Goldman Sachs Group Inc's (GS.N) private equity arm is near a deal to buy the largest U.S. franchisee of Applebee's Neighborhood Grill and Bar restaurants, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. GS Capital Partners' deal for the Apple American Group is worth "several hundred millions" of dollars, the newspaper said in its online edition. Apple American has 269 restaurants, 16,000 employees, 2010 sales of $665 million. The Weston Presidio company has owned Apple American since 2005, the newspaper said.
Source
