Published: January 21, 2010
First BURGER KING Restaurant Opens in Russia
MIAMI - (BUSINESS WIRE) - Burger King Corp. (NYSE:BKC) today announced a new market entry with the
opening of the first BURGER KING restaurant in Moscow, Russia. This
restaurant opening is part of the company's expansion strategy in the
Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) operating region.
"We believe that our brand's entry into Russia exemplifies our company's
commitment to diversifying our global restaurant portfolio and
represents a milestone in our expansion strategy in the region," said
John W. Chidsey, chairman and chief executive officer, Burger King Corp.
"More than 80 percent of our net restaurant growth is realized in
international markets and we are pleased with our new strategic market
entry into Russia and its future expansion potential."
Burger King Europe GmbH signed an agreement with Burger Rus LLC. The
managing shareholder of Burger Rus LLC is Alexander Kolobov, who
successfully established the well known Russian coffee shop chain
Shokoladnitsa. Together with his partners Oleg Gurkov and Mikhail
Serdtsev, Kolobov will now bring the BURGER KING brand's world famous
flame-broiled beef burgers to Russia.
The first BURGER KING restaurant in Russia is located in the Metropolis
shopping mall in Moscow. A second BURGER KING restaurant is scheduled
to open later this month in Moscow's well-known "Europeysky" shopping
center. Additional BURGER KING restaurants are expected to open in the
market throughout 2010 and beyond.
"Russia is an exciting, active market with a vibrant economy," said
Kevin Higgins, president, EMEA, Burger King Corp. "We believe consumers
in Russia will embrace the BURGER KING menu of flame-grilled offerings,
including the WHOPPER sandwich, the brand's flagship product of more
than 50 years."
"We are very excited to be a part of a leading global QSR brand and to
develop the BURGER KING business in Russia," Kolobov said. "The
increasingly dynamic lifestyle in Russia makes us optimistic about the
growth and expansion potential of the BURGER KING brand in the market."
The BURGER KING brand has expanded its presence throughout Central and
Eastern Europe in the last five years with market entries into Poland,
Czech Republic, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania. The entry into the
Russian market comes only weeks after the opening of the brand's 12,000th
restaurant located in Joy City, Beijing, in December 2009.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements made in this press release that reflect management's
expectations regarding future events are forward-looking in nature,
including statements regarding the Company's expectations regarding its
overall expansion and diversification strategy in the EMEA region, its
ability to open more restaurants in Russia in 2010 and beyond; its
beliefs and expectations regarding the growth potential of Russia as a
market; and its belief that the Burger King brand and its menu of
flame-grilled offerings will resonate with Russian consumers. These
forward-looking statements are only predictions based on our current
expectations and projections about future events. Important factors
could cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed
or implied by these forward-looking statements, including those risk
factors set forth in our annual and quarterly reports filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission and the following: (i) our ability to
compete internationally in an intensely competitive industry; (ii) our
ability to successfully implement our international growth and
development strategy; and (iii) risks related to our international
operations.
Although we believe the expectations reflected in the forward-looking
statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results. Moreover,
neither we nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy
or completeness of any of these forward-looking statements. You should
not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future
events. We do not undertake any responsibility to update any of these
forward-looking statements to conform our prior statements to actual
results or revised expectations.
ABOUT BURGER KING CORPORATION
The BURGER KING system operates more than 12,000 restaurants in all 50
states and in 73 countries and U.S. territories worldwide. Approximately
90 percent of BURGER KING restaurants are owned and operated by
independent franchisees, many of them family-owned operations that have
been in business for decades. In 2008, Fortune magazine ranked
Burger King Corp. among America's 1,000 largest corporations and Ad
Week named it one of the top three industry-changing advertisers
within the last three decades and it was recently recognized by
Interbrand on its top 100 "Best Global Brands" list. In 2010, Standard &
Poor's included shares of Burger King Holdings, Inc. to the S&P MidCap
400 index. To learn more about Burger King Corp., please visit the
company's Web site at www.bk.com.
ABOUT BURGER RUS LLC
Burger Rus LLC founded in 2009 by Alexander Kolobov and his partners -
Oleg Gurkov, Mikhail Serdtsev, and Dmitriy Medovoy who was appointed as
Managing Director of the company - is a BURGER KING franchisee in the
market to develop and manage BURGER KING restaurants in Russia. The
first BURGER KING restaurant located in the Metropolis shopping center
opened in January 2010. Apart from Burger Rus LLC, Kolobov is also an
owner of the famous Russian coffee shop chain Shokoladnitsa that has
approximately 200 locations operating in Russia.
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Burger King Corp., U.S.
Michelle Miguelez, 305-378-7277
mediainquiries@whopper.com
or
Burger
King Corp., EMEA
Andrea Ungereit-Hantl, +49 (89) 63 80 40
aungereit@whopper.com
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