- 26 - amount due 30 days after delivery and 50 percent during January of the following calendar year. Other sales agreements that were written on unrelated purchasers' letterheads provided for payment of the sale price at similar times, usually determined with reference to the time grapes were delivered. Certain of those agreements provided for payment of a portion of the price, at the latest, during the calendar year following delivery. Generally, unrelated buyers made their final payment for grapes purchased during either the year of purchase or the first quarter of the following calendar year. Vineyards collected interest from unrelated buyers on overdue amounts. Similarly, Winery's agreements for the purchase of grapes from unrelated growers provide that 50 percent of the purchase price was to be paid 30 days after delivery and the remainder by December 15 of the year of delivery. We consider the foregoing payment arrangements to be the result of arm's-length bargaining between unrelated buyers and sellers. In contrast, Vineyards allowed Winery more liberal payment terms. During 1982 and 1983, Winery purchased grapes from Vineyards, but did not pay for them because the cash to do so was not available. Vineyards also allowed, or acquiesced in, the control by Winery's lenders of the payment of amounts due Vineyards. Vineyards agreed to subordinate its claims against Winery to those of Bank of America and later to Napa National Bank, but unrelated sellers of grapes to Winery did not. WineryPage: Previous 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011