Not in any talks to acquire Restaurant Brands Asia: Jubilant FoodWorks

Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd (JFL), the master franchisee for Domino’s Pizza and Dunkin, on Thursday said it is not in the race to acquire Restaurant Brands Asia Ltd, formerly known as Burger King India Ltd. The leading Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) chain operator said it “strongly refutes” any information appearing about a deal speculating it to acquire a majority stake in Restaurant Brands Asia from a private equity firm.

“These are completely false and baseless and the company is not involved in any such discussions or negotiations nor considering the aforesaid acquisition,” said JFL in a late-night regulatory filing.

Earlier, there were reports that Everstone Capital is in talks with JFL and one more player to offload its entire stake in Restaurant Brands Asia.

It is the second-largest fast-food burger chain. It opened its first restaurant in India in 2014.

As of March 31, 2023, it was operating 391 restaurants of Burger King and BK Cafe.

Earlier this week, Restaurant Brands Asia declared its financial results for the quarter and the financial year ending on March 31, 2023.

Its net loss for FY23 widened to Rs 241.80 crore and revenue from operations was at Rs 2,054.27 crore. For the March quarter, its loss was at Rs 79.95 crore.

JFL is part of the Jubilant Bhartia Group and is India’s largest food service company.

The company holds the master franchise rights for three international brands – Domino’s Pizza, Dunkin’ Donuts and Popeyes.