Company: ACEL
Filing Date: 2025-03-03
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001698991-25-000011
Chunk: 102

Company: Accel Entertainment, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-03-03
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 16
Chunk 102
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 the Company’s appeal, the Illinois Appellate Court, Fifth District (the “District Court”), vacated the circuit courts’ judgments and dismissed the appeals, holding that the IGB had exclusive jurisdiction over the matter that formed the basis of the parties’ claims, and declined to consider the merits of the parties’ disputes. On September 22, 2016, and after the IGB intervened, the Supreme Court of Illinois issued a judgment in Wild, affirming the District Court’s decision vacating the circuit courts’ judgments for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and dismissing the appeals, determining that the IGB has exclusive jurisdiction to decide the validity and enforceability of gaming terminal use agreements.Between May 2017 and September 2017, both the Company and J&J filed petitions with the IGB seeking adjudication of the rights of the parties and the validity of the use agreements. Those petitions were recently adjudicated by the IGB, largely in the Company’s favor, and J&J has filed two new lawsuits to challenge the IGB’s rulings. J&J lost at both the trial court and appellate court level and recently filed a petition with the Illinois Supreme Court seeking permission for a further appeal.  The second case is awaiting a ruling at the trial court level. The Company does not have a present estimate regarding the potential damages, if any, that could potentially be awarded in this litigation and, accordingly, has established no reserves relating to such matters.On October 7, 2019, the Company filed a lawsuit in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois against Rowell and other parties related to Rowell’s breaches of his non-compete agreement with Accel. The Company alleged that Rowell and a competitor were working together to interfere with the Company’s customer relationships. On November 7, 2019, Rowell filed a lawsuit in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois against the Company alleging that he had not received certain equity interests in the Company to which he was allegedly entitled under his agreement. On July 18, 2024, the Company and Rowell entered into a settlement agreement pursuant to which the Company paid Rowell $0.1 million in exchange for a mutual release of the Company's claims against Rowell and Rowell's claims against the Company. The litigation involving Action Gaming, J&J, and the other parties, as described above, remains pending.On July 2, 2019, Illinois Gaming Investors, LLC filed a lawsuit against the Company. The lawsuit alleges that a current