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Article: Diageo guarantees $850m loan to secure Burger King sale
- Article from:
- The Independent (London, England)
- Article date:
- December 14, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2002 The Independent - London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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THE DRINKS giant Diageo finally completed the protracted sale of
Burger King yesterday, but the company had to agree to guarantee a
loan of $850m (pounds 535m) to have the fast-food chain taken off its
hands, even at a knockdown price of $1.5bn.
The group of American investors, led by Texas Pacific Group,
yesterday agreed terms with Diageo for Burger King, after first
discussing a $2.2bn deal in July. The bid talks foundered after a
severe fall-off in trading at Burger King that made negotiating a
price and securing funding for the deal increasingly difficult.
In order to get the deal to completion, Diageo had to step in as
guarantor for a loan of $750m by two banks to the buyers of Burger ...