CKE Completes Refranchising Program

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CKE Restaurants Inc. said Thursday it sold 11 Hardee’s restaurants in Missouri to Rising Stars LLC to complete its refranchising program. Terms were not disclosed.

The strategic program to lower costs and better finance growth was first announced in April 2007. Carpinteria-based CKE sold 238 Hardee’s restaurants to franchisees and obtained commitments for 115 new franchise restaurants.

CKE said it sold 38 more restaurants than it initially forecast due to greater-than-expected demand. The company has 20 franchise development agreements for fiscal 2009 to date, including plans to enter markets in China, Pakistan and Kazakhstan, and new franchises are still available in the Midwest and eastern United States.

“We are also pleased that we have been able to complete our strategic refranchising program without the need to provide company-backed financing for any transaction, further underscoring the return to success that we have achieved at Hardee’s,” Chief Executive Andrew F. Puzder said in a statement.

CKE, which also operates the Carl’s Jr. chain, said it anticipates adding more than 800 restaurants to its global store base in the next five years. At the end of the third quarter, it had 3,110 franchised, licensed or company-operated restaurants in 42 states and 14 countries.

Steve Rosenfield and Buddy Brown, the principals of Rising Stars, currently own and operate more than 100 Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s restaurants in Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, Missouri, Montana and Wyoming.

CKE shares were down 4 cents, or less than 1 percent, to $7.36 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

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