Discontinued Operations

6 Months Ended

Apr. 12, 2020

Discontinued Operations and Disposal Groups [Abstract]

DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS

Qdoba — In December 2017, we entered into a stock purchase agreement (the “Qdoba Purchase Agreement”) with the Buyer to sell all issued and outstanding shares of Qdoba. The Buyer completed the acquisition of Qdoba on March 21, 2018 (the “Qdoba Sale”).

We also entered into a Transition Services Agreement with the Buyer pursuant to which the Buyer received certain services (the “Services”) to enable it to operate the Qdoba business after the closing of the Qdoba Sale. The Services included information technology, finance and accounting, human resources, supply chain and other corporate support services. Under the Agreement, the Services were provided at cost for a period of up to 12 months, with two 3-month extensions available for certain services. As of September 21, 2019, we are no longer providing transition services to Qdoba. In 2019, we recorded $1.9 million in the quarter and $5.6 million year-to-date, in income related to the Services as a reduction of “Selling, general and administrative expenses” in the condensed consolidated statements of earnings.

The following table presents Qdoba’s results of operations in periods which have been included in discontinued operations (in thousands, except per share data):


	Quarter		Year-to-date
	April 14, 2019		April 14, 2019
Selling, general and administrative expenses	$	59	$	(243)
Loss on Qdoba Sale	—		85
(Losses) earnings from discontinued operations before income taxes	(59)		158
Income tax benefit (1)	18		2,778
(Losses) earnings from discontinued operations, net of income taxes	$	(41)	$	2,936

Basic and diluted earnings per share from discontinued operations:	$	—	$	0.11

____________________________

(1)In fiscal 2019, the Company entered into a bilateral California election with Quidditch Acquisition, Inc. to retroactively treat the divestment of Qdoba Restaurant Corporation on March 21, 2018 as a sale of assets instead of a stock sale for income tax purposes. This election reduced the Company’s fiscal year 2018 California tax liability on the divestment by $2.8 million.

Lease guarantees — While all operating leases held in the name of Qdoba were part of the Qdoba Sale, some of the leases remain guaranteed by the Company pursuant to one or more written guarantees (the “Guarantees”). In the event Qdoba fails to meet its payment and performance obligations under such guaranteed leases, we may be required to make rent and other payments to the landlord under the requirements of the Guarantees. Should we, as guarantor of the lease obligations, be required to make any lease payments due for the remaining term of the subject leases, the maximum amount we may be required to pay is approximately $29.3 million as of April 12, 2020. The lease terms extend for a maximum of approximately 16 more years as of April 12, 2020, and we would remain a guarantor of the leases in the event the leases are extended for any established renewal periods. In the event that we are obligated to make payments under the Guarantees, we believe the exposure is limited due to contractual protections and recourse available in the lease agreements, as well as the Qdoba Purchase Agreement, including a requirement of the landlord to mitigate damages by re-letting the properties in default, and indemnity from the Buyer. As of April 12, 2020, no amounts have been accrued relating to these guarantees as we do not believe any losses are probable.