Wendy’s shares jumped more than 14% Wednesday after noted investor Nelson Peltz made an offer to buy the chain, which has been struggling with high beef prices and aging stores.
Peltz’s Trian Fund Management and several partners are offering Wendy’s $7.35 per share in cash, or a premium of nearly 19% over the stock’s closing price on Tuesday, in a deal that would take the company private.
Wendy’s, which is based in Dublin, Ohio, confirmed receipt of the unsolicited proposal in a statement Wednesday and said its board has formed an independent committee to evaluate it. At the end of last year, Wendy’s had 5,969 restaurants in the U.S. and 1,428 outlets in 38 countries.
Wendy’s, founded in 1969 by Dave Thomas and named after his daughter, is known for its square burgers and Frosty desserts. The fast-growing chain introduced the drive-thru window in 1970 and went public in 1976. In the 1980s, as it jockeyed for sales with McDonald’s and Burger King, Wendy’s launched salad bars and ran its iconic “Where’s the beef?” ad campaign.
But as the fast-food market grew even more competitive and rival burger-focused chains like In-N-Out and Five Guys expanded, Wendy’s fell behind. Wendy’s share of U.S. burger chain sales fell from 11.5% in 2019 to 10.4% last year, according to Technomic, a market research company.
I’m sure a hedge fund won’t cut quality, gut the business, then ultimately declare bankruptcy while laying everyone off or anything…
Brand is already dying anyways. I’m not sure what their place is in the current world; they don’t have the same kid appeal as McD or BK. They used to market the burgers but there’s newer chains with better fast food burgers now. I guess they’re still notable for chili and frosties? I don’t have high hopes for a hedge fund turning things around, but I think they do need to overhaul their image and find something to market that other fast food doesn’t do better.
I personally prefer Wendy’s but I’m not really the consumer democratic that generates much profit. I don’t really eat much fast food but when I do maybe once every few months, I prefer Wendy’s. I have completely written off McDonald’s except for their sausage egg McMuffin… It’s my guilty pleasure that I have manbe once every 3-6 months.
It’s not really a health thing for me, it’s just the cost of fast food is so stupid high that I’d rather spend an extra $10 and get good takeout or go to an actual restaurant…
Spicy nugz
I had no idea public opinion had turned on Wendy’s. I had always considered them a superior fast food burger and I look forward to whenever they add the pretzel bun to the menu.
They lost their way when they got rid of the solariums.
pretzel bun to the menu.
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!! Daves single with 3 slices of bacon, fucking perfect on the pretzel bun.
Wendy’s used to be a comfort food for me, and now I don’t even go. They were fine until they started messing with the fries, but they also started trying too hard with limited time products and the new frosty things.
My main complaint about Wendy’s is the church crowd, go there around noon on a Sunday and you’ll see an extremely specific demographic
Wendy’s isn’t a “rival” of Five Guys or In-n-Out. That’s like calling The Lexington Legends “rivals” of The San Diego Padres, and New York Yankees. The latter are playing in a different league.
Trian Fund Managment (Trian Partners) is an “activist investor.” Expect them to disassemble Wendy’s.
IOW, prepare to say goodbye to Wendy’s as we know it.
sounds like PE firm to me.
Yes it does.
Wendy’s died with Dave Thomas.
I used to frequent a Wendy’s near where I worked at the time. Everything still looked and tasted exactly like it did in the 1980s.
I went there again a week after Dave Thomas died and everything was different. The meat was smaller and tasted different, the fries were overcooked. It was obvious what changed and why.
On the wall next to the registers was a giant poster memorializing Dave and talking about how they would always do things “Dave’s way.” I never went back.
…There is an exception to this. Wendy’s tried a long time ago to open restaurants in Japan and failed. But several years ago they did it again, this time partnering with another existing fast food restaurant called First Kitchen. The participating locations have the genuine Wendy’s logo next to theirs and a lot of the classic menu items including the shakes.
It doesn’t taste like classic Wendy’s, but it tastes way better than what I remember from the last time I ate a Wendy’s in America.
Are you American?
Wendy’s is pretty damn good in Canada. Similar tier as A&W, and a clear step above McDonald’s and Burger King
Good to hear. I’ve never been in Canada for longer than an afternoon, so I wouldn’t have known. I imagine that, like Japan, the locations there are owned by a local company rather than Wendy’s proper.
Are you American?
I was born there, but I got better.
I feel like I should be allowed to upvote this comment twice. The second one just for the last sentence.
Right? And as fast food in general has gone up, the price disadvantage has really dwindled imo. $5 more over $5 is a 100% increase. But when McD’s sits at $15 and Wendy’s is still only $5 more…
Not that I go to either anymore because they’re American and I’m a combatant in a trade war, but the theory was sound. The only Canadian I’m betraying is Galen FUCKING Weston who is philosophically American.
Oh absolutely this too. At this point I think Wendy’s is even cheaper. 12.79 for Big Mac combo, vs 8.99 for Dave single combo (it’s a special, but regular price is 11.09).
I was on voice chat with an American a awhile back. and I was talking about getting some A&W. He lost his mind. He only thought it was the pop basically. I guess they didnt have any near him. Then I had to tell him that the ones we have and the he has are different. Still gets alittle argo if I bring it up.
I’m so upset there are no A&Ws near me. The food is pretty good (imo on par with Sonic, which has always been consistently good for me), and the drinks are pretty tasty too. Plus the A&W root beer is amazing.
Sonic has the worst burgers in fast food.
Wendy’s has been tanking in Canada too, Harvey’s is the place to go.
Overseas versions of domestic chains often seem to be better, presumably because people there wouldn’t put up with substandard fare or to make market entry easier.
KFC in Asia is pretty good. Pizza Hut locations are actually a decent dining experience as well.
An exception to this would be the Tim Hortons stores they tried to open in Korea. Just as meh as here - maybe with less hobo BO in the corner table - and you could get better, fresher options within a block for the same price or better.
I visited a KFC in Korea and it was bad.
Granted, American KFC is equally bad (in different ways) but, man, some of the worst fried chicken on the peninsula.
All of them went down in quality, I feel like Wendy’s is still one of the best, even with the downgrades.
Wendy’s locations are a TON of variability. Within the same town you can find a Wendy’s that is stellar and a Wendy’s that sucks to the point that it barely makes sense that they are the same restaurant chain. You’re right about the serving sizes and such going down. I am sure they’d have been forced to do that eventually if Dave was still around, but he would have likely pushed back hard to prevent it as much as he could.
I wish we’d get real Wendy’s back with the old recipes, but fakkin Wendy’s wasn’t the worst I had. No frosty though
I was just in Japan and tried Wendy’s there and had what was the most disgusting burger I’ve ever eaten in my life (the truffle and mozzarella baconator). Not only could I or anyone else in my group eat more than a few bites, but it also made me nauseous and vomit a few hours later when we got back to our AirBnB.
Fuck Wendy’s. Their quality and service went to shit years ago. BK is better now.
When I’m in a rush I unironically go to BK because there’s never a line in my town. And I don’t understand why, it’s pretty good! Comparatively, anyway.
Bun, mayo, toppings, burger, bun
Fries and shake combo for 20 dollars
Fast food sucks.
You mean to say that all the savings from their AI drive-through agents hasn’t helped???
Yeah it was probably me buying their $5 biggie bag and never anything else that put them in dire straights. Definitely wasn’t the AI stuff.
The very last time I ate at a Wendy’s, the burger I got was literally full of hair, like dragged across a dirty floor. I immediately complained and sent pics to their complaint department. It took them two months to respond, telling me I’d be contacted by the owner of the restaurant. It took him another month to respond, saying he’d like to meet me in person to apologize. Three months to get a reply… I told him I had no intention of meeting with him, I did not accept his apology, and I would never eat at a Wendy’s again. Moreover, I put the pics up on the review page for their location. They shut down a few months later.
Wendy’s can get fucked.
While dropping from 11.5 to 10.4 % is definitely the wrong way to go, 10.4% in a crowded field doesn’t seem that bad. There is a lot of competition with McDonalds only having a 15.4% if the LLM is to be trusted.
Its not the high beef prices or aging stores, its just low quality control.
plus customers are turning to (even if they are paying more) better quality chains that is still fast food, and or becoming health consciouss, plus people are ordering from delivery too. plus all the boba/milk tea shops that has opened up. which was the crazy in 2000s but died down in 2010s, then came back recently.
Til there are Wendy’s outside of the US.
Around here Wendy’s went the way of Burger King, terribly managed, full of uncaring workers.
When was the last time you saw a fast food worker give a shit? I’d assume plenty of them or foreign workers who can’t get a real job with whatever actual qualifications they have…I wouldn’t care either
Preparing food for people is an important job, if I was going to do it I would do it right.
That attitude starts at the top. As a younger man I worked at a regional chain (Taco Time) at one of their company-owned locations. It rocked. Competitive pay, respectful leadership, a commitment to cleanliness and quality, we even collaborated with the test kitchen to refine new products (I gave feedback on the habanero hot sauce that made it to menu). I felt appreciated and fairly treated so I happily stood behind the product.
Then I moved and got hired on at a franchise. It was night-and-day. The owner was a cheapskate who wouldn’t replace anything until it was beyond broken, and even then it was usually the manager who went to the cash & carry for stuff. Knives never sharp enough, everything worn and stained, infrequent portion and procedure testing, ingredients kept around just a little too long. The manager was big on being liked but not actually good at handling people and hired a string of frankly terrible candidates (one of which physically threatened me for correcting him during training). Standards slip. I regret not simply walking out the day they yelled at me in front of a customer but the shift lead was actually cool and I didn’t want to inconvenience her too terribly, so I quit the next day.
I boycotted that location until everyone I recognized was gone and it seems to be a little better now. The food tastes fresher at least.
Yep look at your average Chick-Fil-A vs the average Burger King. Night and day difference. Actually the Chick-Fil-A employees almost seem brainwashed, but the food is great!
I’m not giving my money to a homophobic enterprise.
No one forced to be your servant should care about you.
BK was the worst inner city,the employees dont know how to do the orders properly, so they made a customer pissed off enough to be belligerent towards them. surprise they closed down shortly before/early covid. carls jr is still here, and jollibee just had a new opening. and in a mall, several new chains not native our area just opened up shop, so more variety now. for a long time it was mostly mcdonalds only.
Wendys went downhill hard in recent years. I used to love their hamburgers more than any other nationwide chain. Now I order a burger from them and it’s dry as fuck and flavorless. And it’s more expensive than a competitor. It got to the point that McDs was even a better option because of the consistency.
Their fries are also unforgivably terrible. Soggy, undercooked, and flaccid piles of starch with potato skin tips that taste like burnt paper.
Really a shame because I grew up going to Wendy’s and had a fond view of the place. The only thing left that is any good is the frosty.
Recent years? I don’t think they have been any good since the late 80’s. Maybe as late as the mid nineties. After that: garbageville. That continued the decline.
Hmm I find things were pretty good up until around the early years of the 2000s. Once the 2010s rolled around, absolute shit. It may also be that I exposed myself to better burger chains around this time, though, and I simply didn’t know better.
I am going to go with at least post 2002 as the beginning of the end. After Dave Thomas died. I could imagine various franchises had different levels of effort.
I didn’t eat fast food much, but I had a friend who came to America in the mid 80’s and raved about Wendy’s. I would get dragged along sometimes. They said their experience was very downhill post Dave’s passing.
Yeah one thing Wendys has a problem with is consistency. You go to just about any McDonalds and you don’t expect exceptional food, but it’s consistently close to the same quality no matter which location you go to, in my experience. A Big Mac in Kansas tastes about the same as a Big Mac in Florida.
Wendys has some WILD ass swings in quality, depending on location. Some locations would have fresh, crisp fries and good burgers and some you swore was on the warmer for 3 hours and put together by someone who was drunk. Unfortunately, as time has gone on, there is less of the former and more of the latter.
its the 2000s, it was way better when i had it for the first time back then. i would say it got bad when all of them went through shrinklfation in the 2010s.
their decline started around the time they quit bussing tables and diners had to do it like most everywhere else.
thier burgers downsized. had wendies for the first time in early 2000s, definitely a more "restuarant experience. now its just a mcdonalds clone. people i know still buy from there occasionaly, usually they buy coffee too.
Wendy’s accused of cutting beef with plant-based material, health markers improved, people enraged and ready to slam!
