Papa John’s Shares Move Higher on Rumored Takeover Interest From Trian

Wendy’s investor Trian may be interested in Papa John’s. At least that’s according to a new Wall Street Journal report.

According to the WSJ, hedge fund Trian Fund Management is considering a takeover bid for the pizza chain. The news sent shares of Papa John’s climbing in after-hours trading as much as 16% on Monday
when the news broke. Shares also climbed nearly 9% on Tuesday.

Papa John’s had been exploring a sale of the company as well as trying to recover from the fiasco of bad headlines when its chairman and founder John Schnatter was ousted this year over racist remarks he made on a conference call in May.

WSJ had cited multiple anonymous sources that said that Trian recently reached out to Papa John’s to get more information about the company. Several others are also interested in the company said the report. It is not known if Trian nor any other firm will make an offer. Trian also has a 13% stake in fast food chain Wendy’s.

“Odds favor that the company is sold in the next 12 months or so,” said Kalinowski Equity Research President Mark Kalinowski to MarketWatch. “There’s a lot of incentive to make this happen.”

“The pizza business is a global business,” said Kalinowski. “It’s bread, cheese, and whatever you want to put on the bread and cheese. It’s something that works for every culture on the globe. It’s not often that these sorts of opportunities come up. Opportunities come about because companies stumble badly. This is exactly what happened with Papa John’s.”

Disclaimer: We have no position in Papa John’s Int’l, Inc. (NASDAQ: PZZA) and have not been compensated for this article.