Burger King Corp, the second-largest fast food chain in the US, yesterday announced plans to form its first overseas joint venture with DaChan Great Wall Group (大æˆé›†åœ˜), a Taiwanese agriculture and food conglomerate.
Burger King plans to triple its network in Taiwan from 33 restaurants to more than 100.
“The signing of a joint venture agreement today signifies a commitment to closer cooperation between the two companies and [Burger King’s investment] will speed up our expansion pace,†DaChan Great Wall Group chairman Charles Han (韓家宇) told a press conference yesterday.
The new venture will be 30 percent owned by BK Asiapac Pte Ltd, the wholly owned subsidiary of Burger King, with the remaining stake going to DaChan. Both companies declined to reveal the value of their investments.
Burger King’s investment comes at a time when many food and beverage service providers have closed because of the economic downturn.
However, Burger King Asia Pacific president Peter Tan (陳必得) shrugged off the concerns and said the downturn had presented a good opportunity. Moreover, compared with McDonald’s, which operates more than 300 restaurants in Taiwan, Burger King has good opportunities to expand aggressively.