Centerbridge in $1.1bn deal for PF Chang’s

Centerbridge Partners will take Chinese restaurant chain PF Chang’s private in a deal valued at $1.1 billion.

Centerbridge will pay $51.50 per share for the company, roughly a 30 percent premium over the restaurant chain’s average NASDAQ closing price during the past month. During the first quarter of 2012, PF Chang’s recorded $6.3 million of profit, down about 41 percent compared to the same period last year. Total revenues for Q1 2012 were about $319 million compared to roughly $317 million during Q1 2011.

PF Chang's: Niche Asian cuisine

The take-private is expected to close before the end of the third quarter.

Wells Fargo and Deutsche Bank are acting as financial advisors to Centerbridge, which was unavailable for comment at press time.

Centerbridge closed its latest distressed vehicle on $4.4 billion in July 2011. The oversubscribed fund, Centerbridge Capital Partners II, exceeded its original $4.25 billion hard-cap by generating heavy interest from public institutions in the US, including the state pension systems of Massachusetts, Wisconsin and Oregon, the Texas County & District Retirement System and the Nashville and Davidson County Metropolitan Employee Benefit System.

Former Blackstone executive Mark Gallogy founded Centerbridge in 2006 with Jeffrey Aronson, a former distressed securities expert from hedge fund Angelo Gordon.