The Burger King restaurants in Columbia Falls and Kalispell, along with seven others in Montana, have a new owner.

Meridian Restaurants owners David and Blayne Harper, of Ogden, Utah, purchased the fast food restaurants in a multi-million dollar deal that closed March 17. Remodeling the older-style Burger Kings will start this year, Blayne Harper said.

“We’re going to be putting a lot of resources into them,” she said.

The Harpers were in Columbia Falls on March 17 visiting the restaurant here before heading on to Billings. The couple has been in the restaurant business for 30 years and own 38 Burger King restaurants in Utah, Wyoming, Idaho and now Montana.

“We’re extremely happy to be in Montana,” Blayne Harper said. “We’re anxious to show how Burger Kings should look and how business should be done and to treat the customers right.”

Meridian Restaurants bought the Montana restaurants from King Of The Mountain LLC, a Scottsdale, Ariz., company that also is privately owned. King Of The Mountain owned the nine Burger Kings for about seven years, Blayne Harper said.

The 300-some employees who worked at the nine restaurants have been rehired, with their current pay and benefits continued, she said.

The second-largest burger chain, Burger King restaurants started selling Whoppers 58 years ago and now operates more than 13,000 restaurants in 97 countries and territories.