Burger King Buys Popeyes for $1.8 Billion
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In a move that might well mean the end of the oft-maligned “chicken fry,” Burger King and its parent company have purchased Popeyes Chicken.
The $1.8 billion deal adds more than 2,600 restaurants to the burgeoning Restaurant Brands International outfit that also includes Canadian treasure Tim Horton’s, which RBI added in 2011 for $11 billion.
The move means that RBI grows by just a bit more, though it is still well behind the 40,000 worldwide stores maintained by Yum Brands (Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, etc.). Also, Popeyes is now positioned to further do battle with rivals such as Church’s Chicken and KFC, though the latter has about 15,000 more locations.
The deal is expected to close by early April—find more details here, and find out why Paste’s Jim Vorel called BK “the saddest chain in fast food” in 2015 here.