This evening, CITIC Capital announced on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that its private equity investment business, Xinchen Capital, has signed an agreement with CITIC Group to acquire its stake in McDonald's China (including McDonald's mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau businesses) for $430.3 million (approximately RMB 3.061 billion).
After the completion of this transaction, CITIC Capital and its subsidiary Xinchen Capital will continue to be the controlling shareholders of McDonald's China, with their stake in McDonald's China further expanding from 42% to 52%. This means that Xinchen Capital has further increased its investment in McDonald's China, and also demonstrates the long-term confidence of the CITIC Capital consortium in McDonald's China business.
In response to this, McDonald's China stated: We are pleased to see that based on our firm optimism about the growth prospects of the Chinese economy and consumer market, as well as the development potential of McDonald's China, CITIC Capital's private equity investment business, Xinchen Capital, has increased its investment in McDonald's China. This transaction will further simplify our equity structure, and our vision of "stronger, smarter, and better" to reach 10000 restaurants remains unchanged. With the support of our shareholders, we will continue to drive the future development of McDonald's China.
As early as 2017, CITIC Capital reached strategic partnerships with CITIC Group, Carlyle and McDonald's, and McDonald's (China) Co., Ltd. officially changed its name to Golden Arches (China) Co., Ltd. on October 12, 2017. In early 2020, out of optimism about the prospects of McDonald's China, CITIC Capital acquired a 22% stake in McDonald's China from CITIC Group, further expanding its shareholding to 42%. After acquiring McDonald's China, CITIC Capital has taken multiple measures, including accelerating store opening, digital empowerment, and localizing supply chains, to promote the localization development of McDonald's China and comprehensively enhance its operational capabilities and financial performance. In 2023, McDonald's Global announced the acquisition of Carlyle's minority stake in McDonald's China, increasing its ownership to 48%. In 2024, CITIC Capital announced an increase in McDonald's China. After the transaction was completed, the CITIC Capital consortium held a 52% stake, creating a typical case in the Chinese M&A market.
CITIC Capital stated that Golden Arches is a milestone investment project that we are proud of. Since investing in McDonald's China in 2017, McDonald's China business has achieved rapid growth and maintained a steady development trend. Based on their firm confidence in the prospects of the Chinese economy and consumer market, as well as their continued optimism about the future development potential of McDonald's China, the CITIC Capital consortium has decided to continue to invest in McDonald's China.
Zhang Yichen, Chairman and CEO of CITIC Capital and Chairman of the Board of Directors of McDonald's China, said, "As the controlling shareholder of McDonald's China, we will make every effort to promote McDonald's China to enter a new stage of development and achieve the vision of 'stronger, better, and smarter' stores. In the past few years, we have closely cooperated with CITIC Group to help McDonald's China's rapid development, and have achieved remarkable results in business expansion and sustainable development, winning wide recognition from investors and consumers. We look forward to continuing to maintain good business cooperation with CITIC Group in the future, and jointly contributing to the high-quality development of the Chinese economy and consumer market