Report: Burger King And Tim Hortons Asked Popeyes Out, Maybe For A Merger

Image courtesy of JeepersMedia

Hey, Popeyes, don’t look now, but that restaurant conglomerate over there has its eye on you. Yeah, that one: Restaurant Brands International, the company formed when Burger King and Tim Hortons merged and settled in Canada. It’s interested in maybe acquiring the fried chicken chain to add to its portfolio.

Reuters broke the news last night, crediting those ever-knowledgeable “people familiar with the matter.”

If the companies do go ahead with the acquisition, it would mean the union of two fast food chains whose names end in “S” but do not have apostrophes, Tim Hortons and Popeyes.

Over at Buzzfeed, food reporter Venessa Wong speculated that Restaurant Brands may be looking for companies to acquire to form a diversified portfolio of fast food types. Competitor Yum brands has chicken, pizza, and tacos in its KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell chains. Why not a burgers-chicken-doughnuts conglomerate?

Burger King has had success franchising its brand all over the world, and fried chicken and biscuits would make fine cultural ambassadors for the United States if Restaurant Brands took the brand global. The chain currently has about 20% of its franchises abroad, while Burger King has been expanding aggressively around the world.

Ontario-based Restaurant Brands may not stop with Popeyes, either: One of those knowledgeable sources says that the company is looking at multiple possible acquisition targets.

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