Arthur Treacher's Acquires Pudgie's Famous Chicken

Arthur Treacher's Inc. Fish & Chips, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Digital Creative Development Corporation (DC2), announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Pudgie's Famous Chicken. The acquisition is an all-stock transaction. Specific financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Under the terms of the agreement, Arthur Treacher's will acquire the stock of Pudgie's and its affiliates. In addition, Arthur Treacher's will close its corporate headquarters in Jacksonville, FL and consolidate all corporate functions into Pudgie's Famous Chicken's headquarters located in Lake Success, NY. Current Pudgie's Chief Executive Officer, Jeffrey Bernstein, will assume the role of CEO of the combined company.

"The acquisition of Pudgie's is inline with the previously announced reorganization of Arthur Treacher's," said Bruce Galloway, Chairman of Arthur Treacher's. "Pudgie's strengthens Arthur Treacher's in several ways. First, we are already entered into an extremely successful multi-location co-branding agreement with Pudgie's and believe this will further strengthen the chains operations. Chicken and fish are complimentary and co-branding is the key to success for small independent brands as proven by Arthur Treacher's highly successful co-branding with Miami Subs, Corp. and Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs. Next, the transaction gives us the opportunity to strategically grow the brand name of both companies. Finally, the combined operations create a valuable asset which DC2 plans to spin-off into the public equity marketplace."

Headquartered in Lake Success, NY, Pudgie's Famous Chicken currently operates 32 Fast Food locations in the New York metropolitan area. Pudgie's Famous Chicken focuses on premium skinless chicken. The company has a strong commitment to its Franchise owners, including the finest training and the best operational and marketing support available.

Arthur Treacher's is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Digital Creative Development Corp. The Subsidiary is a fast service seafood Restaurant chain. Presently, Arthur Treacher's consists of 161 restaurants, including 26 Company-owned restaurants and 61 independently owned and operated franchised locations and 74 franchise restaurants co-branded with Miami Subs, Corp., Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs and Pudgie's Famous Chicken. The restaurants are located in 13 states in the mid-western and eastern United States as well as in Washington D.C. and Ontario, Canada.