American fast food chain Burger King talks to buy Canada's largest coffee chain

Burger King (Burger King Worldwide Inc.) Sunday night confirmed that the company was working with Canadian coffee and doughnut chain Tim Hortons Inc. Talks on mergers and acquisitions, once the deal will lead to the world's third largest fast food chain.

This confirms previous reports in the Wall Street Journal (The Wall Street Journal) that the two companies were in merger talks.

Burger King and Tim Hortons said in a statement that the deal will form a new fast food chain operator, the new company will be publicly listed in Canada, and will also be headquartered in Canada.

3G Capital, Burger King's controlling shareholder, will hold a majority stake in the new company, while the rest will be held by Tim Hortons and existing Burger King shareholders, the statement said.

Burger King and Tim Hortons will operate as independent brands in the future, the statement said.

The new company will become the third largest fast food chain in the world, with sales of about $22 billion and more than 18000 stores in 100 countries, the statement said.

'The deal will still depend on the negotiation of the final agreement, 'the statement said.' there is no guarantee that an agreement will be reached or that the M & A deal will be completed, 'the statement said.

Neither company will comment further until the deal is concluded or negotiations are suspended, the two companies said.