Restaurant chain The Wendy's Company has inked a deal with Group W Partners to divest 23 restaurants in the greater Portland, Oregon area and Southwest Washington.
Group W Partners is led by veteran Wendy's franchisees Dan O'Brien and Doug Rich. The two also operate Bodan Incorporated, based in Boulder, Colorado, with 18 Wendy's restaurants in Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska.
This sale is part of Wendy's proposed plan in July to geographically concentrate its restaurant ownership through the sale of about 425 company-operated restaurants in 13 US markets, mainly in the West.
Wendy's noted that restaurants are being sold to qualified operators on a market-by-market basis. The sale process is expected to complete by the second quarter of 2014.
The company has also firmed up plans to reimage certain restaurants in Wendy's contemporary Image Activation restaurant design along with development plans for new restaurants.
Wendy's president and chief executive officer Emil Brolick said that the company anticipates generating a higher operating margin and stronger free cash flow, along with further enhancing the quality of its earnings with a more predictable revenue stream from a higher percentage of royalty and rental income, as part of system optimization.
"Dan O'Brien and Doug Rich are terrific operators with a strong customer orientation," Brolick added.
The Wendy's system includes more than 6,500 franchise and company-operated restaurants in the US and 28 countries and US territories worldwide.
