Mexican investor Finaccess Capital has secured just over 60 per cent of Restaurant Brands' shares with a few hours left until its partial takeover offer closes.
At last count, Finaccess had acceptances comprising 61.71 per cent of the shares after bidding for 75 per cent of the company at $9.45 per share. The offer, which values Restaurant Brands at $1.18 billion, closes at 5pm today.
Now it has crossed 50 per cent, Finacess has the right to go unconditional and it may extend its offer for another 10 days should it need to. Once the offer closes, shareholders may have their acceptances scaled back but they would be paid within five working days.
Finaccess's interests include AmRest Holdings, which operates KFC, Pizza Hut, Burger King and Starbucks outlets across Europe and China.
Restaurant Brands holds the franchise for KFC, Pizza Hut, and Carl's Jr in New Zealand, and operates KFC franchises in Australia. It also runs Taco Bell and Pizza Hut stores in Hawaii and wants to expand to the US mainland.
Finaccess has received Overseas Investment Office (OIO) approval for the takeover and it would appear institutional investors are now rushing their forms in at the last minute.
Read more about Finaccess' plans for the business here.