Restaurant Brands International Inc. and Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Inc. announced today that the companies have reached an agreement for RBI to acquire the fast food restaurant for $79.00 per share in cash, or $1.8 billion.
The acquisition of Popeyes will add a successful, highly-regarded brand with strong customer loyalty to RBI, one of the largest global quick service restaurant companies with two of the world’s most iconic QSR brands – BURGER KING® and TIM HORTONS®.
Founded in New Orleans in 1972, Popeyes has 45 years of history and culinary tradition and is the franchisor and operator of Popeyes® restaurants. Today Popeyes is one of the world’s largest quick service restaurant chicken concepts with over 2,600 restaurants in the U.S. and 25 other countries around the world and its global footprint will complement RBI’s existing portfolio of over 20,000 restaurants in more than 100 countries and U.S. territories.
Following the closing of the transaction, Popeyes will continue to be managed independently in the U.S., while benefitting from the global scale and resources of RBI. Building on the momentum of recent years, RBI plans to continue developing the brand at an increasing pace in the U.S. and international markets in the years to come.
Structure and Terms
Under the terms of the transaction, Popeyes shareholders will receive $79.00 in cash per share at closing. This represents a premium of 27% based on Popeyes’ 30-trading day Volume Weighted Average Price as of February 10, the last trading day before media speculation on the potential sale of Popeyes.
RBI will finance the transaction with cash on hand and a financing commitment from J.P. Morgan and Wells Fargo.
Popeyes Joins the RBI Family of Brands
The BURGER KING® and TIM HORTONS® brands are owned by Restaurant Brands International Inc., one of the world’s largest quick service restaurant companies with more than $24 billion in system sales and over 20,000 restaurants. RBI has a proven track record of growing its iconic brands by driving continued system-wide sales growth and expanding its restaurant footprint, while maintaining its focus on delivering great guest satisfaction and strong profitability for its franchise owners. To learn more about RBI, please visit the company’s website at www.rbi.com.