Fidelity Nat'l To Buy O'Charley's In $221M Deal

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Fidelity National Financial Inc. is buying restaurant operator O'Charley's Inc. in a deal valued at about $221 million.

Fidelity already owns about 9.5 percent of O'Charley's outstanding stock.

The company will pay $9.85 per share for the rest, a 42 percent premium to O'Charley's closing stock price Friday of $6.92.

O'Charley's stock jumped $2.88, or 41.6 percent, to $9.80 in premarket trading.

Fidelity National is an insurance and mortgage services company that already has an investment in American Blue Ribbons Holdings LLC, which runs more than 220 company-owned restaurants and almost 140 franchised restaurants.

O'Charley's, which is based in Nashville, Tenn., operates or franchises 342 restaurants.

Both companies' boards have unanimously approved the transaction, which is expected to close in the second quarter.