Investor Buys Option on 24% of Restaurant Chain

A Dallas investor has acquired an option to purchase 24% of American Restaurants Corp., a restaurant operator based in Ventura.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, investor David L. Osborn said he was granted an option to purchase 1.2 million shares from American Restaurants Chairman Richard F. Fulton Jr. for $1.50 a share, or $1.8 million.

Osborn already has purchased 33,500 shares in the open market, and an investor group he manages, DAC Associates, bought 30,000 shares in the market, the filing said. The filing said the Osborn group is acquiring the stock for investment purposes but that it is evaluating whether to seek control of the company, whose outlets include franchises of Wendy’s restaurants.