 In 1967 , after eight years of private operation , the Pillsbury Company acquired the Burger King brand and its parent company Burger King Corporation . At the time of the purchase , the chain had grown to 274 restaurants in the United States . Pillsbury continued to grow the company utilizing the existing franchise system despite its flaws . The power of its independent franchises came to a head in 1973 when Chart House , owner of 350 restaurants and one of its largest franchise groups , attempted to purchase the chain from Pillsbury for $ 100 million ( USD ) which Pillsbury declined . When Chart House 's bid failed , its owners Billy and Jimmy Trotter put forth a second plan that would require Pillsbury and Chart House spin off their respective holdings and merge the two entities into a separate company . Again Pillsbury declined the proposed divestiture . After the failed attempts to acquire the company , the relationship with Chart House and the Trotters soured ; when Chart House purchased several restaurants in Boston and Houston in 1979 , Burger King sued the selling franchisees for failing to comply with the right of first refusal clause in their contracts . Burger King won the case , successfully preventing the sale . The two parties did eventually reach a settlement where Chart House kept the Houston locations in their portfolio . Chart House eventually spun off its Burger King holdings and refocused on its higher end chains ; its Burger King holding company , DiversiFoods , was eventually acquired by Pillsbury $ 390 million ( USD ) in 1984 and folded into Burger King 's operations . 
