LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Burger King UK could be floated in London next year, with reports on Friday morning that its owner Bridgepoint had roped in Bank of America and Investec for a possible initial public offering.
Sky News said the size of the float, and when it would happen, were still to be decided, but it cited sources as saying that an IPO was more likely than a private equity sale.

The news came after a tumultuous two years for the Whopper peddler, with chief executive Alasdair Murdoch warning of significant restaurant closures and job cuts early in the Covid-19 pandemic.

Burger King had considered a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) for one of its divisions as well, in a bid to close some of its 530 burger joints.

But its trading had been lifted more recently through a growing estate of drive-through sites, as well as partnerships with all three major food delivery platforms, Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats.

Sky News noted that Burger King UK had recently been acquiring more restaurants back from franchisees as it looked to boost its profitability, and now owned around 150 of its restaurants after acquiring the 17-store Zing Leisure franchise in May.

Burger King UK has been owned by Bridgepoint since late 2017, while the Burger King brand and intellectual property itself is owned by the New York-listed Restaurant Brands International.

At 1118 GMT, shares in Bridgepoint Group were down 2.54% at 538p.

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