DineEquity Sells 56 Applebee’s Restaurants

DineEquity Inc. will sell 56 company-operated Applebee’s restaurants in three states, part of a strategy to make the chain into franchises rather than company-owned. The company has agreed to sell 20 Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar restaurants located in Roanoke, Va., and Lynchburg, Va. to Apple Investors Group LLC. It also agreed to sell 36 of the restaurants, which are located in St. Louis, Mo., and parts of Illinois, to Mid River Restaurants LLC. The transactions are expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2010 and the first quarter of 2011, respectively. The sale of the restaurants to Apple Investors Group is expected to result in after-tax proceeds of about $12 million, while the sale to Mid River Restaurants is expected to result in after-tax proceeds of about $26 million. Apple Investors Group LLC previously acquired DineEquity-operated Applebee’s restaurants in New Mexico in 2009, said Julie Stewart, DineEquity’s chairman and CEO. Meanwhile, Mid River Restaurants LLC already operates Applebee’s and IHOP restaurants, Stewart added that the sales are helping the company come closer to achieving its goal of transitioning Applebee’s into a more highly franchised restaurant system over time. The sales of the restaurants in all three states are expected to result in savings of about $2.1 million. DineEquity, which acquired the Applebee’s International in November 2007, previously announced the sale of 63 company-operated Applebee’s restaurants in Minnesota and parts of Wisconsin. Jessica Vernabe