Item 1A. Risk Factors
Item 1A. Risk Factors
Excluding the risk factor outlined below, there have been no material changes from risk factors as previously disclosed in our annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 3, 2022 for the fiscal year ended December 30, 2021.
The ESA with a founding member that has declared bankruptcy may be rejected, renegotiated or deemed unenforceable.
On September 7, 2022, Cineworld Group plc, the parent company of Regal, and certain of its subsidiaries, including Regal, Regal Cinemas, Inc., a party to the ESA, and Regal CineMedia Holdings, LLC, a party to other agreements with NCM LLC and NCM, Inc., filed petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the Southern District of Texas (the “Cineworld Proceeding”). In addition, each of the other founding members currently has a significant amount of indebtedness. As a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic, each of the founding members temporarily closed all of their theaters in the United States and furloughed the majority of their employees for a portion of 2020 and chose to seek additional financing through various methods. As a result of the Cineworld Proceeding, or if a bankruptcy case were commenced by or against another founding member, it is possible that all or part of the ESA with the applicable founding member could be rejected by a trustee in the bankruptcy case pursuant to Section 365 or Section 1123 of the United States Bankruptcy Code, or by the founding member, and thus not be enforceable. On October 21, 2022, Regal filed a motion to reject the ESA without specifying an effective date for the rejection and indicated that Regal currently plans on negotiating with the Company regarding the ESA. NCM LLC has also filed a complaint against Regal seeking declaratory relief and an injunction prohibiting Regal from breaching certain exclusivity, non-compete, non-negotiate and confidentiality provisions in the ESA by entering into a new agreement with a third party or bringing any of the services performed by NCM LLC in-house. Although there can be no assurances that NCM LLC’s request for declaratory relief will be successful, the Company believes these rights will survive any attempted rejection in the bankruptcy court by Regal. While the Cineworld Proceeding is currently in early stages and the potential impact of the Cineworld Proceeding on NCM LLC’s operations is unknown, in the event that NCM LLC’s agreements with Regal and its affiliates is rejected or renegotiated, it could have a materially negative impact on the Company’s operations or financial condition. In addition, as a part of the Cineworld Proceeding, Regal has announced plans to optimize the
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number of theaters it operates and has announced the closures of certain theaters. Should Regal or another founding member liquidate or dispose of theaters or remove theaters from our network through bankruptcy or for other business reasons, if the acquirer did not agree to continue to allow us to sell advertising in the acquired theaters the number of theaters in our advertising networks would be reduced which in turn would reduce the number of advertising impressions available to us and thus could reduce our advertising revenue.
We may be unsuccessful in extending the maturity dates of NCM LLC’s Revolving Credit Facilities, amending its Senior Secured Credit Facility to extend a waiver of these financial covenants or obtaining additional debt financing from third parties. The failure to obtain such an extension, waiver or obtain additional debt financing could lead to our failure to pay outstanding debt when due and an event of default, which gives rise to substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.
The Company has borrowings under two Revolving Credit Facilities with $217.0 million outstanding as of September 29, 2022, that mature on June 20, 2023. The Company does not have available liquidity to repay the full outstanding balance on the date of maturity. Under the Credit Agreement, failure to repay borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facilities at maturity would result in an event of default for the term loans, which would allow a majority of the lenders under the Credit Agreement to accelerate the maturity of the principal amounts of outstanding term loans to become due and payable. It would also result in an event of default for each tranche of the senior notes, which would allow the indenture trustee or senior note holders of each tranche of senior notes to accelerate the maturity to become due and payable. The Company does not have available liquidity to repay any accelerated principal of term loans or tranches of the outstanding senior notes upon an event of default within one year after the date that the financial statements are issued. Additionally, based on current projections, the Company does not expect to meet certain financial covenants for the period ending March 30, 2023. Further, if the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm includes a “going concern” or like qualification or exception, other than for debt maturing within one year, in its report on the Company’s financial statements for the year ending December 29, 2022, this would be an event of default under the Company’s Credit Agreement at the time the Company’s financial statements for the year ending December 29, 2022 are filed. Under the Credit Agreement, failure to remain in compliance with these covenants or inability to repay borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facilities at maturity would result in an event of default for the term loans, which would allow a majority of the lenders under the Credit Agreement to accelerate the maturity of the principal amounts of outstanding term loans to become due and payable. It would also result in an event of default for the senior notes, which would allow the indenture trustee or senior note holders of each tranche of senior notes to accelerate the maturity to become due and payable. Should the Company’s borrowings become due and payable, the Company would not be able to repay the Company’s total outstanding debt balance. These conditions and events raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Management believes it will be able to amend NCM LLC’s Revolving Credit Facilities to extend the maturity dates, amend its Senior Secured Credit Facility to extend a waiver of these financial covenants or obtain additional debt financing through a loan from third parties, and/or NCM, Inc., but there is no assurance that the Company will be successful in completing any of these options in a timely manner, or on acceptable terms, if at all.
Management believes that based on the Company’s current financial position and liquidity sources, including current cash balances, and forecasted future cash flows, the Company can meet its operating obligations as they become due.
During October 2022, in order to preserve NCM LLC’s liquidity in light of the Minimum Liquidity Requirement, NCM LLC delayed paying certain invoices and did not make an interest payment in the amount of $11.8 million, $0.8 million of which relates to notes held by NCM, Inc., due October 17, 2022 under the Senior Secured Notes due 2028, and entered a 30-day grace period under the indenture governing the Senior Secured Notes due 2028. The Company made this payment on November 4, 2022, prior to the end of the applicable grace period. NCM LLC expects to continue to preserve liquidity in order to maintain compliance with the Minimum Liquidity Requirement throughout the fourth quarter of 2022.
However, the failure to amend the Revolving Credit Facilities to extend the maturity dates, amend its Senior Secured Credit Facility to extend a waiver of these financial covenants or obtain additional debt financing through a loan from third parties and any associated events of default under the Credit Agreement or NCM LLC’s senior notes would have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, which gives rise to substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. If we are unable to continue as a going concern, we may have to liquidate our assets and may receive less than the value at which those assets are carried on our financial statements, and it is likely that investors will lose all or a part of their investment.
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