Shares of Papa John’s spiked more than 6 percent on Wednesday after a report surfaced that the company’s founder John Schnatter had been in preliminary talks with Wendy’s about a possible merger.
The talks occurred before Schnatter stepped down as chairman last week over the use of a racially charged slur, according to Dow Jones, citing people familiar with the matter.
Representatives for Papa John’s did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
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