Burger King to Grow Brand in Poland with New Master Franchisee McWin
McWin to acquire BK SEE Poland S.A. and become master franchisee in Poland - Development agreement envisions building more than 200 restaurants
Today, the Burger King brand and McWin have announced a new master franchise and development agreement to grow the brand in Poland, with a commitment to open more than 200 restaurants. McWin, a private investment firm specializing in the foodservice and food technology sectors, will manage the brand in Poland, which is present in the country since 2007, including its existing franchisees, and start operating 20 stores as a result of its acquisition of BK SEE Poland S.A.
"We’re excited to share big news from Poland, where we have announced plans to expand Burger King throughout Poland with McWin as our new Master Franchisee,” said David Shear, President, Burger King International Markets. “We know that guests here love our world-famous flame-grilled flavor and experience our brand their way through personalized digital innovation. We see this project as an important part of a larger plan to expand in Central and Eastern Europe that will allow us to bring our iconic brand featuring our great-tasting food to more guests than ever before.”
Founded in 1954, the Burger King brand is a global fast-food hamburger chain known for its food quality and value and as the only place guests can get the iconic flame-grilled Whopper® sandwich. The Burger King system operates more than 19,000 locations in more than 100 countries worldwide, including 33 countries across Europe.
Led by Henry McGovern, founder of AmRest Holdings SE, one of Europe's leading foodservice companies, and Steven K. Winegar, shareholder and senior executive of Zena Group and founder of Restauravia Grupo Empresarial, McWin is composed of an experienced team of industry and PE veterans with proven operational expertise, an unparalleled food industry network and deal origination capabilities, being the partner of choice for founders, investors, and management teams.
“This is the first investment of our €525 million McWin Restaurant Fund, which we closed a few weeks ago. We are incredibly proud to expand the Burger King brand across Poland, leveraging synergies across the McWin platform. We will be putting special emphasis on improving the brand’s digitalization and sustainability efforts in Poland,” Henry McGovern, founding partner at McWin, said.
“Our more than 150 years of combined experience of successfully operating and scaling iconic brands in the hospitality industry across multiple countries will help us unlock sustainable long-term value for customers, employees, and our communities, and for the Polish economy as a whole. We couldn’t be more excited. This is the beginning of an extremely meaningful chapter for both Burger King and McWin,” Steven K. Winegar, founding partner at McWin, added.