Bridgepoint acquires Burger King franchise

Kenny Wastell
17 November 2017

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Bridgepoint has acquired UK-based Burger King franchisee Caspian UK Group as part of a management buy-in, and secured the exclusive rights to the Burger King brand in the UK.

Financial details of the transaction remain undisclosed, though unquote" understands Bridgepoint has agreed to pay more than £50m for the overall transaction. It is also understood the GP drew capital from Bridgepoint Europe V, a €4bn fund that held a final close in March 2015 and usually targets businesses with enterprise values of €150–600m.

The deal sees Bridgepoint taking a controlling stake in a new Burger King UK holding company that will have a 20-year master franchise agreement, with franchiser Restaurant Brands International taking a minority stake in the newco via its Burger King Europe affiliate.

Martin Robinson, currently chair of Casual Dining Group and formerly chair of Centre Parks and Wagamama, is leading the new management team involved in the transaction.

Following the deal, Burger King UK will invest in the roll-out of further stores across the country. It is understood the business will also consider acquiring other franchisees.

Company
Founded in 1993 and headquartered in Bagshot, Surrey, Caspian operates a franchise of 74 Burger King restaurants across the UK. According to publicly available documents, the business generated a turnover of £48.4m in 2016 with EBITDA of £1.9m, according to publicly available documents.

Burger King itself was founded in 1954 and has around 500 branded restaurants across the UK.

People
Burger King Brand – José Cil (president).
Burger King UK – Martin Robinson (chairperson).

Advisers
Equity – Travers Smith (legal); Harris Williams & Co (corporate finance); Parthenon-EY (commercial due diligence); Deloitte (financial due diligence, tax, operational due diligence); Marsh (insurance due diligence); Freeths (property due diligence).
Company – KPMG (corporate finance, legal, tax, operational due diligence).
Management – Macfarlanes (legal).