Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has advised Burger King on its strategic cooperation with US-based private equity firm, Cartesian Capital, and the Kurdoglu family (Burger King’s current master franchisee in Turkey and the largest Burger King franchisee worldwide), to rapidly grow and expand the Burger King brand in China. The transaction was closed on 15 June.
In addition, Freshfields has been advising Burger King on forming a cooperation with VTB Capital, the private equity arm of VTB Bank, and Alexander Kolobov (Burger King’s current franchisee in Russia) to further grow its Russian business. The deal was closed on 4 June.
“We were pleased to advise Burger King on these two landmark transactions which will significantly expand their reach in the key markets of China and Russia,” said Shanghai managing partner Heiner Braun, who led the Freshfields teams on both transactions.
One interesting feature of both of these transactions was the involvement of private equity firms in consumer brand franchise activities.
The China transaction team was led by Heiner Braun and included partners Mark Parsons in Hong Kong, Thomas Mueller-Bonanni in Dusseldorf, Bob Schlossberg in Washington, DC. They were supported by a multi-jurisdiction team which included counsel John Choong, senior associate Christian Zeppezauer, and associates Andrew Wood, Sam Brown, Paul Humphreys, Kaethe Carl, Shauna Loo.
The Russia transaction team was led by partners Heiner Braun and Sebastian Lawson in Moscow and included counsel Alexander Viktorov in Moscow, and associates Andrew Wood in Hong Kong, Paul Humphreys in New York, and Anna Venediktova and Elena Polonetskaya in Moscow.
