By Lisa Kerner
Charlotte, N.C., June 18 - Friendly Ice Cream Corp. entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Sun Capital Partners, Inc. affiliate Freeze Operations Holding Corp. for $15.50 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at about $337.2 million.
The per-share price is a 30.9% premium to the stock's closing price on March 6, the day prior to the company's announcement that it was seeking strategic alternatives.
Friendly's board of directors has unanimously approved the deal and will recommend that its shareholders also approve the transaction, which is slated to close in the third quarter of 2007.
"We believe this transaction delivers very attractive value to our shareholders, and it does so more quickly and with greater certainty than other alternatives we examined," Friendly's president and chief executive officer George Condos said in a company news release.
Friendly's shareholders including chairman of the board Donald N. Smith, the Lion Fund LP, Biglari Capital Corp. and S. Prestley Blake, collectively owning more than 50% of the company's shares, agreed to vote in favor of the merger.
Goldman Sachs & Co., along with Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, advised Friendly's.
Friendly's is a Wilbraham, Mass.-based restaurant company.
Sun Capital Partners is a private investment firm focused on leveraged buyouts, equity, debt and other investments. The company has offices in Boca Raton, Fla., Los Angeles and New York.
| Acquirer: | Sun Capital Partners, Inc.
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| Target: | Friendly Ice Cream Corp.
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| Transaction total: | $337.2 million
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| Price per share: | $15.50
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| Announcement date: | June 18
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| Expected closing: | Third quarter of 2007
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| Stock price for target: | AMEX: FRN: $14.33 on June 15
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