Craig, which is still controlled by founders Jenny and Sid Craig, hired Koffler & Co. of Los Angeles to test the interest of health, fitness and food companies, businesses where there might be a natural fit with the diet chain's 650 centers.

The company is developing a list of target businesses and will start to shop the diet chain over the next month. One possibility is Kraft Foods, which already pays Jenny Craig around $2 million a year in royalties to sell Jenny Craig Bars. Other businesses include fitness chains, which might see synergy from locating diet centers at the gyms, [Stephen A. Koffler] said.

The weight loss centers started after Genevieve Guidroz, now Jenny Craig, became frustrated by her efforts to lose weight after having a baby. Guidroz managed a chain of fitness centers for Sid Craig. They married in 1979 and founded the Jenny Craig Weight Loss Centre in Australia in 1983. The company opened its first U.S. center in 1985 and sold shares to the public in 1991.