COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES |
9 Months Ended |
|---|---|
Sep. 30, 2022 | |
| Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] | |
| COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES |
(18) COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
Maryland Litigation
Following the consummation of the Kind Acquisition, in April 2022, the Maryland 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 membership interest purchase agreement pursuant to which the Company would purchase Ms. DiPietro’s interests in Mia and Mari-MD. 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 $29.0 million from the sale, which was fully reserved on December 31, 2019.
In February 2020, GenCanna USA, GenCanna’s wholly-owned operating subsidiary, under pressure from certain of its creditors including MGG Investment Group LP, GenCanna’s senior lender (“MGG”), agreed to convert a previously-filed involuntary bankruptcy proceeding with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Eastern District of Kentucky (the “Bankruptcy Court”) into a voluntary Chapter 11 proceeding. In addition, GenCanna and GenCanna USA’s subsidiary, Hemp Kentucky LLC (collectively with GenCanna and GenCanna USA, the “GenCanna Debtors”), 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 GenCanna Debtors which included the Company, entered an order authorizing the sale of all or substantially all of the assets of the GenCanna Debtors to MGG. After the consummation of the sale of all or substantially all of their assets and business, the GenCanna Debtors n/k/a OGGUSA, Inc. and OGG, Inc. (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 ODDUSA Debtors, and make payments to creditors. The Company and the unsecured creditors committee filed objections to such Liquidating Plan, including opposition to the release of litigation against the OGGUSA Debtors’ senior lender, MGG, for lender liability, equitable subordination, and return of preference. As a part of such plan confirmation process, the OGGUSA Debtors filed various objections to proofs of claims filed by various creditors, including the proof of claim in the amount of $33.6 million filed by the Company. Through intense and lengthy negotiations with the OGGUSA Debtors and the unsecured creditors committee regarding the objections to the Liquidating Plan, the Company reached an agreement with the OGGUSA Debtors to withdraw the objections to the Company’s claim and to have it approved by the Bankruptcy Court as a general unsecured claim in the amount of $31.0 million.
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 the Liquidating Plan administrator for the OGGUSA Debtors, 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.
On April 20, 2022, the Plan Administrator for the OGGUSA Debtors filed an adversary proceeding against the Company seeking to recover approximately $200,000 in certain alleged preferential transfers made to MariMed Hemp, Inc. prior to the filing of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy. After investigating the nature of these claims, the Company and its counsel do not believe that such claims have any factual or legal merit and intend to vigorously defend such preference action. In addition, by reason of the nature of the claims, the Company believes that it has certain counterclaims and possible third-party claims against the OGGUSA Debtors in relation to the facts asserted in the preference action. The Company and its counsel are continuing to have discussions with the Plan Administrator in an attempt to resolve this action without further litigation or expense. On October 19, 2022, counsel for the Plan Administrator requested a resumption of discussions between the parties regarding the settlement of the claims in question. It is not known at this time whether such matter can be resolved or if the Company will be required to proceed with its defense and counterclaims. In the event that the Company and the Plan Administrator are not able to reach a settlement agreement regarding the resolution of the claims, one or both of the parties will file an election notice with the bankruptcy court to allow the reference action to proceed.
As of the date of this filing, since the preference section is still in its initial states and no discovery has been conducted by either party, there is still insufficient information as to (a) the details of the factual or legal basis for the preference claim asserted by the Plan Administrator or (b) what portion, if any, of the Company’s allowed claim will be paid upon the completion of the liquidation of the remaining assets of the OGGUSA Debtors.
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