CHARLOTTE N.C. After selling his controlling stake in the Bojangles’ chicken chain last month, Joe Drury, a former Wendy’s operations vice president and protégé of its late founder Dave Thomas and late chairman James Near, reportedly is considering backing a buyout of Wendy’s International.
Drury, who had been CEO of Charlotte-based Bojangles' since he acquired control of the chain in 2001, has been advising 134-unit Wendy's franchisee J. David Karam and may help bankroll his potential bid for the No. 3 burger chain, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
Karam, president of Cedar Enterprises of Columbus, Ohio, last month revealed its plan to join with two private-equity firms to prepare the possible bid as the only suitor said to have the support of Thomas' widow and children. Karam's father was one of Wendy's earliest franchisees.
Drury, who reportedly owns 90 Wendy's outlets through a trust, was quoted as saying that a buyout by the first identified suitor, Arby's parent Triarc Cos., would not be good for Wendy's "at all."
