McDonald's agrees to sell Boston Market

McDonald's Corp. said Monday it agreed to sell its meat-and-potatoes Boston Market restaurant chain to private equity firm Sun Capital Partners for an undisclosed sum.

"This is consistent with our successful strategy to focus on brand McDonald's, a strategy that continues to deliver results," McDonald's spokesman Walt Riker said in a statement.

Richard Hurwitz, a spokesman for Boca Raton, Fla.-based Sun Capital, confirmed the agreement but declined to make further comment. Riker said the transaction will likely be completed in several weeks. He would not discuss details of the sale.

The transaction was first announced in a regulatory filing made by the world's largest restaurant company on Monday. In that filing, McDonald's said it had signed a definitive agreement to sell Golden, Colo.-based Boston Market in "early August."

The news of a sale came seven months after McDonald's acknowledged it was studying strategic options for the chain.

Boston Market, originally called Boston Chicken, was acquired in 2000 for $173.5 million as part of an initiative to diversify its business. Now the chain has 630 restaurants in 28 states.

Since then, McDonald's has pared down its partner brands, shedding Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., Donato's Pizza and its stake in Fazoli's Italian fast-food restaurants.

"It was more a distraction than anything," Morningstar analyst John Owens said of Boston Market. "McDonald's is really singularly focused on the Golden Arches, so this was not a surprise to me."

Sun Capital, which now owns Fazoli's, has a portfolio that also includes bakery chain Bruegger's Enterprises, Garden Fresh salad restaurants and cheese-and-meat retailer Hickory Farms.

McDonald's shares rose 94 cents, or 1.9 percent, to close at $49.46.

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