OVERLAND PARK KAN. IHOP Corp., setting the stage for the pancake specialist to begin its aggressive turnaround plan for the beleaguered casual-dining chain. —At a somber and sparsely attended meeting here Oct. 30, Applebee’s International Inc. shareholders voted by a wide margin to approve a $2.3 billion buyout of the company by
The merged companies, whose chains would boast more than 3,250 restaurants and systemwide sales of about $6.8 billion, will be one of the largest restaurant companies in the industry. Its chains’ annual sales would exceed those of the chains in the systems of Brinker International and OSI Restaurant Partners, and would rival the sales of Darden Restaurants, whose acquisition of Rare Hospitality Inc. is expected to boost Darden’s annual revenues to around $6.6 billion. The U.S. corporate revenues of the combined IHOP-Applebee’s entity would surpass those of Bob Evans Farms Inc., The Cheesecake Factory Inc. and Burger King Holdings Inc. —At a somber and sparsely attended meeting here Oct. 30, Applebee’s International Inc. shareholders voted by a wide margin to approve a $2.3 billion buyout of the company by
After an expected name change to reflect the IHOP and Applebee’s brands, the merged company would be led by IHOP chairman and chief executive Julia Stewart, who was U.S. president at Applebee’s from 1998 until 2001, when she moved to IHOP. —At a somber and sparsely attended meeting here Oct. 30, Applebee’s International Inc. shareholders voted by a wide margin to approve a $2.3 billion buyout of the company by
Stewart has said she would move ahead with a “thoughtful, diligent and deliberate” plan to reverse the stalled sales and declining profit growth that Applebee’s has experienced for more than two years. Applebee’s operates or franchises more than 1,950 restaurants; IHOP is parent to a mostly franchised system of 1,323 family-dining restaurants. —At a somber and sparsely attended meeting here Oct. 30, Applebee’s International Inc. shareholders voted by a wide margin to approve a $2.3 billion buyout of the company by
To facilitate a turnaround at Applebee’s, Stewart has said IHOP would halt the chain’s future corporate-restaurant development, sell to franchisees the majority of its 508 corporate locations, orchestrate sale-lease-backs of real estate assets, and reduce general and administrative and capital expenditure costs. —At a somber and sparsely attended meeting here Oct. 30, Applebee’s International Inc. shareholders voted by a wide margin to approve a $2.3 billion buyout of the company by
“We’ve been down this road before and successfully led a total business transformation and reenergized a well-known brand,” Stewart said in July when the deal was first announced, referring to her work at IHOP. “We plan to do it again with Applebee’s.” —At a somber and sparsely attended meeting here Oct. 30, Applebee’s International Inc. shareholders voted by a wide margin to approve a $2.3 billion buyout of the company by
While Stewart was out of the country on the day of Applebee’s shareholder meeting, IHOP said in a statement that “by working in collaboration with the Applebee’s associates and franchisees, [IHOP] believes that [Applebee’s] can again achieve the success it enjoyed in the past.” —At a somber and sparsely attended meeting here Oct. 30, Applebee’s International Inc. shareholders voted by a wide margin to approve a $2.3 billion buyout of the company by
Most analysts have stayed on the sidelines since the deal was announced in July through the Oct. 30 shareholder vote. Some industry watchers believe that Stewart will have a harder time reversing course at Applebee’s than she did at IHOP because of the chain’s larger size and because of macroeconomic factors now working against the casual-dining segment, including higher commodity and labor costs and pressures on consumers to spend less. —At a somber and sparsely attended meeting here Oct. 30, Applebee’s International Inc. shareholders voted by a wide margin to approve a $2.3 billion buyout of the company by
Applebee’s franchisees have been reluctant to discuss the brand’s future openly. However, a large franchisee who requested anonymity because of his future dealings with IHOP said he looked forward to working with Stewart and her team to revitalize the Applebee’s brand. He also expressed excitement about his potential purchases of Applebee’s owned restaurants that would soon be on the block—probably at buyer-friendly prices. —At a somber and sparsely attended meeting here Oct. 30, Applebee’s International Inc. shareholders voted by a wide margin to approve a $2.3 billion buyout of the company by
In July, IHOP said it expected to sell 40 corporate-operated Applebee’s branches per quarter to existing or new franchisees, beginning next year. Those transactions could garner about $550 million, IHOP said. —At a somber and sparsely attended meeting here Oct. 30, Applebee’s International Inc. shareholders voted by a wide margin to approve a $2.3 billion buyout of the company by
The Glendale, Calif.-based parent of the IHOP and International House of Pancakes brands plans to finance the acquisition through an asset-backed securitization of Applebee’s. The company already has secured a bridge loan to fund the deal while the securitization is completed. The respective headquarters of IHOP and Applebee’s are expected to remain in California and Kansas. —At a somber and sparsely attended meeting here Oct. 30, Applebee’s International Inc. shareholders voted by a wide margin to approve a $2.3 billion buyout of the company by
At press time, sources told Nation’s Restaurant News that IHOP human resources officials were in Kansas to discuss with Applebee’s management whether certain executives would remain. —At a somber and sparsely attended meeting here Oct. 30, Applebee’s International Inc. shareholders voted by a wide margin to approve a $2.3 billion buyout of the company by
At their Oct. 30 meeting, Applebee’s shareholders controlling more than 70 percent of its shares outstanding voted to accept IHOP’s offer of $25.50 per share and the assumption of $155 million in debt. The merger was expected to be finalized by Nov. 29. —At a somber and sparsely attended meeting here Oct. 30, Applebee’s International Inc. shareholders voted by a wide margin to approve a $2.3 billion buyout of the company by
IHOP’s buyout of Applebee’s has been made dramatic by disputes among Applebee’s board members, lawsuits both settled and pending, and public displays of shareholder discontent. Shareholder advisory firms were split in their recommendations about the deal, with some saying IHOP’s price was too low. The Applebee’s insiders on the board—chairman Lloyd Hill, chief executive David Goebel and chief financial officer Steven Lumpkin—voted against the deal. —At a somber and sparsely attended meeting here Oct. 30, Applebee’s International Inc. shareholders voted by a wide margin to approve a $2.3 billion buyout of the company by
Another dissenting director, Burton “Skip” Sack, a former Applebee’s executive vice president and franchisee and the company’s largest independent share-holder, was poised to file a lawsuit asserting reappraisal rights on his shares because he contends that IHOP’s price undervalued Applebee’s. His bid to have the value of his shares determined in court would begin after the deal closes, he said, declining further comment on the pending lawsuit. —At a somber and sparsely attended meeting here Oct. 30, Applebee’s International Inc. shareholders voted by a wide margin to approve a $2.3 billion buyout of the company by
Another director, Erline Belton, also voted against the deal. As a group, the five dissenting directors represented about 5.1 percent of Applebee’s shares. They had wanted Applebee’s to follow a management-led, “stand-alone” turnaround plan that included a recapitalization and the sale to franchisees of corporate restaurants. The five dissenters were the only board members present at the Oct. 30 meeting. —At a somber and sparsely attended meeting here Oct. 30, Applebee’s International Inc. shareholders voted by a wide margin to approve a $2.3 billion buyout of the company by
The outcome “was not the future I envisioned for Applebee’s,” chairman Hill said in closing the meeting. The result of the vote was “market-driven,” he said, adding that he nonetheless “respects and accepts” the decision of the board and shareholder majorities. —At a somber and sparsely attended meeting here Oct. 30, Applebee’s International Inc. shareholders voted by a wide margin to approve a $2.3 billion buyout of the company by
“I remain confident in the incredible appeal and the strength of this great American brand, its associates and franchisees,” he said. “I encourage all associates that are going forward with this new team and new organization to commit themselves to [Applebee’s mission].” —At a somber and sparsely attended meeting here Oct. 30, Applebee’s International Inc. shareholders voted by a wide margin to approve a $2.3 billion buyout of the company by
Meanwhile, Applebee’s late last month reported a 6.2-percent increase in third-quarter net income to $15.8 million, or 21 cents per share, compared with year-earlier results. Revenue for the three months ended Sept. 30 rose 3 percent to $323.7 million. Same-store sales continued to slide, however, down 0.2 percent at U.S. corporate restaurants and 0.4 percent at domestic franchised units. —At a somber and sparsely attended meeting here Oct. 30, Applebee’s International Inc. shareholders voted by a wide margin to approve a $2.3 billion buyout of the company by
Applebee’s last month took an edgier marketing tack with the launch of an ad campaign featuring a wisecracking apple. The overhaul also extends to redesigns of the concept’s logo, menu and uniforms. The chain’s spends an estimated $180 million a year on advertising. —At a somber and sparsely attended meeting here Oct. 30, Applebee’s International Inc. shareholders voted by a wide margin to approve a $2.3 billion buyout of the company by
IHOP has said brand positioning and marketing by Applebee’s would remain a priority. —At a somber and sparsely attended meeting here Oct. 30, Applebee’s International Inc. shareholders voted by a wide margin to approve a $2.3 billion buyout of the company by