Burger King may be sold

Associated Press

NEW YORK — Diageo PLC is in advanced talks to sell fast food giant Burger King Corp. for more than $2 billion.

In a report posted on its Web site late last night, The Wall Street Journal, citing unidentified people it said were close to the situation, reported that Texas Pacific Group is likely to buy Burger King for between $2.1 billion and $2.3 billion.

The newspaper said a deal could be announced as early as today.

London-based Diageo, the world's largest liquor company, has long said it planned to unload Burger King in a sale or spinoff.

The move is part of its strategy to concentrate on Diageo's much more profitable business of making and selling alcoholic beverages. The company's best-known brands include Smirnoff vodka, Johnnie Walker scotch and Guinness beers.

A spokeswoman for Diageo, Isabelle Thomas, told The Associated Press in May that it was in talks with potential buyers of Miami-based Burger King Corp., but refused to identify them.

Diageo's predecessor company, Grand Metropolitan PLC, acquired the fast-food operation in 1988 as part of its purchase of Pillsbury Co.

Diageo sold its Pillsbury foods unit to General Mills Inc. in October. Except for a 22 percent stake in cereal maker General Mills, Burger King is Diageo's only remaining non-liquor business, contributing 6 percent to sales and profits.

Second only to McDonald's, Miami-based Burger King has more than 11,435 restaurants worldwide.

Burger King's franchise owners have supported splitting off from Diageo, complaining of slim profit margins on flat domestic sales and ineffective marketing. But they have pressured management to take the business private rather than put it under Wall Street's microscope.