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RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2013
RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS [Abstract]  
RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
19. RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

Chaotic USA Entertainment Group, Inc. (“CUSA”) - On December 11, 2006, 4Kids Digital and CUSA LLC formed TC Digital as a joint venture, with 4Kids Digital now owning 55% of TC Digital’s membership interests and CUSA LLC now owning 45% of TC Digital’s membership interests.  TC Digital is treated as a consolidated subsidiary of the Company as a result of its majority ownership in TC Digital and its right to break any dead-locks within the TC Digital Management Committee. Effective September 30, 2010, the Company terminated the operations of TC Digital and TC Websites due to their continued lack of profitability.  The termination of the business of TC Digital and TC Websites will enable the Company to further reduce costs and focus on its core businesses.  As a consequence of the termination of their operations, TC Digital and TC Websites ceased supporting the Chaotic trading card game and website, effective October 1, 2010.  The results of operations of TC Digital and TC Websites are reported in the Company’s consolidated financial statements as discontinued operations (see Note 14), subject to a noncontrolling interest.  Bryan Gannon (“Gannon”), President and Chief Executive Officer of CUSA and John Milito (“Milito”), Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of CUSA, each own an interest of approximately 32% in CUSA and became officers of TC Digital in 2006.  Milito’s employment with TC Digital was terminated on December 31, 2009.   Gannon’s employment with TC Digital was terminated on October 15, 2010.
 
As of December 31, 2013, the Company had entered into the following transactions with CUSA and CUSA LLC, or parties related to Gannon and Milito that are summarized below:
 
°Chaotic Property Representation Agreement - On December 11, 2006, 4Kids Licensing, CUSA and Apex Marketing, Inc. (“Apex”), a corporation in which Gannon holds 60% of the outstanding capital stock and Milito owns 39% of the outstanding capital stock, entered into an amended and restated Chaotic Property Representation Agreement (“CPRA”) replacing the original Chaotic Property Representation Agreement entered into by the parties in April 2005. Under the terms of the CPRA, 4Kids Licensing is granted exclusive television broadcast and production, merchandising licensing, and home video rights to the “Chaotic” Property worldwide in perpetuity, subject to certain limited exceptions. Under the terms of the CPRA, all “Chaotic” related income less approved merchandising and other expenses shall be distributed 50% to the Company and 50% to CUSA and Apex, excluding trading card royalties which are distributed 55% to 4Kids Digital and 45% to CUSA. Additionally, all approved production expenses for television episodes based on the “Chaotic” property are allocated 50% to 4Kids Licensing and 50% to CUSA and Apex. As of December 31, 2013, 2012, and 2011 there were no distributions and approximately $8,273, 8,292, and $8,364, respectively, of production, merchandising and other general expenses were owed to 4Kids Licensing by CUSA and Apex, collectively, which were fully reserved on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.
 
°Patent License Agreements - On December 11, 2006, TC Digital and TC Websites each entered into an agreement (the “Patent License Agreements”) with Cornerstone Patent Technologies, LLC (“Cornerstone”), a limited liability company, in which Gannon and Milito each hold a 25% membership interest. Pursuant to the Patent License Agreements, TC Digital and TC Websites obtained exclusive licenses (subject to certain exceptions) to use certain patent rights in connection with “Chaotic” and other trading card games which are uploaded to websites owned and operated by each such entity. Additionally, each of TC Digital and TC Websites agreed to pay Cornerstone a royalty of 1.5% of the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price for the sale of trading cards.  On September 10, 2007, the Company purchased a 25% interest in such patents from Cornerstone for $750. During the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012, and 2011, the Company earned no royalties associated with its portion of the patents, related to the sales of “Chaotic” trading cards, which such royalties are eliminated in the Company’s consolidated financial statements.
 
°Operating Agreement of TC Digital LLC - Under the terms of the TC Digital operating agreement (“TCD Agreement”), TC Digital is obligated to pay the following fees and/or royalties to: (i) 4Kids Digital equal to 3% of TC Digital’s gross revenues up to $350 per year for management services performed; (ii) 4Kids Digital and CUSA equal to 3% of net sales of each pack of trading cards sold; and  (iii) the Company equal to (x) 10% of the net sales of “Chaotic” trading cards and (y) an additional 1% of net sales of “Chaotic” trading cards above $50 million during a calendar year.  The Company acquired its rights to receive royalties of 10% in respect to net sales of “Chaotic” trading cards under the TCD Agreement through purchases from Dracco Company Ltd. (“Dracco”) of a 5% royalty stream on October 17, 2007, a 1% royalty stream, previously allocated to CUSA from Dracco, on December 18, 2007, a 4% royalty stream on March 17, 2008 in exchange for one-time payments of $2,250, $450 and $1,100, respectively.  The consideration for the purchase of the 1% royalty stream for $450 was satisfied through the settlement of certain capital contributions required to be made by CUSA to TC Websites under the TCW Agreement.  During the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012, and 2011, the Company and CUSA earned no royalties and or fees relating to the sales of “Chaotic” trading cards under the TCD agreement.  The Company’s portion of royalties and its management fee are eliminated in its consolidated financial statements.
 
°Chaotic Merchandise License Agreement - On December 11, 2006, 4Kids Licensing, CUSA and TC Digital entered into a merchandise licensing agreement pursuant to which 4Kids Licensing and CUSA granted TC Digital exclusive rights to manufacture, produce and license “Chaotic” trading cards and related accessories through December 31, 2016. Under the terms of the agreement, TC Digital is obligated to pay a royalty on trading cards and all related accessories equal to (i) 4% of net sales to 4Kids Licensing while any amounts are outstanding to 4Kids Digital under the loan agreement or line of credit agreement or (ii) if no amounts are outstanding to 4Kids Digital under the loan agreement or line of credit agreement, 8% of net sales of such cards and accessories, 55% of which will be paid to 4Kids Licensing and 45% of which will be paid to CUSA.  For the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012, and 2011, no royalties had been earned under this agreement.

°Operating Agreement of TC Websites LLC - On December 11, 2006, 4Kids Websites entered into the TC Websites Operating Agreement (“TCW Agreement”) with CUSA to purchase a 50% membership interest in TC Websites, which was amended on December 18, 2007 in connection with 4Kids Websites’ acquisition of an additional 5% ownership interest in TC Websites.   Under the terms of the TCW Agreement, each member of TC Websites is obligated to make capital contributions on a pro-rata basis to the extent determined by its Management Committee to be necessary to fund the operation of the Website. Any transaction resulting in the sale of more than 50% of TC Websites’ membership interests or in the sale of all or substantially all of TC Digital’s assets requires the consent of members of TC Websites holding two-thirds of its membership interests (as opposed to a majority of its membership interests).
 
°Interest Purchase Agreement - On March 2, 2009, TC Digital, the Company and Home Focus entered into various agreements pursuant to which TC Digital and Home Focus agreed to form TDI and the Company agreed to purchase the TDI interest from Home Focus.  The purchase price for the TDI interest is an initial price of $1,575 with an obligation to pay up to an additional $1,000 (the “Conditional Payments”) conditioned upon the “Chaotic” television series being telecast in the five largest European television markets (the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain and Italy) and/or TDI selling in excess of $10,000 of “Chaotic” trading cards. To date, the Company has entered into agreements for the telecast of the “Chaotic” television series in the UK, France and Germany, requiring the Company to make $600 of the Conditional Payments. The Company has paid Home Focus the following consideration for the TDI interest: the Company paid $475 upon execution of the various agreements and has paid the monthly installments of $125 for each of April, May, June, July and August of 2009.  The Company ceased paying Home Focus additional amounts under the Interest Purchase Agreement due to the failure by Home Focus to make the required capital contributions to TDI required under the Shareholders Agreement, dated March 2, 2009, entered into by the Company and Home Focus with respect to TDI (the “TDI Agreement”).

°TDI Shareholders Agreement - Under the TDI Agreement, the Board of Directors of TDI consists of four directors. TC Digital has the right to elect two directors and the Company and Home Focus each have the right to elect one director. There are a number of extraordinary actions that require the consent by shareholders holding at least 80% of the voting stock of TDI in addition to approval of the Board of Directors. The TDI Agreement requires the shareholders to provide TDI with additional capital on a pro rata basis in exchange for additional equity. Under the TDI Agreement, TDI is required to pay or reimburse TC Digital for the costs and expenses associated with the printing, advertising, marketing and promotion of the “Chaotic” trading card game in the TDI Territory (as defined in the TDI Agreement). In addition, TDI is responsible for reimbursing TC Digital and TC Websites for the cost of translating the “Chaotic” trading cards and “Chaotic” website into the European languages and for bandwidth and equipment charges associated with making the “Chaotic” website operational in the TDI Territory. TDI is also required to pay TC Digital and TC Websites a design fee equal to 3% and 1.5%, respectively, of net sales of “Chaotic” trading cards in the TDI  Territory.   For the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012, and 2011, TC Digital and TC Websites earned no royalties, under this agreement arising from the net sales of “Chaotic” trading cards in the TDI Territory.  The royalties earned by TC Digital and TC Websites are eliminated in the Company’s consolidated financial statements.