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🟡 FORMERLY PE OWNED
Burger King
fast food · Miami, FL
PE Firm
3G Capital
Year Acquired
2010
“3G Capital cut costs by two-thirds, then wondered why nobody wanted a Whopper.”
What Happened
- •3G Capital bought Burger King for $4 billion in 2010 using a leveraged buyout; slashed overhead per restaurant by nearly two-thirds
- •Engineered a tax inversion merger with Tim Hortons in 2014, moving corporate address to Canada — drawing public outrage
- •Closed up to 400 locations in 2023; multiple large franchisees filed bankruptcy including Meridian (120 locations)
- •Launched $400M 'Reclaim the Flame' turnaround in 2022 — admitting a decade of cost-cutting had gutted the brand
The Damage Done
- ▸3G Capital cut Miami headquarters staff from ~800 to fewer than 300 — laying off about 413 employees
- ▸At time of acquisition, 85% of restaurants needed remodeling — many stuck in pre-1990s decor
- ▸Closed approximately 400 U.S. locations in 2023 alone, dropping below 7,000 total restaurants
- ▸Multiple major franchisees filed bankruptcy in 2023-2025 — operators of 172, 115, 90, and 57 units each went under
- ▸Mandatory 'Reclaim the Flame' remodels cost $500,000 to $1.8 million per restaurant — pushing struggling operators into bankruptcy