Transactions with Jeffrey Garwood
On December 7, 2021, the Company entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement with Jeff Garwood pursuant to which the Company issued an Investor Note in the aggregate principal amount of $300,000 to Mr. Garwood for $294,000 in cash. The Investor Note bears interest at 13% per year paid quarterly commencing March 31, 2022 in cash for an amount equal to the amount payable on such date as if the Note was subject to an annual interest rate of 9% with the remainder of the accrued interest payable as an increase to the principal amount of the Note. Mr. Garwood is a member of the Board.
Transactions with Pratap Mukharji
On December 7, 2021, the Company entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement with Pratap Mukharji pursuant to which the Company issued an Investor Note in the aggregate principal amount of $200,000 to Mr. Mukharji for $196,000 in cash. The Investor Note bears interest at 13% per year paid quarterly commencing March 31, 2022 in cash for an amount equal to the amount payable on such date as if the Note was subject to an annual interest rate of 9% with the remainder of the accrued interest payable as an increase to the principal amount of the Note. Mr. Mukharji is a member of the Board.
Transactions with Star Buds Parties
The Company has participated in several transactions involving entities owned or affiliated with one or more of its directors or 5% or greater beneficial owners that are affiliated with Star Buds and/or the Star Buds Acquisitions. These individuals include: (i) Brian Ruden, a former director of the Company as of October 2022, and a beneficial owner of 10% or more of the Company’s voting stock, (ii) Salim Wahdan, a director of the Company as of December 31, 2022, and (iii) Naser Joudeh and Shadhaa Ramadan, jointly as the beneficial owner of 10% or more of the Company’s voting stock (the “Joudeh Owners” and together with Brian Ruden and Salim Wahdan, the “Star Buds Affiliates”). Each of Brian Ruden, Salim Wahdan, and the Joudeh Owners had an ownership stake in the Star Buds companies acquired by the Company between December 2021 and May 2022.
Between December 17, 2020 and March 2, 2021, the Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary SBUD LLC acquired Star Buds assets. The aggregate purchase price for the Star Buds assets was $118,000,000, paid as follows: (i) $44,250,000 in cash at the applicable closings, (ii) $44,250,000 in deferred cash, also referred to in this report as “seller note(s),” (iii) 29,506 shares of Series A Preferred Stock, of which 25,078 shares were issued at the applicable closings and 4,428 shares were held back by the Company as collateral for potential indemnification obligations pursuant to the applicable purchase agreements. In addition, the Company issued warrants to purchase an aggregate of 5,531,250 shares of common stock to the sellers. Each Party’s interests in the seller notes is as follows: (i) Brian Ruden: 31%, (ii) Salim Wahdan: 3.5%, and (iii) the Joudeh Owners: 28%. The Company issued warrants to purchase an aggregate of (i) 1,715,936 shares of common stock to Mr. Ruden, (ii) 193,929 shares of commons stock to Mr. Wahdan, and (iii) 1,522,457 shares of common stock to the Joudeh Owners.
As of December 31, 2021, the Company (i) owed an aggregate principal amount of $44,250,000 under the seller notes, (ii) paid an aggregate of $4,780,887 in interest on the seller notes, and (iii) held 4,428 shares of Series A Preferred Stock in escrow as collateral for potential indemnification obligations pursuant to the applicable purchase agreements.
As of December 31, 2022, the Company (i) owed an aggregate principal amount of $44,250,00 under the seller notes, (ii) paid an aggregate of $5,310,000 in interest on the seller notes, and (iii) held 944 shares of Series A Preferred Stock in escrow as collateral for potential indemnification obligations pursuant to the applicable purchase agreements.
In connection with acquiring the Star Buds assets the Company also assumed and acquired a number of leases for which one or more of the Star Buds Affiliates serve as landlord or maintain an ownership interest in the landlord entity. The Company has entered into a lease with each of 428 S. McCulloch LLC, Colorado Real Estate Holdings LLC, 5844 Ventures LLC, 5238 W 44th LLC, 4690 Brighton Blvd LLC, 14655 Arapahoe LLC and Montview Real Estate LLC, on substantially the same terms. Each of the leases is for an initial three-year term. The lease with 428 S. McCulloch LLC is for the Company’s Pueblo West Star Buds location and was effective on December 17, 2020. The leases with Colorado Real Estate Holdings LLC and 5844 Ventures LLC is for the Company’s Niwot and Commerce City Star Buds location, respectively, and was effective on December 18, 2020. The lease with 5238 W 44th LLC is for the Company’s Lakeside