Black Angus Steakhouses to Be Sold

NEWPORT BEACH — Financially troubled American Restaurant Group, seeking to ease a debt burden, has agreed to sell its 101 Black Angus steakhouses to Florida-based investors.

Trivest Inc. of Miami and Miller Capital Management Inc. of Coconut Grove will buy the restaurants for an undisclosed amount, pending government approval. The transaction is expected to close by the end of this year.

Officials with American Restaurant Group, Trivest and Miller Capital Management declined to comment.

American Restaurant Group, a privately held company, operates 247 restaurants, including the Black Angus, Grandy’s, Spoons and National Sports Grill chains.

Earlier this year, it disclosed in Securities and Exchange Commission filings that it wanted to sell the Black Angus division to make a $41.5-million debt payment that was due Monday.

Company officials did not comment on whether the firm paid the debt or had received an extension.

The company reported a $38.5-million net loss and $445 million in sales during the year ended Dec. 31, 1996, compared to a $39.7-million net loss on $446 million in revenue for the same time period a year earlier.