2nd October 2003
Media Release
Burger King Corporation Announces The Appointment Of Nish Kankiwala As President Of Burger King International
The Addition of Former President for PepsiCo Beverages Europe
Marks Another Significant Milestone as Burger King Corporation
Continues to Strengthen Its Executive Leadership Team
Burger King Corporation announced yesterday the appointment of Nish Kankiwala as President of Burger King International,
effective October 20th. Nish will report directly to Brad Blum, Chief Executive Officer, Burger King Corporation and
will be an integral member of the Burger King Executive Leadership Team, strengthening the alignment of the BURGER KING®
system around the world. He and the Burger King International team are based at the company’s Uxbridge office, located
just outside of London.
“Nish is a very well-regarded, truly international executive who has lived and worked all over the world and progressed
rapidly through two well-respected global consumer goods companies,” said Brad Blum, Chief Executive Officer, Burger
King Corporation. “He is a well-rounded general manager who is strategic, innovative and deeply committed to Operations
Excellence and brings exceptional leadership to Burger King International.
"He is known for his ability to take revenues and market share up while taking out unnecessary costs to achieve strong
profitability," Blum said. "Nish is also highly regarded for his ability to craft strategic alignment among Operations,
Marketing and all stakeholders in a way that positively impacts both top and bottom line growth of the brands and
businesses he leads."
Mr. Kankiwala joins Burger King International from PepsiCo Beverages International where he served in a number of
Operations, Sales and General Management roles over the last eight years. Most recently, he was President for the Europe
Business Unit of PepsiCo Beverages International, which is one of the largest Pepsi Cola soft drinks businesses outside
the United States.
While at PepsiCo, Mr. Kankiwala played a key role on the team that re-engineered the Pepsi business in International and
applied this to his European role. Under his leadership, the Pepsi business in Europe grew significantly in terms of
servings,
quarter-by-quarter market share and operating profit. This growth was driven by a focus on excellent execution and
launching exciting new brands such as Mountain Dew and Pepsi Twist while building operating capability throughout the
organization.
Prior to PepsiCo, Mr. Kankiwala spent 16 years at Unilever in various positions in Operations, Marketing and Sales
around the world. One of Mr. Kankiwala's most strategic accomplishments was establishing a new Logistics and Operations
function for the European Lever business.
"I look forward to working closely with the talented Executive Leadership Team at Burger King in this exciting
turnaround," said Nish Kankiwala. "This is an incredible opportunity. By creating greater alignment throughout the
global BURGER KING system around our Fire-Grilled advantage and an intense focus on Operations Excellence, we will
unlock the power and potential of one of the world's greatest brands."
Ends
About BURGER KING
We take Pride in Serving our Guests the Best Burgers and a variety of other Great Tasting, Healthy Foods that are Cooked
over an Open Fire. That’s what we’re all about.
The BURGER KING system operates more than 11,350 restaurants in all 50 US states and in 58 countries and territories
around the world. Ninety-one percent of BURGER KING restaurants are owned and operated by independent franchisees, many
of them family-owned operations that have been in business for decades.
Burger King Holdings, Inc., the parent company, is private and independently owned by an equity sponsor group comprised
of Texas Pacific Group, Bain Capital and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners. In fiscal year ending June 30, 2002, BURGER
KING had system-wide sales of $11.3 billion.
To learn more about BURGER KING, please visit the company’s website at www.burgerking.com.
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