Landry's Ends CEO's Buyout Offer On Confidentiality Row

   DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 
 

Landry's Restaurants Inc. (LNY) has terminated its $217.4 million deal to sell the company to Chairman and Chief Executive Tilman Fertitta, citing "unusual circumstances" with the lenders and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Shares tumbled 35% to $7.99 premarket.

Landry's said the SEC was requiring the company to disclose information from a commitment letter by Fertitta's lead lenders, which are Jefferies & Co. (JEF) and Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC). The letter was supposed to be kept confidential, but Landry's said the SEC still demanded disclosure.

As such, the lender said they wouldn't allow that and that any disclosure would violate the terms to fund the buyout, resulting in them pulling out of the deal.

Meanwhile, Landry's is finalizing a plan to refinance nearly $400 million in notes with Jefferies and Wells Fargo. That is expected to conclude next month.

Landry's shares rallied after Fertitta's revised bid was announced in October, calming investors who had feared the deal might not go through amid ongoing turmoil in the credit markets. The initial $21 a share deal was cut to $13.50.

Based in Houston, Landry's operates restaurants that include the Crab House, Rainforest Cafe and its namesake chain. It also operates aquariums in downtown Houston and Denver, plus several hotels.

-By Shirleen Dorman, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-2310; [e-mail]

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