When did Burger King begin offering franchises?
Burger_King Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
cessor**
Our predecessor is BK Corporation. BK Corporation was originally founded in 1954 as Burger King of Miami, Inc. and in 1956 was formally incorporated as South Florida Restaurants, Inc. before changing its name to "Burger King Corporation" in 1963. BK Corporation has the same principal business address as we do. It began offering Burger King franchises and operating Burger Restaurants in 1954. It has never offered franchises in any other line of business although it did offer master franchises outside of the United States. BK Corporation ceased all of these activities in September 2022 when we became the franchisor of the BURGER KING restaurant franchise system as a part of the Internal Reorganization described above. BK Corporation was dissolved in December 2022.
Our Parents
We are a wholly-owned indirect subsidiary of Restaurant Brands International Limited Partnership, a limited partnership organized under the laws of Ontario ("RBILP"). The general partner of RBILP is Restaurant Brands International Inc., a Canadian corporation ("RBI"). The principal place of business of RBILP and RBI is 130 King Street West, Suite 300, Toronto, Ontario M5X 1E1 Canada.
3G Restaurant Brands Holdings LP, a Cayman Islands limited partnership ("3G Restaurant Brands Holdings") owns the largest percentage of the combined voting power of RBI (approximately 26%). 3G Restaurant Brands Holdings' general partner is 3G Restaurant Brands Holdings General Partner Ltd., a Cayman Islands exempted company ("3G Restaurant Brands Holdings GP"). 3G Restaurant Brands
Holdings and 3G Restaurant Brands Holdings GP are each located at c/o 3G Capital, Inc., 600 Third Avenue, 37th Floor, New York, NY 10016.
Our Affiliates
RBI also indirectly owns the Tim Hortons®, Popeyes® (formerly Popeyes Chicken and Biscuits), and Firehouse Subs® brands and franchise systems.
Burger King®
The following affiliates own, operate, and franchise BURGER KING® quick-service restaurants (in their respective countries or regions outside the United States) since the franchising start date, but do not offer franchises in other lines of business.
Source: Item 1 — THE FRANCHISOR AND ANY PARENTS, PREDECESSORS, AND AFFILIATES (FDD pages 10–18)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Burger King's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, the franchise was originally founded in 1954 as Burger King of Miami, Inc., and in 1956 was formally incorporated as South Florida Restaurants, Inc., before changing its name to "Burger King Corporation" in 1963. BK Corporation began offering Burger King franchises and operating Burger Restaurants in 1954. BK Corporation ceased all of these activities in September 2022 when Burger King Company LLC became the franchisor of the Burger King restaurant franchise system as a part of the Internal Reorganization. Burger King Company LLC has offered Burger King franchises since September 2022.
In August 2022, substantially all assets and liabilities of Burger King Corporation ("BK Corporation"), the former franchisor of the Burger King restaurant franchise system, were transferred to Burger King Company LLC as part of an internal reorganization of Burger King related entities. In that transaction, Burger King Company LLC assumed these assets and liabilities of BK Corporation (the "Internal Reorganization"). Additionally, all franchise related agreements including all existing franchise agreements, target reservation agreements, multiple target reservation agreements and development agreements were transferred to Burger King Company LLC and it became the franchisor of the Burger King restaurant franchise system.
For prospective franchisees, this means that while the Burger King brand has a long history of franchising dating back to 1954, the current franchising entity, Burger King Company LLC, only began offering franchises in September 2022 after an internal reorganization. This reorganization involved the transfer of assets, liabilities, and franchise agreements from the former franchisor, BK Corporation, to the current franchisor, Burger King Company LLC. The employees and others providing services to Burger King franchisees were unchanged by the Internal Reorganization.