Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements made in this report that reflect management’s expectations regarding future events and economic performance are forward-looking in nature and, accordingly, are subject to risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements include statements regarding our belief and expectations regarding our ability to drive sales and traffic in the U.S and Canada through execution of our four pillars strategy of marketing communications, menu, operations and image; our beliefs and expectations regarding the strength of our menu and our ability to optimize our menu by focusing on core products while continuing to enhance our menu to appeal to a broader range of consumers; our belief and expectations regarding the ability of our new field structure to improve our restaurant operations in the U.S. and Canada, including speed of service and restaurant cleanliness; our belief and expectations that our re-imaged restaurants will generate significant sales uplifts and high return on capital for our franchisees; our belief and expectations that our refranchising initiative will be completed by the end of 2013 and will continue to enhance our cash flow, accelerate our re-imaging initiative and strengthen relationships with key franchisees; our belief and expectations that our international growth strategy of utilizing strategic joint ventures and master franchise and development agreements will permit us to capitalize on emerging markets and rising middle class consumer spending; our belief and expectations regarding new market entries in 2013 and beyond; our belief and expectations regarding significant international growth opportunities; our ability to manage fluctuations in foreign currency exchange and interest rates; our estimates regarding our liquidity, capital expenditures and sources of both, and our ability to fund future operations and obligations; our estimates regarding the fulfillment of certain volume purchase commitments; our expectations regarding the impact of accounting pronouncements; our intention to renew hedging contracts; and our expectations regarding unrecognized tax benefits. These forward-looking statements are only predictions based on our current expectations and projections about future events. Important factors could cause our actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the risks and uncertainties discussed below.

Risks related to our business

Our success depends on our ability to compete with our major competitors, many of which have greater resources than we do.

The restaurant industry is intensely competitive and we compete in the United States and internationally with many well-established food service companies on the basis of product choice, quality, affordability, service and location. Our competitors include a variety of independent local operators, in addition to well-capitalized regional, national and international restaurant chains and franchises. In the FFHR industry our principal competitors are McDonald’s and Wendy’s as well as regional hamburger restaurant chains, such as Carl’s Jr., Jack in the Box and Sonic. To a lesser extent, we also compete for consumer dining dollars with national, regional and local (i) quick service restaurants that offer alternative menus, (ii) casual and “fast casual” restaurant chains, and (iii) convenience stores and grocery stores. Furthermore, the restaurant industry has few barriers to entry, and therefore new competitors may emerge at any time.

Our ability to compete will depend on the success of our plans to improve existing products, to develop and roll-out new products and product line extensions, to effectively respond to consumer preferences and to manage the complexity of our restaurant operations as well as the impact of our competitors’ actions. Some of our competitors have substantially greater financial resources, higher revenues and greater economies of scale than we do. These advantages may allow them to (1) react to changes in pricing, marketing and the QSR segment in general more quickly and more effectively than we can, (2) rapidly expand new product introductions, (3) spend significantly more on advertising, marketing and other promotional activities than we do, which may give them a competitive advantage through higher levels of brand awareness among consumers and (4) devote greater resources to accelerate their restaurant remodeling and rebuilding efforts. Moreover, certain of our major competitors have completed the reimaging of a significant percentage of their store base. These competitive

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advantages arising from greater financial resources and economies of scale may be exacerbated in a difficult economy, thereby permitting our competitors to gain market share. Such competition may adversely affect our revenues and profits by reducing revenues of Company restaurants and royalty payments from franchise restaurants.

The market for retail real estate is highly competitive. Based on their size advantage and/or their greater financial resources, some of our competitors may have the ability to negotiate more favorable lease terms than we can and some landlords and developers may offer priority or grant exclusivity to some of our competitors for desirable locations. As a result, we may not be able to obtain new leases or renew existing leases on acceptable terms, if at all, which could adversely affect our sales and brand-building initiatives.

Economic conditions have, and may continue to, adversely affect consumer discretionary spending which could negatively impact our business and operating results.

We believe that our sales, guest traffic and profitability are strongly correlated to consumer discretionary spending, which is influenced by general economic conditions, unemployment levels, the availability of discretionary income and, ultimately, consumer confidence. A protracted economic slowdown, increased unemployment and underemployment of our customer base, decreased salaries and wage rates, increased energy prices, inflation, foreclosures, rising interest rates or other industry-wide cost pressures adversely affect consumer behavior by weakening consumer confidence and decreasing consumer spending for restaurant dining occasions. During the recent recession, as a result of these factors we experienced reduced revenues and sales deleverage, spreading fixed costs across a lower level of sales and causing downward pressure on our profitability. These factors also reduced sales at franchise restaurants, resulting in lower royalty payments from franchisees.

We have a substantial level of indebtedness which may have an adverse effect on our business or limit our ability to take advantage of business, strategic or financing opportunities.

As of December 31, 2012, we had aggregate outstanding indebtedness of $2,950.2 million, including $1,718.7 million outstanding under our senior secured credit facility (the “2012 Credit Agreement”), $794.5 million of 9 7/8% senior notes due 2018 (the “Senior Notes”) and $407.1 million of 11.0% senior discount notes due 2019 (the “Discount Notes”). Subject to certain restrictions under our existing indebtedness, we and BKC may also incur significant additional indebtedness in the future, some of which may be secured debt. This may have the effect of increasing our total leverage.

As a consequence of our indebtedness, (1) demands on our cash resources may increase and (2) we are subject to significant operating and financial restrictions on us that may limit our ability to engage in acts that may be in our best interest, including restrictions on our ability to, among other things, (i) incur additional indebtedness and guarantee indebtedness, (ii) prepay, redeem or repurchase certain debt, (iii) make loans and investments, including loans to our franchisees or strategic partners, (iv) sell or otherwise dispose of assets or (v) incur liens. In addition, the restrictive covenants in the 2012 Credit Agreement require BKC to maintain specified financial ratios. Our ability to meet those financial ratios can be affected by events beyond our control.

A breach of our covenants under the Senior Notes Indenture, the Discount Notes Indenture or the Credit Agreement could result in an event of default under the applicable indebtedness. Any such default may allow the creditors to accelerate the related debt and may result in the acceleration of any other debt to which a cross-acceleration or cross-default provision applies. In the event our lenders or noteholders accelerate the repayment of our borrowings, we and our subsidiaries would not have sufficient assets to repay that indebtedness.

We may not be able to generate sufficient cash to service all of our indebtedness, and may be forced to take other actions to satisfy our obligations under our indebtedness, which may not be successful.

Our ability to make scheduled payments on or refinance our debt obligations depends on our financial condition and operating performance, which are subject to prevailing economic, industry and competitive

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conditions and to certain financial, business, legislative, regulatory and other factors beyond our control. We may be unable to maintain a level of cash flows from operating activities sufficient to permit us to pay the principal, premium, if any, and interest on our indebtedness. If our cash flows and capital resources are insufficient to fund our debt service obligations, we could face substantial liquidity problems and could be forced to reduce or delay investments and capital expenditures or to dispose of material assets or operations, seek additional debt or equity capital or restructure or refinance our indebtedness, including the notes. We may not be able to affect any such alternative measures on commercially reasonable terms or at all and, even if successful, those alternative actions may not allow us to meet our scheduled debt service obligations. The Senior Notes Indenture, the Discount Notes Indenture and the Credit Agreement restrict our ability to dispose of assets and use the proceeds from those dispositions and also restrict our ability to raise debt or equity capital to be used to repay other indebtedness when it becomes due. We may not be able to consummate those dispositions or to obtain proceeds in an amount sufficient to meet any debt service obligations then due.

In addition, we conduct a substantial portion of our operations through our subsidiaries. Accordingly, repayment of our indebtedness is dependent on the generation of cash flow by our subsidiaries and their ability to make such cash available to us, by dividend, debt repayment or otherwise. Our subsidiaries do not have any obligation to pay amounts due on our indebtedness (unless they are guarantors thereof) or to make funds available for that purpose. Our subsidiaries may not be able to, or may not be permitted to, make distributions to enable us to make payments in respect of our indebtedness. Each subsidiary is a distinct legal entity, and, under certain circumstances, legal and contractual restrictions may limit our ability to obtain cash from our subsidiaries. While the Senior Notes Indenture, the Discount Notes Indenture and the agreements governing certain of our other existing indebtedness limit the ability of our subsidiaries to incur consensual restrictions on their ability to pay dividends or make other intercompany payments to us, these limitations are subject to qualifications and exceptions. In the event that we do not receive distributions from our subsidiaries, we may be unable to make required principal and interest payments on our indebtedness.

Our franchise dominated business model presents a number of disadvantages and risks.

We have a higher percentage of franchise restaurants to Company restaurants than our major competitors in the FFHR category, and we expect the number of franchise restaurants to increase as we continue to implement our refranchising strategy and our growth plans. Our highly franchised business model presents a number of drawbacks, such as our limited influence over franchisees and reliance on franchisees to implement major initiatives, limited ability to facilitate changes in restaurant ownership, limitations on enforcement of franchise obligations due to bankruptcy or insolvency proceedings and inability or unwillingness of franchisees to participate in our strategic initiatives. For example, our success in executing one of our key strategies (re-imaging our store base) will depend on the ability and willingness of our franchisees to reinvest in remodeling or rebuilding their stores. As part of our global portfolio realignment project, we intend to increase the number of franchised restaurants; therefore, the problems associated with these drawbacks may be exacerbated and may present a significant challenge for management.

A franchisee bankruptcy could have a substantial negative impact on our ability to collect payments due under such franchisee’s franchise agreements and, if applicable, lease agreements with us. In a franchisee bankruptcy, the bankruptcy trustee may reject its franchise arrangements pursuant to Section 365 under the United States Bankruptcy Code, in which case there would be no further royalty payments and/or rent payments from such franchisee, and there can be no assurance as to the proceeds, if any, that may ultimately be recovered in a bankruptcy proceeding of such franchisee in connection with a damage claim resulting from such rejection.

Our principal competitors may have greater influence over their respective restaurant systems than we do because of their significantly higher percentage of Company restaurants and/or ownership of franchisee real estate. McDonald’s and Wendy’s have a higher percentage of Company restaurants than we do, and, as a result, they may have a greater ability to implement operational initiatives and business strategies, including their marketing and advertising programs.

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Franchisee support of our marketing and advertising programs is critical for our success.

The support of our franchisees is critical for the success of our marketing programs and any new capital intensive or other strategic initiatives we seek to undertake, and the successful execution of these initiatives will depend on our ability to maintain alignment with our franchisees. While we can mandate certain strategic initiatives through enforcement of our franchise agreements, we need the active support of our franchisees if the implementation of these initiatives is to be successful. In addition, our efforts to build alignment with franchisees may result in a delay in the implementation of our marketing and advertising programs and other key initiatives. Our franchisees may not continue to support our marketing programs and strategic initiatives. The failure of our franchisees to support our marketing programs and strategic initiatives could adversely affect our ability to implement our business strategy and could materially harm our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Our operating results are closely tied to the success of our franchisees; however, our franchisees are independent operators and we have limited influence over their restaurant operations.

We receive revenues in the form of royalties and fees from our franchisees. As a result, our operating results substantially depend upon our franchisees’ sales volumes, restaurant profitability and financial viability. However, our franchisees are independent operators and we cannot control many factors that impact the profitability of their restaurants. Pursuant to the franchise agreements, we can, among other things, mandate menu items, signage, equipment, hours of operation and value menu, establish operating procedures and approve suppliers, distributors and products. However, the quality of franchise restaurant operations may be diminished by any number of factors beyond our control. Consequently, franchisees may not successfully operate restaurants in a manner consistent with our standards and requirements, such as our cleanliness standards, or standards set by federal, state and local governmental laws and regulations. In addition, franchisees may not hire and train qualified managers and other restaurant personnel. While we ultimately can take action to terminate franchisees that do not comply with the standards contained in our franchise agreements and our Manual of Operating Data, we may not be able to identify problems and take action quickly enough and, as a result, our image and reputation may suffer, and our franchise revenues and results of operations could decline.

If sales trends or economic conditions worsen for franchisees, their financial results may deteriorate, which could result in, among other things, restaurant closures, delayed or reduced payments to us of royalties, advertising contributions and rents, and an inability for such franchisees to obtain financing to fund development, restaurant remodels or equipment initiatives on acceptable terms or at all. Furthermore, franchisees may not be willing or able to renew their franchise agreements with us due to low sales volumes, or high real estate costs, or may be unable to renew due to the failure to secure lease renewals. If our franchisees fail to renew their franchise agreements, our royalty revenues may decrease which in turn could materially and adversely affect our business and operating results.

Termination of an arrangement with a master franchisee could adversely impact our results.

Internationally, we are moving to a business model in which we enter into relationships with “master franchisees” to develop and operate restaurants in defined geographic areas. Master franchisees are granted exclusivity rights with respect to entire countries or, in some cases, multiple countries. The termination of an arrangement with a master franchisee or a lack of expansion by certain master franchisees could result in the delay or discontinuation of the development of franchise restaurants, or an interruption in the operation of our brand in a particular market or markets. We may not be able to find another operator to resume development activities in such market or markets. Any such delay, discontinuation or interruption could materially and adversely affect our business and operating results.

Sub-franchisees could take actions that could harm our business and that of our master franchisees.

In certain of our international markets, we enter into agreements with master franchisees that permit the master franchisee to develop and operate restaurants in defined geographic areas. As permitted by our master

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franchise agreements, certain master franchisees may elect to sub-franchise rights to develop and operate restaurants in the geographic area covered by the master franchise agreement. Our master franchise agreements contractually obligate our master franchisees to operate their restaurants in accordance with specified operations, safety and health standards and also require that any sub-franchise agreement contain similar requirements. However, we are not party to the agreements with the sub-franchisees and, as a result, are dependent upon our master franchisees to enforce these standards with respect to sub-franchised restaurants. As a result, the ultimate success and quality of any sub-franchised restaurant rests with the master franchisee. If sub-franchisees do not successfully operate their restaurants in a manner consistent with required standards, franchise fees and royalty income paid to the applicable master franchisee and ultimately to us could be adversely affected, and our brand image and reputation may be harmed, which could materially and adversely affect our business and operating results.

Our operating results depend on the effectiveness of our marketing and advertising programs.

Our revenues are heavily influenced by brand marketing and advertising. Our marketing and advertising programs may not be successful, which may lead us to fail to attract new guests and retain existing guests. If our marketing and advertising programs are unsuccessful, our results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. Moreover, because franchisees and Company restaurants contribute to our advertising fund based on a percentage of their gross sales, our advertising fund expenditures are dependent upon sales volumes at system-wide restaurants. If system-wide sales decline, there will be a reduced amount available for our marketing and advertising programs. In addition, in response to the recession, we have emphasized certain value offerings in our marketing and advertising programs to drive traffic at our stores. The disadvantage of value offerings is that the low-price offerings may condition our guests to resist higher prices in a more favorable economic environment.

The success of our global portfolio realignment project is dependent on transactions with strategic partners and may not yield the long term financial results that we expect. We may not be able to successfully (1) attract desirable strategic partners; (2) complete agreements with strategic partners, and/or (3) manage relationships with strategic partners going forward, any of which could adversely affect our business.

We believe that our future growth and profitability will depend on our ability to successfully implement our global portfolio realignment project, including refranchising our remaining Company restaurants and accelerating international development with strategic partners and joint ventures. However, refranchisings may have unexpected and negative short term effects on our results of operations. For example, (i) our general and administrative expenses may increase as a result of severance and other termination costs incurred in connection with refranchisings and may continue to increase as a percentage of revenues, or (ii) we may be required to recognize accounting or tax gains or losses and/or impairments on refranchising transactions, which could adversely affect our results of operations for a specific period. Our ability to achieve the long-term benefits of our refranchising transactions will depend on (i) our ability to identify new or existing franchisees that are willing to acquire the remaining Company restaurants, and (ii) the ability and willingness of these new and existing franchises to remodel the refranchised restaurants and develop new restaurants within the market of the refranchised restaurants, and the pace of such remodeling and development activity.

We currently conduct a portion of our international operations through joint ventures and master franchisees and are actively seeking strategic partners for new joint venture and master franchise relationships as part of our overall strategy for international expansion. These new arrangements may give our joint venture and/or master franchise partners the exclusive right to develop and manage Burger King restaurants in a specific country or countries. A joint venture partnership involves special risks, such as our joint venture partners may at any time have economic, business or legal interests or goals that are inconsistent with those of the joint venture or us, or our joint venture partners may be unable to meet their economic or other obligations and we may be required to fulfill those obligations alone. Our master franchise arrangements present similar risks and uncertainties. We cannot control the actions of our joint venture partners or master franchisees, including any nonperformance, default or bankruptcy of joint venture partners or master franchisees. While we believe that our joint venture and

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master franchise arrangements provide us with experienced local business partners in foreign countries, events or issues, including disagreements with our partners, may occur that require attention of our senior executives and may result in expenses or losses that erode the profitability of our foreign operations.

In addition, the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or “FCPA,” and similar worldwide anti-bribery laws generally prohibit companies and their intermediaries from making improper payments to government officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. Our policies mandate compliance with these laws. Despite our compliance programs, we cannot assure you that our internal control policies and procedures always will protect us from reckless or negligent acts committed by our employees, agents, joint venture partners or franchisees. Violations of these laws, or allegations of such violations, may have a negative effect on our results of operations, financial condition and reputation.

Our future prospects depend on our ability to implement our strategy of increasing our restaurant portfolio.

We plan to significantly increase worldwide restaurant count. A significant component of our future growth strategy involves increasing our net restaurant count in our international markets. We and our franchisees face many challenges in opening new restaurants, including, among others:

In the past, we have approved franchisees that were unsuccessful in implementing their expansion plans, particularly in new markets. There can be no assurance that we will be able to identify franchisees who meet our criteria, or if we identify such franchisees, that they will successfully implement their expansion plans.

Our international operations subject us to additional risks and costs and may cause our profitability to decline.

As of December 31, 2012, our restaurants were operated, directly by us or by franchisees, in 86 countries and U.S. territories (including Guam and Puerto Rico, which are considered part of our international business). During 2012, our revenues from international operations represented 43% of total revenues and we intend to continue expansion of our international operations. As a result, our business is increasingly exposed to risks inherent in foreign operations. These risks, which can vary substantially by market, are described in many of the risk factors discussed in the section and include the following:

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These factors may increase in importance as we expect our franchisees to open new restaurants in international markets as part of our growth strategy.

Our business is subject to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange and interest rates.

Our international operations are impacted by fluctuations in currency exchange rates and changes in currency regulations. In countries outside of the United States where we operate Company restaurants, we generally generate revenues and incur operating expenses and selling, general and administrative expenses denominated in local currencies. These revenues and expenses are translated using the average rates during the period in which they are recognized and are impacted by changes in currency exchange rates. Further, in some of our international markets, such as Canada and Mexico, our suppliers purchase goods in currencies other than the local currency in which they operate and pass all or a portion of the currency exchange impact on to us. In addition, our royalty payments in Europe and in certain other countries are denominated in currencies other than US dollars. Consequently, our franchise revenues from those counties are subject to fluctuations in currency exchange rates. Furthermore, our franchise royalties from our international franchisees are calculated based on local currency sales, consequently our franchise revenues are still impacted by fluctuations in currency exchange rates.

Fluctuations in interest rates may also affect our business. We attempt to minimize this risk and lower our overall borrowing costs through the utilization of derivative financial instruments, primarily interest rate caps. These instruments are entered into with financial institutions and have reset dates and critical terms that match those of our forecasted interest payments. Accordingly, any changes in interest rates we pay are partially offset by changes in the market value associated with derivative financial instruments. We do not attempt to hedge all of our debt and, as a result, may incur higher interest costs for portions of our debt which are not hedged. In addition, we enter into forward contracts to reduce our exposure to volatility from foreign currency fluctuations associated with certain foreign currency-denominated assets. However, for a variety of reasons, we do not hedge our revenue exposure in other currencies. Therefore, we are exposed to volatility in those other currencies, and this volatility may differ from period to period. As a result, the foreign currency impact on our operating results for one period may not be indicative of future results.

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As a result of entering into these hedging contracts with major financial institutions, we may be subject to counterparty nonperformance risk. Should there be a counterparty default, we could be exposed to the net losses on the hedged arrangements or be unable to recover anticipated net gains from the transactions.

Increases in food costs could harm our operating results and the operating results of our franchisees.

Our profitability and the profitability of our franchisees depend in part on our ability to anticipate and react to changes in food and supply costs. The market for beef and chicken is particularly volatile and is subject to significant price fluctuations due to seasonal shifts, climate conditions, demand for corn (a key ingredient of cattle and chicken feed), corn ethanol policy, industry demand, international commodity markets, food safety concerns, product recalls, government regulation and other factors, all of which are beyond our control and, in many instances unpredictable. If the price of beef, chicken or other products that we use in our Company restaurants increases in the future and we choose not to pass, or cannot pass, these increases on to our guests, our operating margins would decrease for as long as we operate Company restaurants. In addition, if commodity prices rise, franchisees may experience reduced sales due to decreased consumer demand at retail prices that have been raised to offset increased commodity prices, which may reduce franchisee profitability. Any such decline in franchisee sales will reduce our royalty income, which in turn may materially and adversely affect our business and operating results.

If we fail to successfully implement our restaurant reimaging initiative, our ability to increase our revenues may be adversely affected.

Our restaurant reimaging initiative depends on the ability, and willingness, of franchisees to accelerate the remodeling of their existing restaurants. We have implemented a more cost effective remodeling solution which focuses spending on improvements that we believe will drive meaningful sales lifts to maximize return on capital. However, our franchisees may not be willing to commit to engage in such remodeling. The average cost to remodel a stand-alone restaurant in the United States is approximately $300,000 and the average cost to replace the existing building with a new building is approximately $1.2 million. Even if they are willing to participate, many of our franchisees will need to borrow funds in order to finance these capital expenditures. We do not provide our franchisees with financing and therefore their ability to access borrowed funds depends on their independent relationships with various regional and national financial institutions. If our franchisees are unable to obtain financing at commercially reasonable rates, or not at all, they may be unwilling or unable to invest in the reimaging of their existing restaurants, and our future growth could be adversely affected. We currently offer, and may in the future continue to offer, our franchisees financial incentives and access to third-party financing programs in order to accelerate our restaurant reimaging initiatives. However, the cost of these financial incentives may have an adverse impact on our franchise revenues and operating results.

Food safety and food-borne illness concerns may have an adverse effect on our business.

Food safety is a top priority, and we dedicate substantial resources to ensure that our customers enjoy safe, quality food products. However, food-borne illnesses, such as E. coli, bovine spongiform encephalopathy or “mad cow disease,” hepatitis A, trichinosis or salmonella, and food safety issues have occurred in the food industry in the past, and could occur in the future. Furthermore, our reliance on third-party food suppliers and distributors increases the risk that food-borne illness incidents could be caused by factors outside of our control and that multiple locations would be affected rather than a single restaurant. New illnesses resistant to any precautions may develop in the future, or diseases with long incubation periods could arise, such as mad cow disease, which could give rise to claims or allegations on a retroactive basis. Any report or publicity linking us or one of our franchisees to instances of food-borne illness or other food safety issues, including food tampering or contamination, could adversely affect our brands and reputation as well as our revenues and profits. Outbreaks of disease, as well as influenza, could reduce traffic in our stores. If our customers become ill from food-borne illnesses, we could also be forced to temporarily close some restaurants. In addition, instances of food-borne illness, food tampering or food contamination occurring solely at restaurants of competitors could adversely affect our sales as a result of negative publicity about the foodservice industry generally.

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The occurrence of food-borne illnesses or food safety issues could also adversely affect the price and availability of affected ingredients, which could result in disruptions in our supply chain, significantly increase our costs and/or lower margins for us and our franchisees. In addition, our industry has long been subject to the threat of food tampering by suppliers, employees or guests, such as the addition of foreign objects in the food that we sell. Reports, whether or not true, of injuries caused by food tampering have in the past severely injured the reputations of restaurant chains in the quick service restaurant segment and could affect us in the future as well.

Our results can be adversely affected by unforeseen events, such as adverse weather conditions, natural disasters or catastrophic events.

Unforeseen events, such as adverse weather conditions, natural disasters or catastrophic events, can adversely impact our restaurant sales. Natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, and severe adverse weather conditions and health pandemics, such as the outbreak of the H1N1 flu, whether occurring in the United States or abroad, can keep customers in the affected area from dining out and result in lost opportunities for our restaurants. Because a significant portion of our restaurant operating costs is fixed or semi-fixed in nature, the loss of sales during these periods hurts our operating margins and can result in restaurant operating losses.

Shortages or interruptions in the availability and delivery of food, beverages and other supplies may increase costs or reduce revenues.

We and our franchisees are dependent upon third parties to make frequent deliveries of perishable food products that meet our specifications. Shortages or interruptions in the supply of food items and other supplies to our restaurants could adversely affect the availability, quality and cost of items we buy and the operations of our restaurants. Such shortages or disruptions could be caused by inclement weather, natural disasters such as floods, drought and hurricanes, increased demand, problems in production or distribution, the inability of our vendors to obtain credit, food safety warnings or advisories or the prospect of such pronouncements, or other conditions beyond our control. A shortage or interruption in the availability of certain food products or supplies could increase costs and limit the availability of products critical to restaurant operations.

Four distributors service approximately 85% of our U.S. system restaurants and in many of our international markets, we have a single distributor that delivers products to all of our restaurants. Our distributors operate in a competitive and low-margin business environment. If one of our principal distributors is in financial distress and therefore unable to continue to supply us and our franchisees with needed products, we may need to take steps to ensure the continued supply of products to restaurants in the affected markets, which could result in increased costs to distribute needed products. If a principal distributor for our Company restaurants and/or our franchisees fails to meet its service requirements for any reason, it could lead to a disruption of service or supply until a new distributor is engaged, which could have an adverse effect on our business.

The loss of key management personnel or our inability to attract and retain new qualified personnel could hurt our business and inhibit our ability to operate and grow successfully.

We are dependent on the efforts and abilities of our senior management, and our success will also depend on our ability to attract and retain additional qualified employees. Failure to attract personnel sufficiently qualified to execute our strategy, or to retain existing key personnel, could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Changes in tax laws and unanticipated tax liabilities could adversely affect the taxes we pay and our profitability.

We are subject to income and other taxes in the United States and numerous foreign jurisdictions. Our federal income tax returns for fiscal years 2009, 2010, the period from July 1, 2010 to October 18, 2010 and the period from October 19, 2010 to December 31, 2010 are currently under audit by the Internal Revenue Service

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and from time to time, we are subject to additional U.S. state and local income tax audits, international income tax audits and sales, franchise and VAT tax audits. Our effective income tax rate and tax payments in the future could be adversely affected by a number of factors, including: changes in the mix of earnings in countries with different statutory tax rates; changes in the valuation of deferred tax assets and liabilities; continued losses in certain international Company restaurant markets that could trigger a valuation allowance; changes in tax laws; the outcome of income tax audits in various jurisdictions around the world; taxes imposed upon sales of Company restaurants to franchisees; and any repatriation of non-U.S. earnings or our determination that unremitted earnings from foreign subsidiaries for which we have not previously provided for U.S. taxes were no longer permanently reinvested outside the U.S.

Although we believe our tax estimates are reasonable, the final determination of tax audits and any related litigation could be materially different from our historical income tax provisions and accruals. The results of a tax audit or related litigation could have a material effect on our income tax provision, net income (loss) or cash flows in the period or periods for which that determination is made.

A significant portion of our and our franchisee’s real estate portfolios are leased; if we or our franchisees are unable to renew these leases on commercially reasonable terms or at all, then our future financial results could be adversely affected.

Many of our Company and franchise restaurants are presently located on leased premises. As leases underlying our Company and franchisee restaurants expire, we or our franchisees may be unable to negotiate a new lease or lease extension, either on commercially acceptable terms or at all, which could cause us or our franchisees to close restaurants in desirable locations. As a result, our sales and our brand building initiatives could be adversely affected. We generally cannot cancel these leases; therefore, if an existing or future restaurant is not profitable, and we decide to close it, we may nonetheless be committed to perform our obligations under the applicable lease including, among other things, paying the base rent for the balance of the lease term.

We may not be able to adequately protect our intellectual property, which could harm the value of our brand and branded products and adversely affect our business.

We depend in large part on our brand, which represents 40% of the total assets on our balance sheet as of December 31, 2012, and we believe that our brand is very important to our success and our competitive position. We rely on a combination of trademarks, copyrights, service marks, trade secrets, patents and other intellectual property rights to protect our brand and branded products. The success of our business depends on our continued ability to use our existing trademarks and service marks in order to increase brand awareness and further develop our branded products in both domestic and international markets. We have registered certain trademarks and have other trademark registrations pending in the United States and foreign jurisdictions. Not all of the trademarks that we currently use have been registered in all of the countries in which we do business, and they may never be registered in all of these countries. We may not be able to adequately protect our trademarks, and our use of these trademarks may result in liability for trademark infringement, trademark dilution or unfair competition. The steps we have taken to protect our intellectual property in the United States and in foreign countries may not be adequate and our proprietary rights could be challenged, circumvented, infringed or invalidated. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States.

We may not be able to prevent third parties from infringing our intellectual property rights, and we may, from time to time, be required to institute litigation to enforce our trademarks or other intellectual property rights or to protect our trade secrets. Further, third parties may assert or prosecute infringement claims against us and we may or may not be able to successfully defend these claims. Any such litigation could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources and could negatively affect our revenue, profitability and prospects regardless of whether we are able to successfully enforce our rights.

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Recent public and private concerns about the health risks associated with fast food may adversely affect our financial results.

Class action lawsuits have been filed, and may continue to be filed, against various quick service restaurants alleging, among other things, that quick service restaurants have failed to disclose the health risks associated with high-fat or high-sodium foods and that quick service restaurant marketing practices have targeted children and encouraged obesity. Adverse publicity about these allegations may negatively affect us and our franchisees, regardless of whether the allegations are true, by discouraging customers from buying our products. In addition, we face the risk of lawsuits and negative publicity resulting from illnesses and injuries, including injuries to infants and children, allegedly caused by our products, toys and other promotional items available in our restaurants or our playground equipment. In addition to decreasing our revenue and profitability and diverting our management resources, adverse publicity or a substantial judgment against us could negatively impact our business, results of operations, financial condition and brand reputation, hindering our ability to attract and retain franchisees and grow our business in the United States and internationally.

Changes in governmental regulations may adversely affect restaurant operations and our financial results.

In the United States, each of our Company and franchise restaurants is subject to licensing and regulation by health, sanitation, safety and other agencies in the state and/or municipality in which the restaurant is located. State and local government authorities may enact laws, rules or regulations that impact restaurant operations and the cost of conducting those operations. In many of our markets, including the United States and Europe, we and our franchisees are subject to increasing regulation regarding our operations, which may significantly increase the cost of doing business. In developing markets, we face the risks associated with new and untested laws and judicial systems. Among the more important regulatory risks regarding our operations we face are the following:

We are also subject to a Federal Trade Commission rule and to various state and foreign laws that govern the offer and sale of franchises. Various state and foreign laws regulate certain aspects of the franchise relationship, including terminations and the refusal to renew franchises. The failure to comply with these laws and regulations in any jurisdiction or to obtain required government approvals could result in a ban or temporary suspension on future franchise sales, fines, other penalties or require us to make offers of rescission or restitution, any of which could adversely affect our business and operating results. We could also face lawsuits by our franchisees based upon alleged violations of these laws.

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The Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in public accommodations and employment. We have, in the past, been required to make certain modifications to our restaurants pursuant to the ADA. In addition, future mandated modifications to our facilities to make different accommodations for disabled persons and modifications required under the ADA could result in material unanticipated expense to us and our franchisees.

If we fail to comply with existing or future laws and regulations, we may be subject to governmental or judicial fines or sanctions. In addition, our and our franchisees’ capital expenditures could increase due to remediation measures that may be required if we are found to be noncompliant with any of these laws or regulations.

The personal information that we collect may be vulnerable to breach, theft or loss that could adversely affect our reputation, results of operation and financial condition.

In the ordinary course of our business, we collect, process, transmit and retain personal information regarding our employees and their families, franchisees, vendors and consumers, including social security numbers, banking and tax ID information, health care information and credit card information. Some of this personal information is held and managed by certain of our vendors. Although we use security and business controls to limit access and use of personal information, a third party may be able to circumvent those security and business controls, which could result in a breach of employee, consumer or franchisee privacy. A major breach, theft or loss of personal information regarding our employees and their families, our franchisees, vendors or consumers that is held by us or our vendors could result in substantial fines, penalties and potential litigation against us which could negatively impact our results of operations and financial condition. Furthermore, as a result of legislative and regulatory rules, we may be required to notify the owners of the personal information of any data breaches, which could harm our reputation and financial results, as well as subject us to litigation or actions by regulatory authorities.

Information technology system failures or interruptions or breaches of our network security may interrupt our operations, subject us to increased operating costs and expose us to litigation.

We rely heavily on our computer systems and network infrastructure across our operations including, but not limited to, point-of-sale processing at our restaurants. Despite our implementation of security measures, all of our technology systems are vulnerable to damage, disability or failures due to physical theft, fire, power loss, telecommunications failure or other catastrophic events, as well as from internal and external security breaches, denial of service attacks, viruses, worms and other disruptive problems caused by hackers. If our technology systems were to fail, and we were unable to recover in a timely way, we could experience an interruption in our operations which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. Furthermore, to the extent that some of our worldwide reporting systems require or rely on manual processes, it could increase the risk of a breach. Although our Twitter account was compromised in February 2013, our systems have never been breached and we have not experienced a cyber attack in the past.

In addition, a number of our systems and processes are not fully integrated worldwide and, as a result, require us to manually estimate and consolidate certain information that we use to manage our business. To the extent that we are not able to obtain transparency into our operations from our systems, it could impair the ability of our management to react quickly to changes in the business or economic environment.

Compliance with or cleanup activities required by environmental laws may hurt our business.

We are subject to various federal, state, local and foreign environmental laws and regulations. These laws and regulations govern, among other things, discharges of pollutants into the air and water as well as the presence, handling, release and disposal of and exposure to, hazardous substances. These laws and regulations provide for significant fines and penalties for noncompliance. If we fail to comply with these laws or regulations, we could be fined or otherwise sanctioned by regulators. Third parties may also make personal injury, property damage or other claims against us associated with releases of, or actual or alleged exposure to, hazardous substances at, on or from our properties.

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Environmental conditions relating to prior, existing or future restaurants or restaurant sites, including franchised sites, may have a material adverse effect on us. Moreover, the adoption of new or more stringent environmental laws or regulations could result in a material environmental liability to us and the current environmental condition of the properties could be harmed by tenants or other third parties or by the condition of land or operations in the vicinity of our properties.

We outsource certain aspects of our business to third party vendors which subjects us to risks, including disruptions in our business and increased costs.

We have outsourced certain administrative functions, including account payment and receivable processing, to a third-party service provider. We also outsource certain information technology support services and benefit plan administration, and may outsource other functions in the future to achieve cost savings and efficiencies. If the service providers to which we outsource these functions do not perform effectively, we may not be able to achieve the expected cost savings and may have to incur additional costs in connection with such failure to perform. Depending on the function involved, such failures may also lead to business disruption, transaction errors, processing inefficiencies, the loss of sales and customers, the loss of or damage to intellectual property through security breach, and the loss of sensitive data through security breach or otherwise. Any such damage or interruption could have a material adverse effect on our business, cause us to face significant fines, customer notice obligations or costly litigation, harm our reputation with our customers or prevent us from paying our suppliers or employees or receiving payments on a timely basis.

Risks related to our common stock

Concentration of ownership by 3G Capital may prevent other shareholders from influencing significant corporate decisions.

We are approximately 70% owned by 3G, which in turn is controlled by 3G Capital. As a result 3G Capital has the power to elect all of the members of our board of directors and effectively has control over major decisions regardless of whether other shareholders believe that any such decisions are in their own best interests. The interests of 3G Capital as equity holder may conflict with the interests of the other shareholders. 3G Capital may have an incentive to increase the value of its investment or cause us to distribute funds at the expense of our financial condition and affect our ability to make payments on our indebtedness. In addition, 3G Capital may have an interest in pursuing acquisitions, divestitures, financings, capital expenditures or other transactions that it believes could enhance its equity investments even though such transactions might involve risks to other stakeholders. 3G Capital is in the business of making investments in companies and may from time to time acquire and hold interests in businesses that compete directly or indirectly with us. In addition, this significant concentration of share ownership may adversely affect the trading price for our Common Stock because investors often perceive disadvantages in owning stock in companies with a concentrated stockholder base.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the doctrine of corporate opportunity does not apply with respect to 3G, or any of our directors, in a manner that would prohibit them from investing or participating in competing businesses. To the extent they invest in such other businesses, 3G may have differing interests from our other stockholders.

We are a controlled company within the meaning of the New York Stock Exchange rules, and, as a result, we rely on exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements that provide protection to stockholders of other companies which do not rely on this exemption.

3G owns, in the aggregate, more than 50% of the total voting power of our common stock and, as a result, we are a controlled company under the New York Stock Exchange corporate governance standards. As a controlled company, we are exempt from certain of the New York Stock Exchange corporate governance requirements, including the requirements:

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Accordingly, for so long as we are a controlled company, holders of our common stock will not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to all of the New York Stock Exchange corporate governance requirements.

Our stock price may be volatile or may decline regardless of our operating performance.

The market price for our common stock may fluctuate significantly in response to a number of factors, many of which we cannot control, including those described under “Risk Factors – Risks Related to Our Business”, and the following:

Future sales of our Common Stock, or the perception in the public markets that these sales may occur, may depress our stock price.

As of December 31, 2012, there were 350,238,771 shares of common stock outstanding. Approximately 70% and 12% of our outstanding common stock is held by 3G and investment funds affiliated with Pershing Square Capital Management L.P., respectively. Sales of a substantial amount of our common stock in the public market, or the perception that these sales could occur, could adversely affect the price of our common stock and could impair our ability to raise capital through the sale of additional shares.

Certain holders of our common stock may require us to register their shares for resale under the federal securities laws under the terms of certain separate registration rights agreements between us and the holders of these securities, subject to lock-up restrictions in certain cases. Registration of those shares would allow the holders thereof to immediately resell their shares in the public market. Any such sales, or anticipation thereof, could cause the market price of our common stock to decline.

In addition, we have registered shares of common stock that are reserved for issuance under our 2011 Omnibus Incentive Plan and 2012 Omnibus Incentive Plan.

Your percentage ownership in us may be diluted by future issuances of capital stock, which could reduce your influence over matters on which our stockholders vote.

Our board of directors has the authority, without action or vote of our stockholders, to issue all or any part of our authorized but unissued shares of common stock or shares of our authorized but unissued preferred stock.

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For example, we may issue our securities in connection with investments or acquisitions. The amount of shares of our common stock issued in connection with an investment or acquisition could constitute a material portion of the then-outstanding shares of our common stock and could materially dilute your ownership. Issuances of common stock or voting preferred stock would reduce your influence over matters on which our stockholders vote and, in the case of issuances of preferred stock, would likely result in your interest in us being subject to the prior rights of holders of that preferred stock.

Anti-takeover provisions in our charter documents and Delaware law might discourage or delay acquisition attempts for us that you might consider favorable.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws contain provisions that may make the acquisition of the Company more difficult without the approval of our board of directors. These provisions:

These anti-takeover provisions and other provisions under Delaware law could discourage, delay or prevent a transaction involving a change in control of the Company, even if doing so would benefit our stockholders. These provisions could also discourage proxy contests and make it more difficult for you and other stockholders to elect directors of your choosing and to cause us to take other corporate actions you desire.

We cannot assure you we will pay any cash dividends in the future.

Although we paid a quarterly cash dividend in November 2012 and our board of directors recently declared a quarterly cash dividend, any future dividends will be determined at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend upon results of operations, financial condition, contractual restrictions, including agreements governing our debt and any future indebtedness we may incur, restrictions imposed by applicable law and other factors our board of directors deems relevant. Realization of a gain on your investment will depend on the appreciation of the price of our common stock, which may never occur.

We may be restricted from paying cash dividends on our common stock in the future.

We are a holding company that does not conduct any business operations of our own. As a result, we are largely dependent upon cash dividends and distributions and other transfers from our subsidiaries to make dividend payments on our common stock. The amounts available to us to pay cash dividends may be restricted by law, regulation or any debt agreements entered into by our subsidiaries. The terms of our debt agreements will limit our ability to pay cash dividends. In addition, we cannot assure you that the agreements governing any future indebtedness of us or our subsidiaries, or applicable laws or regulations, will permit us to pay dividends on our common stock or otherwise adhere to any dividend policy we may adopt in the future.