Skift Take
Consider this a cheat sheet for all things happening at Restaurant Brands International.
Skift Table Brand Explainers break down restaurant groups by their individual brands in order to better understand their respective parts as well as opportunities for groups to expand or consolidate.
Restaurant Brands International, as an entity, has only existed for roughly the past five years. The company was formed after Burger King merged with Tim Hortons in 2014, and then in 2017, RBI bought Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen for $1.8 billion to build out the three brands that it encompasses today.
Not one to go long without surprises, RBI then announced that founding CEO Daniel Schwartz would be stepping away from his role at the beginning of 2019. José Cil, a 19-year veteran of Burger King and most recently the president of that brand, was named the new CEO of RBI. Schwartz will still have a presence at RBI as executive chairman, but will also spend more time in his role as partner at 3G Capital, a major shareholder at RBI. (The firm is desperate need of the added attention, as outlined in a Wall Street Journal report describing its recent shortfalls.)
Essentially, Cil was put in place to replicate the success of Burger King, by far RBI's biggest brand in the U.S. and internationally in both sales and footprint, with the company's two much smaller chains, Popeyes and Tim Hortons. That's going to come from success in two major areas: Securing the right franchise partners to grow these brands globally (Cil was instrum
