Wendy's Co. Sells Ownership Interest In Inspire Brands For $450 Mln

(RTTNews) - Wendy's Co. (WEN) said that it accepted an offer from Inspire Brands (Owner of Arby's, Buffalo Wild Wings, and R Taco) to sell its 12.3% ownership interest in the company back to Inspire Brands for $450 million.

The agreement represents a 38% premium on the Wendy's Company's previous valuation of the investment.

The Board of Directors has authorized a new share repurchase program for up to $100 million of the Company's common stock through December 27, 2019. This is in addition to the Company's current $175 million share repurchase authorization, expiring March 3, 2019, which had $93.1 million remaining as of August 1, 2018.

The Wendy's Company sold its 12.3% ownership interest in Inspire Brands for $450 million. The Inspire investment had a carrying value of zero. As a result, the Company is expecting approximately $335 million of cash proceeds net of tax. The transaction closed today, August 16, 2018.