Wendy's rejects Nelson Peltz's $1.4B buyout offer and adopts a poison pill

Associated Press · Dee-Ann Durbin · 2026-11-05 13:54 UTC

Wendy’s rejected a $1.4 billion buyout offer from an activist investor, saying Thursday that the bid was too low. The burger chain also adopted a “poison pill” plan that would make it more difficult to engineer a hostile takeover of the company. Investor and former Wendy's chairman Nelson Peltz made an offer last week to buy the company, which has been struggling with high beef prices and aging stores. But Wendy's said a committee of independent directors unanimously rejected the offer. Wendy's said the offer didn't take into account a turnaround program under the company's new CEO, which is focused on improving food quality and store operations.

Wendy’s rejects buyout bid and girds itself for a hostile takeover campaign

Wendy’s rejected a $1.4 billion buyout offer from an activist investor, saying Thursday that the bid was too low and didn’t take into account the company’s long-term earnings potential under its new CEO.

The Dublin, Ohio-based burger chain also said Thursday that its board had adopted a “poison pill” plan designed to make it more difficult to engineer a hostile takeover of the company.

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