Shares of pizza chain Papa John's International Inc (NASDAQ:PZZA) surged on Tuesday after a report a private equity fund was considering a bid for the company, media reports said.
Private equity company Trian has asked the company for information as it considers a possible bid, the Wall Street Journal reported citing unnamed sources.
Trian is one of several parties to express interest since Papa John’s put itself up for sale amid an acrimonious fight with its founder, John Schnatter, who remains on the board and owns nearly 30% of the company’s shares, the report added.
Shares of Papa John's jumped 8.6% to a session top of $54.775 on the report.
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Nelson Peltz, Trian’s co-founder and the chairman of burger chain The Wendy’s Co (NASDAQ:WEN), reportedly met Schnatter in June to meet Wendy’s leaders to talk about a possible deal, a report by the New York Business Journal said.
Trian owns about 13% of the shares of Wendy’s and holds three seats on the burger chain’s board.
The Wall Street Journal said Schnatter wanted more information on how many seats he would have on the board of a combined company. It is not clear whether Wendy’s would acquire Papa John’s or if Trian would purchase and operate the chain as a separate entity.
Reporting by Rene Pastor, contactable on rene.pastor@proactiveinvestors.com