Locals Buying Up Steak n Shake -- And We Don't Mean the Food, Neither

On Monday, a group of Dallas investors represented by Crescent Court-based hedge fund HBK Investments L.P. filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission documents in which it was revealed that a bunch of locals were buying up Steak n Shake -- and not their excellent burgers and fries, mind you,...

By Robert Wilonsky

June 27, 2007

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On Monday, a group of Dallas investors represented by Crescent Court-based hedge fund HBK Investments L.P. filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission documents in which it was revealed that a bunch of locals were buying up Steak n Shake -- and not their excellent burgers and fries, mind you, but about 10 percent (or $41 million worth) of the Indianapolis-based company's stock. Why for? Well, says the filing: The investors (among them, Lone Star Funds' John Grayken) are "potentially exploring an acquisition or other transaction" involving the popular franchise.

Reports the Indianapolis Business Journal today, "Steak n Shake hasn’t commented publicly on whether it would consider a sale, and an official could not be reached for comment." But its stock has been going up and down and up since the filing -- not by a lot, but perhaps just enough to get folks interested in biting into a little Steak n Shake. Still, for the moment this story's a little medium-rare. --Robert Wilonsky

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