McCormick & Schmick’s restaurants have reportedly been closed in Beachwood, Ohio; Birmingham, Ala.; Phoenix and Scottsdale, Ariz.; and Burbank and Santa Ana, Calif.
In statement e-mailed to Nation’s Restaurant News on Wednesday, Kris Guthrie, Landry’s VP of marketing, said: “We bought a great concept in McCormick & Schmick’s, and only a handful stores were closed for a variety of reasons, including market conditions and lease expirations. Many employees have received opportunities to relocate to other Landry’s concepts in a variety of our market areas.”
News of the closures comes a day after Houston-based Landry’s Restaurants announced that it completed its tender offer for all outstanding shares of common stock of McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurants.
About 13 million shares of common stock were tendered at USD 8.75 per share, and now that Landry’s owns about 88 percent of the company’s outstanding shares, it can complete the acquisition without McCormick & Schmick’s stockholder approval.
The Portland, Ore.-based upscale seafood chain — which operated 85 upscale seafood restaurants in 26 U.S. states and Canada before the closures — is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Landry’s.
The deal was announced in early November, about seven months after the McCormick & Schmick’s board rejected a buyout offer from shareholder Tilman Fertitta, Landry’s chairman, president and CEO. He had offered to pay USD 9.25 a share.
Fertitta has also agreed to purchase Morton’s Restaurant Group, which operates 77 upscale steakhouses, for about USD 116.6 million; the deal was announced in mid-December.
