A Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen outlet in Costa Rica. (Businesswire.com)

Tim Hortons owner reported near deal to buy Popeyes

Reuters — Restaurant Brands International, owner of the Burger King and Tim Hortons fast food chains, is nearing a deal to acquire Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, people familiar with the matter said Monday. The deal, which will likely value Popeyes at more than US$1.7 billion, is a bet by Oakville, Ont.-based Restaurant Brands that it can

(Becel.ca)

Austere empire-building weighs on Kraft’s Unilever bid

Reuters — Buyout firm 3G Capital managed to build a consumer empire with a market value of over US$140 billion in just seven years. Yet its ruthless approach to costs may end up hampering 3G-backed Kraft Heinz’s US$143 billion bid for Unilever Plc. 3G made its name in corporate America by orchestrating large debt-laden acquisitions


(SABMiller.com)

SABMiller rejects Labatt owner’s takeover approach

Brussels/London | Reuters –– SABMiller, the world’s second largest brewer, has promptly rejected an improved takeover proposal from Anheuser-Busch InBev, saying its 68 billion-pound (C$136 billion) valuation was “very substantially” under par. Refusal of the offer, made public Wednesday after earlier proposals were refused privately, opens the door to a week of intense wrangling before

AB InBev’s operations include Alexander Keith’s maker, Halifax-based Oland Breweries, which became part of Labatt in 1971. (Keiths.ca)

Labatt owner AB InBev seeks US$275B tie-up with SABMiller

Brussels/London | Reuters — Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s largest brewer, has approached rival SABMiller about a takeover that would form a colossus producing a third of the world’s beer. A merged group would have a market value of around US$275 billion (C$363 billion) at current prices, and would combine AB InBev’s dominance of Latin America

(Todd Rosenberg photo via KraftFoodsGroup.com)

Kraft Heinz to cut 2,500 jobs in Canada, U.S.

Reuters — Kraft Heinz Co. said it will eliminate 2,500 jobs in the U.S. and Canada, including about 700 at its Chicago-area headquarters. Heinz, backed by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway and Brazilian private equity firm 3G Capital — known as an aggressive cost-cutter — combined with Kraft in March in a $46 billion deal that