How Burger King’s 2024 FDD Reveals a Massive Ownership Shakeup

Reported and written by Joe Dunbar, Director of Data, RestaurantData.com

Carrols served burgers, fries and shakes to customers for take-out. Most people dined in their cars. The food was fast, tasty and cheap. Our family of 7 could dine for less than $6. Whenever we drove down to Schenectady, we went hungry and stopped for lunch at Carrols.

In the 1970s, Carrols converted most of its locations to Burger King outlets. My college friends and I loved the Burger King in Utica, NY. We liked the “have it your way” motto and ordered burgers loaded with extra tomatoes and mayo. Over time, Carrols became Burger King’s largest franchisee with over 1,000 locations.

In early 2024, the parent company of Burger King (RBI) purchased all the shares of Carrols Corporation for $1 billion. This transaction followed a number of high-volume Burger King franchisees going out of business in 2023 and 2024.

In the 2024 Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD), we found 405 Burger King stores (5.8%) ceased operations and 302 (4.3%) transferred ownership. Around two-thirds (470) of the locations closed or transferred were owned by just 10 franchisee groups.

The 10 Franchisee Groups Behind the Closures and Transfers

• Premier Kings sold 150 restaurants in an auction in February 2024. All remaining locations closed.
• Meridian Restaurants Unlimited sold 70 of their 91 stores in an auction. Buyers included Burger King corporate and several large franchisees.
• Toms King sold their locations to several buyers for $33 million.
• EYM Group no longer includes Burger King in their list of brands.
• Five additional large franchisees now have no stores in the 2024 Burger King FDD: Seven Restaurants, NDM Restaurants, NKS Restaurants, HR Restaurants, and Southern King Holdings.

How Franchisee Location Reassignments Work

When a franchisee exits a brand — through closure, sale, or corporate repurchase — their locations are either closed permanently or reassigned to a new operator. The diagram below illustrates three real examples from the 2024 Burger King FDD: two reassignments to new franchisees, one closure, and two transfers back to Burger King Corporate.

Reclaim the Flame: Burger King’s Strategic Turnaround

Burger King has begun to implement a massive strategic turnaround called Reclaim the Flame. Many of the locations transferred to the parent company will be retooled with a new look, better equipment, and 21st century technology. As units become ready, many will be sold to new franchisees. The 2024 FDD already shows many new multi-unit franchisees entering the system.

RestaurantData.com will be tracking this massive transformation through press releases and the 2025 FDD as it becomes available.

How RestaurantData.com Tracks FDD Ownership Changes

RestaurantData.com is currently ingesting, harmonizing, and homogenizing new unit and hierarchical ownership changes across 135+ brands. In cases like Burger King, corporate takes locations back from franchisees and re-assigns them to another, more successful franchisee operator — or retains them as company-owned units.

Annually, RestaurantData.com receives FDD documents for tracked brands. FDD season typically runs from February to May. From April to June, our team analyzes open locations and identifies closed and broken chains. Pertinent changes and new hierarchical connections are finalized by September of each year.

If staying current on the 135,000 franchise owners in the U.S. is important to your business, RestaurantData.com can show you exactly how this data is structured and delivered.