Backlash over IHOP deal

Sardar Biglari only has a 1.2 percent stake in Applebees, but he's speaking out against the restaurant chain's proposed sale to Glendale-based IHOP. The problem, says Biglari, chairman of the Lion Fund, is that IHOP is getting too good a deal. "I believe Applebee's board has made a grave mistake in agreeing to an undervalued bid for the entire company," he said in a statement released this morning. "This arrangement is most alarming because new board members promised to protect shareholders' interests, yet they have not verbalized any opposition to this ill-advised transaction." As evidence, he points to the 16 percent price runup of IHOP in the days after the $1.9 billion deal was announced. That's very unusual. Biglari says that Applebees would be better off staying independent and implementing some of the changes that IHOP has in mind (mainly converting its company-owned restaurants into franchises. As noted in Deal Book, Biglari hasn't been afraid to speak up about other investments. He recently pushed for Friendly Ice Cream to put itself on the block.