The Orlando Sentinel reports that Darden Restaurants has sold its Smokey Bones restaurant chain.
Orlando-based Darden Restaurants officially ended its eight-year quest to build a national barbecue chain when it agreed Tuesday to sell its struggling Smokey Bones Barbeque & Grill unit to an affiliate of the private-equity firm Sun Capital Partners for about $80 million.
The sale of the 73-restaurant chain, expected to close within 45 days, follows Darden’s decision in May to unload the brand after first closing more than 50 underperforming locations in the Midwest and South. At the time, Smokey Bones was Darden’s third-largest restaurant chain, behind Red Lobster and Olive Garden.
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