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Burger King Corp. Reaches Significant Milestone with Opening of 12,000th Restaurant

By: Burger King |  0 Shares     89 Reads

Brand Continues Global Expansion with Opening of First Restaurant in Beijing's Joy City

MIAMI --(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Burger King Corp. (NYSE:BKC) has reached a significant milestone for the brand with the grand opening of its 12,000th restaurant located in Beijing's Joy City. The opening supports the company's overall growth strategy and exemplifies its commitment to strengthening the BURGER KING® brand presence around the world.

"We are committed to profitably growing our brand and diversifying our global restaurant portfolio," said John Chidsey, chairman and chief executive officer, Burger King Corp. "The opening of our 12,000th restaurant represents a significant milestone for our brand. The BURGER KING® system grew more than 3 percent on a net new unit basis in fiscal 2009 – a growth rate at the top of the industry – and we are on target to open an additional 250 to 300 net new restaurants during this fiscal year."

The 12,000th BURGER KING® restaurant is located in Beijing's Joy City and is the first BK® restaurant in downtown Beijing's busy Xidan area. The opening represents another step forward in the brand's growth and development in the Chinese market following its entry into Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Xiamen and Suzhou.

"The opening of BURGER KING's® 12,000th restaurant, which is located in Beijing, demonstrates our commitment to expanding our presence in China and throughout the entire Asia Pacific region," said Peter Tan, president, Asia-Pacific, Burger King Corp. "We opened more restaurants in the region in 2009 than during the last four years combined and we plan to open even more new restaurants this year. And with only 25 BK® restaurants currently operating in China, we have significant growth potential for our brand in this particular market."

Burger King Corp. is celebrating this milestone opening just weeks after the introduction of Asia's first WHOPPERTM Bar in Singapore's popular lifestyle precinct, Clark Quay. The WHOPPERTM Bar is a completely new, enhanced spin-off concept of the traditional BURGER KING® restaurant with a crisp, modern, bar-like look and feel inspired by the flame-broiled WHOPPER® sandwich. A second WHOPPERTM Bar is scheduled to open in Singapore in the next few months.

BURGER KING® restaurant in Beijing's Joy City

The Joy City restaurant reflects the BURGER KING® brand's commitment to creating a HAVE IT YOUR WAY® dining experience that rivals casual dining. Located in Beijing's busy Xidan area, the restaurant is designed to attract consumers by appealing to their tastes and lifestyles. The interior of the restaurant is designed in post-industrialization vanguard style, featuring an MP3 music corner and the latest music hits from the West. The restaurant also features a gallery wall in support of Sino-American artists and local arts groups, providing them with a highly visible location on which to display their work. The location is operated by the franchisee BURGER KING® (Beijing) Restaurant Co., Ltd. (BURGER KING® Beijing).

"We are very pleased with the design aesthetic and amenities for our guests in the Joy City restaurant," Tan said. "The restaurant delivers on our brand promise through our HAVE IT YOUR WAY® menu while providing a unique and attractive gathering place for our guests."

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 our overall growth strategy and commitment to strengthening our brand presence worldwide, our ability to open 250 to 300 net new restaurants in the current fiscal year, our ability to open more restaurants in China and the Asia Pacific region than we did in the prior year; and the ability of the Company to capitalize on the growth potential of our brand in China. 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 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 approximately 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, 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.

Source: Burger King Corp.

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