Boston Chicken Inc

Boston Chicken Inc., already realigning top management and refocusing on its core market, said it will cut 115 jobs, or 23% of the work force, at its Golden, Colo., headquarters and may make additional staff cuts elsewhere. Boston Chicken, one of the pioneers of home-replacement meals and whose stock was one of the hottest initial public offerings of the decade, said it is not satisfied with sales growth in its Boston Market stores.

Taking its growth-by-acquisition strategy to a new level, hamburger giant McDonald's Corp. said Wednesday that it will buy most of the Boston Market restaurant chain from its bankrupt parent for $173.5 million. The proposed deal marks McDonald's first purchase of a national chain and expands on its plan to diversify beyond its staple burger business. McDonald's Golden Restaurant Operations Inc.

Boston Chicken Inc. said it would acquire two funds that are invested in most of its franchisees for as much as $160.6 million in preferred shares, stock and cash, part of its plan to buy franchisee-owned restaurants. BC Equity Funding and Market Partners, which hold interests in 11 of Boston Chicken's 14 franchisees, would receive $126.8 million of preferred stock, 3.5 million shares of common stock and $10 million in cash. The restaurant company also reported a fourth-quarter loss of $273.

Taking its growth-by-acquisition strategy to a new level, hamburger giant McDonald's Corp. said Wednesday it will buy most of the Boston Market restaurant chain from its bankrupt parent for $173.5 million. The deal marks the first purchase by McDonald's of a national chain, and expands on its plan to diversify beyond its staple burger business. McDonald's Golden Restaurant Operations Inc.

Boston Chicken Inc. asked a U.S. Bankruptcy Court to approve a $140-million offer for the troubled fast-food chain from Jake Baum, a Texas-based restaurateur and investor. Judge Charles Case will hold a hearing about the offer today in Phoenix. The Golden, Colo.-based company filed for protection from creditors in October. In a motion filed Tuesday, the company said its board had accepted an offer by Baum's Boston Market Acquisitions Co.

IBM Names Boston Chicken Exec to Head Strategy: International Business Machines Corp. named Bruce Harreld, president of Boston Chicken Inc., its senior vice president of strategy. Harreld, 44, succeeds Jim Cannavino, who left IBM earlier this year after nearly 30 years with the company. Harreld will report to Chairman Louis V. Gerstner Jr. He spent six years at Kraft General Foods Inc. and seven years at Boston Consulting Group, moving to Boston Chicken in 1993.

Boston Chicken Inc., a rotisserie-chicken chain that recently announced plans to have Anaheim-based Carl Karcher Enterprises Inc. help it open franchise restaurants in Southern California, posted a profit of $1.7 million, or 13 cents a share, for the year ended Dec. 26. That contrasts with a net loss of $5.9 million, or 41 cents a share, for the previous year. Revenue increased to $42.5 million from $8.3 million. The company, based in Naperville, Ill., went public in November.

H.J. Heinz Co. agreed to a licensing agreement it expects will let it manufacture and test sales this year of branded products under Boston Chicken Inc.'s trademarks. Heinz would pay the parent of the struggling Boston Market restaurant chain undisclosed royalty fees based on sales of products to retailers under the agreement, which is subject to approval of an Arizona Bankruptcy Court. Boston Chicken said it expects the court to consider approval of the agreement May 25.

Boston Chicken Inc. shares lost more than a third of their value after its independent auditor expressed doubt that the operator of Boston Market restaurants can continue as a going concern. The auditor, Arthur Andersen, expressed its opinion in a Boston Chicken regulatory filing. The report heightened concern that the once-high-flying company may have little choice but to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, analysts said.

The two men who propelled Boston Chicken Inc. into a nationwide chain resigned and turned the reins of the struggling company over to a veteran of the family-style restaurant industry. Michael J. Jenkins, 51, was appointed chairman, chief executive and president of the Golden, Colo.-based company, one day after leaving a similar position at Vicorp Restaurants Inc., which operates more than 350 Village Inn and Bakers Square restaurants.

Boston Chicken Inc. asked a U.S. Bankruptcy Court to approve a $140-million offer for the troubled fast-food chain from Jake Baum, a Texas-based restaurateur and investor. Judge Charles Case will hold a hearing about the offer today in Phoenix. The Golden, Colo.-based company filed for protection from creditors in October. In a motion filed Tuesday, the company said its board had accepted an offer by Baum's Boston Market Acquisitions Co.

H.J. Heinz Co. agreed to a licensing agreement it expects will let it manufacture and test sales this year of branded products under Boston Chicken Inc.'s trademarks. Heinz would pay the parent of the struggling Boston Market restaurant chain undisclosed royalty fees based on sales of products to retailers under the agreement, which is subject to approval of an Arizona Bankruptcy Court. Boston Chicken said it expects the court to consider approval of the agreement May 25.

Five years after going public in one of the most frenzied stock offerings Wall Street has ever seen, Boston Chicken Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday and closed 178, or 16%, of its stores. The restaurant chain said it sought U.S. Bankruptcy Court protection because of about $283 million in debt that comes due Oct. 17. Boston Chicken and its Boston Market restaurants created a Wall Street sensation in 1993.

Boston Chicken Inc. shares lost more than a third of their value after its independent auditor expressed doubt that the operator of Boston Market restaurants can continue as a going concern. The auditor, Arthur Andersen, expressed its opinion in a Boston Chicken regulatory filing. The report heightened concern that the once-high-flying company may have little choice but to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, analysts said.

Boston Chicken Inc. reported a much larger-than-expected loss for the first quarter and the once high-flying restaurant chain said it may have trouble paying its debts. Boston Chicken, parent of Boston Market, with more than 1,150 restaurants in 38 states, said it lost $313 million, or $4.38 a share, on sales of $212 million. Analysts had expected a loss of 61 cents a share. The chain had net income of $21 million, or 31 cents a diluted share, on sales of $117 million, a year ago.

The two men who propelled Boston Chicken Inc. into a nationwide chain resigned and turned the reins of the struggling company over to a veteran of the family-style restaurant industry. Michael J. Jenkins, 51, was appointed chairman, chief executive and president of the Golden, Colo.-based company, one day after leaving a similar position at Vicorp Restaurants Inc., which operates more than 350 Village Inn and Bakers Square restaurants.

CKE Restaurants Inc. admitted Friday that it bit off more than it could chew when it acquired rights last year to build as many as 300 Boston Chicken stores in Southern California in five years. The company, which wants to focus its resources on its 650-unit Carl's Jr. chain, said it will turn over Southern California franchise rights to the popular Boston Chicken chain to a new company owned largely by Boston Chicken Inc., the Denver-based chain operator.

Boston Chicken Inc. reported a much larger-than-expected loss for the first quarter and the once high-flying restaurant chain said it may have trouble paying its debts. Boston Chicken, parent of Boston Market, with more than 1,150 restaurants in 38 states, said it lost $313 million, or $4.38 a share, on sales of $212 million. Analysts had expected a loss of 61 cents a share. The chain had net income of $21 million, or 31 cents a diluted share, on sales of $117 million, a year ago.

Boston Chicken Inc. said it would acquire two funds that are invested in most of its franchisees for as much as $160.6 million in preferred shares, stock and cash, part of its plan to buy franchisee-owned restaurants. BC Equity Funding and Market Partners, which hold interests in 11 of Boston Chicken's 14 franchisees, would receive $126.8 million of preferred stock, 3.5 million shares of common stock and $10 million in cash. The restaurant company also reported a fourth-quarter loss of $273.

Imation Corp., reporting a third-quarter net loss on lower revenue, on Thursday said it would slash as much as 15% of its work force and take a $200-million charge in the current quarter to restructure its operations. The company, which manufactures data storage and imaging devices, recorded a net loss of $38.7 million, or 97 cents a share, in the third quarter, contrasted with net income of $41.7 million, or $1.05 a share, a year ago. Revenue declined to $529.5 million from $559.