Filed under: Deals, Industry, McDonald’s (MCD), Wendy’s Intl (WEN), Burger King Hldgs (BKC)

Wendy’s (NYSE: WEN) finally sold the company to Nelson Peltz. The price which Peltz company Triarc paid was about $26.78 per share only a 6% premium according to the AP. One of the reasons the firm went for so little may be that there were no other buyers. The Wall Street Journal writes that “The move puts an end to the year-long saga that began when Wendy’s first said it would consider a sale last April after Mr. Peltz began pressuring the chain.”

Peltz has gotten a very good deal and Wendy’s shareholders have not. The chain’s current stock price is near its 52-week low. Over the last six months, the company’s shares are down about 23% while rivals Burger King (NYSE: BKC) and McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) are up about 5%. Of course, they are the market share leaders and deserve some premium for that.

But if fast food does well, especially in a poor economy when people cannot afford more expensive restaurants, Peltz will have picked up a prize. When a recovery comes around, Wendy’s could become a very nice business and the billionaire will look like a genius.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 29th, 2008 at 11:14 am and is filed under Industry News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.