Investor heats things up at Buffalo Wild Wings

MINNEAPOLIS — The activist investor who bought a sizable stake in Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. last year nominated four candidates yesterday to the company’s board of directors, including himself.

Mick McGuire, principal at Marcato Capital Management, said in a statement that he made the nominations because a makeover of the board last fall didn’t go far enough in addressing problems he sees at the chain of sports-themed restaurants, which has locations throughout eastern Massachusetts.

Since Marcato took a 5.2 percent stake in the company in July, McGuire has issued several statements calling for “new talent” and a change in the company’s business model to rely more heavily on franchising. At present, about half of the nearly 1,200 Buffalo Wild Wings outlets worldwide are owned by the company and half are owned by franchisees. McGuire would like the firm to sell its own restaurants and get to a point where only 10 percent are company-owned and the rest by franchisees.

In a statement, he said Buffalo Wild Wings “has been unwilling to explore a serious dialogue in any of these areas.”

In October, when the company last announced quarterly results, chief executive Sally Smith said Marcato’s suggestions deserved “thoughtful consideration.” That same month, Buffalo Wild Wings appointed three new independent directors and expanded its board from eight to nine members.

Today, the company plans to report its results for the last three months of 2016, and the stage is being set for its annual meeting, usually held in May.

In addition to himself, McGuire nominated Scott Bergren, former chief executive of Yum Brands’ global Pizza Hut business; Sam Rovit, chief executive of CTI Foods; and Lee Sanders, managing partner of Rocket Chicks LP and a former executive at Buffalo Wild Wings.

A call to a spokesperson for Buffalo Wild Wings, headquartered outside Minneapolis, wasn’t immediately returned.