COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES |
9 Months Ended |
|---|---|
Sep. 30, 2023 | |
| Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] | |
| COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES | 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 subsidiary, MariMed Hemp, Inc. ("MHI") 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, 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 Investment Group LP ("MGG"), a creditor of the OGGUSA Debtors. 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 April 2022, the Plan Administrator filed a Complaint against MHI (the "Complaint") alleging certain preferential transfers of assets, which were valued by the Plan Administrator at $250,000, relating to payments on a $600,000 loan made to MHI by the Company prior to the filing of the OGGUSA Debtors Chapter 11 proceeding (the "Preferential Claim"). The Complaint sought to recover an amount no less than $200,000 and to disallow MHI’s unsecured general claim in the bankruptcy proceeding until such time as such preferential transfer had been repaid to the OGGUSA Debtors.
In July 2023, MHI entered into a Settlement and Release Agreement with the Plan Administrator pursuant to which it agreed to reduce its Bankruptcy Court approved unsecured general claim to $15.5 million, or by 50%, in consideration for the settlement of the Preferential Claim and a general release of MHI and the Company.
As of the date of this filing, there is insufficient information to determine how much MHI may receive upon the completion of the liquidation of the remaining assets of the OGGUSA Debtors on account of its general unsecured claim, if anything.
New Bedford, MA and Middleborough, MA Buildouts
In the third quarter of 2023, the Company recorded an increase of $2.0 million in building and building improvements and a corresponding accrued liability in the same amount for electrical work performed at the Company's New Bedford and Middleborough properties between December 2017 and June 2023. The electrical work was performed by an electrical contractor that is owned and/or controlled by the family of a non-officer/director Company stockholder who beneficially owned more than 5% of the Company's common stock when the electrical work began. The electrical work was primarily paid for by an entity that is indirectly controlled by that individual and another non-officer/director Company shareholder who also beneficially owned more than 5% of the common stock when the electrical work began. The Company repaid the two shareholders $300,000 each as salary between 2021 and 2023 (at the rate of $100,000 each per year), which payments have since been terminated. The Company intends to negotiate an agreement with the entity that paid for the electrical work and all other interested parties to reflect the liability and agreed-upon payment terms.
|