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  • McDonald’s near deal to sell China stores

    McDonald’s near deal to sell China stores

    A consortium led by private-equity firm Carlyle Group and Chinese conglomerate Citic Group Corp has neared a deal to buy McDonald’s stores in China and Hong Kong for up to $3 billion, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said.

    The deal is likely to be signed before Christmas, the source said.

    Reuters had reported in October that U.S. buyout firms Carlyle and Bain Capital LLC had been the front runners among the bidders for the fast-food giant’s China assets.

    McDonald’s in March said it was reorganizing operations in Asia, bringing in partners as it switches to a less capital-intensive franchise model.

    The company hired Morgan Stanley to run the sale of about 2,400 restaurants in China and Hong Kong.

    Financial Times reported earlier on Wednesday that Bain Capital had dropped out of the race, and that a group led by Citic Group and Carlyle were the front runners to the deal.

    Carlyle declined to comment, while McDonald’s was not immediately available for a comment.

  • UberEats Singapore hits the road

    UberEats Singapore hits the road

    UberEats Singapore has launched, the ride-hailing app’s food-delivery service making its Asian debut.

    Using the standalone app, Singaporeans can order food from about 100 restaurants. While deliveries are initially limited to the central business and commercial area, the company plans to expand its service coverage as well as menu.

    Making its debut in Toronto early this year, the app expanded to four major US cities in March, and Uber began signing up restaurants and testing the service in Singapore last month.

    Singapore was also the first Asian market to have Uber’s ride service, in February 2013.

    UberEats is up against entrenched food-delivery services such as Rocket Internet-backed FoodPanda and Deliveroo, whose investors include Accel and DST Global. Using the map-routing algorithms Uber uses to connect drivers and passengers as quickly as possible, UberEats Singapore promises delivery within 35 minutes.

    It has raised US$9 billion in funding so far, and the delivery driver program is separate from ride-sharing, though drivers can do both.

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  • McDonald’s China rebounds

    McDonald’s China rebounds

    After a long running series of quarterly sales declines, McDonald’s says it global sales rose four per cent in the last three months.

    And McDonald’s China has played a key role in the recovery.

    President and CEO Steve Easterbrook said the company was encouraged by its operating performance for the quarter, with positive comparable sales across all segments, including the US, “as well as sales recovery in China following the prior year supplier issue”.

    “In the High Growth Markets segment, third quarter comparable sales increased 8.9 per cent, reflecting very strong comparable sales performance in China and positive performance in most other markets. Operating income increased 39 per cent (68 per cent in constant currencies). Emphasis on value and breakfast during the quarter contributed to China’s sales recovery.”

    The company suffered a major setback in China a year ago after some of its stores were found using expired products.

    Elsewhere in the world, McDonald’s has also seen recovery in the UK, Australia and German markets.

    Easterbrook said the latest figures underline the “fundamental strength of the McDonald’s System”, perhaps a reference to recent media commentary questioning the concept and estimating as many as 30 per cent of McDonald’s franchisees in the US are technically insolvent.

    Unfortunately, the company did not releases specific breakdowns on sales by country market within its ‘High Growth Markets’ business unit which comprises countries like China and Vietnam.

    In its home market, initiatives like extending the breakfast menu to all day and new product lines were helping lure customers back in store.

    In tandem with its results announcement, the fast food company made a commitment to phasing out chicken fed antibiotics.