THE
STEAK N SHAKE COMPANY
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(Name
of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)
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THE
LION FUND L.P.
BIGLARI
CAPITAL CORP.
WESTERN
SIZZLIN CORP.
WESTERN
ACQUISITIONS L.P.
WESTERN
INVESTMENTS INC.
SARDAR
BIGLARI
PHILIP
L. COOLEY
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(Name
of Persons(s) Filing Proxy Statement, if Other Than the
Registrant)
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(3)
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Per
unit price or other underlying value of transaction computed pursuant to
Exchange Act Rule 0-11 (set forth the amount on which the filing fee is
calculated and state how it was
determined):
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·
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Institutional
Shareholder Services (ISS) recommended on February 26, 2008 that
shareholders should vote the GOLD card and ignore the
white card. ISS said in their report, “[T]he company’s stock price and
operating margins have underperformed its peer group over the last five
year period. Additionally, the market seems to have little confidence in
the current board’s ability to execute its turnaround
plan....”
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·
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Glass
Lewis & Co. recommended on February 25, 2008 that shareholders should
vote the GOLD card
in favor of The Lion Fund nominees because “the current board has done
little to hold executives accountable for the long-term performance of the
business. Moreover, the directors have taken recent action to entrench
themselves on the board. As such, we believe that new independent voices
are needed on the Steak n Shake board to effect
change.”
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·
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The
board’s rhetoric will not conceal its dismal record. Nothing said or
written can disguise the obvious fact that the board has failed to make
money for Steak n Shake’s shareholders. The record below speaks for
itself. (To avoid disagreement with the Company on the selection of a
comparable peer group, we purposely selected the S&P Restaurant Index
because the Company selects it in its public
filings.)
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Relative Shareholder Returns | ||||||||||||
Total
Shareholder Returns
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||||||||||||
10–year
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5-Year
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3-Year
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||||||||||
Steak
n Shake
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(32.7 | %) | (12.1 | %) | (56.5 | %) | ||||||
S&P
Restaurant Index
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184.4 | % | 222.8 | % | 48.4 | % |
Note:
All share prices used to calculate Total Shareholder Returns are as of
February 22, 2008. Source: Research Data
Group
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·
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In
contrast, our involvement in two other restaurant companies, Western
Sizzlin Corp. and Friendly Ice Cream Corp., has generated substantial
shareholder value. At Western Sizzlin, our cumulative return on investment
from the beginning in mid 2005 until the present is approximately 110%.
Our investment in Friendly yielded a return of approximately 80% in over a
one-year holding period. In both situations, we entered the stock with a
long-term mindset and never sold a share in the public market. With
Friendly, the company was sold with our consent to a private equity firm
because the price, in our assessment, reflected full value. Our decision,
we determined, was in the best interest of all shareholders. Consequently,
we have the experience and expertise to serve knowledgeably and to explore
all avenues to begin generating returns for all shareholders of The Steak
n Shake Company.
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·
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The
current board members have clearly failed to adequately address the
problems confronting the company, and if we allow them to continue, in our
view, the company will continue to suffer and shareholders will lose even
more money. Current members of the board and management are pursuing all
avenues to win your votes. They are doing their best to turn the spotlight
away from their poor performance. In the final analysis, they
have destroyed value, and the board must be held
responsible for the company’s regrettable long-term
record.
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·
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Our
interests are aligned with yours. As one of the largest shareholders of
the firm, we seek to make money with you, not off
you.
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·
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We
urge you to vote the GOLD
card and NOT to sign any white proxy card sent to you by Steak n
Shake. Even if you have
sent a white proxy card to Steak n Shake, you have every
right to change your vote. You may revoke that proxy and vote FOR
our nominees, Biglari and Cooley, by signing, dating, and mailing the
enclosed GOLD proxy card in the enclosed postage-paid
envelope.
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·
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Please vote each GOLD proxy card
you receive since each account must be voted individually.
Remember: Since you will be receiving multiple mailings, only your
latest dated proxy counts. To ensure accuracy, please do not delay your
vote.
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Shareholder
Meetings
Place: Marriott
Indianapolis Downtown
Address: 350 West
Maryland Street, First Floor
Shareholder
Gathering, March 6, 2008 at 6:00 pm
Shareholder
Annual Meeting, March 7, 2008 at 1:30 pm
To
RSVP for the Shareholder Gathering on March 6, 2008, call (800)
607-0088
or
e-mail rsvp@enhancesteaknshake.com
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