THE KING IS COMING BACK TO ISRAEL (BURGER KING)

Pierre Besnainou relaunching Burger King in Israel
Anat Bein-Leibovitz
50 branches are planned in the first five years at a $12 million investment.

Fast food brand Burger King is coming back to Israel. A group of investors, the main one being French businessman Pierre Besnainou, who has holdings in a number of real estate and communications businesses and is a partner in Carmel Winery and the Chefa Meals & Service catering company, has obtained the Israeli franchise for the brand.

Burger King’s new activity in Israel will be built from the ground up. The international chain prefers that its new investor should begin anew, without using the foundations left from the previous franchise period.

50 branches around the country are planned within five years, at an initial investment of $12 million. The first branch will be launched next August, with five more branches getting underway by December.

The chain is already planning a major media campaign, for which it plans to use the services of Sheetrit Media Group, owned by Ruth Sheetrit. A NIS 20 million budget has been allocated for the launch.

In the past, the chain operated independently in Israel, but failed and was acquired in a pricing procedure in court by the Orgad brothers, owners of Burger Ranch, for NIS 25 million. Following this acquisition, the Orgad brothers converted all the Burger King branches to Burger Ranch branches, and withdrew the US brand from the market.