Business Briefs: Levine Leichtman Capital Partners, Hot Topic, CKE, CSC

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A day after Fox & Hound Restaurant Group said it signed an exclusive letter of intent to be acquired by L.A.-based private equity firm


Levine Leichtman Capital Partners

for $14 a share in cash, the Wichita, Kan.-based operator of casual dining restaurants is being sued by investors who say they’ll be shortchanged if the nearly $140 million deal goes through. Primavera Investors LLC has sued Fox & Hound in Delaware Chancery Court, saying company directors “failed to make an informed decision” about Fox & Hound’s value, Bloomberg News reported. The suit asks a judge to stop the buyout and award damages.


In the agreement signed Tuesday, the operator of restaurants under the Fox & Hound and Bailey’s brand names said it may terminate the exclusivity pact if it receives a higher bid.



– Hot Topic Inc.

reported that its September comparable-store sales fell 5.6 percent from the prior year. The City of Industry-based mall retailer said its year-to-date same-store sales dropped 3 percent. The company’s sales at stores open at least one year fell 7.1 percent in August. Total monthly sales for September were up 8 percent to $62.5 million, while its year-to-date net sales increased 12 percent.


Hot Topic also reiterated its third-quarter earnings guidance of 15 cents to 18 cents per diluted share. Analysts have forecast a third-quarter profit of 16 cents a share.



– CKE Restaurants Inc.

announced it has hired Parker & Associates, a Canadian marketing consulting firm specializing in franchise development, to assist with expanding the Carpinteria-based company’s Carl’s Jr. brand into Canada. The operator of 1,032 Carl’s Jr., 2.011 Hardee’s and 100 La Salsa Fresh Mexican Grill restaurants currently has 64 Carl’s Jr. locations in Mexico, and thinks that “northern expansion into Canada makes logical sense,” said Ned Lyerly, CKE vice president, international, in a statement. CKE has a total of 204 Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s restaurants operating in 13 countries. CKE recently closed a deal to develop 50 new Carl’s Jr. franchise restaurants in the Russian Federation over the next eight years.



– Computer Sciences Corp.

said its DVC LLC subsidiary won a five-year, $35.1 million contract from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a component of the National Institutes of Health, to develop candidates for an effective vaccine for tularemia, a disease that causes a fatal form of pneumonia. Under the terms of the contract, DVC will develop testing models, assess immune response and develop new tularemia vaccine candidates. The company will work with Umea University of Sweden, the UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory and the National Research Council of Canada on the project.

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