Papa John's is surging after a report it held deal talks with Wendy's

Markets Insider

• Papa John's is surging Wednesday after news that its founder held talks with Wendy's for a potential merger.
• John Schnatter recently stepped down as chairman of the pizza chain after using a racial slur in a media training conference.
• The talks cooled down after news of the slur broke.
• Watch Papa John's trade in real time here.

Shares of Papa John's are surging 6.89% to $55.09 apiece Wednesday. This comes after news that the founder had held talks with Wendy's for a possible merger, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Founder John Schnatter recently stepped down as Chairman of the pizza chain, after his use of a racial slur. The merger talks were going on before he used the slur, and after the incident, the talks cooled, the WSJ said. He still sits on the board and owns 29% of Papa John's.

Wendy's shares also rallied on the news, by as much as 2%.

Papa John's is down 3.52% this year.