Foodmaker Corp. Accepts Sweetened Offer

The management-led group seeking to buy Foodmaker Corp., the parent company of Jack in the Box, said Thursday that it has increased its bid slightly and that Foodmaker’s independent directors have accepted it.

The deal must be approved by Foodmaker shareholders. The San Diego-based company also owns and operates Chi-Chi’s, a Louisville, Ky.-based chain of dinner houses.

FM Acquisition, the holding company created to handle the buyout, said Thursday that it has increased its per-share offer by 30 cents to $19.425.

The higher bid announced Thursday was part of a settlement of four shareholder lawsuits, including two that sought to block the proposed buyout, according to a spokesman for FM Acquisition.

A special committee of Foodmaker board members who are independent of the management group recommended that shareholders accept the amended offer. The committee determined that the new offer “is fair from a financial point of view to the public stockholders of Foodmaker,” according to FM Acquisition.

The suits had alleged that Foodmaker’s officers and directors breached their duties and obligations to shareholders by accepting a $19.125 offer made Aug. 28 by FM Acquisition.

FM Acquisition was formed by Foodmaker executives and Gibbons Green, Van Amerongen, an investment banking firm with offices in Los Angeles and New York. They already own 29% of Foodmaker’s 12.4 million outstanding shares.