SEC Company Response from MARGO CARIBE INC (CIK 0000808493) — Nov 18, 2005
MARGO CARIBE INC (CIK 0000808493)
Date: Nov. 18, 2005 · CIK: 0000808493 · Accession: 0001096906-05-000749
AI Filing Summary & Sentiment
File numbers found in text: 000-15336
Referenced dates: October 19, 2005
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CORRESP
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Margo Caribe Correspondence November 18, 2005
[Letterhead
of Margo Caribe, Inc.]
November
18, 2005
VIA
FAX
(202) 772-9368
AND
EDGAR
SYSTEM
Mr.
Karl
Hiller
Ms.
Lily
Dang
United
States Securities and Exchange Commission
Division
of Corporation Finance
100
F
Street, N.E.
Washington,
D.C. 20459-7010
RE: Margo
Caribe, Inc. (the “Corporation”)
Form
10-KSB for Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2004
Filed
March 31, 2005
Form
8-K/A
Filed
May
5, 2005
File
No.
000-15336
Dear
Mr.
Hiller and Ms. Dang:
We
hereby
acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated October 19, 2005 (the “Comment
Letter”).
Management has carefully reviewed your comments to the referenced reports
filed
the Corporation. We hereby respond to each item included in the Comment
Letter,
following the same order and reference number as in your letter.
We
have
responded to your comment regarding the Corporation’s Form 10-KSB for the fiscal
year ended December 31, 2004 by including language in Note 13 to the unaudited
financial statements included in the Corporation’s Form 10-QSB for the quarter
ended September 30, 2005 (the “3Q05-
10QSB”).
The
Corporation intends to include such a statement in the notes to its audited
financial statements to be included as part of its Form 10-KSB for the
fiscal
year ended December 31, 2005.
While
management believes that the incorporation of the Commission’s comments will
enhance the quality of the Corporation’s disclosure relating to its acquisition
of substantially all the assets of State-Line Bark & Mulch, Inc., we believe
the issues identified in the comments are not sufficiently significant
to
require amendments to the previously filed reports.
United
States Securities and Exchange Commission
November
18, 2005
Page
2
As
mentioned above, the Corporation has incorporated your comments in its
3Q05-10QSB as detailed in our responses below.
Form
10-KSB for the Year Ended December 31, 2004
Financial
Statements
Note
22 - Subsequent Events, page F-26
1.
We
understand that you acquired substantially all of the assets
and assumed
certain liabilities and the operations of State-Line Bark & Mulch,
Inc. on February 16, 2005 in exchange for $2,600,000 in cash.
However,
based on disclosures in the Form 8-K/A that you filed on May
5, 2005, it
appears you may have also acquired some assets and liabilities
that did
not belong to this entity.
Response:
Effective
February 16, 2005, Margo State Line, Inc. (“Margo
State Line”),
a
wholly-owned subsidiary of the Corporation, acquired substantially all
the
assets and liabilities of State-Line Bark & Mulch, Inc. (“SLBM”),
which
included all the assets presented in SLBM financial statements as of such
date.
In addition, real estate consisting of a building and a parcel of land
of
approximately 100 acres was acquired from SLBM related parties in connection
with the transaction.
While
the
legal owner of the above-referenced real property were Mulch Masters Inc.,
a
company controlled by the stockholders of SLBM (collectively, the “Affiliates”),
the
truth is that the stockholders of SLBM did not maintain proper segregation
of
assets and liabilities between their companies. This is primarily because
SLBM
was organized as a Sub-Chapter S corporation, and as such, all the revenues
and
expenses of all controlled entities were combined on the stockholders’ personal
income tax returns. Frankly, the stockholders of SLBM ran SLBM and their
other
controlled entities as “Mom and Pop Operations.”
In
connection with the SLBM acquisition, an asset purchase agreement was executed
among SLBM, the stockholders of SLBM and Margo State Line (the “Asset
Purchase Agreement”).
Schedule 1.7 — Purchase Price Allocation of the Asset Purchase Agreement listed
all the assets acquired and the liabilities assumed in connection with
the
transaction. As set forth in Schedule 1.7, the purchase price of $2,600,000
included, $450,000 and $200,000 allocated to Land and Building, respectively.
Two separate Agreements for the Purchase and Sale of Real Property, dated
as of
February 9, 2005, were executed among Mulch Masters, Inc., the stockholders
of
SLBM and Margo State Line, to formalize the purchase of the real property.
All
of these agreements we filed as exhibits to the Corporation’s Form 8-K, filed
with the Commission on February 23, 2005.
United
States Securities and Exchange Commission
November
18, 2005
Page
3
For
the
3Q05-10QSB filing, we have revised the disclosure relating to the acquisition
as
follow:
Note
13 - Acquisitions (Excerpt)
On
February 16, 2005, the Company, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Margo
State
Line, Inc., acquired substantially all the assets (except for real estate)
and
assumed certain liabilities and the operations of State-Line Bark & Mulch,
Inc. (SLBM), a Georgia corporation, pursuant to an asset purchase agreement.
Real
estate consisting of a building and a parcel of land of approximately 100
acres
was acquired from SLBM related parties in connection with the
transaction.
The
results of operations of SLBM have been included in the Company’s consolidated
results of operations beginning February 17, 2005. SLMB was engaged in
the
manufacturing and sale of bark and premium cypress and pine mulch, as well
as
several composted and potting soils. SLMB products were primarily marketed
within the United States.
…
At
the
date of the purchase, out of the total purchase price due to the Sellers,
the
Company deposited $740,000 in two escrow accounts to cover any contingencies
and
expenses related to potential environmental issues affecting a portion
of the
acquired land (less than 10%) is subject to and to cover the final purchase
price of the Sellers’ real property. On September 3, 2005, the Company completed
the acquisition of the Sellers’ real property used in SLBM’s business,
consisting of approximately 100 acres. Therefore, $640,000 held in the
escrow
accounts was released to the Sellers as the purchase price of the real
property.
Please
refer to pages 15 - 16 of the 3Q05-10QSB for the full text of Note 13.
United
States Securities and Exchange Commission
November
18, 2005
Page
4
Form
8-K/A Filed May 5, 2005
Exhibit
99.1
Independent
Auditor’s Report
Financial
Statements of State-Line Bark & Mulch, Inc.
2.
We
note that State-Line’s independent auditor issued a qualified opinion as a
result of State-Line’s departure from U.S. GAAP for matters described in
Note D. Please be advised that qualified auditor’s opinion and financial
statements not prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP are not
acceptable in
SEC Filings, as explained in SAB Topic 1:E.2, for purposes of
complying
with regulation S-B Item 310.
Accordingly,
(a)
Please
amend to present the financial statements of State-Line in accordance
with
U.S. GAAP, which should reflect only assets and liabilities that
State-Line owns, and income and expense items for which State-Line
is
accountable.
(b)
Please
revise the State-Line Statement of Income to reflect depreciation
expense
attributable to cost of goods sold in its gross profit
measure.
(c)
In
conjunction with the foregoing, you will need to obtain a new
audit of
State-Line’s amended financial
statements.
Response:
SLBM’s
financial statements have been amended as you requested. The Corporation
will
file an Amended Form 8-K to present the audited financial statements of
SLBM for
the years ended December 31, 2004 and 2003.
Exhibit
99.2
Unaudited
Pro Forma Financial Information
3.
Please
review your pro forma financial statements to reflect adjustments
that are
necessary to comply with the preceding comment. If you also acquired
the
assets and liabilities that the auditor indicates do not belong
in the
State-Line financial statements, you should include separate
adjustments
for these items, as well as a narrative describing the terms
of the
additional transaction. Please disclose the amount and form of
consideration conveyed, and the nature if the additional items
acquired.
United
States Securities and Exchange Commission
November
18, 2005
Page
5
Response:
Please
refer to Exhibit to Comment #3 for a copy of the revised pro forma disclosures.
In addition, the Corporation will file and Amended Form 8-K to present
the
revised unaudited pro forma financial information as of December 31,
2004.
*****
The
Corporation hereby acknowledges that (i) it is responsible for the adequacy
and
accuracy of the disclosure in its filings; (ii) staff comments or changes
to
disclosures in response to staff comments do not foreclose the Commission
from
taking any action with respect to the filings; and (iii) the Corporation
may not
assert staff comments as a defense in any proceeding initiated by the Commission
or any person under the federal securities laws of the United
States.
If
you
have any questions on the responses above or need any additional clarification
please do not hesitate to contact the undersigned.
Sincerely,
/s/
Luis
R. Carrasquillo
Luis
R.
Carrasquillo
Senior
Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
c:
Audit
Committee Members
Exhibit
to Comment #3
UNAUDITED
PRO FORMA FINANCIAL INFORMATION
The
following unaudited pro forma consolidated statement of income for the
year
ended December 31, 2004, as well as the unaudited pro forma consolidated
balance
sheet as of December 31, 2004, were prepared to reflect the estimated
effects of the acquisition of substantially all of the assets of State-Line
Bark
and Mulch, Inc. (“SL”) and certain other additional assets (primarily real
estate) acquired from a related party of SL (collectively, the “Acquired
Assets”) by Margo Caribe, Inc. (“Margo”), through a newly created wholly owned
subsidiary, Margo State Line, Inc. Accordingly, the pro forma balance
sheet
assumes that the Acquired Assets and the liabilities assumed will be
consolidated into Margo, the holding company, as required by generally
accepted
accounting principles, and that this acquisition occurred on December 31,
2004. Certain adjustments were made to reflect the fair value of the
Acquired
Assets as of the acquisition date.
The
unaudited pro forma consolidated statement of income assumes that the
acquisition occurred on January 1, 2004. In addition, the unaudited
pro
forma consolidated balance sheet was prepared to reflect the funds borrowed
from
a major stockholder of Margo in February 14, 2005 in connection with
the
acquisition. Based on all of the above, actual results may differ from
those
presented in the attached pro forma consolidated unaudited financial
statements.
Under
the
purchase method of accounting, the total purchase price, as further described
in
Note 1 to these unaudited pro forma consolidated financial statements,
is
allocated to identifiable tangible and intangible assets acquired, based
on
their estimated fair values as of the acquisition date. Differences may
arise
based on the amount of net assets acquired as of December 31,
2004, the
date of these pro forma financial statements, and February 16,
2005, the
date of this acquisition. The related adjustments are presented in the
column of
adjustments and eliminations.
The
unaudited pro forma financial information presented is derived from the
audited
financial statements of SL as of and for the year ended December 31,
2004.
The unaudited pro forma financial information should be read in conjunction
with
“Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of
Operations” and the consolidated financial statements of Margo, including the
notes thereto, appearing on Form 10-KSB for the year ended December 31,
2004.
The
unaudited pro forma financial information does not purport to be indicative