Restaurant Brands tendered 83% of Popeyes shares, enough for takeover

Restaurant Brands International Inc. of Oakville, Ont., has received enough shares of Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Inc. to complete its US$1.8-billion friendly takeover of the fast food chain.

The parent of Tim Hortons and Burger King says that about 83 per cent of Popeyes common stock was tendered to the offer by the deadline, which expired at 11:59 p.m. on Friday.

Popeyes currently has more than 2,600 restaurants, with 621 international locations. RBI has said it plans to accelerate Popeyes' growth in the U.S. and beyond, using an approach used by Burger King.

RBI announced Feb. 21 that it would pay US$79 per Popeyes share, sending up the chicken chain's stock about 19 per cent that day. Popeyes stock closed Friday at $78.98.

RBI's stock closed Friday at $73.06 on the Toronto Stock Exchange, up from $70.67 prior to the takeover announcement.