Wendy’s rejected a $1.4 billion buyout offer from an activist investor, saying Thursday that the bid was too low, and it adopted a “poison pill” plan that would make it more difficult to engineer a hostile takeover of the company.
Noted investor Nelson Peltz made an offer last week to buy the chain, which has been struggling with high beef prices and aging stores. Peltz said the fast-food landscape had become increasingly challenging, with consumers under pressure, intensifying competition and persistent inflation, and his offer was the best path forward for shareholders.
But in a conference call with investors Thursday, Wendy's CEO Bob Wright, who joined the company in May from Potbelly, said Wendy's has a turnaround plan in place that is already producing good results.
“We’re confident that we have the right strategy, execution and resources to restore Wendy’s to its full potential and drive meaningful shareholder value,” Wright said.
Shares rose more than 2% Thursday as the company reported a better than expected performance during the third quarter.
Wendy's said in a statement that a committee of independent directors unanimously rejected the offer because it “substantially undervalues” the company.
Wendy's also announced that it has adopted a shareholders' rights plan, a so-called “poison pill,” intended to avert a hostile takeover of the company. The plan, which grants all shareholders except the hostile bidder the right to purchase discounted shares, automatically triggers if a person or group owns 15% or more of Wendy's shares.
Peltz's Trian Fund Management and other partners in the investor group that made the offer to Wendy's hold 16.3% of the company's shares. The plan would stay in place for one year, Wendy's said. Trian didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Wendy’s has been closing outdated U.S. restaurants so it can focus on its more profitable locations. The company closed 240 restaurants in 2024 and said earlier this year that it planned to shutter up to 358 locations in 2026.
Then, in September, one of the largest U.S. franchisees for Wendy’s filed for bankruptcy protection after the chain tried to terminate its franchise agreement. Michigan-based Meritage Hospitality Group operates 314 Wendy’s restaurants in 15 states.
Wendy’s, which is based in Dublin, Ohio, had 5,969 restaurants in the U.S. and 1,428 outlets in 38 countries at the end of 2025.
Founded in 1969 by Dave Thomas and named after his daughter, Wendy's is known for its square burgers and Frosty desserts. The fast-growing chain introduced the drive-thru window in 1970 and went public in 1976. In the 1980s, as it jockeyed for sales with McDonald’s and Burger King, Wendy’s launched salad bars and ran its iconic “Where’s the beef?” ad campaign.
But as the fast-food market grew even more competitive and rival burger-focused chains like In-N-Out and Five Guys expanded, Wendy’s fell behind. Wendy’s share of U.S. burger chain sales fell from 11.5% in 2019 to 10.4% last year, according to Technomic, a market research company.
FILE - A sign stands over a Wendy's restaurant, Feb. 25, 2021, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)
LONDON (AP) — The Bank of England indicated Thursday that the sharp decline in energy prices after the U.S. midterm elections — if sustained — could limit the prospect of further interest rate hikes in the coming months.
After raising its main interest rate for the first time in more than three years to 4% from 3.75%, the bank said the outlook for U.K. borrowing costs largely hinges on what happens with the Iran war.
“We’ve seen encouraging news in the past 48 hours," Bank Gov. Andrew Bailey said at a press briefing following the first interest rate hike since August 2023. “The best thing that can happen is to resolve the conflict in the Middle East; there’s no question about it.”
The heavy losses suffered by the Republican Party in the U.S. midterm elections have been followed by a sharp drop in energy prices. Many believe that it’s now less likely that U.S. President Donald Trump will launch fresh strikes on Iran, with Democrats gaining control of Congress early next year following their big wins this week. Many Republicans, including Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday, blamed the war for the party’s poor performance at the ballot box.
Though Brent crude is down around $15 a barrel this week, trading at $96, that is still more than $30 more expensive than it was at this time last year.
If the decline in oil and gas prices is sustained over the coming weeks, then the expected peak in inflation next summer — which the bank anticipates will reach 5% — could be lower. That could temper the need for future rate hikes, and not just by the Bank of England.
Other central banks, including the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank, have raised rates recently in response to the higher inflation stoked by the Iran war, and their interest rate strategies are largely contingent on what happens to energy prices.
Bailey said Thursday's hike “shouldn’t be seen as the first in an inevitable long sequence of hikes” but stressed that the outlook depends on what happens in the war with Iran.
“Unless the conflict in the Middle East is resolved, neither does it seem likely to be the last increase,” he said.
For hard-pressed households facing higher mortgage rates and businesses paying more to access capital, the hope is that Thursday’s rate hike will be the last for some time.
“The path for interest rates is hanging in the balance, with U.S.-Iran hostilities holding the key," said Suren Thiru, ICAEW's chief economist.
The decision to raise interest rates was unanimous given the pickup in inflation this year, though one of the nine members of the Monetary Policy Committee backed an even bigger increase, to 4.25%.
The pressure on rate-setters has grown steadily in recent months. When inflation hit an 11-month high of 3.5% in September — well above the bank's 2% target — it cemented market expectations of a rate hike this month, with potentially more to come in 2027.
The main cause of the spike in inflation this year has been the sharp rise in fuel costs resulting from the Iran war and the ensuing bottlenecks in the Strait of Hormuz, which have squeezed global oil and gas supplies and pushed prices at the pump and household energy bills higher.
“There is now enough inflationary pressure in the pipeline caused by the rise in energy prices that an increase in Bank rate is warranted," Bailey said.
Interest rates in the U.K. had been trending downward from a 15-year high of 5.25% until the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran.
Governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, second left, attends the Bank of England Monetary Policy Report press conference, alongside Deputy Governor for monetary policy of the Bank of England, Clare Lombardelli, left, Head of Media and Stakeholder Engagement at Bank of England, Katie Martin, second right, and Deputy Governor of the Bank of England for Markets and Banking, Dave Ramsden, right, at the Bank Of England in London, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026. (Alishia Abodunde/Pool Photo via AP)
Governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, attends the Bank of England Monetary Policy Report press conference at the Bank Of England in London, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026. (Alishia Abodunde/Pool Photo via AP)
Governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, attends the Bank of England Monetary Policy Report press conference at the Bank Of England in London, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026. (Alishia Abodunde/Pool Photo via AP)
Governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, attends the Bank of England Monetary Policy Report press conference at the Bank Of England in London, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026. (Alishia Abodunde/Pool Photo via AP)
FILE - The facade of the Bank of England is seen in th London on Nov. 2, 2017. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, File)
