frgi-20220915

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

______________________

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported) September 15, 2022

______________________

Fiesta Restaurant Group, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

______________________

Delaware

001-35373

90-0712224

(State or other jurisdiction

of incorporation)

(Commission

File Number)

(I.R.S. Employer

Identification No.)

14800 Landmark Boulevard, Suite 500

Dallas

Texas

75254

(Address of principal executive offices)

(Zip Code)

Registrant's telephone number, including area code (972) 702-9300

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report.)

______________________

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Title of Each Class

Trading Symbol

Name of Each Exchange on Which Registered

Common Stock, par value $0.01 per share

FRGI

NASDAQ Global Select Market

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

☐ Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

☐ Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

☐ Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

☐ Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13a-4(c))

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).

Emerging growth company ☐

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

ITEM 2.05. COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH EXIT OR DISPOSAL ACTIVITIES.

On September 15, 2022, Fiesta Restaurant Group, Inc. ("we", "us", "our" or the "Company") announced its plans to enter into an agreement with a third-party vendor under which the Company will outsource certain of its accounting processes and utilize such vendor's accounting platform to improve overall general and administrative cost efficiency. The Company currently anticipates that such outsourcing and new accounting system will be fully implemented during the first quarter of fiscal 2023. These actions are consistent with the Company's previously communicated ongoing general and administrative expense reduction efforts which target an ultimate decrease in general and administrative expenses to 8.5% to 9.0% as a percentage of restaurant sales.

As a result, the Company expects to make cash payments totaling approximately $0.2 million for termination benefits to affected employees upon implementation and to incur accelerated charges of approximately $2.6 million related to deferred implementation and service contract costs related to its current accounting system, of which approximately $0.9 million will be a future cash outlay as part of the final scheduled service contract licensing payment.

Certain statements contained in this Current Report on Form 8-K, whether written, oral or otherwise made, relating to future events or future performance, including any discussion, express or implied regarding our anticipated growth, plans, objectives and the impact of our initiatives, including our efforts to reduce general and administrative expenses, our investments in strategic and sales building initiatives, including those relating to operations improvements, unit remodels and refreshes, digital initiatives, planned price increases, and drive-thru improvements on future sales, margins, earnings and liquidity, contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements are often identified by the words "may," "might," "believes," "thinks," "anticipates," "plans," "positioned," "target," "continue," "expects," "look to," "intends" and other similar expressions, whether in the negative or the affirmative, that are not statements of historical fact. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that are difficult to predict, and you should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. Our actual results and timing of certain events could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors, including, but not limited to, those discussed from time to time in our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K and our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. All forward-looking statements and the internal projections and beliefs upon which we base our expectations included in this Current Report on Form 8-K are made only as of the date of this Current Report on Form 8-K and may change. While we may elect to update forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we expressly disclaim any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

ITEM 9.01. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND EXHIBITS.

104 Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted as Inline XBRL)

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

FIESTA RESTAURANT GROUP, INC.

Date: September 21, 2022

By: /s/ Louis DiPietro

Name: Louis DiPietro

Title: Senior Vice President, Chief Legal and People Officer, General Counsel and Secretary