 By 2001 and nearly eighteen years of stagnant growth , many of its franchises were in some sort of financial distress . The lack of growth severely impacted Burger King 's largest franchise , the nearly 400 @-@ store AmeriKing ; the company , which until this point had been struggling under a nearly $ 300 million debt load and been shedding stores across the US , was forced to enter Chapter 11 bankruptcy . The failure of AmeriKing accompanied with declining market position deeply affected the value of the company , and put negotiations between Diageo and the TPC Capital @-@ lead group on hold . The developments eventually forced Diageo to lower the total selling price by almost three @-@ quarters of a billion dollars . After the sale , newly appointed CEO Bradley Blum initiated a program to help the roughly 20 percent of its franchises , including its four largest , who were in financial distress , bankruptcy or had ceased operations altogether . Partnering with the California @-@ based Trinity Capital , LLC , the company established the Franchisee Financial Restructuring Initiative , a program to address the financial issues facing BK 's financially distressed franchisees . The initiative was designed to assist franchisees in restructuring their businesses in order to meet financial obligations , focus on restaurant operational excellence , reinvest in their operations and return to profitability . 
