Burger King buyout: Has BK lost its crown?

McDonald's has been eating Burger King's lunch in the stock market, and BK has just been bought by Brazilians. How did it come to this?

Burger King's shares dropped 13 percent over the past year while McDonald's rose 17 percent.
(Image credit: Corbis)

It's been a hard recession for Burger King, and now execs at the world's No. 2 burger chain have sold the company to a private equity firm for $4 billion. Investors seemed ready for the change — BK's stock rose 15 percent on the news Wednesday, closing at its highest price since BK went public in 2006. Meanwhile, Burger King's biggest rival, McDonald's, has been enjoying stock-market favor. Where did BK go wrong, and is this deal a good idea? (Watch a Fox Business report about the sale.) A concise guide:

Why is McDonald's doing so much better than BK?

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