Hillman Solutions Corp. (Form: 8-K, Received: 03/29/2022 08:41:55)

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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): March 23, 2022

Hillman Solutions Corp.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)




Delaware	001-39609	85-2096734
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation)	(Commission File Number)	(IRS Employer Identification No.)

10590 Hamilton Avenue

Cincinnati, OH 45231

(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (513) 851-4900

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8−K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:


☐			Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)
☐			Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a−12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a−12)
☐			Pre−commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d−2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d−2(b))
☐			Pre−commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e−4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e− 4(c))

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Title of each class

Trading Symbol

Name of each exchange on which registered

Common stock, par value $0.0001 per share

HLMN

The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).

Emerging growth company ☐

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 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐


Item 4.01			Change in Registrant’s Certifying Accountant

The Audit Committee of the board of directors of Hillman Solutions Corp. (the “Company”) conducted a competitive process to determine the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm for the year ending December 31, 2022. Firms were invited to participate in this process including KPMG LLP (“KPMG”), which has served as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm since 2010 (including service KPMG performed on behalf of The Hillman Companies, Inc., the predecessor registrant for our business prior to the business combination with the Company on July 14, 2021).

As a result of this process, following the review and evaluation of the proposals from the participating firms, on March 23, 2022, the Audit Committee approved the engagement of Deloitte & Touche LLP (“Deloitte”) as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm to audit the Company’s consolidated financial statements for the year ending December 31, 2022 and dismissed KPMG as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm. The engagement of Deloitte is subject to Deloitte's client acceptance procedures and execution of an engagement letter.

The audit reports of KPMG on the Company’s financial statements as of and for the fiscal years ended December 25, 2021 and December 26, 2020 did not contain an adverse opinion or a disclaimer of opinion, and were not qualified or modified as to uncertainty, audit scope or accounting principles.

During the Company’s fiscal years ended December 25, 2021 and December 26, 2020 and during the subsequent interim period through March 23, 2022 there were no (1) disagreements (as defined in Item 304(a)(1)(iv) of Regulation S-K and the related instructions) between the Company and KPMG on any matters of accounting principles or practices, financial statement disclosure, or auditing scope or procedures which, if not resolved to KPMG’s satisfaction, would have caused KPMG to make reference in connection with their opinion to the subject matter of the disagreement, or (2) “reportable events” (as defined in Item 304(a)(1)(v) of Regulation S-K), except for the material weakness in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as disclosed in the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 26, 2020 related to design and maintenance of effective controls over the completeness and accuracy of the accounting for, and disclosure of, the valuation allowance against deferred tax assets. In response to the material weakness, management implemented changes to its internal control over financial reporting to remediate the control deficiencies that gave rise to the material weakness. Those changes included the engagement of third party consultants to assist with technical tax accounting research and application of guidance, the addition of a committee to review technical accounting issues and ensure the Company has the appropriate subject matter experts engaged, and hiring additional personnel in our tax department. The Company has tested the newly implemented controls and found them to be effective, and therefore have concluded that as of December 25, 2021, the previously identified material weakness has been remediated.

During the Company’s fiscal years ended December 25, 2021 and December 26, 2020 and during the subsequent interim period through March 23, 2022, neither the Company, nor anyone on behalf of the Company, consulted with Deloitte with respect to either (i) the application of accounting principles to a specified transaction, either completed or proposed, or the type of audit opinion that might be rendered on the consolidated financial statements of the Company and its subsidiaries, and no written report or oral advice was provided by Deloitte to the Company that Deloitte concluded was an important factor considered by the Company in reaching a decision as to the accounting, auditing or financial reporting issue or (ii) any matter that was the subject of either a disagreement (as defined in Item 304(a)(1)(iv) of Regulation S-K) or a reportable event (as described in Item 304(a)(1)(v) of Regulation S-K).

The Company has provided KPMG with a copy of the foregoing disclosures and has requested that KPMG furnish the Company with a letter addressed to the Securities and Exchange Commission stating whether it agrees with the statements made by the Company set forth above. A copy of KPMG’s letter dated March 29, 2022 is filed as Exhibit 16.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K.


Exhibit No.						Description
16.1						Letter from KPMG to the Securities and Exchange Commission, dated March 29, 2022.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.


Date: March 29, 2022	Hillman Solutions Corp.

	By:	/s/ Robert O. Kraft
	Name:	Robert O. Kraft
	Title:	Chief Financial Officer

Securities and Exchange Commission
Washington, D.C. 20549

Ladies and Gentlemen:

We were previously principal accountants for Hillman Solutions Corp. (the Company) and, under the date of March 16, 2022, we reported on the consolidated financial statements of the Company as of and for the years ended December 25, 2021 and December 26, 2020. On March 23, 2022, we were dismissed. We have read the Company’s statements included under Item 4.01 of its Form 8-K dated March 29, 2022, and we agree with such statements, except that we are not in a position to agree or disagree with the Company’s statement that the change was approved by the Audit Committee of the board of directors, and we are not in a position to agree or disagree with the Company’s statement that Deloitte & Touche LLP was not engaged regarding the application of accounting principles to a specific transaction or the type of audit opinion that might be rendered on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.