First Restaurant in Brazil Officially Opens Today
SAO PAULO, Brazil, Nov. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Burger King Corporation
announces today the opening of its first franchised restaurant in Sao Paulo,
Brazil. Located in the prime location of the Ibirapuera Shopping Centre food
court, the restaurant is one of 50 restaurants planned for Sao Paulo state in
the next five years, creating approximately 3,000 direct new jobs. Two
additional restaurant openings are already scheduled within the next few days
in Metro Tatuae and Interlagos.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20031014/BKLOGO )
Nish Kankiwala, President of Burger King's International region, comments,
"The Brazilian market is one of the most attractive growth opportunities for
the Burger King Corporation around the world. Our value proposition in terms
of great-tasting food, the famous fire-grilled WHOPPER(R), combined with a
world-class business partner and franchisee Luiz Eduardo Batalha at BGK do
Brasil, will be a winning formula. In Batalha we have found an experienced and
successful entrepreneur who will take this brand from strength to strength."
Batalha comments, "It's been my dream to bring the Burger King brand to
Brazil for years, as I have been committed to quality my whole life. The brand
is also known for quality; it offers by far the biggest, best and only fire-
grilled burgers in the industry and I know it will be the preferred burger of
the Brazilian people."
Julio Ramirez, president, Burger King Latin America, says, "We worked
effortlessly over the past year to build our local team to prepare the entry
in this market, select our local suppliers and to open our first restaurant.
Together with BGK do Brasil, we are building an effective platform to catapult
this brand into the Brazilian market."
BGK do Brasil
BGK do Brasil is an investors consortium group which will operate the
BURGER KING(R) restaurants in Sao Paulo state. The company is led by
entrepreneur Luiz Eduardo Batalha, who has businesses in agriculture,
construction and tourism, including the well-known Hotel Estancia Barra Bonita
and Chalet Agropecuaria.
About Burger King Corporation
BURGER KING(R), the second largest burger restaurant chain worldwide,
operates more than 11,000 restaurants in all 50 U.S. states and in 62
countries and territories around the world. Ninety percent of BURGER KING(R)
restaurants are owned and operated by independent franchisees, many of them
family-owned operations that have been in business for decades. Burger King
Holdings, Inc., the parent company, is private and independently owned by an
equity sponsor group comprised of Texas Pacific Group, Bain Capital and
Goldman Sachs Capital Partners. In fiscal year ending June 30, 2004, Burger
King Corporation had system-wide sales of $11.1 billion.
To learn more about BURGER KING(R), please visit the company's website at
http://www.burgerking.com .
SOURCE Burger King Corporation
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