Burger King sold for €2.5bn

Fast food chain Burger King is selling itself to private equity firm 3G Capital in a deal valued at $3.26bn (€2.5bn).

The offer comes after a day of speculation about the deal sent shares up more than 15%.

It continued to make big gains today before the stock market opened.

Burger King is the second-largest US hamburger chain behind its far-larger rival McDonald’s Corp.

But with 12,100 locations, it has struggled because the economy has been bad for its most important group of customers: young men.

Under the terms of the deal with 3G, Burger King’s Chairman and CEO John Chidsey will become co-chairman of the board. 3G Managing Partner Alex Behring will be the other co-chairman.

Burger King became publicly traded in 2006, four years after a consortium of private equity firms acquired the company.

The group – TPG Capital, Bain Capital Partners and Goldman Sachs Funds – still own 31% of Burger King’s outstanding shares and have agreed to tender their stock in the deal.