Lessons Learned from 3G’s Historic Burger King Turnaround

Recent quarters have been a bloodbath for PE-backed restaurant chains. 3G’s stewardship of Burger King offers insights for operators.

In 2009, Burger King was a 55-year-old "fast food flameout” facing intense scrutiny from its shareholders. Traffic was declining despite competitors like McDonald’s seeing an uptick — it was the Great Recession, after all, and customers were looking for cheap eats. Meanwhile, volatile food prices pushed earnings down even more.

Enter: 3G Capital.

In 2010, 3G acquired Burger King for $3.3 billion ($4 billion inclusive of debt), or $24 per share, delisting it from the New York Stock Exchange. By 2012, Burger King’s earnings had increased 49 percent, bringing the company’s valuation to $8 billion. By 2017, it was reported that 3G Capital and Burger King’s other shareholders had made over $14 billion from the turnaround that began just seven years prior.

How did they do it?