As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
(1) AGREEMENT. Any agreement between a wholesaler and a supplier, whether oral or written, whereby a wholesaler is granted the right to purchase and sell a brand or brands of wine sold by a supplier.
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Terms Used In Alabama Code 28-8A-2
- Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- following: means next after. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
- Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
- Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
- Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
- person: includes a corporation as well as a natural person. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
- property: includes both real and personal property. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
- state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
- Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
- Uniform Commercial Code: A set of statutes enacted by the various states to provide consistency among the states' commercial laws. It includes negotiable instruments, sales, stock transfers, trust and warehouse receipts, and bills of lading. Source: OCC
- writing: includes typewriting and printing on paper. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
(2) ANCILLARY BUSINESS. A business owned by a wholesaler, or by a substantial partner of a wholesaler, the primary business of which is directly related to the transporting, storing, or marketing of the brand or brands of wine of a supplier with whom the wholesaler has an agreement; or a business owned by a wholesaler, a substantial stockholder of a wholesaler, or a substantial partner of a wholesaler that recycles empty beverage containers.
(3) DESIGNATED MEMBER. The spouse, child, grandchild, parent, brother, or sister of a deceased individual who owned an interest, including a controlling interest, in a wholesaler; or any person who inherits the deceased individual’s ownership interest in the wholesaler under the terms of the deceased individual’s will, or under the laws of intestate succession of this state; or any person who or entity which has otherwise by designation in writing by the deceased individual, succeeded the deceased individual in the wholesaler’s business, or has succeeded to the deceased individual’s ownership interest in the wholesaler pursuant to a written contract or instrument; and also includes the appointed and qualified personal representative and the testamentary trustee of a deceased individual owning an ownership interest in a wholesaler. Designated member also includes a person appointed by the court as the guardian or conservator of the property of an incapacitated individual owning an ownership interest in a wholesaler.
(4) GOOD FAITH. Honesty in fact and the observance of reasonable commercial standards of fair dealing in the trade, as defined in and interpreted under the Uniform Commercial Code, Section 7-2-103.
(5) REASONABLE QUALIFICATIONS. The standard of the reasonable criteria established and consistently used by the respective supplier for Alabama wholesalers that entered into, continued, or renewed an agreement with the supplier during a period of 24 months prior to the proposed transfer of the wholesaler’s business, or for Alabama wholesalers who have changed managers or designated managers during a period of 24 months prior to the proposed change in manager or successor manager of the wholesaler’s business.
(6) RETALIATORY ACTION. Includes, but is not limited to, the refusal to continue an agreement, or a material reduction in the quality of service or in the quantity of products available to a wholesaler under an agreement, which refusal or reduction is not made in good faith.
(7) SALES TERRITORY. An area of exclusive sales responsibility for the brand or brands of wine sold by a supplier as designated by an agreement.
(8) SUBSTANTIAL STOCKHOLDER or SUBSTANTIAL PARTNER. A stockholder of or partner in the wholesaler who owns an interest of 25 percent or more of the partnership or of the capital stock of a corporate wholesaler.
(9) SUPPLIER. A manufacturer or importer of wine licensed by the board.
(10) TRANSFER OF WHOLESALER’S BUSINESS. The voluntary sale, assignment, or other transfer of all or control of the business or all or substantially all of the assets of the wholesaler, or all or control of the capital stock of the wholesaler, including without limitation the sale or other transfer of capital stock or assets by merger, consolidation, or dissolution, or of the capital stock of the parent corporation, or of the capital stock or beneficial ownership of any other entity owning or controlling the wholesaler.
(11) WHOLESALER. A wholesaler of wine licensed by the board.