Cartesian seals deal for China rollout of restaurant chain Popeyes

Popeyes was launched in China in 2019 as a partnership between RBI and Cartesian-owned Tab Food Investments (TFI). A first restaurant opened in Shanghai the following year – despite the pandemic – and it was suggested that there could be 1,500 within 10 years. The latest announcement appears to give the private equity firm sole jurisdiction over the brand in China.

There are currently nine Popeyes outlets in China: six in Shanghai, two in Hangzhou, and one in Nanjing. Local media reported on August 10 that seven of the nine had recently been closed.

Founded in 1972, Popeyes offers a New Orleans-style menu featuring chicken sandwiches, spicy chicken, chicken tenders, and fried shrimp. There are more than 3,850 restaurants across 30 countries, and last year agreements were announced to enter South Korea and India, among other territories. The Philippines and Sri Lanka have also been added in recent years.

Popeyes is the smallest of RBI’s three core brands, accounting for 3,451 out of 27,000 outlets globally in 2020 and contributing USD 5.1bn out of system-wide sales of USD 30.7bn. Burger King is substantially bigger, and Tim Hortons is slightly bigger.

TFI is already the franchise holder for Popeyes and Burger King in Turkey. Cartesian invested in TFI in 2011 and the China joint venture for Burger King was established a year later. There are now more than 1,300 Burger King restaurants nationwide, up from 63 in 2012.

In 2019, RBI and Cartesian opened the first Tim Hortons in China. Other investors such as Tencent Holdings, Sequoia Capital China, and Eastern Bell Capital came in over the next 12 months as the store count passed 150. Last year, Tim Hortons China agreed to merge with a US-listed special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) at a valuation of USD 1.8bn. There are now 450 outlets nationwide.

“We are proud to grow the Popeyes brand in China and to bring its famous Chicken Sandwich and iconic products to guests in this exceptionally dynamic market,” said Peter Yu, a managing partner at Cartesian, in a statement.

RBI, which is majority-owned by 3G Capital, was a relatively early adopter of master franchise agreements for Burger King, whereby individual partners receive exclusive development rights for entire markets in Asia. It works with private equity partners in Taiwan, Japan, India, Indonesia, and New Zealand, as well as China. In select cases, RBI comes in as a joint venture partner.

Cartesian, which has USD 3bn in committed capital, is headquartered in the US and operates out of offices in New York, Sao Paolo, and Shanghai.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Save this article  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Greater China
• Consumer
• Expansion
• China
• Cartesian Capital