Sardar Biglari is no longer a passive investor in Jack in the Box.
The investor and chairman of Steak n Shake owner Biglari Holdings said in a filing that he now may take steps to influence management at Jack in the Box, a move it blames on that company’s decision to swallow a poison pill last week.
In a federal securities filing this week, Biglari said he had no plans to exert control over the company when he first started buying up shares in 2023. The filing also says that he told management that he would not buy up more shares “unless such investment was welcomed by” the company.
Biglari submitted a filing “preemptively” in advance of a scheduled meeting with the Jack in the Box board and management, according to the filing.
Biglari doesn’t have any plans or proposals in place now, according to the filing, but it leaves open the possibility that he may take actions in the future.
Biglari’s filing comes a week after Jack in the Box adopted a shareholder rights plan, or poison pill, which gives shareholders the right to buy stock at half price if anybody amasses more than 12.5% of the company’s shares.
Jack in the Box said that it took the action after Biglari bought up more shares of the company, taking it from 5.5% to 9.8%. Biglari initially bought the 5.5% of shares in 2023, but filed as a “passive” investment, meaning he didn’t have any plans to influence the company.
In changing the investment to an activist investment, it means Biglari intends to take steps to at least suggest changes in the way Jack in the Box does business.
The Biglari interest comes during what has been a turbulent period for the San Diego-based Jack in the Box, which changed management earlier this year amid weak sales for its flagship brand and the Mexican chain Del Taco—which Jack in the Box bought in 2021. Both brands are struggling and Del Taco is now on the market and is expected by be sold by the end of the year.
Jack in the Box stock is down 45% so far this year and 53% over the past 12 months. Its market cap of $429 million is less than the $585 million for which it acquired Del Taco four years ago.
Biglari has taken an interest in two California-based chains. He has made an offer to buy the chicken chain El Pollo Loco, which is also in talks with the private-equity firm CapitalSpring.
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