Restaurant dealmaking hits two-year high
Restaurant dealmaking is heating up again with the start of a consumer spending recovery and greater access to capital that has whetted private equity firms’ appetite after a two-year fast.
CKE Restaurants Inc (CKR.N), the owner of Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr fast-food chains, last week accepted a $694 million bid from Apollo Management APOLO.UL and terminated a lower-priced offer from Thomas H. Lee Partners.
That deal followed the sale of Brinker International Inc’s (EAT.N) On the Border Mexican Grill & Cantina to an affiliate of Golden Gate Capital and Papa Murphy’s sale to private equity firm Lee Equity Partners.
California Pizza Kitchen (CPKI.O), a full-service chain known for its Barbecue Chicken pizza and other offbeat creations, has put itself up for sale.
“I don’t think I want to open the champagne just yet, but it’s a confident sign,” said Donna Hitscherich, senior lecturer at Columbia Business School.
An important part of the shift is that new deals focus on healthy businesses, rather than the distressed and bankrupt companies that sought buyers in prior years.
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