Bob Evans Farms To Sell Restaurants And Buy Potatoes, Stock Soars

Bob Evans Farms Inc. announced a pair of acquisitions Tuesday along with an executive change meant to focus the company on grocery store sales, and shares jumped 10% in late trading. Bob Evans said that it would sell its chain of Bob Evans Restaurants to private equity firm Golden Gate Capital for $565 million plus the transfer of certain liabilities, with the cash used to pay down debt and issue a special $7.50-per-share dividend to stockholders.