Florescue To Morton's: I'm Still Watching

The country may be at war and the restaurant industry in its worst slump in 10 years, but Barry Florescue wants Morton's Restaurant Group to know he's still on the case.

Florescue fired off a press release yesterday charging that Morton's, now reeling from a downturn in business, continues to drag its feet on a sale of the company. Florescue is the largest independent shareholder.

"We are appalled by the actions of [Morton's] board thus far," Florescue said. "It is clear to us that the board has failed to provide independent and ethical oversight to this process. Unless the sale process recently announced by the company is demonstrated to be fair, open and equal to all parties, [CEO] Allen Bernstein can expect BFMA to continue to be a shareholder activist. We will not stand by idly and let [management] steal value away from the public stockholders."

Six months ago, Florescue's group, BFMA Holdings, offered $28.25 a share for Morton's. The stock now trades at around $12.

"Only a few months ago, [management] were telling stockholders that BFMA's offer was inadequate," Florescue said. "Since then the stock has fallen over 50% and so far [Morton's] has done very little to improve the situation."