Burger King’s parent company, Restaurant Brands International Inc., is buying out the chain’s biggest franchisee in the U.S. for about $1 billion, ABC News reported. Restaurant Brands International Inc. will acquire “all of the issued and outstanding shares” of Carrols Restaurant Group Inc. for $9.55 per share. Carrols currently operates more than 1,000 Burger King restaurants and 60 Popeyes locations. The deal is slated to be completed by the second quarter of 2024.
“We are going to rapidly remodel these restaurants over the next five years or so and put them back into the hands of motivated, local franchisees to create amazing experiences for our guests,” said Tom Curtis, president of Burger King U.S. and Canada, in a statement to ABC News Tuesday.
The recent acquisition is anticipated to help Burger King improve sales growth and drive profits. It comes over a year after Restaurant Brands unveiled a $400 million plan to revive Burger King’s U.S. business. Restaurant Brands plans to remodel about 600 of the acquired Carrols restaurants over the next five to seven years, and then sell them back to franchisees. The total investment will be approximately $500 million, funded by Carrols’ operating cash flow.
