Boston Chicken Plans Reorganization

Boston Chicken, Inc [7]. announced on January 6, 2000 that it and its Boston Market related subsidiaries ("Boston Chicken") filed a joint Plan of Reorganization with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Arizona. The Plan is based on the previously announced Asset Purchase Agreement which provides for the sale to Golden Restaurant Operations, Inc., a McDonald's Corporation [8] subsidiary, of all of the assets of Boston Chicken and the assumption of certain related liabilities for an estimated purchase price of $173.5 million. Certain assets not subject to the Asset Purchase Agreement, including Boston Chicken's ownership interest in Einstein/Noah Bagel Corp., will be transferred to a Plan Trust for the benefit of creditors.

Under the terms of the Plan of Reorganization, after payment of bankruptcy administrative expenses and payment of claims entitled to priority under the Bankruptcy Code, the Debtors' senior secured creditors will receive substantially less than the aggregate face value of their loans to the Company. Holders of the Debtors' equity securities and holders of any claims arising out of the purchase of the Debtors' convertible subordinated debt and equity securities will receive no distributions under the proposed Plan of Reorganization. In addition, it is unlikely that holders of the Company's convertible subordinated debt securities will receive any distributions under the Plan of Reorganization.

Boston Chicken filed its voluntary petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Arizona on October 5, 1998. Boston Chicken expects the Chapter 11 process, including the Disclosure Statement hearing and the subsequent Plan Confirmation hearing, to be completed by mid-year 2000. All filings in this case are available on the internet at http://ecf.azb.uscourts.gov.

Boston Chicken, Inc. operates and franchises restaurants under the Boston Market brand name and is focused on convenient meals, homestyle entrees, fresh vegetables, sandwiches, salads and side dishes. There are 858 Boston Market restaurants in 33 states and the District of Columbia.