ATLANTA — A budding saga that was playing out in lawsuits between The Gathering Spot and its acquirer, Greenwood, is being squashed. The two businesses announced their resolution in a joint statement on Monday in an Instagram post.
"Even though business disputes are common in corporate transactions, Greenwood and The Gathering Spot are pleased to put this issue to rest and move forward," the statement said.
Both companies have agreed on a settlement that "marks an end on friction" in their previous dispute, according to their statement. The details of the agreement have not been released.
“No one wins when the family feuds," said Ryan Glover, CEO of Greenwood, and Ryan Wilson, CEO of The Gathering Spot (TGS). "We apologize for distracting our communities over the last week as this became a topic of so much public discussion. As we work together to build for our community and customers, we will continue to hold ourselves to the highest standards."
Glover and Wilson's agreement comes after Wilson filed a lawsuit alleging Greenwood failed to pay a $5 million payment tied to TGS meeting a revenue target. Greenwood, in a previous court filing, denied those allegations.
Greenwood, a fintech company, bought TGS back in April. The two companies said that they want to continue to "uplift Black and minority communities." TGS in Atlanta has become known nationwide as a private networking club for Black and minority business owners.
“We are ready to finish what we started, in the same spirit that we began with and continue to build and grow our community,” said Wilson.
The statement also said that "The Gathering Spot will continue to operate as an independent subsidiary of Greenwood under the leadership of its co-founders, Ryan Wilson and TK Petersen." A previous Instagram post on the TGS page said Petersen would be moving on "to other endeavors" and the end of the month.
After settling, the businesses agreed to continue to foster "economic empowerment, inclusion and community engagement," the statement said.