The Burger King started in 1953 as a chain of restaurants named “Insta-Burger King” (named so because of the “Insta” broilre ovens used for cooking burgers) with its base at Jacksonville, Florida, US.
After Insta-Burger King ran into financial difficulties in 1959, its two Miami-based franchisees, David Edgerton and James McLamore purchased the company and renamed it Burger King.
Over the next half century the company changed hands four times, with its third set of owners, a partnership of TPG Capital, Bain Capital and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, taking it public in 2002. This team tried to revitalize the company, by introducing a new advertising agency and new ad campaigns, a revamped menu strategy, a series of programs designed to revamp individual stores, and a new restaurant concept called the BK Whopped Bar.
These changes successfully worked until the global financial crisis of 2007-2010. The falling value of Burger King eventually lead to TPG and its partners divesting their interest in the chain in a $3.26 billion (USD) sale to 3G Capital of Brazil. After the deal was completed, the company’s stock was removed from the New York Stock Exchange, ending a four year period as a public company.
At the end of fiscal year 2010, Burger King reported it had more than 12,200 outlets in 73 countries; of these, 66 percent are in the United States and 90 percent are privately owned. The company’s licensing policy for franchisees varies depending on the region, with some regional franchises, known as master franchises having authority for selling franchise sub-licenses on the company’s behalf.
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