SPARTANBURG, S.C., Dec 21, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) --Denny's Corporation (NASDAQ: DENN), one of America's largest
full-service family restaurant chains, today announced a loan program to
support Denny's domestic unit growth. The program will be managed by
Pinnacle Commercial Capital, one of the premier nationwide lenders to
the franchise industry. Pinnacle is partnering with BancAlliance, a
bank-controlled cooperative managed by Alliance Partners which helps
member banks diversify loan portfolios across a broader range of asset
opportunities, and other participating lenders to provide up to $100
million to new and existing franchisees that open new restaurants in
Denny's under-penetrated markets in the U.S.
Bill Wildman, President of Pinnacle Commercial Capital said, "Pinnacle
has a great partnership with Denny's as evidenced by the successful
credit facilities arranged for the Denny's Flying J program. Our
commitment to Denny's and its franchisees continues to grow stronger
through successful loan programs like this one designed specifically for
their system. We are pleased that Denny's selected Pinnacle to arrange
these credit facilities for such an important initiative, and have
enjoyed working with the senior executives at Denny's in this
engagement." Wildman continued, "The opportunity to assist the Denny's
franchise network is in conjunction with our two partners in this
project, Denny's and Alliance Partners."
Lee Sachs, Co-Founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Alliance
Partners stated, "We are excited to work with Pinnacle and Denny's to
provide our BancAlliance members, some of America's greatest community
banks, thrifts and regional banks, access to Denny's franchisees looking
to grow the brand in new markets across America."
Stephen Dunn, Senior Vice President of Global Development said, "Denny's
recently completed the conversion of 123 restaurants at Pilot Flying J
Travel Centers leading to a record development year in 2010 and another
great year in 2011. We are positioned to accelerate our domestic
development and seize valuable market share for Denny's at a time when
other brands are scaling back on their growth plans. Pinnacle Commercial
Capital was instrumental in the success of the Pilot Flying J Travel
Center conversions and has stepped up to support Denny's franchisees
with these credit facilities. In conjunction with the loan program,
Denny's is providing significant incentives to its franchise partners
who develop in new and emerging domestic markets."
In creating the New and Emerging Market Incentives Program, Denny's
reviewed existing franchise development incentive programs to create the
strongest incentive program possible. "Due to the strength of our brand
and franchising system, Denny's has been able to develop a program that
exceeded other incentives in the industry," Dunn said. "Under our New
and Emerging Market Incentive Program, we will reduce fees for
franchisees that develop 4 stores over a reasonable period of time. The
more stores our franchisees develop in new and emerging markets, the
more they will save, due to a reduced package of fees and royalties, in
addition to credits for development services including market planning,
store design, training and development expenses."
"We are excited to partner with Pinnacle Commercial Capital and
BancAlliance to support our franchise-focused development," stated John
Miller, CEO of Denny's. "We strongly believe in Denny's long-term growth
potential and are making a commitment to our franchisees through our New
and Emerging Market Incentive Program, which we believe can
significantly increase the number of markets where we are the number one
or two family dining brand in partnership with exceptional Denny's
franchisees."
Denny's New and Emerging Market Incentive Program is only available for
a limited time. To help communicate the exciting Denny's franchise
opportunity and provide more detail about the new and emerging market
incentive program, Denny's is hosting a series of webinars. Interested
parties are invited to visit www.DennysFranchising.com
to learn more and sign up for a webinar.
About Denny's
Denny's is one of America's largest full-service family restaurant
chains, currently operating more than 1,670 franchised, licensed, and
Company-owned restaurants across the United States, Canada, Costa Rica,
Mexico, Guam, Honduras, Puerto Rico and New Zealand. For further
information on Denny's, including news releases, links to SEC filings
and other financial information, please visit the Denny's investor
relations website.
About Pinnacle Commercial Capital
Pinnacle Commercial Capital, a privately-held, Indianapolis-based
specialty commercial finance company, is focused on providing a full
suite of loan products and sponsored programs to multi-unit franchisees,
franchisors and other branded retail businesses. Loan proceeds may be
used for a variety of purposes including debt refinancing, acquisition,
equipment purchases, franchisor loan programs and products, and
franchisor remodel initiatives.
Pinnacle has provided business and franchise financing nationally to
operators of quick service, casual dining, and family dining
restaurants, lube centers, and other specialty retail outlets. The
company originates loan products serving all regions of the United
States through six offices, including, Indianapolis, Knoxville, Phoenix,
Minneapolis, Los Angeles and New York.
About BancAlliance
BancAlliance is a cooperative network of community and regional banks
working collectively to address the business model challenges that an
over-reliance on real estate assets created. Dedicated to ensuring the
financial success of locally focused main street financial institutions,
BancAlliance deploys highly skilled professionals to evaluate, source
and manage bank-appropriate loans for member banks by acquiring assets
from all U.S. lending markets and thereby providing much needed
liquidity to these markets.
The Company urges caution in considering its current trends and any
outlook on earnings disclosed in this press release. In addition,
certain matters discussed in this release may constitute forward-looking
statements. These forward-looking statements, which reflect our
best judgment based on factors currently known, are intended to speak
only as of the date such statements are made and involve risks,
uncertainties, and other factors that may cause the actual performance
of Denny's Corporation, its subsidiaries and underlying restaurants to
be materially different from the performance indicated or implied by
such statements. Words such as "expects", "anticipates",
"believes", "intends", "plans", "hopes", and variations of such words
and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking
statements. Except as may be required by law, the Company
expressly disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking
statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this
release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Factors
that could cause actual performance to differ materially from the
performance indicated by these forward-looking statements include, among
others: the competitive pressures from within the restaurant
industry; the level of success of the Company's strategic and operating
initiatives, advertising and promotional efforts; adverse publicity;
changes in business strategy or development plans; terms and
availability of capital; regional weather conditions; overall changes in
the general economy, particularly at the retail level; political
environment (including acts of war and terrorism); and other factors
from time to time set forth in the Company's SEC reports and other
filings, including but not limited to the discussion in Management's
Discussion and Analysis and the risks identified in Item 1A. Risk
Factors contained in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the
year ended December 29, 2010 (and in the Company's subsequent quarterly
reports on Form 10-Q).
SOURCE: Denny's Corporation
Investor
Denny's
Whit Kincaid, 877-784-7167
or
Media
ICR
Kristina Jorge, 646-277-1234