Wendy's International (WEN)

Changes in governmental regulation may hurt ARG’s ability to open new restaurants or otherwise hurt ARG’s existing and future operations and results.

Each Arby’s restaurant is subject to licensing and regulation by health, sanitation, safety and other agencies in the state and/or municipality in which the restaurant is located. There can be no assurance that ARG and/or Arby’s franchisees will not experience material difficulties or failures in obtaining the necessary licenses or approvals for new restaurants, which could delay the opening of such restaurants in the future. In addition, more stringent and varied requirements of local and tax governmental bodies with respect to zoning, land use and environmental factors could delay or prevent development of new restaurants in particular locations. ARG, and Arby’s franchisees, are also subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act, which governs such matters as minimum wages, overtime and other working conditions, along with the ADA, family leave mandates and a variety of other laws enacted by the states that govern these and other employment law matters. As described more fully under “Item 3. Legal Proceedings,” one of our subsidiaries was a defendant in a lawsuit alleging failure to comply with Title III of the ADA at approximately 775 company-owned restaurants acquired as part of the RTM acquisition in July 2005. Under a court approved settlement of that lawsuit, ARG estimates that it will spend approximately $1.0 million per year of capital expenditures over an eight-year period beginning in 2007 to bring these restaurants into compliance with the ADA, in addition to paying certain legal fees and expenses. ARG cannot predict the amount of any other future expenditures that may be required in order to permit company-owned restaurants to comply with any changes in existing regulations or to comply with any future regulations that may become applicable to ARG’s business.