Burger King and Tim Hortons, sitting on a tree....

[Stephane Dumas]

....will they or they won't kiss? 

There some talks of Burger King acquiring Tim Hortons from what I read on these news sources.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/tim-hortons-burger-king-deal-would-base-burger-chain-in-canada-1.2745754
http://www.thestar.com/business/2014/08/25/burger_kingtim_hortons_is_canada_becoming_a_corporate_tax_haven.html
http://globalnews.ca/news/1524621/burger-king-in-talks-with-tim-hortons-to-create-new-company-based-in-canada/
http://time.com/3170198/burger-king-tim-hortons-tax-inversion/

[ghYHZ]

Tim and Wendy got married a few years ago......They are now divorced but a product of that marriage were the Tim Horton's and Wendy's Combo Stores. Wonder what will happen to those?

[kj3400]

If this happens, does this mean I'll be able to try these Tim Hortons donuts my Canadian friends seem to swear on in the US?

[Pete from Boston]

Makes perfect sense, with Canada's persistent nostalgia for royalty.

Will the Horton's division be run by a Governor General?

[briantroutman]

I think you're all missing the bigger story. It's not just that Burger King is trying to buy Tim Horton's–so they could re-introduce Tim's to US markets. Rather, Burger King is scheming to reincorporate in Canada to avoid paying US corporate taxes. In this case, Tim Hortons is just a pawn–like the girl in Thunder Bay you married in the '60s so you could burn your draft card.

If this happens, it may or may not result in an increased presence for Tim Horton's in the US. And in case you didn't know, almost a fifth of all Tim's stores are already in the US–mostly in the Great Lakes states and New England.

[Brandon]

If this happens, does this mean I'll be able to try these Tim Hortons donuts my Canadian friends seem to swear on in the US?

Just go to Michigan.  There's a ton of Tim's there already.

[oscar]

If this happens, does this mean I'll be able to try these Tim Hortons donuts my Canadian friends seem to swear on in the US?

What I fear is that Tim Hortons would stop its expansion of full-service stores farther south of the border (it's already in some northern-tier states like Minnesota and New York), and settle for setting up "Tim Hortons Express" shops within existing Burger Kings.  The Express stores I've seen in the more remote parts of Canada (within general-merchandise stores) offer only coffee, and a thin selection of baked goods, neither of which would do me any good, though serious coffee drinkers might feel differently. 

Wendy's and Tim Hortons were a better match, since Tim Hortons could supply a breakfast menu, something Wendy's was never good at.

[6a]

Timmy's is just like CVS and Walgreens here, there's one on every corner. They really should stick to breakfast; I could murder a box of Timbits, but their sandwiches suck.

I'm pretty sure there are separate divisions for the two countries - their headquarters stayed here in Columbus after Wendy's spun them off.

I think you're all missing the bigger story. It's not just that Burger King is trying to buy Tim Horton's–so they could re-introduce Tim's to US markets. Rather, Burger King is scheming to reincorporate in Canada to avoid paying US corporate taxes. In this case, Tim Hortons is just a pawn–like the girl in Thunder Bay you married in the '60s so you could burn your draft card.

If this happens, it may or may not result in an increased presence for Tim Horton's in the US. And in case you didn't know, almost a fifth of all Tim's stores are already in the US–mostly in the Great Lakes states and New England.

And if BK does move to Canada there will be a ton of Facebook idiots calling for a boycott instead of the smart thing, which would be to call for a more competitive corporate tax environment.

[briantroutman]

And if BK does move to Canada there will be a ton of Facebook idiots calling for a boycott instead of the smart thing, which would be to call for a more competitive corporate tax environment.

I don't know what's going on in Facebook circles, but your senator's already sharpening his pitchfork:

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) is urging consumers to boycott Burger King over reports that the fast food chain is eyeing a tax-cutting move to Canada

[vdeane]

Imagine the horrific scenario if the buyout worked like a tech buyout, and Burger King dismantled Tim Hortons entirely (replacing those stores with Burger King) except for using their coffee at some point in the future.

Tim and Wendy got married a few years ago......They are now divorced but a product of that marriage were the Tim Horton's and Wendy's Combo Stores. Wonder what will happen to those?

They'll be owned by Wendy's during the week and Tim Horton's on the weekend.  They'll fight over what to do on holidays.

[hbelkins]

Closest Tim Horton's to me is in Ashland, Ky. (there are two of them there, plus one in Portsmouth, Ohio) but I have never patronized any of their locations.

I think you're all missing the bigger story. It's not just that Burger King is trying to buy Tim Horton's–so they could re-introduce Tim's to US markets. Rather, Burger King is scheming to reincorporate in Canada to avoid paying US corporate taxes.

I don't know what's going on in Facebook circles, but your senator's already sharpening his pitchfork:

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) is urging consumers to boycott Burger King over reports that the fast food chain is eyeing a tax-cutting move to Canada

If the United States had a more reasonable tax policy, businesses and individuals would not seek tax havens.

[Stephane Dumas]

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) is urging consumers to boycott Burger King over reports that the fast food chain is eyeing a tax-cutting move to Canada

If the United States had a more reasonable tax policy, businesses and individuals would not seek tax havens.

[/quote]

+1, and Sen. Sherrod Brown should check himself in the mirror, lots of Hollywood movies are filmed...outside of Hollywood. More about his "rant" http://cleveland.cbslocal.com/2014/08/26/dem-senator-calls-for-boycott-of-burger-king-tells-consumers-to-eat-at-wendys-white-castle/
http://cleveland.cbslocal.com/2014/08/26/dem-senator-calls-for-boycott-of-burger-king-tells-consumers-to-eat-at-wendys-white-castle/

[ET21]

Burger King.... yuck 

[6a]

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) is urging consumers to boycott Burger King over reports that the fast food chain is eyeing a tax-cutting move to Canada

If the United States had a more reasonable tax policy, businesses and individuals would not seek tax havens.

+1, and Sen. Sherrod Brown should check himself in the mirror, lots of Hollywood movies are filmed...outside of Hollywood. More about his "rant"
[/quote]

Brown called for a creation of a global minimum tax rate.

Hooooo boy, that's sure to end well.


iPhone

[english si]

lots of Hollywood movies are filmed...outside of Hollywood.

Often in high-tax Europe...

Star Wars 7 is a Pinewood production, filmed in a studio there, just north west of Heathrow (surrounded by lots of very suspicious security guards). I'm sure they'll use Silicon Valley's finest for the CGI though...

[oscar]

Brown called for a creation of a global minimum tax rate.

Hooooo boy, that's sure to end well.

Hasn't the E.U. tried something like that, within its own boundaries?

[oscar]

lots of Hollywood movies are filmed...outside of Hollywood.

Often in high-tax Europe...

Star Wars 7 is a Pinewood production, filmed in a studio there, just north west of Heathrow (surrounded by lots of very suspicious security guards). I'm sure they'll use Silicon Valley's finest for the CGI though...

Lots of places give special tax incentives to filmmakers, including Sen. Brown's state of "We ought to be shot!" Ohio.

[SteveG1988]

With the star wars thing, there is actually another level to it.

George Lucas quit the union in 1981. The union wanted him to NOT put the opening crawl at the start of Empire Strikes Back. they wanted a traditional credit sequence...argument for it "people don't watch the credits." Now he is a non union director and writer, so he cannot use a unionized studio...since to the union at the studio he is a Scab. He wanted Jeremy Irons for a role in star wars....Mr. Irons turned Lucas down...why, just because Lucas is non union. The film union system is crazy like that, to get a union card you have to work in a union film as an actor, to get a job as an actor....you have to have that card, or else you are just an extra. In Star Trek IV (1986) a woman gave a funny line...and was just a random passerby on the street while they were filming a scene of a Russian asking "where are the nuclear wessels" "i think they're accross the bay, in alameda" is what she said. They had to track her down and get her to fill out paperwork just to make the union happy.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/UnionsInHollywood

http://www.sagaftra.org/production-center/globalruleone

Rule One for all SAG-AFTRA members states that "No member shall work as a performer or make an agreement to work as a performer for any producer who has not executed a basic minimum agreement with the guild which is in full force and effect."

Originally, this rule was enforced only within the U.S. and its territories. However, since May 1, 2002, due to a rapidly changing global entertainment industry, Screen Actors Guild has expanded Rule One to ensure that the protections of the Guild contracts follow its members wherever they work. As such, Global Rule One now extends Rule One of the union's membership rules beyond the U.S. borders to all shooting locations around the world.


Now back to Burger King. I wonder if the company was in a bad state of existance before this, like the taxes were actually getting to be too much for them to exist as a company.

[Duke87]

Boycott Burger King? Nonsense. I'm actually starting to go there more frequently - they just brought back chicken fries and those things are like crack. I ate soooo many of them in college and was quite disappointed when they got discontinued a few years ago.


As for romantic relationships and corporate acquisitions, you've missed a far more obvious joke. Is Tim Hortons going to wake up with The King?

[english si]

Hasn't the E.U. tried something like that, within its own boundaries?

It wants to, but hasn't succeeded yet in the way it wants (EU taxation).

It did demand VAT (sales tax) in countries that didn't have it, setting a minimum level too. Plus it removed MEPs and Eurocrats from their national taxation systems (except those of Britain and maybe another country) and put them into a low-rate EU tax on their earnings from the EU (low-rate as the only people who pay it are the ones who have a say in setting rates - that'll change when they get a federal income tax)

Lots of places give special tax incentives to filmmakers, including Sen. Brown's state of "We ought to be shot!" Ohio.

Britain does too - looking, most Marvel films get a lot of studio work done at Shepperton. With Pinewood, there's probably more 'Hollywood' blockbusters shot in London studios than in LA studios currently.

Interesting about Lucas being a scab because the bundle of sticks are asses... Surely working for him violates Global Rule One? And can't he be 'fi-core' (ie paying the union almost all the dues anyway and getting non of the benefits, other than being able to work) and use unionized studios - even if they hate it and consider him a scab?

[6a]

Wait a second, isn't BK owned by a Brazilian company anyway? Why wasn't Brown calling for a boycott of that? (Rhetorical question btw)

[Duke87]

Wait a second, isn't BK owned by a Brazilian company anyway? Why wasn't Brown calling for a boycott of that? (Rhetorical question btw)

Sort of. Burger King is publicly traded and is owned by a lot of people and companies. But 51% of it is owned by a Brazillian company named 3G Capital, yes, which means they call all the shots (since they can't be outvoted by other shareholders) even though they don't own it all.

This is different from being a wholly-owned subsidiary, where the entity calling the shots owns 100% of the company.


This sort of situation where a company is and isn't owned by another company is actually quite common, there are a lot of firms out there with "Capital" in their name that don't actually do anything except invest in other companies (and/or commodities, bonds, etc.). In some cases the Capital company may hold a majority stake in another company, thus making 100% of the decisions although not collecting 100% of the profits.

If you've got a few billion dollars burning a hole in your pocket, you too can start one of these companies and make more money just by playing with the money you already have.

If that's too expensive for you you can always just invest your spare cash in the stock market, albeit you won't really have a voice in the decision-making processes of the company if you only own a teensy tiny fraction of it.

[Crazy Volvo Guy]

Boycott Burger King? Nonsense. I'm actually starting to go there more frequently - they just brought back chicken fries and those things are like crack.

OMG, are you serious!?  I'm definitely making it a point to stop at a BK sometime today.

[SteveG1988]

Is the rodeo burger gone?

[froggie]

You can argue the semantics of it all you want, but BK is doing this to avoid taxes, rather than pay their share.  According to Bernie Sanders, corporate taxes only make up 9% of total US tax collections today, vice 33% a few decades ago (and it seems they were doing a lot better then anyway).  No wonder people are hurting...Congress has shifted the tax burden from corporations to individuals.

But the bigger concern, IMO, is that I think Burger King will ruin Tim Horton's.  And that would be a downright shame.  If BK can't hack it in the burger market, they sure as hell won't make it in the coffee and donuts market.