INTERVIEW - The return of the fast food chain to France seems assured, and Burger King might very well purchase
Quick (a French food chain and McDonald's biggest competitor in France) says Bernard Boutboul, director of the Gira Conseil consulting cabinet.
Is Burger King about to return to France?
Yes, at a 99% probability. The group has been preparing its return to France for one year. Burger King left the French market in 1997, certain that there was no place for a third company besides McDonald's and Quick. However, the French market has changed since. Fast food is booming. And one should not forget that the brand has a very strong notoriety among urban consumers of ages 35 and older. Some of them are very nostalgic for the whopper, so they enter a Burger King restaurant as fast as they can when they go to Germany or Switzerland. By the way, France is the only European country where the American group is absent.
What will Burger King's strategy be?
The most likely scenario is them purchasing Quick, which owns 370 restaurants in France. They're largely outnumbered by McDonald's, which owns 1,200. McDo never ceases to innovate, to frenchify itself and to make higher-end products. Quick is not reacting to that. Even worse, its image has been severely stained by the death of one customer in Avignon (in the south of France), who ate one of their hamburgers. Even more, the
Caisse des dépôts et consignations, which owns Quick, never hid the fact that they wanted to get rid of it.
How much would such an acquisition cost?
On average in this market, you'd have to pay about 90% of the structure's yearly revenue. Which, for Quick, would be close to 700 million ($996 million). By counting all the building work and renovation to do, Burger King would have to pay about one billion Euros ($1.42 billion) if they decided to go back to France by purchasing Quick.
What are the other possibilities for Burger King?
If they don't buy Quick, the group might take over the Pomme de Pain food chain (130 retail stores) which is also for sale, or purchase the Croissanterie chain (120 retail stores). Last possibility: buying stores one by one, but I don't see Burger King do things that way and wait for ten years to have a substantial network.
Who could be head of the French subsidiary?
In all likelihood, it should be Thierry Rousset. The man left as director of Subway France in July. He did formidable work for the development of the franchise. Today he's in charge of Burger King for Southern Europe.