McDonald’s planning to sell stake in Asian operations
Hong Kong — McDonald’s plans to sign an agreement as soon as Monday to sell 80% of its operations in China and Hong Kong to a consortium of Citic Group Corporation and Carlyle Group, people with knowledge of the matter said. The deal, which included 20-year mass franchise rights, valued the business at about $2bn including debt, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information was private. Citic, the Chinese state-backed conglomerate, plans to take a 52% stake while Carlyle would hold 28%, according to the people. McDonald’s would retain a 20% shareholding in the venture, the people said. The sale could be announced this week, they added. McDonald’s is revamping its ownership structure in markets such as China, South Korea and Southeast Asia as the world’s biggest restaurant chain attempts to streamline its sprawling global operations. CEO Steve Easterbrook is pursuing a turnaround plan to revive the company as it faces the fourth consecutive year of traffic decl...
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