Burger King in talks to buy Tim Hortons

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by Igster

Indeed. But why is it someone who was recently put in the sin bin for doing the same thing he is doing now, continues to be allowed to do so?

Let us worry about it

[KelVarnsen]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

I think I'll just sit back with my double double and watch how this won't go well for you, Igster.

Fixed.

[keratosis]

Did you hear that Tim Horton's are being bought out by a foreign conglomerate ?

[Regular_John]

Originally Posted by darklord700

Facinating read about 3G's corporate culture.

"When Tim Horton’s managers meet their new overlords at 3G, “They will have no idea what hit them,” Harris said."

http://business.financialpost.com/20...t-tim-hortons/

Dang, I'm all for cutting lavish parties and corporate jets, but some of these cuts just scream of "we really don't give two craps about any of the employees"

When 3G took over Anheuser-Busch, which it acquired by folding it into the Belgian brewer InBev to form Anheuser-Busch InBev NV in 2008, executives were told they’d no longer get free cases of beer.

I mean hell, I'd expect the lowest level loading dock employees to get a free case once in a while, otherwise what's the point in working for a brewing company instead of freaking wal-mart?

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by keratosis

Did you hear that Tim Horton's are being bought out by a foreign conglomerate ?

The irony of BK doing this so they can move their headquarters to Canada is the fact that BK has been disappearing from Calgary (and Canada?) at a rapid rate.

One wonders if they will make a return to where they didn't seem to be wanted?

[Erick Estrada]

I would expect they will want to try and latch on to Tim Hortons with new Tim Hortons/Burger King restaurants but I don't know how much this will help them in Canada unless they start maybe selling Tim Hortons coffee and then I still don't know how much of a difference it would make.

[PeteMoss]

Its an interesting pairing as Burger King has been retreating from Canada (or at least lowering their footprint) and Tim Hortons has been doing the same in the US (they do well in some markets... my company has a warehouse in Columbus OH and they have a bunch of locations there)

I could see it helping BK in Canada if they started selling Tim Hortons coffee in their stores (shorter drive-thru waits). Don't really see it helping Tim Hortons in the US.

[Sr. Mints]

The fast food sector has always kind of piqued my interest, and I'm really curious too see what BK/Tims next move will be.

Incidentally, I ate at Burger King for the first time last week. I ordered a Double Whopper with fries. The burger was really good. The meat smelled "smokey" or BBQ'd, and I while I don't think it actually was, I got hints of home-cooked taste. The burger wasn't smothered in sauces. It was well above the average fast food burger.

Fries weren't anything special. I'd definitely head back.

[Madman]

Competition bureau has approved this.

http://www.660news.com/2014/10/28/co...y-tim-hortons/

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by Sr. Mints

Incidentally, I ate at Burger King for the first time last week. I ordered a Double Whopper with fries. The burger was really good.

Really? I've eaten a couple times at the one in Shawnessey and it's been total crap both times. Absolute crap. Not sure if it's just that location but everything was a mess, a "dining room" that looks like it was designed to be cleaned with a garden hose and squeegee and the patrons, well, ya....

Seems to me this chain is vanishing from Calgary because it's crap.

[FlamesAddiction]

I used to eat at BK all the time back in the day, but then twice in a row I had severe food poisoning from there. Now I cant even smell it without wanting to yak.

[Zarley]

Just got back from Europe and Burger King is all over the place there. I found it surprising considering that they seem to be vanishing in Canada.

[Tyler]

I love their Chicken Sammiches

[chemgear]

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/01...n_6546386.html

The unconfirmed report suggests many departments’ staff could be reduced by half or more.

“We have a year-end celebration this weekend, so they are going to wait until after that,” an unnamed source told the Post. “There is talk of departments of 120 going down to 40 people. Cutting all departments in half is the direction, but some will be worse than that.”

The newspaper says “tensions have run high” at Tim Hortons headquarters in Oakville since 3G Capital execs started moving into the offices last month. Two senior executives, including the new head of the company’s U.S. division, resigned within weeks of the new execs’ arrival.

In its report, the CCPA noted that 3G Capital has a track record of stripping assets from the companies it runs in order to fatten profit margins.

The report suggested the newly formed company could also shuffle numbers around to reduce its tax burden in Canada, a move that could cost governments $355 to $667 million in lost tax revenue.

[Erick Estrada]

Sounds like they are simply trimming the fat. When a company grows as fast as Tim Hortons has in the past few decades they are bound to amass a lot of highly paid executives that no longer warrant their salaries.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Sounds like they are simply trimming the fat. When a company grows as fast as Tim Hortons has in the past few decades they are bound to amass a lot of highly paid executives that no longer warrant their salaries.

While true, firing a bunch of people just to make Wall Street happy is pretty lame. Profit margins aren't always the only thing a company should focus on.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Azure

While true, firing a bunch of people just to make Wall Street happy is pretty lame. Profit margins aren't always the only thing a company should focus on.

This sort of what many predicted with 3g capital though. They have this track record for sure.

[mrkajz44]

Originally Posted by chemgear

In its report, the CCPA noted that 3G Capital has a track record of stripping assets from the companies it runs in order to fatten profit margins.

The report suggested the newly formed company could also shuffle numbers around to reduce its tax burden in Canada, a move that could cost governments $355 to $667 million in lost tax revenue.

I don't know how much stock I'd want to put in that article, considering these quotes:

1) No one strips out assets to fatten profit margins. You use assets to create a return, so stripping assets would simply reduce total profit in the long run

2) "Shuffle numbers around" has to be the most vague phrase of all time when considering international tax issues. How exactly would "shuffling the numbers" cost over half a billion in tax revenue? I doubt there is a concrete answer for that

The article takes the expected (layoffs after the merger of two large companies) and sensationalizes some finance points that the writer likely knows little about.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Azure

While true, firing a bunch of people just to make Wall Street happy is pretty lame. Profit margins aren't always the only thing a company should focus on.

Unfortunately profit margin is what most traded companies focus on. There's firing fat cats and there's reducing actual employees that contribute. Large company these days have far too many executives making 6 figure salaries that contribute very little. In fact in companies like mine they create obstacles if only to justify their existence in the company.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Unfortunately profit margin is what most traded companies focus on. There's firing fat cats and there's reducing actual employees that contribute. Large company these days have far too many executives making 6 figure salaries that contribute very little. In fact in companies like mine they create obstacles if only to justify their existence in the company.

Amazon has shown that as long as they keep being aggressive and show growth, profit margins aren't as important.