Burger King Corp. announced that an affiliate of Vinci Partners would become the Burger King brand’s master franchisee in Brazil. Following the closing, the new company will assume responsibility for the management and development of the Burger King business in Brazil.
“We believe there is tremendous opportunity to grow the Burger King brand in Brazil,” said Jose Tomas, president, BKC Latin America and Caribbean. “I look forward to working closely with our master franchisee on their development plans and am confident they will drive aggressive growth to rapidly expand our footprint in Brazil.”
The current General Manager for Brazil, Iuri Miranda, is expected to assume the newly-created role of chief executive officer of the new company. “I am thrilled to be leading the Burger King brand during this period of exciting growth in Brazil,” said Mr. Miranda. “The establishment of this joint venture with BKC will better position us to expand the brand’s presence across the country and will allow more Brazilians the opportunity to experience our ‘Have It Your Way’ brand promise.”
The creation of this new company is the latest investment by Vinci Partners’ new private equity fund, which has recently made other significant investments in Brazil and does not involve capital expenditures by BKC.
BKC entered Brazil in 2004 and there are currently 108 franchise-owned restaurants in the country.