Equity fund to buy Frisch's Big Boy chain
CINCINNATI -- Frisch's Big Boy restaurants are being sold to a private equity fund, the company announced Friday, ending family ownership of the Cincinnati-based chain that dates to a 1939 drive-thru.
Frisch's Restaurants Inc. said NRD Partners I will buy all outstanding shares for $34 each, or about $175 million. Frisch's shares closed Thursday at $28.12, but they shot up nearly 20 percent to close at $33.69 in trading Friday on the New York Stock Exchange.
The regional chain of the Big Boy mascot and namesake two-burger sandwich owns 95 family restaurants in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. Its website states it has an additional 26 operated in the region by licensees. Frisch's says it owns the "Big Boy" trademark in Kentucky and Indiana, and in most of Ohio and Tennessee.
Chief Executive Officer Craig Maier and marketing Vice President Karen Maier will retire, but the grandchildren of company founder David Frisch plan to continue as franchisees. With slow growth as its restaurants faced increased competition from other family dining options in recent years, Frisch's availability for sale had been speculated about for months.
The deal is expected to close by the end of September, subject to shareholder and regulatory approval.
-- The Associated Press
UBS officials' stock sales yield $26.3M
As many as seven top officials at UBS Group AG sold their shares at some of the best prices in years after the Swiss bank reached an agreement with U.S. prosecutors ending major legal threats.
Executives or directors sold a total 1.17 million shares to yield $26.3 million, according to a regulatory filing.
The filing didn't identify who cashed in their shares, the first such sales this year. Just two executives had more than 400,000 shares that were vested, or eligible for disposal, at the end of 2014. They were Andrea Orcel, head of UBS' investment bank and Chi-Won Yoon, president of the Asia Pacific region.
UBS was among a group of banks fined this week for attempting to rig foreign exchange rates. Its main unit was also fined for manipulating benchmark interest rates and agreed to plead guilty to one count of wire fraud after the U.S. Department of Justice scrapped a 2012 nonprosecution agreement the bank violated through its misconduct in currency trading.
-- Bloomberg News
HSBC wins new trial in securities suit
NEW YORK -- A federal appeals court has awarded HSBC a new trial in a securities class-action suit that ended with a $2.46 billion judgment against the company.
The ruling was made Thursday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit. Europe's largest bank said it argued the verdict in the case, which dates to 2009, was defective and should be reversed. The company said it looks forward to the new proceedings.
In 2013, a division of HSBC was ordered to pay $2.46 billion in a class-action lawsuit that said its Household International mortgage lending business violated federal securities laws by misleading investors about its lending practices, the quality of its home loans and its financial accounting in 2001 and 2002.
HSBC bought Household International in 2003. The acquisition made HSBC the largest subprime mortgage lender in the U.S. at the time, but it resulted in billions of dollars in losses leading up to the 2008 financial crisis.
The lawsuit also included former executives William Aldinger, David Schoenholz and Gary Gilmer. The judgment included $1.48 billion in damages and almost $1 billion in pre-judgment interest.
HSBC also said Friday it is exploring options for its business in Brazil and may sell the division.
American Depositary Shares of HSBC Holdings PLC rose 15 cents to $48.11 in trading Friday.
-- The Associated Press
Henkel seen as front-runner for P&G unit
Henkel AG could be the best thing to happen to Wella since perms.
Procter & Gamble Co.'s hair-care unit is on the block and valued from $5.5 billion to $7 billion, according to people familiar with the process. Henkel is the favorite to win the auction, the people said, asking not to be identified because the negotiations are private.
With about $5 billion in cash and financing available for deals and an existing hair-care business, Henkel is in a strong position to outgun competition from private-equity firms such as CVC Capital Partners and Bain Capital, which are mainly interested in Wella's professional unit, said the people.
Final bids are due in about two weeks and no final decision on a winner has been made, they said, asking not to be identified because talks are private.
Wella, which helped invent products to create the permanent wave in 1927, offers Henkel an opportunity to strengthen its position in stores and hairdressers, especially outside of Europe.
-- Bloomberg News
In deal, Children's Place board adds 2
The Children's Place Inc. agreed to add two board members in a settlement with activist investors, who have been seeking to improve the company's performance and boost its share price.
Former Macy's Inc. Chief Executive Officer Robert Mettler, nominated by Macellum Advisors and Barington Capital Group, will be appointed to the board immediately, Children's Place said Friday in a statement in conjunction with its annual meeting. Another mutually agreed-upon director will be added later. The company also will pay the firms as much as $500,000 to reimburse out-of-pocket expenses.
The children's-apparel retailer has been scuffling with Macellum and Barington since March, when the activists sent a letter saying it has merchandising and inventory problems and should consider selling itself.
In a letter to shareholders earlier this month, Children's Place cited strong first-quarter results and called the activists' position that CEO Jane Elfers oversaw deteriorating performance "a complete mischaracterization of the facts."
-- Bloomberg News
Business on 05/23/2015