Benihana's Future Looks Choppy as Family Fights (BNHNA)

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NEW YORK (The NYPost) -- Like one of the knives tossed by Benihana's
BNHNA
theatrical chefs, the Japanese steakhouse's future is very much up in the air. The children of the 45-year-old restaurant chain's late founder, Rocky Aoki, who now control 38 percent of the common shares in the business, a stake owned by their late dad, are in open revolt against Rocky's third wife and widow, Keiko, and both camps are warring with management. The two family camps are upset that management has been unable to budge Benihana's stock price as it has tried to reverse a sea of red ink the past two years at the 120-unit chain -- 85 of the locations operate under the flagship Benihana mark. The company reported a loss of $8.9 million for the fiscal year ended March 28 versus a loss of $5.1 million the previous year. Sales grew by 2.6 percent, but comparable-store revenues at Benihana eateries slipped 7.9 percent. The Aoki kids, including Rocky's daughter, actress and model Devon Aoki, blame the management team led by Chief Executive Richard Stockinger, which instituted last September -- into the teeth of a recession -- an updated menu featuring some higher priced items in an attempt to get back to profitability, sources said. Instead, the average check at Benihana fell to $27.70 last year from $28.46 the previous year, according to regulatory filings. Not exactly a recipe for success. Last week, in an effort to stave off a shareholder revolt, Stockinger and the board announced plans to review the "strategic alternatives" of the $313.5 million in revenue chain -- including a possible sale. Undeterred, two separate groups of shareholders, including the kids, warned the Miami company on Friday that they will seek board seats in the coming weeks amid sagging sales and gloomy shareholder returns. Keiko is also seeing red. She wants to gain control of the kids' stake, which sits in a trust called Benihana of Tokyo, or BOT. Keiko, a winner of the Miss Tokyo beauty pageant, and her lawyers are expected to march into court today to ask a judge to expedite a decision on who controls the trust -- she or the kids. Keiko hopes to have a court decision in hand before the Sept. 14 annual meeting. Benihana shares have barely budged since Rocky died on July 10, 2008. They closed that day at $6.15 a share, versus $7.02, up 37 cents, on Friday. To check out this article,
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