Locally based Wendy's formed a special committee this April to explore strategic alternatives, which included a possible sale, and later set Nov. 12 as the date for bids. According to published reports, David Karam, a Wendy's franchisee; and a group led by William Foley, chairman of Fidelity National Financial Inc., had expressed interest in addition to Triarc.

Fidelity decided against submitting a bid, according to reports. The Triarc bid is the only publicly disclosed formal offer submitted by the deadline.

Its July offer indicated the company would be prepared to pay between $37 a share and $41 a share for Wendy's stock, which would put the price tag at between $3.2 billion and $3.6 billion. Triarc's Nov. 12 offer for a purchase of 100% of Wendy's equity, according to the SEC filing, "would be paid primarily in the form of cash with a portion to be paid in the form of Triarc equity."

Through affiliates, which include Trian Partners GP LP, Triarc controls nearly 10% of WEN common stock. Nelson Peltz is chairman of Triarc, which is the franchisor of the Arby's chain, and also CEO of Trian Fund Management LP.

At the close of trading on the NYSE on Wednesday, Nov. 14, following public disclosures of the offer, shares of WEN common stock traded at $30.67 a share, down 3.1% for the day, which was a down day for Wall Street. This compares with a 52-week high of $42.22 on May 7 this year and a 52-week low of $29.56 a share on this Aug. 16.