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Restaurant Brands says it has had approaches that may lead to a takeover offer for the company.
Shares of the company, which owns New Zealand's KFC, Pizza Hut and Starbucks, surged.
"People have been exploring the prospect of taking the company over," said chief executive Vicki Salmon.
"Our response is to provide some information under the non-disclosure agreement and to see how it goes."
She did not identify who had made the approaches.
The company was the subject of a failed takeover bid last year from CVC Asia Pacific, a venture between London-based CVC Capital Partners and New York's Citigroup.
The plan faltered after CVC Asia failed to agree terms with KFC and Pizza Hut franchisor Yum! Brands.
Restaurant Brands shares rose 12c, or 13 per cent, to close at $1.04 yesterday, valuing the company at $100 million.
That is its biggest one-day gain since June 15 last year, when CVC Asia announced its $1.65-a-share offer and the stock rose 25 per cent.
The stock gain trims the company's slide this year to 19 per cent. Earnings at the company have tumbled after a writedown of its Pizza Hut unit in Australia.
Earlier yesterday the company said it reached agreement with Louisville, Kentucky-based Yum to exit its Australian pizza unit as much as a year before the contract ends.
Restaurant Brands said it expected to exit all of its 50 Pizza Hut outlets in the Australian state of Victoria by the end of February.
Costs of exiting the unit will be $9 million, including a $2.6 million writedown taken in the first half.
The writedown cut first-half profit to just $200,000, from $2.7 million a year earlier. Salmon said the company had to pay "some fees" to Yum for the early exit.
Sale and purchase agreements have been secured for 35 outlets, and 14 of those will be transferred to their new owners over the next few days, the company said.
Salmon said quitting the Australian Pizza Hut unit would bolster operating earnings by about $3 million next year.
- BLOOMBERG
