Miami based Burger King Worldwide Inc. officially returned to the New York Stock Exchange this wonderful Whopper Wednesday morning. The majority shareholders at 3G Capital hope the iconic burger brands third trip to the big board is better than its first two. 3G Capital will retain 71% ownership of the company, that share is worth $3.6 billion dollars.
Rather than launch an IPO the company privately placed the shares with Justice Holdings Ltd. of London, England in a reverse merger. Justice will retain 13% of the new Burger King Worldwide shares for 12 months, 3G will retain its stake for 6 months, and us lowly investors get to fight over the remaining 16%. That fight began swiftly this morning with Burger King surging 7% despite a broad market pullback.
3G Capital plans to continue to focus on returning the haggard brand to prosperity and has announced lofty expansion goals for the near future, including hundreds of restaurants in Russia and an even thousand in China. This past April Burger King launched its most extensive menu expansion ever, bringing in new fan favorites like the bacon sundae. As long as 3G doesn’t cut and run in 6 months it looks like BK is on the road to recovery.
Foodbeat’s take: Everyone saw this one coming but it was interesting to see the manner in which they listed on the market. The world is still lying in wait for the first post Facebook IPO and I have a feeling it could be a while.
Sources: Reuters, CNN Money, Associated Press
