Slater, 3 execs out at S&A; Metromedia moves to fill gaps

Nation's Restaurant News, July 27, 1992

DALLAS -- Metromedia Co. has seized tighter control of S & A Restaurant Corp., operator of Bennigan's and Steak & Ale restaurants, after four top S & A executives resigned.

Donald J. Slater, who served as president of S & A since 1987 when Metromedia first acquired a stake in the company, left as a result of what Metromedia called "strategic differences."

Other members of the S & A management team who resigned were chief financial officer Robert S. Svehlak; Jack Camp Fitch Sr., vice president and general manager for Steak & Ale; and Andrew J. Revella, vice president of research and development.

Metromedia named Arnold L. Wadler, a senior Metromedia vice president and company strategist, acting president of S & A and said he would put together a new management team.

Stuart Subotnick, executive vice president of Metromedia, said the company is becoming more actively involved in the day-to-day management of its restaurant chains.

"Restaurants are the largest segment of Metromedia's business, and, therefore, it makes sense that we become more closely involved," Subotnick said. "Our goal is to perfect the concept positioning of each chain by addressing the needs and desires of customers."

"It was a decision by Metromedia that the strategic outlook of that management team was inconsistent with where Metromedia wants this business to go," Metromedia spokeswoman Jennefer Hirsberg told the Dallas Morning News.

Slater is part of a management group that owns a 10- percent share in S & A, which in 1991 generated $675 million in sales from its 380 restaurants.

Metromedia is a private partnership based in East Rutherford, N.J., and controlled by billionaire John Kluge. About 60 percent of Metromedia's investments are in restaurants, including the Ponderosa and Bonanza family steak houses. Metromedia also has holdings in telecommunications, automotive components, computer software, medical technology and a majority interest in Orion on Pictures Corp.