Cinven buys Restaurant Brands Iberia in EUR 1bn-plus deal

The transaction is subject to customary anti-trust and regulatory approvals.

RB Iberia's founders and Burger King Europe – a wholly owned subsidiary of RB Iberia shareholder Restaurant Brands International – will continue to be minority shareholders of the company. The incumbent executive management team will continue to lead the business.

According to Unquote Data, the deal is the largest ever recorded in the Iberian restaurants sector, overtaking Permira's EUR 850m take-private of TelePizza in 2006.

Among the factors that prompted the investment, Cinven noted a "substantial opportunity in the growing and resilient Spanish quick-service restaurant market, which is underpenetrated in comparison to similar European markets and offers the potential for further restaurant openings across the Burger King, Popeyes and Tim Hortons brands".

Cinven is currently deploying its seventh buyout fund, which held a final close in May 2019 on EUR 10bn. The GP is also on the road for the fund's successor, with a similar target.

The deal is the second investment in the consumer space for Cinven this year. The PE house previously acquired a majority stake in Arcaplanet – a pet care retail chain in Italy – from Permira and co-investor Winch Capital Partners for more than EUR 1bn.

RB Iberia had been tipped as a likely IPO candidate for the past couple of years, as reported by Unquote sister publication Mergermarket. The publication reported in early 2020 that the business was planning to stick to its plans for an IPO despite fielding buyout offers from several PE funds.

Following the Covid-19 outbreak, the company put its IPO plans on ice, with Spain implementing one of the strictest lockdowns in the world, as reported. In September, RB Iberia revived the plans with a potential Q1 2021 target for a listing, as reported.

Company
RB Iberia is the master franchisee for the Burger King brand in Spain, Portugal, Gibraltar and Andorra, and for the Popeyes and Tim Hortons brands in Spain. The company has a portfolio of more than 500 of its own restaurants, and an additional 500 franchised restaurants across the three brands.

The business was founded in 1981. According to a statement by Cinven, the company remained resilient throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, continuing to acquire and open restaurants, as well as continuing the roll-out of its home delivery service.

People
Cinven – Jorge Quemada, Maxim Crewe (partners).
RB Iberia – Gregorio Jiménez (founder, CEO).

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• Buyouts
• Southern Europe
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