A Mexican company wants to take control of the country's leading fast food operator.
Restaurant Brands operates the Pizza Hut, KFC, Carls Junior chains in New Zealand, KFC stores in Australia, and fast food outlets in the Pacific Photo: 123RF
Restaurant Brands says it's been approached by Finaccess Capital to buy up to 75 percent of its shares at $9.45 each.
The offer price is 24 percent higher than Restaurant Brands' closing price on Wednesday and values the company at $1.17 billion.
A formal offer has not been made and Restaurant Brands said it was working with the Mexican firm on the terms of a possible offer.
"There is no guarantee at this stage that agreement will be reached or that Finaccess will advance the proposal to the point where a takeover notice is issued," Restaurant Brands said in a statement.
It advised shareholders to get financial advice before making any decision affecting their shares.
Restaurant Brands operates the Pizza Hut, KFC, Carls Junior chains in New Zealand, along with KFC stores in Australia, and fast food outlets in the Pacific. It is currently quitting the Starbucks chain in New Zealand.
Finaccess invests in retail chains and has stakes in operators of KFC, Pizza Hut, Burger King, and Starbucks in Europe and China.
"If Finaccess does proceed to make a takeover, the offer would be subject to various conditions, including Overseas Investment Office consent and receiving consent from certain subsidiaries of Yum! Brands Inc., the owner of the KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell brands franchised to Restaurant Brands," a Restaurant Brands statement said.
Meanwhile, the company's first half profit increased 7 percent to $20.4m with sales increases for all its main markets.
Growth in KFC sales underpinned the higher profit and the company said it expected a profit of between $43m-$45m.
The company said it would not pay out a half year dividend for the time being because of the possible takeover offer.