(Financial Times by Antoine Gara and Kaye Wiggins) – US private equity investor Carlyle Group is set to earn a large windfall from its sale of a minority stake in the Chinese operations of McDonald’s, marking a rare dealmaking success in the region amid mounting geopolitical tensions.
The fast-food restaurant group said it would buy Carlyle’s 28 per cent stake in its Chinese operations, which also span Hong Kong and Macau, in order to rebuild exposure to what has become its fastest-growing region.
Carlyle is selling its stake for an equity value of $1.8bn, valuing the overall operation at about $6.4bn, said two people with direct knowledge of the matter. Carlyle has calculated that the deal will make investors more than six times their money, before fees, one of the people said.
Carlyle and McDonald’s declined to comment on the valuation.
The deal will bring McDonald’s total stake to 48 per cent. It had kept 20 per cent after it sold stakes to Carlyle and Chinese group Citic Capital in 2017. A consortium led by Citic Capital will hold the remaining 52 per cent.
