McDonald’s agrees to sell Boston Market

McDonald’s Corp. said Monday it agreed to sell its meat-and-potatoes Boston Market restaurant chain to private equity firm Sun Capital Partners for an undisclosed sum.

McDonald’s spokesman Walt Riker said the transaction will likely be completed in several weeks. He would not discuss details of the sale.

The transaction was first announced in a regulatory filing made by the world’s largest restaurant company Monday. In that filing, McDonald’s said it had signed a definitive agreement to sell Golden, Colo.-based Boston Market in “early August.”

The news of a sale came seven months after McDonald’s acknowledged it was studying strategic options for the chain.

Boston Market, originally called Boston Chicken, was acquired in 2000 for $173.5 million as part of an initiative to diversify its business. Now the chain has 630 restaurants in 28 states.

McDonald’s shares climbed 58 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $49.10 in afternoon trading.

•Aegis Mortgage Corp., a mortgage lender whose owners include private-equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, said Monday it had suspended all loan originations amid the worsening housing and credit markets.

The suspension came on the same day American Home Mortgage Investment Corp. filed for bankruptcy protection.

Aegis Mortgage spokeswoman Pat Wente said the company had notified brokers who serve as customers that Aegis would not be able to fund loans currently in the pipeline.

Wente said Aegis’ roughly 30 U.S. branches were open and its 1,300 workers on the job.

“We’ve just announced we’re going to have to suspend lending until we get this figured out,” she said. “We’re in the process of reviewing all the alternatives we can.”

Aegis touts itself as one of the top 30 largest U.S. mortgage production franchises.

•Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul Allen will sell a large portion of his stake in DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. and resign from the board, the company said Monday.

Allen’s Vulcan Inc. will sell 10 million of his shares in a registered public offering. DreamWorks Animation will buy an additional $150 million worth of Allen’s shares, the Glendale based company behind the “Shrek” films said.

After the transactions, Allen will still own approximately 6 million shares.

“The reduction in our position in DreamWorks Animation is part of an ongoing effort to rebalance the Vulcan Capital portfolio,” Allen said in a statement.