TORONTO — Restaurant Brands International Inc. (RBI) and Carrols Restaurant Group, Inc. have reached an agreement for RBI to acquire all of Carrols issued and outstanding shares that aren’t already held by RBI or its affiliates for $9.55 per share in an all cash transaction, or an aggregate total enterprise value of approximately $1.0 billion. This represents a 23.1 per cent premium to Carrols 30-day volume-weighted average price as of Jan. 12, 2024 and a 13.4 per cent premium to the closing date.
This transaction is part of Burger King’s ‘Reclaim the Flame’ plan to accelerate sales growth and drive franchisee profitability, and follows the brand’s initial $400-million investment announced in September 2022 to drive high quality re-models, improve operations, enhance marketing and support ongoing technology and digital priorities.
Carrols is the largest Burger King franchisee in the U.S., operating 1,022 Burger King restaurants in 23 states that generated approximately $1.8 billion of system sales during the 12 months ended Sept. 30, 2023. Carrols also owns and operates 60 Popeyes restaurants in six states.
“Carrols has demonstrated strong and improving restaurant operations over the years,” says Tom Curtis, president of Burger King U.S. and Canada. “This acquisition is an exciting accelerator to our Reclaim the Flame plan that is focused on relentlessly pursuing a better experience for our guests. We’re going to rapidly re-model these restaurants over the next five years or so and put them back into the hands of motivated, local franchisees to create amazing experiences for our guests.”
“[The] announcement is a testament to our more than 24,000 Carrols team members who have helped drive the company to record levels of profitability over the past 12 months,” says Deborah Derby, president and CEO of Carrols. “These results have allowed us, through this transaction, to deliver immediate and certain value to Carrols shareholders at an attractive premium to the company’s current and historical share prices. Additionally, we believe our team members will now have additional opportunities as part of the greater RBI family – in our office, in the field and especially in our restaurants, including for long-time managers who may want to become franchisees themselves. We look forward to working closely with Tom and the rest of the Burger King team in the months and years ahead.”
