McCormick & Schmick's officials get $6M+ in Landry's dealMcCormick & Schmick's officials get $6M+ in Landry's deal

Ron Ruggless

The completion of McCormick & Schmick’s sale to Landry’s Inc. this week came with more than $6 million in payouts to executives and board members of the Portland, Ore.-based seafood chain, according to documents filed Jan. 4 with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Houston-based Landry’s $131.6 million purchase of the high-end seafood chain also saw the closure of at least eight restaurants in the 92-unit chain and the resignation of company officials, including chief executive William Freeman, chief financial officer Michelle Lantow, and co-founder and board member Douglas L. Schmick.

The SEC documents showed that eight company officials sold sizable amounts of shares, each at the purchase price of $8.75, in connection with the sale to privately held Landry’s.

McCormick & Schmick’s went public in 2004.

Among those were:

• Freeman of Salem, S.C., with 250,000 shares for $2.19 million. Freeman also was eligible for $725,000 in bonuses, including one for termination should the company be sold.

• Schmick of Portland, Ore., with 131,252 shares for $1.15 million

• Lantow of Portland, Ore., with 110,000 shares for $962,500 and a bonus of $360,000

• Board member James R. Parish of Redmond, Wash., with 37,298 shares for $326,357

• Board member J. Rice Edmonds of Richmond, Va., with 28,572 shares for $250,005

• Board member Elliott Ren Jurgensen Jr. of Redmond, Wash., with 23,343 shares for $204,251

• Board member Christine Deputy Ott of Canton, Mass., with 12,615 shares for $110,381

• Board member Eric Bauer of San Rafael, Calif., with 9,425 shares for $82,468

When the acquisition was announced Nov. 8, McCormick & Schmick’s had 85 restaurants in the United States and seven in Canada that operated under The Boathouse brand.

Landry’s owns and operates hospitality companies and restaurants, including the Golden Nugget Hotels & Casinos, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., Claim Jumper, Landry's Seafood House, Oceanaire, Rainforest Café and Saltgrass Steakhouse.

Contact Ron Ruggless at [email protected].
Follow him on Twitter: @RonRuggless