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Outback pushes LTO with discounts

TAMPA Fla. Outback Steakhouse is packing newspapers this week with 10 million inserts offering $5 off the casual chain’s current roster of limited-time offers, which range in price from $13.99 to $19.99.

The LTOs, which are tied to the 20th anniversary of the chain’s signature Bloomin’ Onion appetizer, include Slow Roasted Sirloin Medley, $13.99; Fresh Tilapia with Pure Lump Crab Meat, $15.99; Sirloin, Shrimp and Scallops Mixed Grill, $16.49; and Chargrilled Tuscan Ribeye, $19.99. The array will be featured through April, said Paul Avery, chief operating officer of brand parent OSI Restaurant Partners LLC. He noted that the 792-unit chain had never offered LTOs until this year.

In an interview with Nation’s Restaurant News, Avery disclosed that the company also is remodeling its Carrabba’s Italian Grill chain. Two units sporting the new design have opened, and a third one is under construction, Avery said.

The company had earlier revealed that it was systematically renovating the Outback chain, which is predominantly company-operated. Avery declined to reveal how much the updates cost, though he said the expense “was not as much of a premium as we expected.”

Avery confirmed earlier news reports that OSI is “shopping” its Roy’s 34-unit seafood chain and is looking to divest its 38-unit Cheeseburger in Paradise group. The company will focus on Outback, Carrabba’s, Bonefish Grill and Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, he indicated. OSI has already sold an 80-percent stake in Lee Roy Selman’s to the barbecue concept’s founder and longtime president.

Avery said the company's newest concept, Blue Coral Seafood & Spirits, is not for sale, though the company has no plans for aggressive development of the two-unit chain.

Avery said that OSI would open 20 restaurants during 2008, eight of which will be Outbacks. The company operates or franchises about 1,400 units in total.

OSI assumed about $2.4 billion in debt when the company was taken private in a $3.2 billion deal by a group that included management and the private-equity firms Bain Capital Partners and Catterton Management Co.

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