Wendy’s wants to buy about 400 of its eateries out of bankruptcy

Wendy’s submitted a bid to buy around 400 of its restaurants from operator NPC International Inc.’s bankruptcy sale, according to a regulatory filing Thursday.

“The company submitted a consortium bid together with a group of pre- qualified franchisees to acquire NPC’s Wendy’s restaurants,” the hamburger chain said in the filing, which doesn’t reveal the size of the bid.

If it’s successful, Wendy’s expects several existing and new franchisees would ultimately purchase most of the NPC restaurants, with the company acquiring eateries in one or two markets at most to keep its ownership level at around 5% of locations, according to the filing.

Flynn Restaurant Group, the largest restaurant franchisee in the U.S., was approved Friday as the so-called stalking horse bidder to buy about 1,300 Pizza Hut and Wendy’s restaurants from NPC. Flynn has bid $816 million.