Turkey’s Burger King chain files for IPO in US

ISTANBUL

TFI TAB Food Investments (TFI TAB Gıda), the Turkish company that controls the largest international Burger King franchise, filed on Nov. 13 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to raise up to $400 million in an initial public offering in New York’s Nasdaq.

The Turkish company has not yet decided how many American depositary shares (ADSs) it will offer or the price range it will use to market the stock, according to a SEC statement.

The company has applied to list its ADSs on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the proposed ticker “QSRG.”

Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse Securities and Goldman Sachs are acting as bookrunning managers and representatives of the underwriters for the proposed offering, read the statement.

The company’s sales revenue rose 42.2 percent to 2.93 billion Turkish Liras in the first nine months of the year. Its net loss increased to 115.5 million liras over the period with an 18.1-percent year-on-year increase, read the statement.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose 75.8 percent to 304.8 million liras, it added.

The company has over 1,800 restaurants and more than 30,000 employees. During its 22-year history, TFI has grown its portfolio to include a broad range of quick service restaurants, or QSRs, mainly in Turkey and China, according to data from the statement.

The exclusive master franchisee for Burger King is in China, with 766 Burger King restaurants in the country as of the end of September.

Its brand portfolio includes some of the most widely-recognized QSR brands in the world, including Popeyes, Sbarro, and Arby’s in addition to Burger King.