The Deal
Sunday, November 8, 
5:44 am

Brinker close to Romano's sale

  Share     E-Mail    Discussion    Print Story
The auction for Brinker International Inc.'s Romano's Macaroni Grill is down to its final bidder, believed to be Sun Capital Partners Inc., sources said.

Continue reading below

Also on Dealscape

Brinker is expected to announce a sale by June 25, its fiscal year's end.

The Boca Raton, Fla., private equity firm has said it is on an aggressive acquisition push. It acquired Timothy's Coffees of the World Inc. for undisclosed terms last month.

Brinker reported third-quarter revenues of about $908 million for the period ending March 26, compared to the approximate $944 million it drew in third-quarter 2007. The company listed Romano's as "discontinued operations" in its latest earnings release "due to management's intent to sell the brand."

Its stock closed at $22 per share Tuesday, up about 2% from Monday's close.

Brinker was founded in 1975 and changed its name to Chili's Inc. in 1976. Norman Brinker bought the company and took it public in 1983. The company changed its name to Brinker International Inc. in 1991. Romano's Macaroni Grill is a casual Italian chain with around 230 units in the U.S., Mexico and Canada. It was founded by Texas restaurateur Philip Romano and opened its first restaurant in Leon Springs, Texas, in 1988. Brinker bought the franchise rights in 1989. If successful, it would be Brinker's fourth divestiture since 2004. It has also cast off the Rockfish Seafood Grill, Corner Bakery Cafe and Big Bowl Asian Kitchen brands. Other Brinker chains include Chili's Grill & Bar, On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina and Maggiano's Little Italy.-- Demitri Diakantonis

See full story on TheDeal.com

See TheDeal.com story: M&A in ethnic food industry simmers
See The Deal's Auction Block database for more





Post a comment





The Deal Pipeline

Deal Video


Inside The Deal: Linklaters' Schmidt says how regulators handled Pfizer Inc.'s acquisition of Wyeth is an outlier of how others merger reviews will be conducted.


More video...

Crisis On Wall Street
Technology
Deals of The Decade

Community

Industry Insight

Dealing with frozen bank lending

If your bank is not willing to lend, what can you do as your company continues to seek growth?


Judgment Call

The coming age of the renminbi

The Chinese currency will play an increasingly important role in international commerce and finance.


Industry Insight

Banking on PE investments

Howls of protest greeted the FDIC policy statement, but the financial services industry should get over it.


footspacer.jpg footspacer.jpg footspacer.jpg footspacer.jpg footspacer.jpg


©Copyright 2009, The Deal, LLC. All rights reserved. Please send all technical questions, comments or concerns to the Webmaster.