Papa John’s Surges on Report Irth Capital Preparing New Bid

Shares of Papa John’s International Inc. surged after a report the pizza chain is drawing fresh takeover interest from Qatari-based investment fund Irth Capital.

The pizza chain is reviewing the bid of $47 per share, which has backing from Brookfield Asset management, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the deal. That price, which values Papa John’s at about $1.5 billion, represented a roughly 50% premium at the time the offer was submitted, according to the Journal.