Friendly Ice Cream to be purchased for $337-million
Wilbraham, Mass. (AP) -- Friendly Ice Cream Corp. has agreed to be acquired by Freeze Operations Holding Corp. for $337.2 million in an all-cash transaction.
The deal announced Sunday is expected to close during the third quarter. Shareholders will receive $15.50 per share from the affiliate of Florida-based Sun Capital Partners Inc., according to a statement.
The offer represents an 8.2 percent premium over the closing price of Friendly's common stock on Friday, the company said in the statement.
The deal has been unanimously endorsed by Wilbraham-based Friendly's board of directors, which will recommend that shareholders approve the deal. Key individual and institutional investors who collectively own more than 50 percent of the company's stock agreed to vote for the transaction, according to the statement.
The deal requires support from 66 percent of shareholders and is subject to other closing conditions.
On March 7, Friendly said it would consider putting itself up for sale, and that it swung to a profit in the fourth quarter.
Friendly's was started in Springfield in 1935 by brothers Prestley and Curtis Blake. Prestley Blake sold the company in 1979, but has continued to be a major shareholder and vociferous critic of the company's current management.
Friendly's now runs a chain of 514 company-owned and franchise restaurants in the Northeast and distributes ice cream through more than 4,500 supermarkets and other retail locations.
A major Nor'easter is headed toward Massachusetts. Snow is expected to arrive around midday Wednesday and last through much of the night. About eight inches is expected in Boston, with lower amounts to the North and higher amounts to the South.
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