On the evening of February 20th, Bloomberg cited sources familiar with the matter as saying that sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East and China's China Investment Corporation were in talks to jointly invest in McDonald's China business as minority shareholders.
According to insiders, the CITIC consortium, mainly composed of CITIC Capital, currently holds 52% equity in McDonald's China. It is evaluating different reduction plans and negotiations with potential investors are underway, which may take one or two months to reach an agreement. Due to valuation still being a key obstacle to transactions, negotiations remain uncertain.
On February 21st, the relevant person in charge of McDonald's China responded to an interview with a reporter from Nandouwan Financial News Agency, stating that they would not comment.
Not long ago, there was a significant change in McDonald's China's equity. On November 20, 2023, McDonald's Global announced that it would acquire its 28% stake in McDonald's China from Carlyle Group. As a result, McDonald's Global Holdings increased from 20% to 48%. Carlyle Group withdrew from McDonald's China, while CITIC Group continued to hold 52% of the shares, maintaining its controlling position in McDonald's China.
The holding of McDonald's China by CITIC United can be traced back to January 2017. At that time, CITIC Corporation, CITIC Capital, and Carlyle Group signed a share purchase agreement with McDonald's Global for a total consideration of HKD 16.141 billion to acquire control interests in McDonald's mainland China and Hong Kong operations, and obtained a 20-year franchise in both locations.
After the completion of this transaction, CITIC, Carlyle Group, and McDonald's Global respectively hold 52%, 28%, and 20% equity. In October 2017, McDonald's (China) Co., Ltd. was renamed Golden Arches (China) Co., Ltd.
As of December 31, 2023, McDonald's China has 5903 stores, with 925 new stores added throughout the year. At the latest financial report meeting, McDonald's China is expected to add 1000 new stores this year and reach 10000 stores by 2028.