CARPINTERIA, Calif. – CKE Restaurants Holdings Inc., parent company of Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s, opened the chain’s 600th international restaurant location on June 23 in Astana, Kazakhstan. This site is operated by franchisee The Caspian International Restaurants Company, a division of Kuwait Food Company.

Kuwait Food Company has long been a business partner with CKE developing the Hardee’s brand throughout the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia.The opening of the 600th restaurant in Kazakhstan follows recent openings of new Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s locations this year in Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Denmark, Ecuador, Mexico, New Zealand, the Bahamas and the Middle East. To date, the CKE system is now 75 percent franchised, with international locations representing 17 percent of the system.