SEC Company Response from MCDONALDS CORP (MCD) (CIK 0000063908) (MCD) — Apr 12, 2007
MCDONALDS CORP (MCD) (CIK 0000063908)
Date: April 12, 2007 · CIK: 0000063908 · Accession: 0000063908-07-000028
AI Filing Summary & Sentiment
File numbers found in text: 333-137177
Referenced dates: March 21, 2007
Show Raw Text
CORRESP
1
filename1.htm
Correspondence April 12 2007
McDonald's
Corporation
2915
Jorie Boulevard
Oak
Brook,
IL 60523-1900
April
12,
2007
Ms.
Linda
Cvrkel
Branch
Chief
Division
of Corporation Finance
U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission
Washington,
D.C. 20549
RE:
McDonald’s
Corporation
Form 10-K for the Year Ended December 31, 2006
File No. 1-05231
Dear
Ms.
Cvrkel:
In
reply
to your letter dated March 21, 2007, we have the following responses to your
comments. We appreciate the staff’s willingness to discuss the comments with us
and to provide us with the staff’s perspective on these matters.
Annual
Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31,
2006
Consolidated
Statement of Cash Flows, page 32
1. Comment
In
future filings, please revise to include the effect of exchange rate changes
as
a separate part of the reconciliation of the change in cash and cash
equivalents. Refer to SFAS 95, paragraph 25.
Response
As
requested by the staff, we will revise future filings, starting with our Form
10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2007, to include the effect of exchange
rate changes as a separate part of the reconciliation of the change in cash
and
cash equivalents.
Notes
to Consolidated Financial Statements, page 34
Discontinued
Operations, page 38
2. Comment
We
note the disclosure indicating that the company completely separated from
Chipotle through a non-cash tax-free exchange of its 16.5 million shares of
Chipotle class B common stock in exchange for 18.6 million shares of its common
stock and recognized a tax-free gain of $479.6 million. Please tell us and
revise future filings to explain in further detail how you calculated or
determined the amount of the gain recognized in connection with this
transaction. As part of your response, please tell us the carrying value of
your
investment in Chipotle at the time this
Mr.
Matthew H. Paull
McDonald's
Corporation
April
12, 2007
Page
2
transaction
occurred and tell us how you valued the 18.6 million shares of common stock
received in connection with this transaction. We may have further comment upon
receipt of your response.
Response
In
calculating the gain on the Chipotle transaction, we considered the guidance
included in EITF 01-2, Interpretations
of APB 29, Accounting for Non-Monetary Transactions,
which
indicates that non-pro rata split-off transactions should be accounted for
at
fair value. The 18.6 million shares of McDonald’s common stock exchanged for
Chipotle class B common stock were valued at $39.91845 per share, or $743.6
million in total. This final per-share value was calculated by reference to
the
average of the “daily volume-weighted average price” of McDonald’s common stock
on the New York Stock Exchange on the last two trading days of the exchange
offer period (October 4 and 5, 2006). This was the basis on which the exchange
was effected as described in Chipotle’s registration statement on Form S-4 (File
No. 333-137177) and McDonald’s Schedule TO (File No. 005-12299) relating to the
exchange offer. McDonald’s carrying value of Chipotle was $250.1 million. The
tax-free gain of $479.6 million also reflected approximately $14 million of
fees
and other costs incurred in conjunction with the exchange.
We
will
revise future filings to include the detail of how the gain was
calculated.
3.
Comment
Also,
please revise the notes to your financial statements in future filings to
include all of the disclosures required by paragraph 47 of SFAS No.144, as
applicable, with respect to the Chipotle business that has been disposed
of.
Response
We
believe that we have complied with paragraph 47 of SFAS No.144 with respect
to
the disposal of the Chipotle business and, accordingly, we respectfully submit
that no further disclosure is required. In particular, we note the following
with respect to the disclosure about the disposal that appears in the 2006
Form
10-K:
Paragraph
47(a) - We disclosed the manner and timing of the disposal in the Discontinued
Operations
footnote
to the Consolidated financial statements and disclosed the total assets and
liabilities relating to discontinued operations on the face of the Consolidated
balance sheet. (Note that separate disclosure of the major classes of assets
and
liabilities was not considered material, since total assets and liabilities
were
not material.) We also included a discussion of the facts and circumstances
leading to the disposal in Management’s
Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
(MD&A),
which we did not believe was sufficiently material to be reiterated in the
footnotes to the Consolidated financial statements, particularly since the
planned disposal by McDonald’s of the Chipotle business had been previously
disclosed by McDonald’s as part of its SEC filings.
Mr.
Matthew H. Paull
McDonald's
Corporation
April
12, 2007
Page 3
Paragraph
47(b) - We disclosed the gain and related financial statement caption in
the
Discontinued
Operations
footnote
to the Consolidated financial statements.
Paragraph
47(c) - Chipotle represented no more than 3% of consolidated revenues and
1% of
consolidated pretax income for all periods presented. We did not consider
this
significant enough to require separate disclosure.
Paragraph
47(d) - We believe we provided appropriate information responsive to this
item
in the Segment
and Geographic Information
footnote
to the Consolidated financial statements.
4.
Comment
In
addition, please reconcile the cash proceeds received by the company from the
sale of Chipotle shares of $329.1 as disclosed on page 38 with the amount
reflected in the cash flow statement of 2006 of $281.7
million.
Response
The
following is a reconciliation of the cash proceeds received of $329.1 million
as
a result of the sales of Chipotle shares to the $281.7 million reflected in
the
caption “Chipotle disposition” in the Consolidated statement of cash flows. The
main difference between the two numbers is the cash on Chipotle’s books at the
date of the exchange.
Cash
proceeds
$329.1
Cash
on Chipotle's books*
(36.6)
Fees
paid
(10.8)
Chipotle
disposition
$281.7
*Cash
net
of IPO proceeds of approximately $120.9 million.
We
do not
believe that Chipotle’s cash balance, the IPO proceeds or the fees were
significant enough to the post split-off Consolidated statement of cash flows
to
warrant separate disclosure therein.
Mr.
Matthew H. Paull
McDonald's
Corporation
April
12, 2007
Page
4
Impairment
and Other Charges (Credits), Net, page 38
5.
Comment
We
note that in 2005 and 2006 you have transferred ownership interests in
restaurants to developmental licensees and recognize related gains and losses.
Please tell us and revise future filings to expand your disclosures to include
your accounting for such transactions including the nature and amount of the
consideration received in these transactions, how you determine the value of
the
assets transferred, and how you determine the related gain or loss. Please
also
tell us the accounting literature upon which you relied in determining that
recognition of gains and losses is appropriate.
Response
In
2005
and 2006, there were a limited number of markets converted to the developmental
licensee structure (two in 2005 and four in 2006). We did not separately
disclose the consideration received because we did not consider the amounts
to
be significant. The impact on the financial results of the Company related
to
this activity was as follows (in millions):
2005
2006
Cash
proceeds from conversions
$25
$23
Net
book value of assets sold in conversions
(2)
(59)
Credits
/ (Charges)
$23
$(36)
The
accounting related to this activity is addressed in the Summary
of Significant Accounting Policies
footnote
to the Consolidated financial statements under the caption “Long-lived
assets”.
The
second paragraph under that caption discusses the accounting policy followed
for
assets held for disposal under SFAS No. 144. Although these transactions have
historically been insignificant to the Company’s consolidated results of
operations, late last year we consulted with Mr. Joe Ucuzoglu in the Office
of
the Chief Accountant (Accounting Group - Interpretations) of the Securities
and
Exchange Commission with respect to the appropriate accounting treatment for
these types of transactions. Our consultation was prompted by the potential
significance of future developmental license transactions as indicated under
Outlook
for 2007
in the
MD&A included in the 2006 Form 10-K. While the Office of the Chief
Accountant acknowledged the existence of an alternative method (specifically,
carryover of existing basis), we were advised that the staff would not object
to
McDonald’s use of a method that would result in recording
a loss equal to the difference between the estimated net cash proceeds and
the
net book value of the assets sold, including the accumulated translation
adjustment currently recorded in equity in accordance with EITF 01-5,
Application
of FASB Statement No. 52 to an Investment Being Evaluated for Impairment That
Will Be Disposed Of,
at the
point when the “held for sale” criteria under SFAS No. 144 are met.
In
reaching its conclusion, the Office of the Chief Accountant advised McDonald’s
that it was relying on McDonald’s representation that the monthly royalty rate
under the developmental licensing arrangement would be within a reasonable
range
of what one would consider a market rate.
Mr.
Matthew H. Paull
McDonald's
Corporation
April
12, 2007
Page 5
As
part
of our consultation with the Office of the Chief Accountant, McDonald’s agreed,
as significant transactions arise, to discuss both alternative accounting
methods in the Critical
Accounting Policies
disclosure included as part of the MD&A in the relevant periodic report and
to quantify the difference between their application in the circumstances.
We
also agreed to review our proposed disclosures with the staff prior to
finalization.
Franchise
Arrangements, page 39
6.
Comment
Since
franchise operations are a significant component of your operations, please
revise the notes to your financial statements in future filings to disclose
the
number of franchises sold during the period, the number of franchises purchased
during the period, the number of franchised outlets in operation and the number
of company owned locations in operation. Refer to the disclosure requirements
outlines in paragraph 23 of SFAS No.45.
Response
We
have
not historically disclosed the number of restaurants purchased from or sold
to
franchisees because the net effect of these transactions has not had a material
impact on the Company’s results as disclosed in the Franchise
Arrangements
footnote
to the Consolidated financial statements. There were 401, 279 and 276
restaurants purchased from franchisees in 2006, 2005 and 2004, respectively,
and
447, 373 and 231 restaurants sold to franchisees during those years. Given
the
total number of Systemwide restaurants, which was 31,667 at December 31, 2006,
and our expectation that these transactions will continue to be insignificant
to
our consolidated results of operations, we do not believe that disclosure of
these transactions is material to investors. If the level of this activity
becomes material to our consolidated results of operations, we will modify
our
disclosure practice as appropriate.
We
disclosed the number of franchised and Company-operated restaurants in operation
in the 2006 Form 10-K under Item 6, Selected
Financial Data,
and in
MD&A. In future filings, we will also provide this data in the footnotes to
the Consolidated financial statements.
*
*
*
Mr.
Matthew H. Paull
McDonald's
Corporation
April
12, 2007
Page 6
In
connection with this response, the Company acknowledges that (i) the Company
is
responsible for the adequacy and accuracy of the disclosure in the filing;
(ii)
staff comments or changes to disclosure in response to the staff’s comments do
not foreclose the Commission from taking any action with respect to the filing;
and (iii) the Company may not assert staff comments as a defense in any
proceeding initiated by the Commission or any person under the federal
securities laws of the United States.
We
hope
that our responses adequately address your comments. If you have any questions
on this letter or need further assistance, please call Pete Bensen, Corporate
Senior Vice President - Controller, at (630) 623-3506 or me at (630)
623-7001.
Sincerely,
/s/ Matthew
H. Paull
Matthew
H. Paull
Corporate
Senior
Executive Vice President
and Chief Financial
Officer
cc:
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Heather
Clark
McDonald’s Corporation
Jim
Skinner, Chief Executive Officer
Pete
Bensen, Corporate Senior Vice President - Controller