CKE Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE: CKR – News) announced today the sale of 30 restaurants as part of its ongoing strategic refranchising program that was originally announced in April 2007. The initiative is expected to involve about 200 Hardee’s restaurant locations in a number of markets across the Midwest and Southeast. To date, the company has sold 136 restaurants to franchisees and secured commitments for 59 new franchise restaurants under development agreements for those markets.

The company most recently completed the sale of 30 restaurants in the Kansas City market, including Topeka, KS and St. Joseph, MO, to Rising Stars, LLC. The franchisees purchasing the restaurants, Steve Rosenfield and Buddy Brown, currently operate Hardee’s restaurants in Georgia, Montana and Wyoming, as well as Carl’s Jr. restaurant locations in Colorado. With the purchase of these additional restaurants, Rosenfield and Brown now own more than 100 restaurants under the Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. flag. Rising Stars has also committed to build 15 new Hardee’s restaurant locations in the Kansas City market.

“Buddy and I are excited to increase our ownership in Hardee’s with the purchase of 30 units in the Kansas City market,” says franchisee Steve Rosenfield. “We believe the brand is well-positioned for future success and look forward to developing additional units over the coming years.”

The company’s president and CEO Andrew F. Puzder comments, “We are very pleased to continue our strategic refranchising program with the sale of 30 restaurants in Kansas City to Rising Stars LLC. Steve and Buddy were the first franchisees to acquire Hardee’s restaurants under the refranchising program we started in April, and the purchase of these additional units reaffirms their commitment to the brand. This transaction allows us to further concentrate our focus on growing our core markets, while at the same time accelerating unit development in our franchise markets. In addition, our refranchising efforts lower our capital requirements and increase our free cash flow. We look forward to continuing to secure additional refranchising and development commitments in our Hardee’s footprint, and to the brand’s continued growth.”

As of the end of its fiscal 2008 second quarter, CKE Restaurants, Inc., through its subsidiaries, had a total of 3,036 franchised, licensed or company-operated restaurants in 42 states and in 13 countries, including 1,111 Carl’s Jr. restaurants and 1,909 Hardee’s restaurants.