Patina wins steakhouse war

Well, it's at least looking that way. Smith & Wollensky Restaurant Group has agreed to a revised $94.6 million buyout offer by the Patina Restaurant Group. The $11 a share offer is up from the earlier $9.25 and tops a revised $84 million proposal by Landry’s Restaurant Group. The Patina-Landry's bidding war has done wonders for the once-lumbering S&W stock, which just about doubled in price since Landry's initial $64.4 million offer. L.A.-based Patina, which is headed by superchef Joachim Splichal and partner Nick Valenti, got help from buyout firm Bunker Hill Capital. You may recall that Landry's raised a fuss over S&W accepting Patina's original offer, claiming that CEO Alan Stillman was acting on his behalf, not his shareholders. As part of the deal, Stillman will acquire the Park Avenue Cafe and Quality Meats restaurants, as well as the management rights of the original S&W in NY. The guys from Patina plan to expand the chain to L.A. and other locales. At present, the closest S&W is Vegas.