According to reports published by Reuters a management team led by Burger King chairman John Dasburg and backed by Texas Pacific Group is nearing the close of a $2.3-billion deal to purchase Burger King from U.K.-based Diageo Plc. Sources close to the deal told Reuters that Diageo is expected to announce the close of deal and its terms in late July.
Dasburg’s group, which is also backed by Goldman Sachs Capital Partners and Bain Capital, is not the only interested party. But it is viewed as the strongest of the two top bidders. “Texas Pacific have Dasburg inside and has been doing all the talking to the U.S. franchisees, ” Reuters reported one banking source close to the talks as saying.
The second group led by the Blackstone Group consists of a joint private equity bid with Thomas H. Lee Partners. Merrill Lynch is the advisor.
Diageo declined to comment.
