Panera to buy majority interest in Southwest regional chain
Panera Bread Co. said Monday that it agreed to buy 51 percent of the outstanding stock in Paradise Bakery & Café Inc., a Southwest region restaurant chain, in a deal worth $21.1 million.
Paradise owns and operates 24 upscale bakery-cafes, 17 of which are in the Phoenix market, and is the franchisor for 20 franchised locations in 10 markets. In addition to Arizona, Paradise has operations in Washington, Oregon, California, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, Texas, Indiana and Massachusetts. According to a regulatory filing, the deal also gives Panera the right to purchase the remaining 49 percent of the outstanding stock of Paradise after Jan. 1, 2009, at a contractually determined value. If Panera doesn’t purchase the remaining shares, the Paradise’s remaining owners will have the right to purchase Panera’s 51 percent ownership interest in Paradise after June 30, 2009.
Panera said it currently estimates the transaction will result in nonrecurring charges of 2 cents to 3 cents per fully diluted share in 2006 and 2 cents more at the time of closing, either in 2006 or 2007.
Subscribe to my RSS feed! Thanks for visiting!
