INVESTMENT IN PARAGON WASTE SOLUTIONS LLC |
12 Months Ended |
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Dec. 31, 2022 | |
Investments, All Other Investments [Abstract] | |
INVESTMENT IN PARAGON WASTE SOLUTIONS LLC |
NOTE 9 – INVESTMENT IN PARAGON WASTE SOLUTIONS LLC
Paragon Waste Solutions LLC
In 2010, the Company and Black Stone Management Services, LLC (“Black Stone”) formed PWS, whereby a total of membership units were issued, 600,000 membership units to the Company and 400,000 membership units to Black Stone. Fortunato Villamagna, who serves as President of our PWS subsidiary, is a managing member and Chairman of Black Stone. In June 2012, the Company and Blackstone each allocated 10% of their respective membership units in PWS to Mr. J John Combs III, an officer and shareholder of the Company and Mr. Michael Cardillo, a shareholder of the Company and an officer of a subsidiary. There was no value attributable to the units at the time of the allocation. As of December 31, 2021, and 2020 the Company owned 54% of the membership units, Black Stone owned 36% of the membership units, and two related parties (as noted above), each owned 5% of the membership units.
In August 2011, the Company acquired certain intellectual property in regard to waste destruction technology (the “IP”) from Black Stone in exchange for shares of our common stock valued at $100,000. We estimated the useful life of the IP at ten years, which was consistent with the useful life of other technology included in our intangible assets, and management’s initial assessment of the potential marketability of the IP. In March 2012, the Company entered into an Irrevocable License & Royalty Agreement with PWS that grants PWS an irrevocable world-wide license to the IP in exchange for a 5% royalty on all revenues from the sale or lease of all CoronaLux™ units from PWS and its affiliates. The term commenced as of the date of the Agreement and shall continue for a period not to exceed the life of the patent or patents filed by the Company. PWS may sub license the IP and any revenue derived from sub licensing shall be included in the calculation of Gross Revenue for purposes of determining royalty payments due the Company. Royalty payments are due 30 days after the end of each calendar quarter. PWS generated licensing and unit sales revenues of approximately $0 and $30,200 for the years ended December 31, 2022, and 2021, respectively.
Since its inception through December 31, 2022, we have provided approximately $6.4 million in funding to PWS for working capital and the further development and construction of various prototypes and commercial waste destruction units. No members of PWS have made capital contributions or other funding to PWS other than SEER. The intent of the operating agreement is that we will provide the funding as an advance against future earnings distributions made by PWS.
Licensing Agreements
On November 17, 2014, PWS entered into an Exclusive Licensing and Equipment Lease Agreement, for a limited license territory, with Medical Waste Services, LLC (“MWS”). The License Agreement grants to MWS the use of the PWS Technology and the CoronaLux™ waste destruction units for an initial term of seven years and required a payment of $225,000 as a non-refundable initial licensing fee and distributions of 50% of net operating profits, as defined in the agreement, in lieu of continuing royalty payments for the use of the licensed technology. PWS and Medical Waste Services, LLC (“MWS”) formed a contractual joint venture to exploit the PWS medical waste destruction technology. MWS has received approval from the California Department of Public Health and a restricted permit from the South Coast Air Quality Management District (“SCAQMD”) to operate the CoronaLux™ unit licensed by MWS at its facility in Southern California. The original licensing and partnership agreement was formally canceled in 2019, because MWS failed to implement the expansion plan outlined in the original agreement), with both parties agreeing to continue operating the CoronaLux under the original terms of the agreement, for strategic reasons. PWS has no obligations, commitments, or liabilities relative to MWS, and is free to sublicense to anyone or develop company owned facilities. Operations to date have included the destruction of medical waste under a temporary operating permit issued by SCAQMD since May 2015 and efforts to obtain a full operating permit from SCAQMD were successful and SCAQMD issued a ‘Notice of Intent to Issue Permit to Operate’ in March 2017. In November 2017, the full operating permit was issued by SCAQMD.
In December 2017, PWS and GulfWest Waste Solutions, LLC (“GWWS”) formed Paragon Southwest Medical Waste, LLC (“PSMW”) to exploit the PWS medical waste destruction technology. PSMW has an exclusive license to the CoronaLux™ technology in a six-state area of the Southern United States. In 2017, PSMW purchased and installed three CoronaLux™ units for $600,000. PWS incurred costs of $525,700 to prepare the three units for sale. Operations in the form of medical waste destruction began in 2018.
Paragon Southwest Medical Waste, LLC
On July 20, 2022, PWS transferred all patents owned covering medical waste destruction, and related technology, to its joint venture, Paragon Southwest Medical Waste (“PSMW”), in exchange for non-voting units in PSMW. The units in PSMW transferred in connection with this transaction increased SEER’s equity in PSMW to approximately 20%, on a total consolidated basis. This transaction also canceled the irrevocable license and royalty agreement, and the management agreement between PWS and PSMW. The Company recorded its investment in PSMW of $182,200 under the cost method of accounting. The Company assessed its investment in PSMW for impairment, and as of December 31, 2022, determined that no impairment was required.
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