Note 10 - Related Party Transactions

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2012

Related Party Transactions Disclosure [Text Block]

10.  Related Party Transactions

SGRP's policy respecting approval of transactions with related persons, promoters and control persons is contained in the SPAR Group Code of Ethical Conduct for its Directors, Senior Executives and Employees Amended and Restated (as of) August 1, 2012 (the "Ethics Code").  Article V of the Ethics Code generally prohibits each "Covered Person" (including SGRP's officers and directors) from engaging in any business activity that conflicts with his or her duties to the Company, and directs each "Covered Person" to avoid any activity or interest that is inconsistent with the best interests of the SPAR Group, in each case except for any "Approved Activity" (as such terms are defined in the Ethics Code).

Examples of violations include (among other things) having any ownership interest in, acting as a director or officer of or otherwise personally benefiting from business with any competitor, customer or vendor of the Company other than pursuant to any Approved Activity.  Approved Activities include (among other things) any contract with an affiliated person (each an "Approved Affiliate Contract") or anything else disclosed to and approved by SGRP's Board of Directors (the "Board"), its Governance Committee or its Audit Committee, as the case may be, as well as the ownership, board, executive and other positions in SMS, SMSI, SIT, NMA and others (as defined and described below) held by certain directors, officers or employees of SGRP or their family members.  The Company's senior management is generally responsible for monitoring compliance with the Ethics Code and establishing and maintaining compliance systems, including conflicting relationships and transactions, subject to the review and oversight of SGRP's Governance Committee as provided in clause IV.11 of the Governance Committee's Charter, and SGRP's Audit Committee as provided in clause I.2(l) of the Audit Committee's Charter.  The Governance Committee and Audit Committee each consist solely of independent outside directors.

SGRP's Audit Committee has the specific duty and responsibility to review and approve the overall fairness of all material related-party transactions.  The Audit Committee receives every affiliate contract and amendment thereto for its review and approval (to the extent approval is given), and each contract is periodically (often annually) again reviewed, in accordance with the Audit Charter, the Ethics Code, the rules of the Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc. ("Nasdaq"), and other applicable law to ensure that the overall economic and other terms will be (or continue to be) no less favorable to the Company than would be the case in an arms-length contract with an unrelated provider of similar services (i.e., its overall fairness).  The Audit Committee periodically reviews and has approved all of the related party relationships and transactions described below.

Mr. Robert G. Brown, a Director, the Chairman and a major stockholder of SGRP, and Mr. William H. Bartels, a Director and the Vice Chairman of the Company and a major stockholder of SGRP, are the sole stockholders of SPAR Marketing Services, Inc. ("SMS") and SPAR Management Services, Inc. ("SMSI").  Mr. Brown is the sole stockholder of SPAR InfoTech, Inc. ("SIT").  Mr. Brown is a director and officer of SMS and SIT.  Mr. Bartels is a director and officer of SMSI.

SMS and SMSI provided approximately 98% of the domestic merchandising specialist field force used by the Company for both the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively, and approximately 93% of the domestic field management used by the Company at a total cost of approximately $24 million and $22 million for the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively.  Pursuant to the terms of the Amended and Restated Field Service Agreement dated as of January 1, 2004, as amended in 2011, the Company received merchandising services from SMS through the use of approximately 7,300 field merchandising specialists.  SMS also furnishes (without charge) approximately 200 handheld computers used by field merchandising specialists in the performance of various merchandising and marketing services in the United States, which the Company estimates has an aggregate value of approximately $2,000 to $3,000 per month. Pursuant to the terms of the Amended and Restated Field Management Agreement dated as of January 1, 2004, in 2011, the Company received management services from SMSI through the use of 55 full-time national, regional and district managers.  For those services, the Company has agreed to reimburse SMS and SMSI for their total costs of providing those services and to pay SMS and SMSI each a premium equal to 4% of their respective total costs (the "Plus 4 % Compensation").  Those costs include all field expenses of SMS, all payroll and employment tax expenses of SMSI and all legal and other administrative expenses paid by either of them. The net total Plus 4% Compensation earned by SMS and SMSI for services rendered was approximately $914,000 and $836,000 for the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively.  The Company also provides certain administrative services directly to SMS and SMSI, without charge, for accounting, human resource and legal services, which the Company believes is more efficient if paid directly, and would otherwise have been subject to cost plus reimbursement.  The value of these services was approximately $416,000 and $390,000 for the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively.

No salary reimbursements for Mr. Brown or Mr. Bartels are included in such reimbursable costs or Plus 4% Compensation. However, since SMS and SMSI are "Subchapter S" corporations and are owned by Messrs. Brown and Bartels, all income from SMS and SMSI is allocated to them.

National Marketing Services, LLC ("NMS"), is a consolidated domestic subsidiary of the Company and is owned jointly by SGRP through its indirect ownership of 51% of the NMS membership interests and by National Merchandising of America, Inc. ("NMA"), through its ownership of the other 49% of the NMS membership interests.  (See Note 13 to the Consolidated Financial Statements - Purchase of Interests in Subsidiaries, below.) Mr. Edward Burdekin is the Chief Executive Officer and President and a director of NMS and also is an executive officer and director of NMA.  Ms. Andrea Burdekin, Mr. Burdekin's wife, is the sole stockholder and a director of NMA and a director of NMS.

NMA is expected to provide substantially all of the domestic merchandising specialist field force used by NMS.  Pursuant to the terms of the Field Services Agreement dated as of July 31, 2012, as amended (the "NMA Services Agreement"), NMS will receive merchandising services from NMA through the use of approximately 1,100 field merchandising specialists.  For those services, the Company has agreed to reimburse NMA for its total costs of providing those services and to pay NMA a premium equal to 2% of its total costs (the "Plus 2% Compensation").  Those costs include all field expenses, payroll and employment tax expenses of NMA but exclude certain field merchandiser taxes and legal and other administrative expenses.  Accordingly, no salary reimbursement for Mr. Burdekin or Ms. Burdekin are included in such reimbursable costs or Plus 2% Compensation.

NMS commenced operations as of September 1, 2012.  NMA provided all of the domestic merchandising specialist field force used by NMS and 5% of the total domestic merchandising specialist field force used by the Company (including NMS) for the four month period ended December 31, 2012.  The total Plus 2% Compensation earned by NMA for services rendered was approximately $31,000 for the four month period ended December 31, 2012.

In connection with the approval of those related party agreements with NMA, the Board approved, based (in part) on the recommendation and approval of its Governance Committee (which is comprised solely of independent directors), the restated Ethics Code.  As a result, the newly approved NMA Field Services Agreement is, and the previously approved affiliate contracts (See "Transactions with Related Persons, Promoters and Certain Control Persons" in SGRP's 2012 Proxy Statement) continue to be, exempted from various conflict prohibitions in the Ethics Code.  The Ethics Code changes were not intended to substantively alter the code's existing prohibitions and exceptions applicable to the directors and executive officers of SGRP.

The Company continues to purchase services from SMS, SMSI and NMA because it believes the terms it receives from them are at least as favorable to the Company as it could obtain from non-affiliated providers of similar services.  The Company believes it is the largest and most important customer of SMS, SMSI and NMA (and from time to time may be their only customer), and accordingly the Company is able to negotiate better terms, receives more personal and responsive service and is more likely to receive credits and other financial accommodations from SMS, SMSI and NMA than the Company could reasonably expect to receive from an unrelated service provider who has significant other customers and business.  The Company periodically evaluates these fees and rates charged by comparable national labor sourcing firms to serve as a comparison to the rates charged by SMS, SMSI and NMA.  The most recent such survey showed that the rates negotiated with SMS, SMSI and NMA are in fact slightly less than those charged by unrelated vendors providing similar services.  Based on an analysis performed by management,  the Company believes that its cost of revenue would have increased by at least $800,000 and $650,000 for the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively, if the Company would have instead used an unaffiliated entity to provide comparable services.  All affiliate contracts are reviewed and approved by SGRP's Audit Committee, as described above.  See also Item 1A - Dependence Upon and Cost of Services Provided by Affiliates and Potential Conflicts in Services Provided by Affiliates, above.

The following transactions occurred between the Company and the above affiliates (in thousands):

	Year Ended December 31,
	2012		2011
Services provided by affiliates:
Field merchandiser services (SMS)	$	19,236	$	17,555
Field management services (SMSI)	$	4,538	$	4,283
Field merchandiser services (NMA)	$	1,601	$	-
Handheld computer leases (SMS)	$	-	$	77
Total services provided by affiliates	$	25,375	$	21,915

Accrued expenses due to affiliates (in thousands):	December 31,
	2012		2011
Total accrued expenses due to affiliates	$	705	$	1,092

In July 1999, SMF, SMS and SIT entered into a perpetual software ownership agreement providing that each party independently owned an undivided share of and had the right to unilaterally license and exploit their "Business Manager" Internet job scheduling software (which had been jointly developed by such parties), and all related improvements, revisions, developments and documentation from time to time voluntarily made or procured by any of them at its own expense. In addition, SPAR Trademarks, Inc. ("STM"), SMS and SIT entered into separate perpetual trademark licensing agreements whereby STM has granted non-exclusive royalty-free licenses to SIT and SMS (and through them to their commonly controlled subsidiaries and affiliates by sublicenses, including SMSI) for their continued use of the name "SPAR" and certain other trademarks and related rights of STM, a wholly owned subsidiary of SGRP.  SMS and SMSI provide services to the Company, as described above, and SIT no longer provides services to the Company and does not compete with the Company.

Through arrangements with the Company, SMS, SMSI and other companies owned by Mr. Brown or Mr. Bartels participate in various benefit plans, insurance policies and similar group purchases by the Company, for which the Company charges them their allocable shares of the costs of those group items and the actual costs of all items paid specifically for them. All such transactions between the Company and the above affiliates are paid and/or collected by the Company in the normal course of business.  As an accommodation, the Company also provides certain accounting, human resource and similar administrative services to SIT and certain other affiliates of Robert G. Brown and William H. Bartels, at a nominal cost.

In addition to the above, SMSI purchases insurance coverage for worker compensation, casualty and property insurance risk for itself, SMS (and through SMS under contacts with its field merchandising specialists) and the Company from Affinity Insurance, Ltd. ("Affinity").  SMSI owns minority (less than 1%) equity interest in Affinity, and Mr. Robert G. Brown is a director of Affinity.  The Affinity insurance premiums for such coverage are ultimately charged to SMSI, SMS (and through SMS to its covered field merchandising specialists) and the Company based on the contractual arrangements of the parties.

On December 31, 2010, there were 338,801 shares of SGRP's Series A Preferred Stock owned by a non-SGRP retirement plan whose trustee is and beneficiaries include Robert G. Brown (who is a co-founder, director, executive officer and significant stockholder of SGRP), and there were 215,601 shares of SGRP's Series A Preferred Stock owned by a non-SGRP retirement plan whose trustee is and beneficiaries include William H. Bartels (who also is a co-founder, director, executive officer and significant stockholder of SGRP), which shares collectively constituted all of the outstanding shares of Series A Preferred Stock issued by SGRP. Those shares were originally purchased pursuant to subscription agreements on March 31, 2008, and September 24, 2008, at the closing Nasdaq bid price of SGRP's Common Stock for the preceding trading day, which was $1.12 per share for the March purchases and $0.86 per share for the September purchases.  Each share of SGRP's Series A Preferred Stock could be converted into one share of SGRP's Common Stock (at the rate of one to one), at the option of the holder and without further consideration, and accumulated dividends at the rate of ten percent per annum.  SGRP's Audit Committee and Board of Directors each reviewed and unanimously approved this transaction, including the pricing, conversion and other terms of the Preferred Stock and the affiliated relationship of the parties. The offer,  sale and conversion of such Preferred Stock were  not  registered under the Securities Act or other securities laws, as they were a non-public offer and sale made in reliance upon (among other things) Section 4 (2) of the Securities Act.

On or before March 10, 2011, Mr. Brown and Mr. Bartels, as trustees of those plans, each had requested that their plan's preferred shares be converted into SGRP's Common Stock in accordance with its terms, and in order to facilitate conversion of those shares by payment of all accrued and unpaid dividends, on March 10, 2011, SGRP's Board of Directors (i) fixed March 10, 2011, as the applicable record date for determination of the holders of the SGRP's Series A Preferred Stock eligible to receive such dividends, (ii) declared a dividend on such SGRP's Series A Preferred Stock equal to the accrued and unpaid dividends thereon, payable in shares of SGRP's Common Stock valued at their market value ($2.34 per share) on such record date, and (iii) authorized the issuance of the shares of SGRP's Common Stock necessary to effect such conversion (554,402 shares) and accrued dividend payment (54,584 shares) in consideration of the preferred shares surrendered and the accrued dividends thereby satisfied.  As a result of such conversions and stock dividends, on March 11, 2011, Mr. Brown's plans received 372,158 shares of SGRP's Common Stock (33,357 shares of which were for accrued dividends) and Mr. Bartels' plan received 236,828 shares of SGRP's Common Stock (21,227 shares of which were for accrued dividends).

In the event of any material dispute in the business relationships between the Company and SMS, SMSI, SIT or NMA it is possible that Mr. Brown, Mr. Bartels or Mr. Burdekin may have one or more conflicts of interest with respect to these relationships and such dispute could have a material adverse effect on the Company.