Private equity firm Centerbridge Partners announced today an agreement with P.F. Chang’s China Bistro Inc., a restaurant chain, to take the company private in a leveraged buyout deal valued at $1.1 billion. Global law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges was counsel to Centerbridge on the transaction.

Centerbridge offered $51.50 per share in cash for the company, a price that values the restaurant chain at a 30% premium. If approved by shareholders, the transaction is expected to close in the end of the third quarter 2012.

Based in Scottsdale, Arizona, P.F. Chang’s operates almost 400 restaurants, including its namesake restaurants and the smaller Pei Wei quick-service chain, and employs approximately 26,000 workers.

Centerbridge Partners, which is based in New York, has approximately $20 billion in capital under management. It already owns restaurant-holding company CraftWorks Restaurants & Breweries.

Weil’s transaction team was led by Corporate partners Douglas Warner and Michael Lubowitz, and included Corporate partners Angela Fontana, Kelly Dybala, and Heather Emmel; Tax partner Jared Rusman; Employee Benefits partner Amy Rubin; and Corporate associates Joshua Peck, Benton Lewis, Sandra Rutova, Jennifer Tsai, and Kat Park.