McDonald’s Korea sold to owner of Qatari conglomerate Al Mana: Report

Published: 2 October 2024

NT Bureau
Seoul

McDonald’s Corp. announced on Monday that it has completed the sale of its business in Korea to Kamal Al Mana, one of the owners of Qatari conglomerate Al Mana Group, The Korea Times reported.

According to the fast food franchise, Kamal Al Mana has been appointed as the developmental licen-see and will own and operate the McDonald’s business in Korea, which includes 400 restaurants, more than 80 percent of which are company-owned, the report adds.

McDonald’s said Al Mana has a proven track record across different industries, including extensive ex-perience in food and beverage, retail, real estate and luxury industries. He is currently the develop-mental licensee for McDonald’s in Qatar and Turkey, as well as a minority partner in the McDonald’s businesses in Singapore and Malaysia.

McDonald’s did not disclose further details, such as the value of the deal or the governance structure of McDonald’s Korea after the deal. McDonald’s Korea Managing Director, Kim Ki-won, will continue to lead the business in Korea, the report adds.

“We look forward to partnering with Kamal to take our brand to the next phase in Korea, which in-cludes our growth ambition to expand from 400 to 500 stores by 2030,” said Jo Sempels, president of International Developmental Licensed Markets at McDonald’s Corporation.

Al Mana said, “I am honored by the opportunity to lead McDonald’s Korea in the next phase of its growth journey.

“With our market leadership position and growth potential, this is an exciting time to build upon the strong fundamentals in place and grow the business and brand to the next stage,” he added.

Since 2016, McDonald’s has been searching for a developmental licensee in Korea, who will own and run the business as the master franchisee.

Last year, McDonald’s failed to reach a deal with Dongwon Group, which initially showed interest in acquiring McDonald’s Korea, but dropped its bid due to price differences. At the time, Dongwon Group reportedly offered 200 billion won ($152 million) for the Korean license, while McDonald’s wanted to receive approximately 500 billion won.