Gregorio Jiménez and a group of investors buy Burger King Spain from Cinven for more than 2.3 billion

Gregorio Jiménez, executive president and founder of Restaurant Brands Europe (RBE), the company that manages Burger King in Spain and Portugal, will control 51% of the company along with a group of partners after closing the purchase of Cinven's participation. The operation is valued at more than 2.3 billion euros, as RBE itself announced this Friday in a statement.

Jiménez will lead the new shareholding together with Grupo Costa, Point Break Capital Management and a group of private investors, among whom the company cites Santiago Jiménez and Fernando Núñez, representing Grupo Ibérica. RBE has not detailed the percentage that each partner will have.

The company emphasizes that the operation guarantees the continuity of its business model. The current management team will continue to lead under the leadership of Jiménez.

Santander CIB and J.P. Morgan advised the purchasing consortium and, together with BBVA, financed the operation with a loan of 1.4 billion euros. A&O Shearman acted as legal advisor.

The purchase also has the support of Restaurant Brands International (RBI), the parent company that owns the brands. According to RBE, RBI remains confident in the company's strategy to continue growing Burger King, Popeyes and Tim Hortons in Europe.

This operation closes the stage of Cinven, which became a shareholder in 2022. Since 2017, RBE has multiplied its sales by more than five, which went from 282 million euros to 1,541 million in 2025. In the same period, EBITDA grew from 52 to 245 million.

The company was born in 2017 as Restaurant Brands Iberia, brought Popeyes to Spain in 2019 and adopted its current name after arriving in Italy in 2024. Today it has more than 1,150 its own restaurants in Spain, Portugal and Italy and more than 26,000 employees. Including franchises, its network exceeds 1,400 stores and 42,000 jobs.

"This operation represents a natural step in the evolution of Restaurant Brands Europe and reaffirms my commitment to the project," said Gregorio Jiménez in the statement. The businessman assures that they face the new stage "with a long-term vision."

The CEO of RBE, Borja Hernández de Alba, highlighted that recent years have been "a period of enormous transformation and growth." He also thanked Cinven for having been "a true partner" on that path.