CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS
The Company currently rents its corporate headquarters and, its warehousing space, from BioHitech Realty LLC, a company partially owned by Frank E. Celli, our Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, and Michael Franco, a stockholder and employee of the Company. The initial lease expired on October 31, 2014 and was replaced by an office and a warehouse leases that were executed in July 2015 and expire in 2020. Each lease contains a renewal option for an additional five-year period. Rent expense under these leases for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017 amounted to $98,148 and $97,066, respectively.
The Company has an Exclusive License and Distribution Agreement (the “License Agreement”) with BioHiTech International (a company owned by Chun-Il Koh, a Company stockholder) Chun-Il Koh, Joyce Taeya Koh and Bong Soon Hwang. The License Agreement, originally executed on May 2, 2007 and as amended, most recently on October 17, 2018, provides the Company exclusive rights to sell, lease, use, distribute and manufacture the Eco-Safe Digester products through December 31, 2023 in the areas that the Company operates (unless extended by mutual agreement). Acquisition of digesters and parts, as well as expenses under the distribution agreement amounted to $ 194,870 and $222,240 for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.
During 2018, the Company made a 9.2% interest investment in Gold Medal Group, LLC (“GMG”) that was diluted to 2.9% due to additional GMG acquisitions and investments made by GMG that the Company did not participate in. GMG is controlled by Kinderhook Industries, LLC, a private investment firm that manages over $2 billion of committed capital. The Company entered into a Contribution and Transaction Agreement (“CTA”) with GMG and a newly formed subsidiary Refuel America, LLC (“Refuel”) whereby GMG contributed $3,500,000 in cash and its 34.1% ownership interest in EVW (owned by GMG’s wholly owned subsidiary Apple Valley Waste Technologies, LLC) into Refuel and the Company contributed it’s 44.1% interest in EWV, a technology license for a future HEBioT facility and capitalized costs relating to two separate HEBioT facility on-going projects. In exchange for the assets contributed, the Company and GMG acquired 60% and 40%, respectively, of the membership units of Refuel, which approximate the carrying value of each of the Company and GMG assets contributed. As a result of there being a continuation in proportional ownership of the significant assets and the affiliate nature of the Company and GMG through a non-controlling interest of GMG being owned by the Company and there being a management agreement between GMG’s largest subsidiary, Gold Medal Holdings, LLC (“GMH”) whereby the Company provides executive management to GMH, the CTA transaction has been accounted for without separate acquisition accounting applied to the CTA elements. During 2018, the Company recognized $1,010,152 in management advisory and project fees related to GMH and its subsidiaries.
BioHiTech has also entered into various transactions with related parties that are disclosed in the Company’s financial statements filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission in its 2018 Annual Report on Form 10-K.
PROPOSAL 2
RATIFICATION OF
INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS
FOR 2019 FISCAL YEAR
The Audit Committee of the Board of Directors has appointed Marcum LLP to continue to serve as our independent registered public accounting firm for the 2019 fiscal year. Marcum has served as our independent registered public accounting firm since October 26, 2015.
On October 26, 2015, the Company’s Board of Directors engaged Marcum LLP (“Marcum”) as the Company’s new independent registered public accounting firm to act as the principal accountant to audit the Company’s financial statements. Prior to Marcum’s appointment, neither the Company, nor anyone acting on its behalf, consulted with Marcum regarding the application of accounting principles to a specific completed or proposed transaction or the type of audit opinion that might be rendered on the Company’s financial statements, and no written report or oral advice was provided that Marcum concluded was an important factor considered by the Company in reaching a decision as to any such accounting, auditing or financial reporting issue.
Representatives of Marcum LLP are expected to be available at the Annual Meeting, shall have the opportunity to make a statement if they desire to do so, and are expected to be available to respond to appropriate questions. Although ratification by stockholders is not required, the Board of Directors has