Denny’s stock is officially off the market.
The diner chain on Friday completed its sale to a group consisting of TriArtisan Capital Advisors, franchisee Yadav Enterprises and Treville Capital Group, making it a privately held company again for the first time since 1997.
Included in the sale was Keke’s Breakfast Cafe, the 78-unit breakfast and lunch concept Denny’s acquired in 2022.
The price was $6.25 per share, or approximately $620 million, a 52% premium compared to Denny’s closing stock price on Nov. 3, when the deal was announced.
Spartanburg, S.C.-based Denny’s is the third-largest family-dining chain in the country and one of the 40 largest restaurant chains overall. It has more than 1,400 locations and generated $2.6 billion in U.S. sales in 2024, according to Technomic.
Denny's management including CEO Kelli Valade will remain in place, although the board was dissolved and replaced with TriArtisan CEO Rohit Manocha and Yadav CEO Anil Yadav.
The sale process hit a speed bump last month when two shareholders sued Denny’s, arguing that it had not provided enough details about the deal for shareholders to make an informed vote on whether to approve it.
The company responded with some additional background, and that was apparently enough to satisfy squeamish shareholders. They overwhelmingly approved the acquisition Friday, with 39.5 million shares voting in favor of the sale compared to just 178,000 against.
Denny’s new owners have considerable restaurant experience. TriArtisan owns P.F. Chang’s and had large stakes in TGI Fridays and Hooters, while Yadav is an operator of Denny’s, Jack in the Box and TGI Fridays restaurants and also owns Del Taco, Taco Cabana and Nick the Greek.
Prior to the acquisition, Denny’s had been working on a turnaround plan aimed at reviving sales and traffic. It also planned to close about 90 underperforming locations last year. In its final earnings report, Denny’s recorded a same-store sales decline of 2.9% for the quarter ended Sept. 24.
The smaller Keke’s has been a consistent bright spot, with same-store sales growth of 1.1% in Q3 and four new restaurant openings.
“Denny’s is an iconic piece of the American dream, with a renowned brand, a strong franchise base and loyal customers,” Manocha said in a statement. “Our team has significant investment experience in the restaurant industry, and our acquisition of Denny’s builds on our success with other full-service restaurant concepts. We look forward to working with Kelli and the rest of the Denny’s team and franchisees to provide resources and support the Company’s long-term strategic growth plans.”
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