Fried with that

20 January 2011 By Lisa Lee

The activist investor wants to unload the Arby’s sandwich chain, which he used two years ago to buy rival burgerflipper Wendy’s with the promise of extracting juicy synergies. That didn’t happen and may have cost shareholders. But he may still wind up with the better business.

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American fastfood chain operator Wendy's/Arby's Group said it hired UBS to explore strategic alternatives for its Arby's restaurant group, including a possible sale.

The Arby's unit is the second largest quickservice sandwich chain in the United States with nearly 3,700 restaurants. The company's chairman Nelson Peltz said: "We believe the way to maximize shareholder value is to focus all of our management and financial resources on continuing to build the Wendy's brand."

Peltz merged his Triarc restaurants business, which controlled the Arby's chain, with Wendy's in April 2008. Peltz and his partner Peter May own 101.6 million shares, or 24 percent, of the company.

(The second paragraph above has been corrected to say "The Arby's unit" instead of "Wendy's/Arby's" as originally published.)

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