Bagel Boss

One of the M&A deals this morning centered around the causal dining space, specifically BAGL.

Einstein Noah Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BAGL), a leader in the fast-casual segment of the restaurant industry operating under the Einstein Bros.® Bagels, Noah’s New York Bagels®, and Manhattan Bagel® brands and JAB Holding Company (“JAB”) today announced a definitive agreement under which an affiliate of JAB will acquire Einstein Noah Restaurant Group for $20.25 per share in cash, or a total diluted equity value of approximately $374 million. The agreement, which has been unanimously approved by Einstein Noah Restaurant Group’s directors, represents a premium of approximately 47 percent over Einstein Noah Restaurant Group’s 30-day average trading price. (SOURCE)

This type of deal-making has been returning to the thesis we have looked at many times, of viable causal dining and food-related plays as takeover targets, be it by Private Equity or otherwise.

Here are some at the top of my list. The ones in boldface have the better technical setups, if the broad market cooperates this week.

1. BDBD
2. DAVE
3. FRGI
4. HAIN 
5. IRG
6. KONA
7. JMBA
8. WWAV