Burger King is being sold to private equity firm 3G Capital in a deal valued at $3.26bn (£2.1bn), it has been announced.
The fast food chain, with 12,100 outlets, had been the subject of takeover rumours for days.
Burger King floated on Wall Street in 2006, four years after being bought by a group of private equity firms.
The group - TPG Capital, Bain Capital and Goldman Sachs Funds - still own 31% of Burger King shares.
The deal, worth $24 a share, comes after Burger King's stock price surged more than 15% on Wednesday and opened on Thursday up 23% at $23.25.
In a statement, the companies said that the deal represented a 46% premium to Burger King's share price before news of a possible takeover surfaced.
Burger King, the second largest hamburger chain behind McDonald's, has struggled during the recession and last week forecast weak demand for the rest of the year.
Under the terms of the deal with 3G, Burger King's chairman and chief executive John Chidsey will become co-chairman of the board. Alex Behring, managing partner of US-based 3G, will be the other co-chairman.
3G will also take on Burger King's debt, valuing the deal at $4bn in total.
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