Tims makes key debut

Article Excerpt

RESTAURANT BRANDS INTERNATIONAL $63.04 (New York symbol QSR; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (905-845-6511; www.rbi.com; Shares outstanding: 478.0 million; Market cap: $30.1 billion; Dividend yield: 3.2%) has opened its first Tim Hortons restaurant in China, in the People’s Square in Shanghai. Last year, Restaurant Brands’ Tim Hortons chain formed a joint venture with Cartesian Capital Group to open 1,500 of its restaurants in China over the next decade. The joint venture aims to capitalize on China’s burgeoning coffee culture. Urban dwellers, especially young people and office workers, increasingly drink coffee. Tim Hortons also believes that there may be some awareness already in China of the Tims brand from interactions with the company’s Chinese-Canadian customers. Restaurant Brands International is still a hold. hold. …