Commitments and Contingencies

Capital Leases

The Company leases certain fixed assets under capital leases that expire through 2021. The capital leases are for the Company’s data centers, printers and other furniture in the Company’s German offices. Principal and interest are payable monthly at interest rates ranging from 3.9% to 7.8% per annum, rates varying based on the type of leased asset. The Company did not enter into any new capital lease agreements for the year ended December 31, 2018.

Operating Leases and Cloud Data Storage

The Company leases its operating facilities in the U.S. under certain noncancelable operating leases that expire in 2022. The Company also leases operating facilities in Germany under certain noncancelable operating leases that expire in 2020. These leases are renewable at the Company’s option. Lovoo also stores a majority of its user and business data in the Google Cloud Platform under a noncancelable minimum commitment agreement that expires in 2023.

A summary of minimum future rental payments required under capital and operating leases as of December 31, 2018 are as follows:



	Capital Leases		Operating Leases		Cloud Data Storage
2019	$	139,001	$	1,789,672	$	456,406
2020	54,536		950,156		650,817
2021	4,806		612,619		967,663
2022	—		283,302		1,064,429
2023	—		—		1,170,872
2024	—		—		—
Total minimum payments	198,343		$	3,635,749	$	4,310,187
Less: Amount representing interest	5,593
Total present value of minimum payments	192,750
Less: Current portion of such obligations	134,067
Long-term capital lease obligations	$	58,683

Rent expense for the operating leases was $3.9 million, $4.7 million and $2.0 million in 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively.

New Term Loan Facility

A summary of minimum future principal payments under our New Term Loan Facility as of December 31, 2018 are as follows:



	New Term Loan Facility⁽¹⁾
2019	$	18,566,584
2020	18,373,574
Total minimum loan payments	$	36,940,158

(1)

Interest rates on the New Term Loan Facility are variable in nature, however, the Company is party to a fixed-pay amortizing interest rate swap having a remaining notional amount of $26.3 million and a non-amortizing interest rate cap with a notional amount of $10.7 million. If interest rates were to remain at the December 31, 2018 level, the Company would receive interest payments of $0.1 million and $0.01 million in 2019 and 2020, respectively, of net settlements on the fixed-pay amortizing interest rate swap.

Litigation

From time to time, we are party to certain legal proceedings that arise in the ordinary course and are incidental to our business. We operate our business online, which is subject to extensive regulation by federal and state governments.

On September 29, 2015, the Company filed suit in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, against Beanstock Media, Inc. (“Beanstock”) and Adaptive Medias, Inc. (“Adaptive”) for collection of approximately $10 million, in the aggregate, due under the Media Publisher Agreement (the “Web Agreement”) entered into on September 25, 2013 and the Advertising Agreement (the “Mobile Agreement”) entered into on December 23, 2014.

Pursuant to the Web Agreement, Beanstock had the exclusive right and obligation to fill all of the Company’s remnant desktop in-page display advertising inventory on www.meetme.com (the “Site”), excluding, (i) any inventory sold to a third party under an insertion order that was campaign or advertiser specific, (ii) any inventory the Company reserved in existing and future agreements with third parties for barter transactions and as additional consideration as part of larger business development transactions, and (iii) any inventory reserved for premium advertising for the Site. Pursuant to the Mobile Agreement, Beanstock had the right and obligation to fill substantially all of the Company’s advertising inventory on its MeetMe mobile app for iOS and Android, as well as the Site when accessed using a mobile device and as optimized for mobile devices (collectively, the “App”). The Mobile Agreement did not apply to interstitially placed advertisements, advertisements on versions of the App specific to the iPad and other Apple tablet devices, other mobile apps or in-app products or features on the App, including, without limitation, offer wall features and the Company’s Social Theater business.

On September 28, 2015, Adaptive filed suit in the Superior Court of California, County of Orange, against the Company, Beanstock, et al., alleging, in pertinent part, that the Company “aided and abetted” an individual who was an officer and director of Adaptive to breach his fiduciary duty to Adaptive with respect to Adaptive’s joining the Mobile Agreement. Adaptive’s complaint sought from the Company $600,000 plus unspecified punitive damages. On January 20, 2016, the Company received notice from the United States Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware, that a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case against Beanstock had been filed on October 7, 2015. Both of the state court actions were stayed by the courts as a result of the bankruptcy filing against Beanstock. Adaptive’s suit against the Company remained stayed until Adaptive indicated that it no longer wanted to pursue the matter and, on or about November 20, 2017, filed a voluntary request for dismissal without prejudice of the action and all claims against the parties, including the Company, which dismissal was entered by the Court on the same day. The Company was not required to take any action or pay any sum in connection with the dismissal. Adaptive’s suit against the Company is, therefore, resolved.

Future events or circumstances, currently unknown to management, will determine whether the resolution of pending or threatened litigation or claims will ultimately have a material effect on our consolidated financial position, liquidity or results of operations in any future reporting periods.

Retirement Plan

The Company maintains The Meet Group, Inc. 401(k) Retirement Plan (the “Plan”), which is a savings and investment plan intended to be qualified under of the Internal Revenue Code. The Plan covers the majority of the employees of the Company. In January 2014, the Company began providing company matching contributions to the plan, based on a participant’s contribution. The Company’s 401(k) match expense totaled $0.8 million, $0.7 million and $0.4 million in 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively. The expense is included in sales and marketing, product development and content, and general and administrative expenses in the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income (loss).