Vicorp's stock had spiked 33% with the announcement that also takes the restaurateur private. The 40-year-old Vicorp owns and operates 256 Bakers Squares and Village Inn restaurants in 14 states. The chain had reported $372 million in revenues last year, up from 1999's $359 million and $346 million in 1998.

Vicorp had gone public in 1983 when it bought 59 Pop & Fresh Pie restaurants, which it had renamed to Bakers Square. In 1985, Vicorp had acquired 175 of Sambo's old restaurants in a move that had proved to be a drag on its earnings.

The New York City investment-banking firm, Salomon Smith Barney, is negotiating the deal for Vicorp. Vicorp's largest shareholder is Southeastern Asset Management Inc. of Memphis, TN, which last year had indicated it was willing to discuss selling the chain.

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