McCormick & Schmick's officials get Landry's deal

The completion of McCormick & Schmick’s sale to Landry’s Inc. this week came with more than $6 million in payouts to executives and board members of the Portland, Ore.-based seafood chain, according to documents filed Jan. 4 with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Houston-based Landry’s $131.6 million purchase of the high-end seafood chain also saw the closure of at least eight restaurants in the 92-unit chain and the resignation of company officials, including chief executive William Freeman, chief financial officer Michelle Lantow, and co-founder and board member Douglas L. Schmick. The SEC documents showed that eight company officials sold sizable amounts of shares, each at the purchase price of $8.75, in connection with the sale to privately held Landry’s. McCormick & Schmick’s went public in 2004. Among those were: • Freeman of Salem, S.C., with 250,000 shares for $2.19 million. Freeman also was eligible for $725,000 in bonuses, including one for termination should the company be sold. • Schmick of Portland, Ore., with 131,252 shares for $1.15 million • Lantow of Portland, Ore., with 110,000 shares for $962,500 and a bonus of $360,000 • Board member James R. Parish of Redmond, Wash., with 37,298 shares for $326,357 • Board member J. Rice Edmonds of Richmond, Va., with 28,572 shares for $250,005 • Board member Elliott Ren Jurgensen Jr. of Redmond, Wash., with 23,343 shares for $204,251 • Board member Christine Deputy Ott of Canton, Mass., with 12,615 shares for $110,381 • Board member Eric Bauer of San Rafael, Calif., with 9,425 shares for $82,468 When the acquisition was announced Nov. 8, McCormick & Schmick’s had 85 restaurants in the United States and seven in Canada that operated under The Boathouse brand. Landry’s owns and operates hospitality companies and restaurants, including the Golden Nugget Hotels & Casinos, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., Claim Jumper, Landry's Seafood House, Oceanaire, Rainforest Café and Saltgrass Steakhouse.