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Basis of Presentation
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2015
Basis of Presentation

1. Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared by Simon Worldwide, Inc. (the “Company” or “Simon”) pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding interim financial reporting. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America for complete financial statements and should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014 (“2014 10-K”).

The Company consolidates all entities that it controls by ownership of a majority voting interest as well any variable interest entities (“VIEs”) for which the Company was the primary beneficiary. The Company eliminates from its financial results all intercompany transactions, including the intercompany transactions with any consolidated VIEs.

In the opinion of management, the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements contain all adjustments, consisting only of those considered necessary for fair presentation of the Company’s financial position, results of operations, and cash flows at the dates and for the periods presented.

Prior to August 2001, the Company was a multi-national, full service promotional marketing company. In August 2001, McDonald’s Corporation (“McDonald’s”), the Company’s principal customer, terminated its 25-year relationship with the Company as a result of the embezzlement by a former Company employee of winning game pieces from McDonald’s promotional games administered by the Company. Other customers also terminated their relationships with the Company, resulting in the Company no longer having a business. By April 2002, the Company had effectively eliminated a majority of its ongoing promotions business operations and was in the process of disposing of its assets and settling its liabilities related to the promotions business and defending and pursuing litigation with respect thereto. As a result of these efforts, the Company has been able to resolve a significant number of outstanding liabilities that existed in August 2001 or arose subsequent to that date.

The Company is managed by the Chief Executive Officer, Greg Mays, and Chief Financial Officer, Anthony Espiritu, together with an acting general counsel. The Board of Directors has considered various alternative courses of action for the Company, including possibly acquiring or combining with one or more operating businesses. The Board of Directors has reviewed and analyzed a number of proposed transactions. On March 22, 2013, the Company announced in a current report on Form 8-K that it, together with Richard Beckman, Joel Katz and OA3, LLC (“OA3”), had entered into the limited liability company agreement (the “LLC Agreement”) of Three Lions Entertainment, LLC (“Three Lions”) on March 18, 2013.

Pursuant to the LLC Agreement, the Company contributed $3.15 million to Three Lions in exchange for membership units representing 60% of the economic returns of Three Lions, including certain preferences with respect to common holders on operating returns and on a liquidation or sale of Three Lions. In respect of such previously issued membership units, the Company made a second capital contribution to Three Lions in the amount of $1.85 million on April 26, 2013, and a third and final capital contribution to Three Lions in the amount of $3.5 million on October 2, 2013. As a result of these transactions, the Company’s business substantially consisted of acting as the majority equityholder of, and holding a membership interest in, Three Lions. The business and operations of Three Lions were managed and directed by a five person Executive Board, three of whom the Company had the power to designate. The Executive Board governed under majority vote, subject to certain major decisions that required the unanimous approval of either the members of Three Lions or its Executive Board (“Special Approval”).

The Company was party to a Pledge Agreement, dated May 7, 2014, with SunTrust Bank (“SunTrust”) wherein the Company pledged all of its equity interests in Three Lions (and all proceeds of such interests) to SunTrust as security for Three Lions’ obligations under a revolving credit facility that Three Lions obtained from SunTrust. The Company’s pledge of its equity interests in Three Lions terminated only upon the payment in full and termination of Three Lions’ obligations under the revolving credit facility. Three Lions paid in full the revolving credit facility on December 18, 2014.

Due to a confluence of a number of adverse factors, but in particular, a ratings performance well below expectations on Three Lion’s initial Fashion RocksTM broadcast on September 9, 2014, and the resultant decision to cancel further production on other projects, Three Lions recorded unanticipated losses. In a meeting held on October 27, 2014, the Executive Board of Three Lions considered and unanimously approved a plan proposed by Three Lions’ management, with the assistance of its advisors, to proceed with the voluntary liquidation and dissolution of Three Lions in accordance with Delaware law. On January 30, 2015, Three Lions was dissolved with the filing of its Certificate of Cancellation with the state of Delaware. No amounts were distributed to the Company or to the other members of Three Lions in the liquidation.

With no revenues from operations, the Company closely monitors and controls its expenditures within a reasonably predictable range. Cash used by operating activities was $.3 million and $.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively. The Company incurred losses within its operations in 2014 and continues to incur losses in 2015 for the general and administrative expenses incurred to manage the affairs of the Company. By utilizing cash available at March 31, 2015 to maintain its scaled back operations, and a short-term funding commitment from the Company’s largest shareholder, management believes it has sufficient capital resources and liquidity to operate the Company through at least December 31, 2015.

The operating results for the three months ended March 31, 2015, are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full year.