American Restaurant Concepts, Inc. Issues Letter To Stockholders

LAFAYETTE, La., Dec. 26, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- American Restaurant Concepts, Inc. (OTCBB: ANPZ), operator and franchisor of the award-winning Dick's Wings & Grill^® restaurants, announced that it is issuing the following letter to its stockholders from CEO Richard Akam:

To our stockholders,

I would like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to you for all of the support you have provided to the company and its management team this past year, and for the patience you have displayed as long-term investors.  We are grateful for the continued confidence of everyone who owns a share in our company. 

This past year marked a pivotal and exciting time for American Restaurant Concepts.  During this period, we began the process of transforming the company from a Jacksonville, Florida-based franchisor of Dicks Wings^® restaurants into a national franchisor of a diversified mix of premium restaurant brands. 

Let me briefly recap the several noteworthy achievements and organizational changes that were made to enhance the long-term profitability of American Restaurant Concepts this past year:

• We substantially increased our royalty revenue, average royalty per active restaurant and franchisee profitability.
• We paid off virtually all of our outstanding debt.
• I was honored to be appointed CEO, joining Daniel Slone as our new CFO and Ketan Pandya as a member of the board of directors.
• We appointed key personnel into the positions of Director of Operations, Director of Training and Quality Assurance, and Director of Business Development.
• We introduced a new Dick's Wings & Grill logo and a new "Family Fun Foodery" tag line to our brand.
• We entered into a sponsorship agreement with the Jacksonville Jaguars that provided us with the right to operate a Dick's Wings & Grill concession stand at EverBank Field.
• We completed a 1-for-7 reverse stock split of our common stock to make our stock more attractive to institutional investors and strategic partners.
• We obtained a $1 million revolving line of credit facility from Blue Victory Holdings, a Louisiana-based private equity firm.
• We opened a new Dick's Wings restaurant in the Nocatee development in Ponte Vedra, FL.
• We engaged Upside Group Franchise Consulting to help us design and implement a comprehensive branding platform to accelerate our franchise sales efforts.

We are already blessed with several attributes that most companies spend a lifetime trying to attain: a strong brand, best-in-class products, compelling long-term opportunities, focused strategies, and an incredibly capable and energized team.  We have a 100% franchised, asset-light business model with high margins and low capital expenditure requirements that will result in strong future cash flow generation.  We also have an intense focus on driving franchise profitability, which will drive strong returns for both our franchisees and stockholders.

Our entire management team has worked tirelessly to further develop our Dick's Wings franchise, establish new relationships and identify new industry opportunities.  Of course, our efforts would be fruitless without the dedication of our franchise partners who bring passion to their jobs and who delight in sharing our signature chicken wings with customers.  I appreciate their continued efforts and could not be more grateful for what they have achieved this past year.

We believe our future is brighter than it has ever been.  We are performing exceptionally well and believe we are making the right investments in the people, assets and companies to allow us to grow quickly and efficiently during 2014.  When I reflect upon how far we've come during the past year, I could not be more motivated and optimistic about what we will achieve in the next year. 

I know that great things lie ahead for American Restaurant Concepts.  I am very proud to lead this company and will aspire to do what's right for our company and our stockholders.

On behalf of our entire team, we thank you for believing in us, our company, our brand, our products and our future, and for your continued support of, and confidence in, American Restaurant Concepts. 

Sincerely,

Richard W. Akam
Chief Executive Officer          

About American Restaurant Concepts, Inc.                          

American Restaurant Concepts, Inc., headquartered in Lafayette, Louisiana, is the operator and franchisor of the Dick's Wings & Grill^® full-service restaurants and Dick's Wings Express^® express restaurants.  The Company prides itself on its award-winning chicken wings, for which it boasts 365 mouth-watering flavors.  It offers customers the freshest wings, sandwiches, burgers, wraps, salads and signature waffle fries, all in a unique setting that combines a family-friendly environment with a sports-themed restaurant.  The Company currently has 15 full-service restaurants and one express restaurant.  For more information, please visit the Company's website at www.dickswingsandgrill.com.

Safe Harbor Provision

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended, that are intended to be covered by the safe harbor created thereby.  All statements other than statements of historical fact contained herein, including, without limitation, statements regarding the Company's future financial position, business strategy, plans and objectives, are forward-looking statements.  Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "will," "expects," "intends," "plans," "projects," "estimates," "anticipates," or "believes" or the negative thereof or any variation thereon or similar terminology or expressions.  Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from results proposed in such statements.  Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can provide no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct.  Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations include, but are not limited to, those factors set forth in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 30, 2012 and its other filings and submissions with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made.  Except as required by law, the Company assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements.

SOURCE American Restaurant Concepts, Inc.