France Is the Next Step in Burger King’s Global Expansion

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By Trey Thoelcke Published
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Burger King Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: BKW) announced Tuesday that it has inked a deal with restaurant operator Groupe Olivier Bertrand to further expand into France. Financial terms were not disclosed, nor did it say how many more restaurants it plans to open, but the company aims to take about 20% of all fast-food sales in the European nation. Naxicap Partners, a French private equity firm, will have a minority stake in the joint venture.

The company had as many as 40 locations in France in the past, but exited the market in 1997. Last year it opened three French locations in travel hubs such as airports, in a partnership with Italian restaurant operator Autogrill SpA. Larger competitor McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) has more than 1,200 locations in France, and Burger King also will compete with European hamburger chain Quick.

The joint venture with Groupe Olivier Bertrand is just the most recent Burger King effort to expand globally. Since Burger King came public again, it has signed franchise deals for locations in Brazil, China, Russia and South Africa. Last week the fast-food company said it formed a joint venture with private-equity company Everstone Group to open stores in India. We wondered recently whether Burger King would do any better in India than it did in China.

Burger King shares rose less than 1% to $20.99 Tuesday and they were inactive in premarket trading Wednesday. The Miami-based company has gained about 28% this year, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 Restaurants Index is up about 25%.

Photo of Trey Thoelcke
About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.

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