Sandell sends letter to Bob Evans urging actions to unlock value

Sandell Asset Management, owner of 5.1% of Bob Evans Farms' outstanding shares, sent a letter to the company’s board urging it take a multi-step approach to unlock shareholder value. Sandell thinks Bob Evans should separate its food products business through a sale or a spin-off to its shareholders; Unlock the real estate value embedded in its many owned restaurant properties through a sale-leaseback transaction; Implement a "large" self-tender. Sandell believes that if Bob Evans were to pursue these steps, the company could generate approximately $1.08B in proceeds and, as a hypothetical example, could use 75% of such proceeds to repurchase its shares at $58 per share while still leaving the company with "substantial cash" on the balance sheet. A potential post-tender stock price of between approximately $73 per share and $84 per share, or an average price of $78.50 per share, could be justified, it said.