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COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2023
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
Litigation and Investigations

James Harris and Adam Vignola, derivatively on behalf of FAT Brands, Inc. v. Squire Junger, James Neuhauser, Edward Rensi, Andrew Wiederhorn, Fog Cutter Holdings, LLC and Fog Cutter Capital Group, Inc., and FAT Brands Inc., nominal defendant (Delaware Chancery Court, Case No. 2021-0511)

On June 10, 2021, plaintiffs James Harris and Adam Vignola (“Plaintiffs”), putative stockholders of the Company, filed a shareholder derivative action in the Delaware Court of Chancery nominally on behalf of the Company against the Company’s current and former directors (Squire Junger, James Neuhauser, Edward Rensi and Andrew Wiederhorn (the “Individual Defendants”)), and the Company’s majority stockholders, Fog Cutter Holdings, LLC and Fog Cutter Capital Group, Inc. (collectively with the Individual Defendants, “Defendants”). Plaintiffs assert claims of breach of fiduciary duty, unjust enrichment and waste of corporate assets arising out of the Company’s December 2020 merger with Fog Cutter Capital Group, Inc. Defendants filed a motion to dismiss Plaintiffs’ complaint, which the Court denied in an oral ruling on February 11, 2022 and subsequent written order on May 25, 2022. On April 7, 2022, the Court entered a Scheduling Order setting forth the key dates and deadlines that would govern the litigation, including a discovery cutoff of March 24, 2023 and trial date of February 5-9, 2024. To date, the parties have engaged in substantial written discovery, though no depositions have been taken. On February 3, 2023, the Company’s board of directors appointed a Special Litigation Committee (“SLC”), which retained independent counsel and moved for a six-month stay of the action pending resolution of the SLC's investigation, which the Court granted on February 17, 2023. On April 5, 2023, the Court granted Plaintiffs’ motion to lift the stay of the proceedings, and entered a Second Amended Pre-Trial Scheduling Order resetting key dates and deadlines, including a fact discovery cutoff of August 4, 2023, and a trial date to be set sometime after May 10, 2024. On May 4, 2023, a new SLC was appointed, and on May 8, 2023, the new SLC moved for a six-month stay of the action pending resolution of its investigation. Two days later, on May 10, 2023, the United States of America moved for a partial stay of discovery pending its own investigation. On May 31, 2023, the Court granted the United States of America’s Motion, except that it granted a six-month stay of all proceedings in the action, and on that basis deemed the SLC’s motion to be moot. On December 4, 2023, the stay of all proceedings was extended through March 3, 2024, and on March 1, 2024, the stay of all proceedings was extended to June 3, 2024. Defendants dispute the allegations of the lawsuit and intend to vigorously defend against the claims. We cannot predict the outcome of this lawsuit. This lawsuit does not assert any claims against the Company. However, subject to certain limitations, we are obligated to indemnify our directors in connection with defense costs for the lawsuit and any related litigation, which may exceed coverage
provided under our insurance policies, and thus could have an adverse effect on our financial condition. The lawsuit and any related litigation also may be time-consuming and divert the attention and resources of our management.

James Harris and Adam Vignola, derivatively on behalf of FAT Brands, Inc. v. Squire Junger, James Neuhauser, Edward Rensi, Andrew Wiederhorn and Fog Cutter Holdings, LLC, and FAT Brands Inc., nominal defendant (Delaware Chancery Court, Case No. 2022-0254)

On March 17, 2022, plaintiffs James Harris and Adam Vignola (“Plaintiffs”), putative stockholders of the Company, filed a shareholder derivative action in the Delaware Court of Chancery nominally on behalf of the Company against the Company’s current and former directors (Squire Junger, James Neuhauser, Edward Rensi and Andrew Wiederhorn (the “Individual Defendants”)), and the Company’s majority stockholder, Fog Cutter Holdings, LLC (collectively with the Individual Defendants, “Defendants”). Plaintiffs assert claims of breach of fiduciary duty in connection with the Company’s June 2021 recapitalization transaction. On May 27, 2022, Defendants filed a motion to dismiss Plaintiff's complaint (the "Motion"). Argument on the Motion was heard on November 17, 2022, and again on February 23, 2023, and the Court took its decision under advisement. The Court denied the motion on April 5, 2023. On May 2, 2023, the Court entered a pre-trial scheduling order setting key dates and deadlines that will govern the litigation, including a fact discovery cutoff of February 2, 2024, and a trial date to be set sometime after October 15, 2024. On July 21, 2023, the Company’s board of directors appointed a Special Litigation Committee (“SLC”), which retained independent counsel and moved for a six-month stay of the action pending resolution of the SLC’s investigation. On August 10, 2023, the parties filed a stipulation to stay the case for six months, conditioned upon Defendants continuing to review the documents in response to Plaintiffs' First Requests for Production and to produce non-privileged responsive documents to the SLC and to Plaintiffs no later than December 1, 2023. The Court granted the stipulation the same day. In accordance with the stipulation, Defendants produced documents to the SLC and Plaintiffs by the December 1, 2023 deadline. On February 7, 2024, the SLC requested, and the Court granted, an extension of the stay of all proceedings through May 6, 2024, granting the SLC an additional 90 days to complete its investigation. Defendants dispute the allegations of the lawsuit and intend to vigorously defend against the claims. As this matter is still in the early stages, we cannot predict the outcome of this lawsuit. This lawsuit does not assert any claims against the Company. However, subject to certain limitations, we are obligated to indemnify our directors in connection with defense costs for the lawsuit and any related litigation, which may exceed coverage provided under our insurance policies, and thus could have an adverse effect on our financial condition. The lawsuit and any related litigation also may be time-consuming and divert the attention and resources of our management.

Government Investigations

In December 2021, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California (the “U.S. Attorney”) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) informed the Company that they had opened investigations relating to the Company and our former Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Wiederhorn, and were formally seeking documents and materials concerning, among other things, the Company’s December 2020 merger with Fog Cutter Capital Group Inc., transactions between those entities and Mr. Wiederhorn, as well as compensation, extensions of credit and other benefits or payments received by Mr. Wiederhorn or his family from those entities prior to the merger. From August 23, 2022 until March 28, 2023, our Board of Directors maintained a Special Review Committee comprised of directors other than Mr. Wiederhorn to oversee a review of the issues raised by the U.S. Attorney and SEC investigations. The Company intends to cooperate with the U.S. Attorney and the SEC regarding these matters and is continuing to actively respond to inquiries and requests from the U.S. Attorney and the SEC. At this stage, we are not able to reasonably estimate or predict the outcome or duration of either of the U.S. Attorney’s or the SEC’s investigations.

On February 15, 2024, the Company, Andrew Wiederhorn and one current and one former officer of the Company each received a “Wells Notice” from the Staff of the SEC. The Wells Notice issued to the Company alleges violations of Securities Act Section 17(a)(2), and Exchange Act Sections 10(b), 13(a), 13(b)(2)(A), 13(b)(2)(B), 13(k), and 14(a) and Rules 10b-5(b), 12b-20, 13a-1, 13a-13, 14a-3, and 14a-9 thereunder, relating solely to conduct occurring during or prior to fiscal year 2020. A Wells Notice is neither a formal charge of wrongdoing nor a determination that the recipient has violated any law. The Company is continuing its efforts to cooperate with the SEC and maintains that its actions were appropriate, and intends to pursue the Wells Notice process, including submitting a formal response to the SEC.
Stratford Holding LLC v. Foot Locker Retail Inc. (U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma, Case No. 5:12-cv-772-HE)
In 2012 and 2013, two property owners in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma sued numerous parties, including Foot Locker Retail Inc. and our subsidiary Fog Cutter Capital Group Inc. (now known as Fog Cutter Acquisition, LLC), for alleged environmental contamination on their properties, stemming from dry cleaning operations on one of the properties. The property owners seek damages in the range of $12.0 million to $22.0 million. From 2002 to 2008, a former Fog Cutter subsidiary managed a lease portfolio, which included the subject property. Fog Cutter denies any liability, although it did not timely respond to one of the
property owners’ complaints and several of the defendants’ cross-complaints and thus is in default. The parties are currently conducting discovery. The court has vacated the current trial date and has not yet reset the trial date. The Company is unable to predict the ultimate outcome of this matter, however, reserves have been recorded on the balance sheet of FAT Brands relating to this litigation. There can be no assurance that the defendants will be successful in defending against these actions.
SBN FCCG LLC v FCCGI (Los Angeles Superior Court, Case No. BS172606)
SBN FCCG LLC (“SBN”) filed a complaint against Fog Cutter Capital Group, Inc. (“FCCG”) in New York state court for an indemnification claim (the “NY case”) stemming from an earlier lawsuit in Georgia regarding a certain lease portfolio formerly managed by a former FCCG subsidiary. In February 2018, SBN obtained a final judgment in the NY case for a total of $0.7 million, which included $0.2 million in interest dating back to March 2012. SBN then obtained a sister state judgment in Los Angeles Superior Court, Case No. BS172606 (the “California case”), which included the $0.7 million judgment from the NY case, plus additional statutory interest and fees, for a total judgment of $0.7 million. In May 2018, SBN filed a cost memo, requesting an additional $12,411 in interest to be added to the judgment in the California case, for a total of $0.7 million. In May 2019, the parties agreed to settle the matter for $0.6 million, which required the immediate payment of $0.1 million, and the balance to be paid in August 2019. FCCG wired $0.1 million to SBN in May 2019, but has not yet paid the remaining balance of $0.5 million. The parties have not entered into a formal settlement agreement, and they have not yet discussed the terms for the payment of the remaining balance.
SBN FCCG LLC v FCCGI (Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York, Index No. 650197/2023)
On January 13, 2023, SBN filed another complaint against FCCG in New York state court for an indemnification claim stemming from a lawsuit in Oklahoma City regarding the same lease portfolio formerly managed by Fog Cap (the “OKC Litigation”), and a bankruptcy proceeding involving Fog Cap (the “Bankruptcy Proceeding”). SBN alleges that under a February 2008 stock purchase agreement, Fog Cutter is required to indemnify SBN and its affiliates. According to the complaint, SBN has, at the time of filing the complaint, incurred costs subject to indemnification of approximately $12 million. On March 11, 2024, the court issued an order granting FCCG’s motion to dismiss SBN’s complaint without prejudice to refile the complaint, if at all, once the underlying proceedings (the OKC Litigation and the Bankruptcy Proceeding) were complete. We are unable at this time to express any opinion as to the eventual outcome of this matter or the possible range of loss, if any.
The Company is involved in other claims and legal proceedings from time-to-time that arise in the ordinary course of business, including those involving the Company’s franchisees. The Company does not believe that the ultimate resolution of these actions will have a material adverse effect on its business, financial condition, results of operations, liquidity or capital resources. As of December 31, 2023, the Company had accrued an aggregate of $5.1 million for the specific matters mentioned above and claims and legal proceedings involving franchisees as of that date.
Operating Leases (See Also Note 9)
Our corporate headquarters, including its principal administrative, sales and marketing, customer support, and research and development operations, are located in Beverly Hills, California, comprising approximately 15,000 square feet of space, pursuant to a lease that expires on September 29, 2025.

Our subsidiary, GFG Management, LLC, leases an approximately 16,000 square foot warehouse location in Atlanta, GA under a lease expiring on May 31, 2029.
Our subsidiary, GAC Supply, LLC, owns and operates an approximately 40,000 square foot manufacturing and production facility in Atlanta, Georgia and the underlying real property, which supplies our franchisees with cookie dough, pretzel dry mix and other ancillary products.

Our subsidiary, Twin Restaurant Holding, LLC, leases offices in Dallas, TX comprising approximately 8,300 square feet under a lease expiring on April 30, 2025.

Our subsidiary, Fazoli's Holdings, LLC, leases offices located in Lexington, KY comprising approximately 19,200 square feet under a lease expiring on April 30, 2027.

Our subsidiary, Native Grill & Wings Franchising, LLC, leases offices located in Chandler, AZ comprising 5,825 square feet under a lease expiring on October 31, 2024.
In addition to the above locations, certain of our subsidiaries directly own and operate restaurant locations, substantially all of which are located in leased premises. As of December 31, 2023, we owned and operated approximately 190 restaurant locations. The leases have remaining terms ranging from 1 month to 26.8 years.
We believes that our existing facilities are in good operating condition and adequate to meet current and foreseeable needs. Additional information related to our operating leases are disclosed in Note 9.