(a)  No supplier shall, by the terms of an agreement or otherwise, unreasonably withhold or delay approval of any assignment, sale, or transfer of the stock of a wholesaler or all or any portion of a wholesaler’s assets, wholesaler’s voting stock, the voting stock of any parent corporation, or the beneficial ownership or control of any other entity owning or controlling a wholesaler, including the wholesaler’s rights and obligations under the terms of an agreement whenever the person or persons to be substituted meet reasonable and express standards imposed not only upon the wholesaler but upon all other wholesalers of a supplier generally.

Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 3-13-6

  • Agreement: means any contract, agreement, or arrangement, whether expressed or implied, whether oral or written, for a definite or indefinite period between a supplier and a wholesaler pursuant to which a wholesaler has the right to purchase, resell, and distribute any or all brands of malt beverages offered by the supplier. See Rhode Island General Laws 3-13-1
  • Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
  • 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.
  • 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: means a natural person, partnership, trust, agency, corporation, division of a corporation, or other form of business enterprise. See Rhode Island General Laws 3-13-1
  • Supplier: means any person engaged in business as a brewer, manufacturer, importer, master wholesaler, broker, or agent of malt beverages who enters into an agreement with any wholesaler in this state to distribute any or all of its brands of malt beverages, and any successor-in-interest to that entity with respect to the agreement. See Rhode Island General Laws 3-13-1
  • Wholesaler: means any person licensed to import, or cause to be imported, into this state, or to purchase, or cause to be purchased, in this state, malt beverages for resale or distribution to retailers licensed in this state, and any successor-in-interest to that entity. See Rhode Island General Laws 3-13-1

(b)  Upon the death of one of the partners of a partnership operating the business of a wholesaler, no supplier shall deny the surviving partner or partners of that partnership the right to become a successor-in-interest to the agreement between the supplier and that partnership; provided the survivor has been active in the management of the partnership and is otherwise capable of carrying on the business of the partnership.

(c)  A wholesaler shall not transfer or agree to transfer any of its rights and obligations under the terms of any agreement without first giving prior notice to the supplier.

History of Section.
P.L. 1982, ch. 415, § 1.