News

US private equity group buys Burger King NZ franchise

October 16, 2011

Private equity firm The Blackstone Group announced it will acquire Antares Restaurant Group in New Zealand from Australian-based Anchorage Capital Partners.

Headquartered in Auckland, Antares has the exclusive franchise development rights for the Burger King brand in New Zealand and operates 75 Burger King restaurants throughout the country.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Jan Nielsen, a managing director in Blackstone's private equity group, said the new leadership team plans to grow the brand throughout the region.

"We are extremely excited about the potential we see in Antares and the superb quality of the management team who will be our partners to further develop this business," he said. "Burger King is a leading consumer business with an iconic brand and strong growth prospects in the Asia-Pacific region, and we are excited about partnering with Burger King Corporation to expand their presence in the region."

Anchorage Capital Partners bought the franchise two years ago. Mark Bayliss, a partner with Anchorage, said the company has worked closely with the Antares management team throughout the past two years to transform the operational and financial performance of the business and build a sustainable growth platform.

"We are pleased with the excellent result the sale will deliver to our investors," he said.

Blackstone is one of the largest private equity investors in the world with $38 billion in capital committed or invested in 160 separate private equity transactions. Blackstone currently has $17 billion of available equity capital to invest in further private equity transactions.

Read more about operations management.