Commitments and Contingencies

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2015

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Commitments and Contingencies

Commitments and Contingencies

Purchase Commitments

In some instances, the Company enters into commitments to purchase advertising and other items. Most of these agreements are fixed price purchase commitments. At December 31, 2015, the outstanding purchase commitments were $130.1 million, the majority of which related to advertising.

Lease Guarantees

In connection with the sale of Applebee's restaurants to franchisees and other parties, the Company has, in certain cases, guaranteed or had potential continuing liability for lease payments. As of December 31, 2015 and 2014, the Company has outstanding lease guarantees or is contingently liable for approximately $398.0 million and $378.1 million, respectively. This amount represents the maximum potential liability of future payments under these leases. These leases have been assigned to the buyers and expire at the end of the respective lease terms, which range from 2016 through 2048. In the event of default, the indemnity and default clauses in our sale or assignment agreements govern our ability to pursue and recover damages incurred. No material liabilities have been recorded as of December 31, 2015.

Litigation, Claims and Disputes

The Company is subject to various lawsuits, governmental inspections, administrative proceedings, audits, and claims arising in the ordinary course of business. Some of these lawsuits purport to be class actions and/or seek substantial damages. The Company is required to record an accrual for litigation loss contingencies that are both probable and reasonably estimable. Legal fees and expenses associated with the defense of all of the Company's litigation are expensed as such fees and expenses are incurred. In the opinion of management, these matters are adequately covered by insurance or, if not so covered, are without merit or are of such a nature or involve amounts that would not have a material adverse impact on the Company's business or consolidated financial statements. Management regularly assesses the Company's insurance deductibles, analyzes litigation information with the Company's attorneys and evaluates its loss experience in connection with pending legal proceedings. While the Company does not presently believe that any of the legal proceedings to which the Company is currently a party will ultimately have a material adverse impact on the Company, there can be no assurance that the Company will prevail in all the proceedings the Company is party to, or that the Company will not incur material losses from them.

Letters of Credit

The Company provides letters of credit, primarily to various insurance carriers to collateralize obligations for outstanding claims. As of December 31, 2015, the Company had approximately $6.3 million of unused letters of credit outstanding, of which $5.9 million reduce the Company's available borrowing under its Variable Funding Notes. These letters expire on various dates in 2016 and are automatically renewed for an additional year if no cancellation notice is submitted.