3G completes Burger King acquisition3G completes Burger King acquisition

Ron Ruggless

Investment firm 3G Capital completed its $4 billion acquisition of Burger King Holdings Inc. on Tuesday, and new executives took the helm at the chain.

An affiliate of 3G Capital, a New York-based and Brazilian-backed firm, paid $3.26 billion, or $24 a share, for Miami-based Burger King, the nation’s No. 2 burger chain. The assumption of outstanding debt brought the total to $4 billion. About 93 percent of shares were tendered.

Bernardo Hees, as announced earlier, becomes chief executive of Burger King, and Alex Behring, managing partner of 3G Capital, assumes the position of co-chairman with John Chidsey, who had served as Burger King’s chairman and chief executive.

“We see many exciting opportunities for this business, including developing new product offerings and expanding the brand internationally,” Hees said in a statement.

“We believe the early success of the new BK Breakfast menu demonstrates the efforts and strength of our franchise network in the U.S.,” he added. “We also are looking forward to collaborating closely with our international franchisees in pursuit of growth in areas such as Asia and Latin America.”

With the completion of the going-private deal, Burger King’s stock is expected to be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday. Burger King's largest shareholders had been TPG Capital LP, Goldman Sachs Capital Partners and Bain Capital Investors.

Lazard, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Barclays Capital acted as financial advisers to 3G Capital. Morgan Stanley and Goldman, Sachs & Co. acted as Burger King’s financial advisers.

Burger King operates or franchises 12,150 restaurants in the United States and 76 nations and territories.

Contact Ron Ruggless at [email protected].