Burger King opens 12000th restaurant

Burger King Corp. (NYSE:BKC) has reached a significant milestone for the brand with the grand opening of its 12,000^th 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 12,000^th 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 12,000^th 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® 12,000^th 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.”