At ailing Buca, a sale is on the table

With its stock trading at all-time lows, Buca Inc. said late Thursday it hired Piper Jaffray & Co. to advise it on strategic options, which include a possible sale.

Hoping to enhance shareholder value, Buca said its strategic options include raising capital, a sale or merger, and recapitalization.

The Minneapolis-based casual-dining chain, which operates Buca di Beppo restaurants, has never recovered from a scandal that left its former CEO and its ex-CFO in federal prison and a former controller serving home detention. The three men, who pleaded guilty to criminal charges of using a vendor to funnel money out of the company, were sentenced earlier this year.

But despite putting the scandal to rest, the company's middling financial results have been pounded on Wall Street. In its most recent quarter, which ended Sept. 30, Buca posted a comparable-store sales gain of 1.8 percent, its 12th consecutive quarter of positive same-store sales. Total revenue rose slightly, to $56.5 million, from $56.4 million in the same period last year.

But the company posted a loss from continuing operations of $4.8 million.

The first Buca di Beppo restaurant opened in 1993 in the basement of a downtown Minneapolis apartment building. Buca Inc. has grown to 91 restaurants in 25 states and Washington.

Buca officials did not return calls Thursday. In its statement, the company released little information, and said it has no plans to further disclose deliberations until its board has made a decision.

Shares in Buca closed the regular session up 26.7 percent, or 20 cents, to 95 cents in heavy trading, and increased another 5 cents in after-hours trading. The stock had traded at more than $6 a share earlier this year.

STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS