As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 10, 2017.


File No. 333-__________





UNITED STATES


SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION


WASHINGTON, DC 20549





FORM S-8





REGISTRATION STATEMENT  UNDER  THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933





DENNY'S CORPORATION


(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)


Delaware13-3487402(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)(I.R.S. employer identification number)203 East Main Street, Spartanburg, South Carolina29319-0001(Address of principal executive offices)(Zip Code)





Denny’s Corporation 2017 Omnibus Incentive Plan


(Full title of the plan)





Timothy E. Flemming


Senior Vice President and General Counsel


Denny’s Corporation


203 East Main Street


Spartanburg, South Carolina 29319-0001


(864) 597-8000


(Name, Address and Telephone number, including area code, of Agent For Service)





with a copy to


Amy I. Pandit, Esq.


Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP


One Oxford Centre


Thirty-Second Floor


301 Grant Street


Pittsburgh, PA 15219


(412) 560-3300








Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,”  “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.


Large accelerated filerþAccelerated fileroNon-accelerated filero(Do not check if a smaller reporting company)Smaller reporting companyoEmerging growth companyo





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 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act.  ̈





CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE





Title of securitiesto be registeredAmount to beregisteredProposed maximumoffering priceper shareProposed maximumaggregate offeringpriceAmount ofregistration feeCommon Stock, $0.01 par value4,400,000 shares(1)$11.94(2)$52,536,000(2)$6,088.92(2)











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|(1) | Amount to be registered consists of an aggregate of 4,400,000 shares to be issued pursuant to the grant or exercise of awards under the Denny’s Corporation 2017 Omnibus Incentive Plan (the “Plan”). Pursuant to Rule 416(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), this Registration Statement also covers such indeterminable number of additional shares of common stock of the Registrant as may become issuable to prevent dilution in the event of stock splits, stock dividends, recapitalization or similar transactions.

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|(2) | Estimated solely for the purpose of determining the registration fee pursuant to Rule 457(c) and Rule 457(h) of the Securities Act, based upon the average of the high and low prices of the common stock of Denny’s Corporation reported on the NASDAQ Capital Market on May 3, 2017.







PART I





INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE SECTION 10(a) PROSPECTUS





(a) The documents constituting Part I of this Registration Statement will be sent or given to participants in the Plan as specified by Rule 428(b)(1) under the Securities Act.





(b) Upon written or oral request, Denny’s Corporation (the “Company”) will provide, without charge, the documents incorporated by reference in Item 3 of Part II of this Registration Statement. The documents are incorporated by reference in the Section 10(a) prospectus. The Company will also provide, without charge, upon written or oral request, other documents required to be delivered to employees pursuant to Rule 428(b). Requests for the above-mentioned information should be directed to Timothy E. Flemming, Senior Vice President and General Counsel of the Company, at the address and telephone number on the cover of this Registration Statement.





PART II





INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT





Item 3.Incorporation of Documents by Reference.





The following documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) pursuant to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), are hereby incorporated by reference into this Registration Statement:





(1)  The Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 28, 2016;





(2)  The Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended March 29, 2017;





(3)  The Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Commission on March 23, 2017; and





(4)  The description of the Company’s Common Stock set forth in its Registration Statement on Form 8-A filed with the Commission on January 7, 1998 under the Exchange Act, including any amendment or report filed for the purpose of updating such description;





All reports and other documents subsequently filed by the Company pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Exchange Act after the date of this Registration Statement and prior to the filing of a post-effective amendment to the Registration Statement that indicates that all securities offered hereby have been sold or deregisters all securities then remaining unsold, shall be deemed to be incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement and to be a part hereof from the date of filing of such documents; provided, however, that documents or information deemed to have been furnished to, rather than filed with, the Commission shall not be deemed incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement.





Any statement contained in a document incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference or deemed to be part of this Registration Statement shall be deemed to be modified or superseded for purposes of this Registration Statement to the extent that a statement contained in this Registration Statement or in any other subsequently filed document that also is, or is deemed to be, incorporated by reference or deemed to be part of this Registration Statement modifies or replaces such statement. Any statement contained in a document that is deemed to be incorporated by reference or deemed to be part of this Registration Statement after the most recent effective date may modify or replace existing statements contained in this Registration Statement. Any such statement so modified or replaced shall not be deemed, except as so modified or replaced, to constitute a part of this Registration Statement.








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Experts





The consolidated financial statements of Denny’s Corporation as of December 28, 2016 and December 30, 2015, and for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 28, 2016, and management’s assessment of the effectiveness of internal controls over financial reporting as of December 28, 2016, have been incorporated by reference herein in reliance on the reports of KPMG LLP, independent registered public accounting firm, incorporated by reference herein, and upon the authority of said firm as experts in accounting and auditing.





Item 4.Description of Securities.





Not applicable.





Item 5.Interests of Named Experts and Counsel.





J. Scott Melton, Assistant General Counsel, Corporate Governance Officer and Secretary of the Company, is passing on certain legal matters regarding the shares of Common Stock being registered pursuant to this Registration Statement. Mr. Melton is a full-time employee of the Company, owns shares of the Company’s Common Stock, and is eligible to participate in the Plan.





Item 6.Indemnification of Directors and Officers.





Denny’s Corporation is a Delaware corporation.  Reference is made to Section 102(b)(7) of the Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”), which enables a corporation in its original certificate of incorporation or an amendment thereto to eliminate or limit the personal liability of a director to the corporation or its stockholders for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary duty as a director, except (i) for any breach of the director’s duty of loyalty to the corporation or its stockholders, (ii) for acts or omissions not in good faith or which involve intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of law, (iii) pursuant to Section 174 of the DGCL (providing for liability of directors for unlawful payment of dividends or unlawful stock purchases or redemptions) or (iv) for any transaction from which a director derived an improper personal benefit.





Reference is also made to Section 145 of the DGCL, which provides that a corporation may indemnify any persons, including officers and directors, who are, or are threatened to be made, parties to any threatened, pending or completed legal action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative (other than an action by or in the right of such corporation), by reason of the fact that such person is or was an officer, director, employee or agent of such corporation or is or was serving at the request of such corporation as an officer, director, employee or agent of another corporation or enterprise.  The indemnity may include expenses (including attorneys’ fees), judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by such person in connection with such action, suit or proceeding, provided such officer, director, employee or agent acted in good faith and in a manner he reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the corporation’s best interests and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had no reasonable cause to believe that his conduct was unlawful.  A Delaware corporation may indemnify officers, directors, employees and agents in an action by or in the right of the corporation under the same conditions, except that no indemnification is permitted without judicial approval if the officer, director, employee or agent is adjudged to be liable to the corporation.  Where an officer, director, employee or agent is successful on the merits or otherwise in the defense of any action referred to above, the corporation must indemnify him against the expenses that such officer, director, employee or agent actually and reasonably incurs.





The Company’s Restated Certificate of Incorporation and By-Laws provide for exculpation and indemnification of its officers and directors to the full extent permitted under Delaware law.  Specifically, Articles Sixth and Seventh of the Restated Certificate of Incorporation provide for indemnification of officers and directors to the full extent permitted by Section 145 of the DGCL and the elimination of liability of directors to the full extent permitted by Section 102 of the DGCL, and Article 5, Section 14 of the By-Laws provides for indemnification of officers and directors to the full extent permitted by Section 145 of the DGCL.   The Company maintains officers’ and directors’ liability insurance for the benefit of its officers and directors.





Item 7.Exemption from Registration Claimed.





Not applicable.











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Item 8.Exhibits.





See the Exhibit Index, which is incorporated herein by reference.





Item 9.Undertakings.





(a) The undersigned Company hereby undertakes:





1. To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being made, a post-effective amendment to this registration statement:





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|(i) | To include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act of 1933;




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|(ii) | To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising after the effective date of the registration statement (or the most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement; and




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|(iii) | To include any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the registration statement or any material change to such information in the registration statement;




Provided, however , that paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(1)(ii) do not apply if the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in reports filed with or furnished to the Commission by the Company pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that are incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement.





2. That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new Registration Statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.





3. To remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the termination of the offering.





(b) The undersigned Company hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each filing of the Company's annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that is incorporated by reference in the registration statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.





(c) Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the Company pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the Company has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act of 1933 and is, therefore, unenforceable.  In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the Company of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the Company in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the Company will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act of 1933 and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.














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SIGNATURES





Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the Company certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all the requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the city of Spartanburg, state of South Carolina, on this 10th day of May, 2017.








DENNY'S CORPORATIONBy:/s/  F. Mark WolfingerF. Mark WolfingerExecutive Vice President,Chief Administrative Officer andChief Financial Officer








POWER OF ATTORNEY





KNOW ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature appears below constitutes and appoints Timothy E. Flemming, John C. Miller, and F. Mark Wolfinger as the undersigned 's true and lawful attorneys-in-fact and agents, with full power of substitution and revocation, for  and in the undersigned's name, place and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign any and all amendments (including post-effective amendments) to this Registration Statement, and to file the same, with exhibits thereto, and other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorneys-in-fact and agents full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite or necessary to be done, as fully to all intents and purposes as the undersigned might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming all that said attorneys-in-fact may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.





Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this Registration Statement has been signed by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated.











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SignatureTitleDate/s/  John C. MillerChief Executive Officer, President and DirectorMay 10, 2017John C. Miller(Principal Executive Officer)/s/  F. Mark WolfingerExecutive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer,Chief Financial Officer and DirectorMay 10, 2017F. Mark Wolfinger(Principal Financial Officer)/s/  Jay C. GilmoreVice President, Chief Accounting Officer and Corporate ControllerMay 10, 2017Jay C. Gilmore(Principal Accounting Officer)/s/  Brenda J. LauderbackDirector and Chair of the Board of DirectorsMay 10, 2017Brenda J. Lauderback/s/  Gregg R. DedrickDirectorMay 10, 2017Gregg R. Dedrick/s/  José M. GutiérrezDirectorMay 10, 2017José M. Gutiérrez/s/  George W. HaywoodDirectorMay 10, 2017George W. Haywood/s/  Robert E. MarksDirectorMay 10, 2017Robert E. Marks/s/  Donald C. RobinsonDirectorMay 10, 2017Donald C. Robinson/s/  Debra Smithart-OglesbyDirectorMay 10, 2017Debra Smithart-Oglesby/s/  Laysha WardDirectorMay 10, 2017Laysha Ward














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EXHIBIT INDEX





Exhibit NumberDescription4.1Restated Certificate of Incorporation of Denny's Corporation dated March 3, 2003, as amended by Certificate of Amendment to Restated Certificate of Incorporation to Increase Authorized Capitalization dated August 25, 2004 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 to the Annual Report on Form 10-K of Denny's Corporation for the year ended December 29, 2004).4.2By-Laws of Denny's Corporation, as effective as of May 24, 2016 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 to the Current Report on Form 8-K of Denny's Corporation filed with the Commission on May 26, 2016).5.1Opinion of J. Scott Melton, Esq., regarding the legality of the securities being registered.23.1Consent of J. Scott Melton, Esq. (included in Exhibit 5.1).23.2Consent of KPMG LLP.24.1Power of Attorney (included on signature page).99.1Denny's Corporation 2017 Omnibus Incentive Plan.