The largest global franchisee of Restaurant Brands International Inc. has picked Citigroup Inc. and HSBC Holdings Plc for an initial public offering of its Chinese and Turkish outlets on the Borsa Istanbul, people with knowledge of the matter said, marking its latest attempt to sell stakes in its fast-food businesses.
TAB Food Investments is working with the banks on a potential first-time share sale for the restaurants that could raise about $250 million and could take place as soon as this year, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is private, reported Bloomberg on 1 September.
The IPO had been pospotned because of jittery markets, in 2018. The firm, which operates U.S. chain outlets such as Burger King and Arby’s in China and Turkey, was weighing a potential IPO in Istanbul, Bloomberg News reported in March.
Deliberations are at an early stage, and details such as fundraising size and timing could still change, the people said. Representatives for Citi and HSBC declined to comment, while a representative for TFI did not respond to requests for comment.
TFI runs more than 2,500 restaurants and has about 5,000 employees in Turkey and China, according to its website. More than 1,200 of its outlets of U.S. brands are in Turkey, including RBI’s Burger King and Popeyes, as well as Sbarro and Arby’s.
The company is also an investor in Burger King China, which runs over 1,300 outlets of the burger chain in the country. TFI opened the country’s first Popeyes in Shanghai last year, and in 2019 announced plans to open more than 1,500 locations of the fried chicken restaurant in China in the coming decade.
Source: Bloomberg, link to full article here
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