Updated at 11 a.m. to include company comments.

Canadian restaurant chain Tim Hortons is seeking to grow 800 new locations globally by the end of 2018, including 40 new franchise locations in the St. Louis region.

The quick-service chain that sells coffee, baked goods and sandwiches had 4,485 restaurants companywide as of Dec. 29, including 3,588 in Canada, and 859 in the United States.

As part of its expansion plans, Tim Hortons plans to add 300 locations in the U.S. by the end of 2018. Tim Hortons said Tuesday it has signed development agreements to open nearly 100 franchise locations in the U.S., including 40 in St. Louis; 25 in Youngstown, Ohio; 15 in Fort Wayne, Indiana; and 15 in Fargo and Minot, North Dakota.

The St. Louis locations will be a mix of standalone restaurants and could include sites within arenas or hospitals, Brynn Burton, Tim Hortons' U.S. spokeswoman, told the Post-Dispatch.

"St. Louis is a great market, a major metropolitan area," she said of the chain's decision to expand here. The first local Tim Hortons should open in 2015, she said. The restaurants will include a mix of new construction and existing real estate.

The first Tim Hortons restaurant opened in Ontario, Canada, in 1964, and the chain expanded to the U.S. with a location in Tonawanda, New York, in 1984.

Lisa Brown is a business reporter at the Post-Dispatch. Follow her on Twitter @LisaBrownSTL and the Business section @postdispatchbiz.

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