSA Debtors' subsidiary, Hemp Kentucky LLC, also filed voluntary petitions under Chapter 11 in the Bankruptcy Court.
In May 2020, after an abbreviated solicitation/bid/sale process, the Bankruptcy Court, over numerous objections by creditors and shareholders of the OGGUSA Debtors, which included the Company, entered an order authorizing the sale of all or substantially all of the assets of the OGGUSA Debtors to MGG. After the consummation of the sale of all or substantially all of their assets and business, the OGGUSA Debtors filed their liquidating plan of reorganization (the “Liquidating Plan”) to collect various prepetition payments and commercial claims against third parties, liquidate the remaining assets of the OGGUSA Debtors, and make payments to creditors. The Liquidating Plan was confirmed by the Bankruptcy Court on November 12, 2020.
Since the approval of the Liquidating Plan, the OGGUSA Debtors have been in the process of liquidating the remaining assets, negotiating and prosecuting objections to other creditors’ claims, and pursuing the collection of accounts receivable and Chapter 5 bankruptcy avoidance claims.
In January 2022, the Company, at the request of Oxford Restructuring Advisors LLC, the administrator of the Liquidating Plan for the OGGUSA Debtors (the "Plan Administrator"), executed a written release of claims, if any, of the Company against Huron Consulting Group (“Huron”), a financial consulting and management company retained by the senior lender of the OGGUSA Debtors to perform loan management services for the lender and OGGUSA Debtors prior to and during their Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases. Such release was executed in connection with a comprehensive settlement agreement between the OGGUSA Debtors and Huron. In consideration for the Company’s execution of the release, Huron paid an additional $40,000 to the bankruptcy estates of the OGGUSA Debtors to be included in the funds to be distributed to creditors, including the Company.
In connection with the discussions of the Company with the OGGUSA Debtors relating to the Huron settlement, the Plan Administrator raised issues relating to a potential claim against MariMed Hemp, Inc. ("MHI") for certain preferential transfers of assets, which were valued at $250,000 by the Plan Administrator, of the OGGUSA Debtors alleged to have been made to MHI in payment of a $600,000 loan made by the Company prior to the Chapter 11 bankruptcy of the OGGUSA Debtors (the "Preferential Claim"). On April 20, 2022, the Plan Administrator filed its Complaint to Avoid and Recover Transfers Pursuant to 11 U.S.C. §§547 and 550 and to Disallow Claims Pursuant to 11 U.S.C. §502 (the "Complaint"), asserting the Preferential Claim seeking the recovery of an amount no less than $200,000 and to disallow the MHI claim until such time as such preferential transfer has been repaid to the OGGUSA Debtors. On August 1, 2022, an answer to the Complaint was filed, asserting counterclaims and third-party claims against OGGUSA, the Plan Administrator, and Huron for declaratory judgment (the "Related Claims") in relation to terms of the Plan of Reorganization (the "Plan") and the allowance of the MHI claim under the Plan.
The Company has and continues to vigorously deny that any of the Preferential Claim exists in that such claims were waived and released in connection with the Company's settlement agreement and stipulations for its support of and voting for the Plan. As such, the Company believes that such claims are meritless and have no basis in fact or law.
As of the date of this filing, there is insufficient information as to how much of the Company's allowed general unsecured claim, if any, will be paid upon the completion of the liquidation of the remaining assets of the OGGUSA Debtors.
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