Wendy’s Co. (NASDAQ: WEN) shares saw a handy gain on Thursday after the company announced that it accepted an offer to sell its 12.3% ownership interest in Inspire Brands back to that company for $450 million. This is a solid win for Nelson Peltz and Wendy’s in general.
Note that the agreement was approved by the Wendy’s board of directors and represents a 38% premium on Wendy’s previous valuation of the investment. Inspire Brands owns Arby’s, Buffalo Wild Wings and R Taco.
Wendy’s intends to use the proceeds from this transaction to invest in brand growth and increase the company’s share repurchase program.
The board of directors has authorized a new share repurchase program for up to $100 million of the common stock through December 27, 2019. This is in addition to the current $175 million share repurchase authorization, expiring March 3, 2019, which had $93.1 million remaining as of August 1, 2018.
Nelson Peltz, Wendy’s board chair, commented:
The sale of our stake in Inspire Brands for $450 million is a great return on this investment for our shareholders. Over the past seven years, Wendy’s and its shareholders have benefitted from more than $100 million in distributions and the monetization of this investment carries a 38 percent premium over its most recent valuation.
Shares of Wendy’s were last seen up about 3.6% at $18.53, with a consensus analyst price target of $19.47 and a 52-week range of $13.57 to $18.55.
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