CKE Boosts Stake in Rally’s Hamburgers

CKE Restaurants Inc., parent of the Carl’s Jr. hamburger chain, said it raised its stake in Rally’s Hamburgers Inc. to about 18%. Anaheim-based CKE, which first bought 2.3 million shares of Rally’s last spring as part of a deal to operate Rally’s restaurants in the West, said it exercised options to buy 587,607 additional shares at $3 each. Rally’s is a Louisville, Ky.-based chain of 474 restaurants that is owned by Giant Group Ltd. of Beverly Hills. CKE took over management of Rally’s 27 outlets in California and Arizona in July and has since reversed losses by cutting costs.