Wendy’s Selling 640 Restaurants In U.S. And Canada

It seems selling fast food restaurants to franchisees is somewhat de rigueur these days: After McDonald’s recently said it’s using that plan to steer its big turnaround plan, Wendy’s announced today that it’ll be selling a total of 640 restaurants in the U.S. and Canada this year as well as its baking operation in Zanesville, OH.

This will bring in cash for the company and reduce expenses as well, as the franchisees buying each location take over the operating costs of the restaurants.

Wendy’s had announced plans previously to sell some restaurants to franchisees, and says now that the plan to sell 380 restaurants this year and 260 next year will bring in $400-$475 million in pretax proceeds and “significantly reduce future capital expenditure requirements.”

“Going forward, we intend to buy and sell restaurants opportunistically to act as a catalyst for growth by further strengthening our franchisee base, driving new restaurant development and accelerating Image Activation adoption,” CEO Emil Brolick said in a statement.

Selling the bakery business will give Wendy’s more sourcing flexibility and eliminate some spending, the company says. The bakery currently supplies buns for thousands of Wendy’s restaurants, and brought in about $61.8 million in sales in 2014. That sale should be complete by the end of the month, Wendy’s says.

The Wendy’s Company Reports First-Quarter 2015 Results [Wendy’s]

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