Josh Kobza named CEO of Restaurant Models Worldwide

Restaurant Brand names International, the owner of Burger King, Tim Hortons, Popeyes and Firehouse, has named Josh Kobza CEO. / Photograph courtesy of Burger King.

Restaurant Manufacturers Worldwide on Tuesday named Josh Kobza CEO, a move that arrives just months soon after the proprietor of Burger King, Popeyes, Tim Hortons and Firehouse Subs hired previous Domino’s CEO Patrick Doyle to be its new executive chairman.

Kobza, an 11-year organization veteran who was most a short while ago RBI’s main functioning officer, will choose about for José Cil as aspect of its “ongoing succession setting up method.” Cil, who experienced been CEO due to the fact 2019, will continue being with RBI for 1 calendar year as an advisor.

“Over the previous various yrs, the board of administrators has worked with administration to develop a considerate succession program for vital positions, so this is a all-natural transition for Josh to guide our following period of progress,” Doyle said in a statement.

Kobza was main fiscal officer for the business between 2013 and 2018, when he was integral to the combination of Burger King and Tim Hortons that developed RBI. He was then named chief technological innovation officer prior to he was provided the COO title in 2019. Kobza labored on the acquisitions of Popeyes in 2017 and then Firehouse in 2021.

The go finishes Cil’s 4-yr tenure and the end of his almost two-decade tenure with the organization. He guided RBI as a result of the pandemic, the acquisition of Firehouse and the revitalization of Tim Hortons. He was also CEO of the enterprise as Popeyes released its hen sandwich, the most pivotal new product introduction in contemporary sector historical past.

Cil was named the Restaurant Leader of the Year in 2021.

But Burger King U.S. struggled coming out of the pandemic and its very own hen sandwich introduction was a flop, prompting the firm to make a $400 million financial investment guiding its revitalization. Burger King’s U.S. exact same-keep revenue rose 5% in the U.S., RBI claimed Tuesday. Significant Burger King operator Toms King declared individual bankruptcy before this year.

RBI last yr amazingly lured Doyle to come to be the company’s executive chairman. At the time, RBI’s now-previous co-chairs mentioned the shift was intended to accelerate growth and “drive shareholder returns that we think this corporation is quite capable of providing.”

RBI’s inventory price tag was down much more than 3% in pre-market place trading on Tuesday.

“We’ve built great progress over the past couple many years and I’m quite very pleased of the crew we have constructed at RBI,” Cil reported in a statement.

RBI on Tuesday described systemwide gross sales growth of 13% in 2022, thanks in portion to the addition of much more than 1,200 world wide places to eat. Exact same-retail outlet sales for the company’s 4 brands rose 8% in the fourth quarter when the company’s earnings rose 21% to $3.25 per share. Profits rose 9% to $1.7 billion.

Exact-keep product sales rose 11% at Burger King internationally. Popeyes U.S. similar-retail outlet sales rose 1.5%. Tim Hortons’ same-retail outlet income in Canada increased 11% on the back of that brand’s comeback. At Firehouse, exact same-shop revenue rose 1%.

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