J. Alexander's officials have pledged to hold a shareholders' meeting in the next three months to allow investors to consider an activist investor's push for board representation.

An investor group led by the Atlanta-based managers of Privet Fund filed suit early this month protesting a bylaw change made by J. Alexander's directors days before they announced a plan to sell the restaurant chain to American Blue Ribbon Holdings for $72 million. Privet's principals said the move violated Tennessee law. At a hearing Wednesday morning, J. Alexander's officials committed to organizing a meeting by Oct. 31. That led Davidson County Chancellor Claudia Bonnyman to dismiss Privet's case on the condition that the meeting does indeed happen.

"The fact that J. Alexander's must now hold its annual meeting on or before Oct. 31 is a positive outcome for all shareholders," Ryan Levenson, Privet's managing member, said in a statement. "Our lawsuit was the catalyst that will now enable shareholders to exercise their fundamental right to vote for directors. We will continue to monitor the Company's activities going forward and will not hesitate to take further action should we believe the rights of shareholders are being threatened."

A call to J. Alexander's CFO Greg Lewis was not returned prior to publication.

On Thursday afternoon, shares of J. Alexander's (Ticker: JAX) were trading flat at $11.70. The American Blue Ribbon deal calls for shareholders to be paid $12 either in cash or in a combination of cash and stock in a newly listed class of American Blue Ribbon shares.