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DALLAS - Brinker International Inc. is selling off its 90-unit Corner Bakery fast-casual bakery-cafe chain to focus on the company's core Chili's Grill & Bar brand and three other concepts.
Brinker disclosed in an Aug. 16 filing with the securities and Exchange Commission that the Dallas-based chain conglomerate had "entered into an exclusive letter of intent with an undisclosed purchaser."
Terms of the deal were not divulged, and the identity of the intended buyer could not be determined.
Chicago-based restaurant operator Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, which created the Corner Bakery and Maggiano's Little Italy concepts and sold them to Brinker in 1995, last year bought back from Brinker another LEYE-devised chain, Big Bowl Asian Kitchen. However, Lettuce indicated it would not be buying back Corner Bakery.
Chris Barnes, a Brinker spokesman, said: "It's early in the process. We expect the sale, if all goes well, to be completed by the end of the calendar year.
"Corner Bakery is a...