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Owner of Arby’s buys Wendy’s, faces profitability challenges
BY MARK WILLIAMS The Associated Press

    COLUMBUS, Ohio — After at least two rejections, billionaire Nelson Peltz has finally succeeded in landing Wendy’s in a $2.3 billion deal that would add the chain known for its square burger and chocolate Frosty dessert to his ownership of Arby’s and its roast beef sandwiches.
    Now, the investor known for agitating corporations to boost their stock price has to figure out how to make both profitable while the economy slumps and more Americans are saving money on food and fuel by staying home to eat.
    Atlanta-based Triarc Companies Inc., owned by Peltz, said Thursday it will pay about $2.34 billion in an all-stock deal for the nation’s third-largest hamburger chain started in 1969 by Dave Thomas.
    Wendy’s had rejected at least two buyout offers from Triarc.
    Thomas’ daughter, Pam Thomas Farber, said the family was devastated by the news.
    “It’s a very sad day for Wendy’s and our family. We just didn’t think this would be the outcome,” said Farber, 53.
    Triarc will pay about $26.78 per share for the company, which has about 87 million shares outstanding.
    Peltz has pushed for change at Wendy’s — including the spinoff of the Tim Hortons coffeeand-doughnut chain and cutting corporate expenses — since 2005 to increase the company’s stock price. His Trian Fund and his allies own 9.8 percent of Wendy’s International Inc. stock.
    The deal comes as Wendy’s struggles with declining profi ts and weak sales compared with rivals McDonald’s Corp. and Burger King Holdings Inc.
    Sales at company-owned stores opened at least a year, considered a key indicator of a retailer’s strength, fell 1.6 percent in the quarter and 0.1 percent at U.S. franchise restaurants.