The largest McDonald’s franchisee outside of the United States has been created with the announcement of a partnership of McDonald’s Corporation with CITIC Limited, CITIC Capital Partners, and The Carlyle Group. The new group will operate and manage Mcdonald’s outlets in Mainland China and Hong Kong.
The partnership aims to drive double-digit growth in each of the next five years by increasing the number of restaurants from 2,500 to 4,500, including delivery hub coverage of over 75% of restaurants, by the end of 2022. New McDonald’s restaurants are expected to open at a rate of 500 per year in 2022 in mainland China, compared with approximately 250 per year in 2017.
Steve Easterbrook, McDonald’s President and CEO said, “China will soon become our largest market outside of the United States. We are excited to join forces with CITIC and Carlyle for better localized decision-making to meet changing customer demands in this dynamic market. Mainland China and Hong Kong are leading the global system in capturing new consumer trends such as delivery and digitalization and its driving strong performance and growth momentum. I have great confidence in our new partnership to unlock the full growth potential of China. McDonald’s Corporation will continue to play an active part in the China growth journey through our remaining interest and participation on the China Board.”
