Patina to buy steakhouse chain

Smith & Wollensky Restaurant Group Inc., a New York-based steakhouse chain, said Monday that it agreed to be bought by Patina Restaurant Group for $94.6 million, topping a rival proposal from Landry’s Restaurants Inc.

Patina, owner of a namesake Los Angeles restaurant and the ice rink in New York’s Rockefeller Center, will pay $11 a share, 13% more than the Landry’s bid and 19% higher than its previous agreement to buy the restaurant company, Smith & Wollensky said.

“There’s quite a bit of an appetite for buyouts in the restaurant industry as a whole,” said John Owens, an analyst at Chicago-based Morningstar Inc. “The upscale steakhouse segment is growing.”

Landry’s, which owns the Chart House and Rainforest Cafe chains, initially offered $64.4 million for Smith & Wollensky on Jan. 16, then raised the price to $83.8 million in March after Patina’s bid.

“We believe that this transaction is in the best interests of our stockholders,” Smith & Wollensky Chief Executive Alan Stillman said.