LITTLETON Colo. Citing the current credit market conditions, which have deteriorated rapidly since June, Champps Entertainment Inc. said Monday it agreed to delay the $74.8 million sale of its 61 sports-and-entertainment restaurants to allow the buyer more time to complete financing.
While the $5.60-per-share buyout by buyers F&H Acquisition Corp. and its equity sponsors holds no financing condition, the buyers requested more time to complete the deal.
F&H Acquisition is the holding company for Wichita, Kan.-based Fox & Hound Restaurant Group, and its equity sponsors in the deal are Newcastle Partners LP, Newcastle Special Opportunity Fund III LP and Steel Partners II LP.
The Champps sale was expected to close on Oct. 1, but it has been pushed back to Oct. 22. Champps stockholders are scheduled to vote on the transaction during a meeting on Friday.
F&H’s equity partners agreed to pay $35 million in damages to Littleton-based Champps the purchase is not completed by Oct. 22.
F&H had made an unsolicited bid for Champps on May 31, a couple of weeks after a previous management-led attempt to buy the company for $75 million fell through. The buyers had included Champps chairman and chief executive Michael O’Donnell, chief financial officer David Womack and New York-based private-equity firm Kinderhook Industries LLC.
