Tim Hortons is a Canadian coffee chain, founded in Ontario in 1964 by Canadian hockey player Tim Horton. Known originally for its coffee and donuts, today the chain serves a wider variety of food and beverages, including a breakfast menu, sandwiches, soups and an array of baked goods. Tim Hortons is the largest fast-food chain in Canada , with more than three and half thousand stores there in 2013 – more than twice as many as the world’s largest fast-food brand, McDonald’s . In 2013, Tim Hortons’ revenue reached 3.07 billion U.S. dollars, making it the second largest coffee chain in the world after global giant Starbucks. Starbucks dwarfed the Canadian coffee chain with revenues just short of 15 billion dollars and 19,767 worldwide locations, compared to Tim Hortons’ 4,740. Nevertheless, in its home country, Tim Hortons was placed at an impressive number five on a list of Canada’s most valuable brands in 2014. Further growth looked promising when fast-food restaurant chain Burger King announced its plans to buy Tim Hortons for more than 11 billion U.S. dollars in August 2014, a merger creating the third-largest quick-service food chain in the world. The combined company planned to locate its headquarters in Canada where corporate taxes are lower, despite Burger King having only 281 restaurants there in 2013. While Burger King and Tim Hortons officials insisted it was purely about growth, the move sparked controversy among U.S. politicians and social media users alike who criticized Burger King for the apparent tax inversion. In 2013, Burger King’s worldwide revenue was approximately 1.15 billion U.S. dollars. This text provides general information.