Source: Yahoo News!
After two past rejections, the owner of Arby's shaved roast beef sandwich restaurants is buying Wendy's, the fast-food chain famous for its made-to-order square hamburgers and chocolate Frosty dessert, for around $2 billion.
Triarc Companies Inc., which is owned by billionaire investor Nelson Peltz, said Thursday it will pay about $2.34 billion in an all-stock deal for the nation's third-largest hamburger chain started in 1969 by Dave Thomas. Wendy's had rejected at least two buyout offers from Triarc.
Thomas' daughter Pam Thomas Farber said the family was devastated by the news.
"It's a very sad day for Wendy's, and our family. We just didn't think this would be the outcome," said Farber, 53.
If her father were alive to hear news of the buyout, "he would not be amused," she said.
Thomas became a household face when he began pitching his burgers and fries in television commercials in 1989.
Wendy's International Inc. deferred comment to Triarc, which had nothing further to say right away.
Triarc will pay about $26.78 per share for the company, which has about 87 million shares outstanding. The price is a premium of 6 percent from the company's closing price of $25.32 Wednesday.
Under the terms of the deal, which is expected to close in the second half of the year, shareholders at Wendy's will receive 4.25 shares of Triarc Class A stock for each share of Wendy's stock they own.
Atlanta-based Triarc said its shareholders will have to approve a charter amendment in which each share of its Class B stock will be converted into Class A stock.
The Wendy's board has been studying strategic alternatives since early last year, and expenses related to that contributed to the company's 72 percent drop in first-quarter earning announced Thursday.
Wendy's said its profits totaled $4.1 million, or 5 cents, a share for the quarter ended March 30 compared with a profit of $14.7 million, or 15 cents a share, a year ago. Revenue was down slightly to $513 million from $522 million a year ago.
Wendy's stock is well off its high for the past year of $42.22 that it reached shortly after the committee began its work in the summer. It fell 3 cents to $25.39 in early trading Thursday.
Sales have slid in a struggling economy that has hurt other restaurant chains, too.
The deal caps three chaotic years for Wendy's in which it has sold or spun off operations, slashed its corporate staff and had its wholesome image tarnished by a woman who falsely claimed she found part of a finger in her chili.
Triarc said it will also change its name to include the Wendy's name.
Pushed by activist shareholders, Wendy's spun off its Tim Hortons coffee-and-doughnut chain and sold its money-losing Baja Fresh Mexican Grill. Chairman and CEO Jack Schuessler abruptly retired in March 2006, months after a woman and her husband were sentenced to prison for extortion for their plot in March 2005 to plant part of a human finger in a bowl of chili at a San Jose, Calif., Wendy's restaurant and claiming it was served to her.
Farber said the family didn't think much of Peltz' and Triarc's tactics.
"They came after them (Wendy's) and came after them and came after them. They spun Tim Hortons off, they did this, they did that. They did everything they asked but it wasn't enough."
Farber said she had just gotten off the phone with her sister Wendy, 46, the company's namesake.
"She's feeling horrible. She just is devastated," Farber said.
Farber said the family had a supported an alternate bid led by Wendy's franchisee David Karam, president of Cedar Enterprises Inc.
"We knew what Dave Karam's commitment was to Wendy's, his family's commitment - just as ours. His dad was a very good friend of our dad's and was one of the very first franchisees, so there's a lot of history."
Peltz, who runs the Trian Fund, and his allies own 9.8 percent of Wendy's stock. Arby's has more than 3,000 restaurants.
He had argued in a letter to Wendy's chairman James Pickett that Triac would be a natural buyer of Wendy's. Peltz gained three seats on the company's board two years ago.
Thomas, who died in 2002, opened his first restaurant in a former steakhouse on a cold, snowy Saturday in downtown Columbus on Nov. 15, 1969. He named the chain after his 8-year-old daughter Melinda Lou - nicknamed Wendy by her siblings.
The smiling Thomas, always wearing a white short-sleeved shirt and red tie, touted the virtues of fast food in humorous ads, often featuring big-name stars such as bluesman B.B. King and soap opera queen Susan Lucci. He appeared in more than 800 ads.
Wendy's, based in suburban Dublin, operates about 6,600 restaurants in the United States and abroad. It trails McDonald's and Burger King Holdings Inc. in the burger business.
But-But... Arby's isn't even a burger chain, it's a Deli restaurant fronting as a burger chain!
Oh my poor Wendy's... WHAT HAVE THEY DON'T TO YOU?! ;___;
Maybe they should set it so users don't have the ability to kudos their own thread. I mean, I got away with it once.
That said, Wendys buyout = :[
Leave me be. I didn't know what it was. I just clicked it to see what it does, Sheesh! XD
Yeah, it sucks. But I thought about it, and y'know what? Pepsi owns KFC, Taco Bell, and some other crap, and besides some chains having all 3 in one roof, you don't see no ground beef in your mashed potatoes. You also don't see no mashed potatoes in your tacos.
So, I don't think anything will change. I'm devastated for the Thomas family, because it's a kick to the balls for selling out like that, but nothing will happen to Wendy's. The only thing I can see happening is that they will suck at keeping tidy and clean, because I've yet to walk into a single, nice and clean Arbys, that's for damn sure.
That, and Arbys closed down my friggin' Fazoli's over here. God damn you, Arbys!!! *shakes fist*
Jinsoku said:
some other crap
Pizza Hut.
Maybe Long John Silvers, too, I can't remember.
I think they do there's no Coca-Cola in Sliver's =(
Anwaqy, what's next Mcdonald buying Burger king?
McDonalds buys Burger king and I will be the happiest man alive, cause then Burger King will never exist again and life will be joyous.
However, Wendy's was pwnage, and now since Tardby's bough them out..I'm really unhappy.
Oh 'n' go to the Pacific NW Jin, there's clean Arby's up there.
McDonalds buys Burger king and I will be the happiest man alive, cause then Burger King will never exist again and life will be joyous
Sometimes BK DO taste better though...Even though I LOVE McDonalds, Lol!
Oh well, things change. As long as the Sonic restaurants are still around... mmmmm... chili cheese tots... CURSES! WHY ARE THERE NO SONIC FOOD CHAINS HERE IN NEW ENGLAND?!
Actually, I think BK tastes better than McDonalds.
I eat McDonalds more though. >>
And honestly, I don't really care who owns what or what brand they sell - I just want some tasty food. o.o
You people and your ravenous consumption of fast food. My tacos far surpass any fast food mentioned in this topic. =)
Although, idk, whenever we do eat fast food Wendy's is pretty good. I doubt they will adjust the recipe, however, because when buying something out they usually avoid changing the store so that people don't notice the change and never return. So in that sense, I don't really care about this buyout.
Burger King > McDonald's in pretty much every way shape and form, sorry. Fries that remain crispy when cold. Normal buns for chicken sandwiches. Tastier mayo. I could go on...
Oh god, Demolition Man's coming true. Arbys is building up for the coming Franchise Wars. Soon every restaurant will be a Taco Bell.
JUST YOU WAIT, THE APOCALYPSE NEARS
Burger King > McDonald's in pretty much every way shape and form, sorry. Fries that remain crispy when cold. Normal buns for chicken sandwiches. Tastier mayo. I could go on...
THANK YOU. I was about to go CRAZY if I saw another positive McDonald's post. WTF are you people thinking?! McDonald's is HORRID. Grade wise, BK carries better meat than McD (high school research, correct me if that's changed), their food actually tastes good, hell, SMELLS better, their fries are delicious, their chicken fries, while just a clever little ploy to not sell chicken strips, are delicious as hell... I think the only thing McD has over BK is their apple pies, Sundae's and Flurries. Their fries are good, but I'll taste the flavored fries over salty fries any day.
Jeez. Ya'll need a taste buds check.
I agree most of BK's food is better than McD's... except the fries. BK's old fries (yeah, before Toy Story came out... I remember Mr Potato Head did the adverts for the NEW BK FRIES) were okay iirc, but there new ones are blah.
The only reason I choose McD's over BK is the McD next to me has Hamburger Happy Meals for $1 on Tuesdays 
EDIT: Almost forgot. McD's Hot Cakes >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> BKs French Toast sticks. Egg McMuffin (minus the egg) == Sausage Croissan'Wich.
Oh well, things change. As long as the Sonic restaurants are still around... mmmmm... chili cheese tots... CURSES! WHY ARE THERE NO SONIC FOOD CHAINS HERE IN WESTCHESTER COUNTY (NY)?!
Oh poo. 
I prefer Wendy's over any of the other top burger joints. I'm hoping this doesn't change anything from their menus, or the recipes themselves.
As for the McDonald's over Burger King; tried BK a few times and I disliked it. McDonald's was the family outing every now and then when I was younger, and have always liked it until they started to become more "healthy" and changed the way their food used to taste. I believe that their Big Mac is the only one that still tastes the same from how I remembered it. So long my Big and Tasty burger. You are no longer big, or tasty anymore. =(
Egg McMuffin (minus the egg) == Sausage Croissan'Wich.
LIES! All lies! Bacon, Egg and Cheese Croissanwich is the BIZNATCH! ANY MORNING!!!
Yeah, well on Mondays my McD's has the Egg McMuffin for $1... can't argue with that m/
Pssh. Eff the $$$ amount. It's THE SATISFACTION IN YO STOMACH!!!
"MickeyDees!"
"BeeKay!"
"MickeyDees!"
"BeeKay!"
"Country!"
"Rock 'n' Roll!"
Southern rock!
ROCK TRIED TO KILL THE METAL!!!
BUT THEY FAILED!!!
I submit the notion that Whataburger's Bacon, Egg, and Cheese breakfast sandwich is better than both the McMuffin and the Crossain'wich.
