Cracker Barrel Old Country Store dislikes its largest shareholder so much that it has offered to pay him to go away.
Sardar Biglari, the 35-year-old owner of Western Sizzlin’ and Steak ‘n Shake, yesterday said that Cracker Barrel offered to shell out more than $300 million to buy his 20 percent stake in the Lebanon, Tenn., company.
Biglari, a hedge-fund manager who seeks to emulate billionaire investor Warren Buffett, has been battling with Cracker Barrel for years, including two failed attempts to win seats on the company’s board.
Cracker Barrel said that it is making the offer because it doesn’t want to go through another costly and distracting board battle.
In the letter, Cracker Barrel’s chairman James Bradford and CEO Sandra Cochran raised Biglari’s rejection of past settlements as evidence that the two sides will never agree.
“Given this history, we assume that you remain intent on seeking a board seat for yourself personally, despite the clear preference of our shareholders to the contrary,” the letter snapped.
Cracker Barrel previously offered Biglari the option to name two independent directors to the board if he dropped his proxy fight, which he rejected.
Biglari, founder of Biglari Holdings, rejected Cracker Barrel’s offer and slapped back with his own criticisms, including calling their effort a “waste of shareholder resources.”