3G Capital

3G Capital was founded in 2004, evolving from the investment office of Jorge Paulo Lemann, Carlos Alberto Sicupira and Marcel Herrmann Telles. By 2010, affiliates of the firm and its partners held controlling or partial stakes in companies such as Anheuser-Busch InBev, Lojas Americanas, Latin America’s largest non-food and online retailer, and America Latina Logistica (ALL), Latin America’s largest railroad and logistics company, and its main office was in New York.⁠[1][2][2][2]

On September 2, 2010, 3G Capital and Burger King Holdings announced a definitive agreement under which affiliates of 3G Capital would acquire the company for $24.00 per share, or $4.0 billion including assumed debt, a 46% premium to the share price before market rumors; affiliates of TPG Capital, Goldman Sachs Capital Partners and Bain Capital, together holding about 31% of the shares, agreed to tender into the offer. Alex Behring, managing partner of 3G Capital, said the Burger King brand was a “perfect fit” with the firm’s record of long-term investments in global consumer brands and retail companies.⁠[2][2][2][2]

On October 19, 2010, 3G Capital completed its acquisition of 100% of Burger King Holdings’ equity through 3G Special Situations Fund II, an investment vehicle it controlled, and Burger King’s stock ceased trading on the New York Stock Exchange after the close that day. By March 2012, Behring was chairman of Burger King, Sicupira and Telles were directors, Bernardo Hees was chief executive and Daniel Schwartz was chief financial officer.⁠[3][3][3][3][3][3]

After the acquisition, Burger King began a global restructuring in December 2010 that reduced its workforce throughout the organization, followed in June 2011 by a voluntary resignation program at its Miami headquarters, with related severance costs of $46.5 million in 2011; it also adopted “Zero Based Budgeting,” requiring departments to justify their budgets from zero each year, tied part of management’s incentive pay to the G&A budget, and actively refranchised company restaurants.⁠[3][3][3][3][3][3]

On June 20, 2012, Burger King completed a merger with London-listed Justice Holdings, in which the 3G side received 249.4 million shares of the new company and about $1.41 billion in cash, holding about 71% afterward; the new company was renamed Burger King Worldwide and listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BKW.⁠[4][4][4][4]

On February 14, 2013, H.J. Heinz announced that it would be acquired by an investment consortium of Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital for $72.50 per share in cash, in a transaction valued at $28 billion including assumed debt, the largest ever in the food industry at the time; the two investors pledged to keep the global headquarters in Pittsburgh. Behring said 3G had approached Heinz to explore working together.⁠[5][5][5][5][5]

The deal closed on June 7, 2013, with Heinz’s parent controlled by Berkshire and 3G Special Situations Fund III and total cash consideration of about $28.75 billion. Former Burger King CEO Bernardo Hees became Heinz’s chief executive, and Paulo Basilio became chief financial officer.⁠[6][6][6][6]

On August 26, 2014, Burger King confirmed a roughly $11 billion merger with Canadian coffee-and-doughnut chain Tim Hortons, with the new parent company based in Canada; the deal was seen as a tax “inversion” and drew criticism from the Obama administration and Democrats, and Senator Sherrod Brown called for a boycott of Burger King. Behring, then Burger King’s executive chairman, said “this is not a tax-driven deal” but was about growth; Berkshire Hathaway provided $3 billion of financing.⁠[7][7][7][7][7][7]

Tim Hortons shareholders approved the transaction on December 9, 2014, with about 99.2% of votes in favor, and the new parent company was named Restaurant Brands International (RBI). The deal closed on December 12, former Burger King CEO Daniel Schwartz became CEO of RBI, and RBI began trading on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges under the symbol QSR on December 15, with about 18,000 restaurants in 100 countries.⁠[8][9][9][9][9]

On July 2, 2015, Kraft Foods Group merged into H.J. Heinz Holding, controlled by 3G and Berkshire, which was renamed The Kraft Heinz Company and listed on Nasdaq under the symbol KHC; former Kraft shareholders received one share of the new company plus a special dividend of $16.50 per share. Behring became chairman of Kraft Heinz, and Lemann and Telles remained directors.⁠[10][10][10][10][10][10]

As of December 31, 2015, Berkshire, Buffett and 3G Global Food Holdings, among others, could be deemed a group under their shareholders’ agreement, collectively owning 619 million Kraft Heinz shares, or 51.0%, of which the 3G side held about 293.5 million; each side agreed, while holding at least a set share of its stake, to vote for three board nominees designated by the other.⁠[11][11][11][11]

In February 2017 Kraft Heinz offered $143 billion for Unilever, which rejected the bid as too low; on February 19 the two companies issued a joint statement saying Kraft Heinz had “amicably” withdrawn the offer.⁠[12][12]

On February 21, 2019, Kraft Heinz reported a $15.4 billion impairment charge for the fourth quarter of 2018, mainly on the Kraft and Oscar Mayer brands, disclosed an SEC investigation into its procurement accounting and cut its quarterly dividend by 36%, and its stock fell about 27% the next day. Miguel Patricio became CEO in April 2019, and the previous leadership was ousted.⁠[13][14][13][13][13][14][14]

Beginning on February 24, 2019, investors filed securities class actions against Kraft Heinz, certain of its directors and officers, and 3G Capital, and the consolidated amended complaint of August 14, 2020, named 3G Capital and several of its subsidiaries and affiliates as defendants. The plaintiffs alleged that while the company attributed its post-merger profit growth to synergies, 3G was in fact imposing comprehensive cost cuts that “gutted” investment in R&D, quality control and the supply chain, eroding brand value, and alleged insider trading by the 3G entities; the claim against 3G Capital was for control person liability.⁠[15][16][15][16][15]

The court denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss in August 2021. The parties signed a term sheet in March 2023 and filed a $450 million settlement on May 5, to be shared among the defendants and their insurers under a confidential agreement; on September 12, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois gave final approval to the settlement and dismissed the case.⁠[15][15][15][15][16]

Shareholders also brought a derivative suit in the Delaware Court of Chancery, whose amended complaint of April 27, 2020, contended that the 3G entities were controlling stockholders owing fiduciary duties to the company and accused them of insider trading and misappropriating material non-public information. The Chancery Court dismissed the suit on December 15, 2021, and the Delaware Supreme Court affirmed on August 1, 2022.⁠[16][16][16][16]

One of the plaintiffs, Erste Asset Management, filed a new complaint on November 28, 2023, citing newly discovered evidence and alleging that the 3G entities caused the company to make false disclosures about the independence of two directors; the case was dismissed on August 8, 2024, but on June 9, 2025, the Delaware Supreme Court reversed and remanded it, and on December 1, 2025, it was consolidated with the original derivative suit. As of February 2026 the litigation was ongoing.⁠[17][17][17][17][17][17]

On September 3, 2021, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged Kraft Heinz with a long-running expense management scheme from the fourth quarter of 2015 through the end of 2018, including recognizing unearned supplier discounts and maintaining false supplier contracts, which inflated “cost savings” and adjusted EBITDA; the company had restated about $208 million in June 2019. Without admitting or denying the findings, Kraft Heinz paid a $62 million civil penalty; former chief operating officer Eduardo Pelleissone and former chief procurement officer Klaus Hofmann were also charged and agreed to pay penalties.⁠[18][18][18][14][18][14]

In February 2022, 3G Capital completed its acquisition of a 75% stake in Dutch window coverings and architectural products maker Hunter Douglas from controlling shareholder Ralph Sonnenberg at €175 per share, implying an enterprise value of about $7.1 billion, with the Sonnenberg family retaining 25%.⁠[19][19][20]

The 3G side’s Kraft Heinz holdings declined over the years: as of December 31, 2021, 3G Global Food Holdings had dispositive power over about 185.3 million shares, and by December 31, 2023, the beneficial holdings of 3G Global Food Holdings, 3G Capital Partners II and related entities had fallen to zero.⁠[21][21][22][22][22]

On May 5, 2025, Skechers, the world’s third-largest footwear company with $9 billion in annual sales, announced that it had agreed to be acquired by 3G Capital for $63 per share in cash, a 30% premium to its 15-day volume-weighted average price, with an alternative mixed cash-and-equity option offered to shareholders; Skechers would continue to be led by chairman and CEO Robert Greenberg.⁠[23][23][23][23][23]

On September 12, 2025, 3G Capital completed its acquisition of Skechers, whose shares ceased trading on the New York Stock Exchange that day.⁠[24][24]

3G Capital says its investing follows an owner-operator approach, aiming to own great businesses with iconic brands and growth potential. As of October 2026 it is led by co-founder and co-managing partner Alex Behring and co-managing partner Daniel Schwartz, with offices at 600 Third Avenue in New York.⁠[1][1][1][1]

Its affiliate 3G Restaurant Brands Holdings still held about 22% of the combined voting power of Restaurant Brands International as of the 2025 annual report.⁠[25]

3G Capital: Official website: https://www.3g-capital.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[1]