Whopper sandwich lovers, some of your favorite restaurants in the metro area have a new owner.

Heartland Food Corp., the second-largest Burger King franchise in the world, has acquired 51 Burger King locations in the Omaha-Council Bluffs area from Burger King Corporate.

"We're very excited to get back to the franchise roots," said Chris Ondrula, president and CEO of Illinois-based Heartland Food. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

In 2008, Burger King Corporate, based in Miami, bought 72 Burger King locations in the metro area from Simmonds Restaurant Management Inc., an Omaha-based company.

The newly acquired Burger King locations closed overnight for software changes and were to reopen this morning.

Although customers shouldn't expect to see any changes right away, the terms of the acquisition include exterior and interior remodeling projects. Those projects will happen sometime in the next four years, Ondrula said.

The Omaha-area purchases were part of a deal involving 121 restaurant acquisitions, including 43 in Chicago and 27 in Nashville.