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."