Roark Reportedly Agrees To Buy Buffalo Wild Wings For $2.4 Bln

(RTTNews) - Private equity firm Roark Capital Group, the owner of Arby's and Cinnabon, has agreed to buy restaurant chain Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. for about $2.4 billion, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with knowledge of the matter.

As per the report, Roark has agreed to pay about $157 a share in cash for the Minneapolis-based restaurant operator. The offered price would represent a premium of around 34 percent to Buffalo Wild Wings' November 13 closing price, before Roark's initial bid was reported.

The earlier $150 per share bid implied a 28-percent premium from the stock's November 10 price.

The companies are expected to announce a deal as soon as Tuesday.

Following the deal, Roark reportedly plans to merge Buffalo Wild Wings with Arby's, though both brands will remain distinct. Arby's Chief Executive Officer Paul Brown will be CEO of the combined business.

Buffalo Wild Wings has been going through a tough period as it lost a proxy fight with activist Marcato Capital Management in June. Following this, Buffalo Wild's longtime Chief Executive Officer Sally Smith announced her resignation.

Roark Capital has many investments in the food industry, including chains such as Carl's Jr., Carvel and Auntie Anne's. Earlier this year, the company failed in its attempt to buy fried-chicken chain Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen Inc., which was sold to Restaurant Brands International Inc. for about $1.8 billion.

Meanwhile, analysts at UBS as well as Deutsche Bank downgraded Buffalo Wild Wings on Monday over concerns related to the takeover talks with Roark Capital.