Burger chain 'in sale talks'

Fast food restaurant Burger King, which has 500 outlets in the UK and a large number in Ireland, is in talks with private equity firms for a potential sale, it was reported today.

The company, which has a market value of about $2.3bn US dollars (€1.8bn), has recently reported falling sales across the world.

Burger King has been in talks for several weeks with a number of potential buyers, including British company 3i Group, the Wall Street Journal claimed.

3i has declined to comment.

The home of the 'Whopper' and 'Chicken Royale' last week reported a drop of 2.3% in its global sales for its 2010 financial year, compared to a 1.2% gain last year.

It also posted a 3.9% fall in US and Canada sales, compared to an 0.4% increase in the same period last year.

The 55-year-old chain has been owned by buyout specialists before – it was bought from Diageo in 2002 by Texas Pacific, Bain Capital and Goldman Sachs in a deal worth $1.5bn (€1.2bn).

The trio floated the Miami-based company four years later and still own just under a third of it.

The fast-food chain currently operates more than 12,000 restaurants worldwide in more than 75 countries.