Joachim Splichal Takes Smith & Wollensky

By JULIETTE ROSSANT Joachim Splichal's Patina Restaurant Group has made another move to strengthen its holdings on the East Coast and spread out across the country. Patina has offered $79.6 million or $9.25 per share for Smith & Wollensky Group Inc. The sale price represents a 12.8 percent premium over Smith & Wollensky's Friday closing price of $8.20 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The company has about 8.6 million shares outstanding. In October, Splichal formed the company with business partner Nick Valenti, who had been head of Restaurant Associates, and Japanese investor Shidax Corp. They paid $90 million to British food service company Compass Group (which had owned Restaurant Associates) for 34 restaurants, including the food empire that Splichal began building in 1989. Both Patina and Smith & Wollensky are in the steak house businesses with other fine dining names attached to them. Their combined clout and buying power could mean stiff competition to other steak house chains and independents across the country. Read more about the deal in Bloomberg by clicking here. Related news: Reuters Bloomberg Previous articles: Joachim Splichal Feels Fleet of Foot Wolfgang Puck Inaugurates Washington Larry Forgione: "An American Place for American Cities" Nick Valenti: Super Chef Master? Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging, Joachim Splichal, Patina Group --> back to Super Chef