Hooters Operator Trades Tank Tops for Test Tubes in Deal

Chanticleer Holdings Inc., the owner and operator of Hooters and other restaurant franchises, plans to combine with Sonnet BioTherapeutics Inc. in a reverse merger, turning from selling chicken wings, burgers and beer to developing cancer drugs.

Under the terms of the proposed deal, Chanticleer said it will spin off its restaurant holdings into a new public company. The firm’s stock has lost nearly all of its value since a 2015 peak of about $35 a share.