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Burger King to form joint venture with DaChan Great Wall

Burger King Corp, the second-largest fast food chain in the US, yesterday announced plans to form its first overseas joint venture with DaChan Great Wall Group (大成集團), a Taiwanese agriculture and food conglomerate.

Burger King plans to triple its network in Taiwan from 33 restaurants to more than 100.

“The signing of a joint venture agreement today signifies a commitment to closer cooperation between the two companies and [Burger King’s investment] will speed up our expansion pace,” DaChan Great Wall Group chairman Charles Han (韓家宇) told a press conference yesterday.

The new venture will be 30 percent owned by BK Asiapac Pte Ltd, the wholly owned subsidiary of Burger King, with the remaining stake going to DaChan. Both companies declined to reveal the value of their investments.

Burger King’s investment comes at a time when many food and beverage service providers have closed because of the economic downturn.

However, Burger King Asia Pacific president Peter Tan (陳必得) shrugged off the concerns and said the downturn had presented a good opportunity. Moreover, compared with McDonald’s, which operates more than 300 restaurants in Taiwan, Burger King has good opportunities to expand aggressively.

Burger King chief executive officer John Chidsey said the company was benefiting in the US from the slowdown in consumer spending by attracting a growing number of consumers who cannot afford to eat at more expensive chain restaurants such as Applebee’s and Chili’s.

Burger King’s sales for this fiscal year, including revenues from direct-run stores and license fees, went up by 10 percent from the year before to US$2.5 billion.

Sales from Burger King’s more than 11,500 restaurants worldwide were US$15 billion this year.

Burger King’s worldwide same-store sales — referring to established rather than new stores — for the year are up 5.6 percent from a year earlier, Tan said.

Home Chain Foods Ltd, a subsidiary of DaChan Great Wall, has been a Burger King franchisee since 1989. DaChan owns 35 subsidiaries and employs 20,000 people around Asia.

DaChan Great Wall’s shares ended 3.31 percent limit-down to close at NT$23.35 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday.
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