New developmental licensee for McD in Malaysia, Singapore

Lionhorn Pte Ltd assume ownership of the McDonald’s business of 390 restaurants in Malaysia and Singapore from Dec 1.

KUALA LUMPUR: McDonald’s Corporation today announced Lionhorn Pte Ltd as the developmental licensee (DL) for its Malaysia and Singapore markets.

In a statement, McDonald’s said Lionhorn is led by Sheik Fahd and Abdulrahman Alireza, who bring 20 years’ of experience as the DL for the nearly 100 McDonald’s restaurants in the western and southern regions of Saudi Arabia.

“This transaction marks another milestone in our company’s ongoing efforts to identify strategic partners, who share our values, vision to accelerate growth and scale across diverse markets as well as drive innovation.

“It places us closer to our customers and the communities we serve,” said McDonald’s president and chief executive officer, Steve Easterbrook.

The new DL assumed ownership of the McDonald’s business in Malaysia and Singapore on Dec 1, 2016, which includes a total of 390 restaurants, more than 80% of which were company-owned.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Under the DL structure, McDonald’s transferred its ownership interest in McDonald’s Malaysia and Singapore and granted a license to the DL to run McDonald’s restaurant operations in these markets.

The DL partner will provide the capital necessary to support and grow the business and will pay an initial franchise fee and an ongoing royalty to McDonald’s.

Leading the day-to-day management of the Malaysian and Singaporean markets respectively will be local operating partners Azmir Jaafar and Kenneth Chan, both of whom previously held senior leadership positions at McDonald’s and together possess over 40 years of experience.

“Local leadership and market knowledge will be key to driving business success in Malaysia and Singapore,” said Azmir , operating partner and managing director McDonald’s Malaysia.

This announcement, McDonald’s said, follows a rigorous evaluation and selection process over the past year.

As part of its turnaround plan announced in May of 2015, McDonald’s said it is committed to refranchising 4,000 restaurants by end-2018 with the long-term goal of becoming 95% franchised.

With this transaction, McDonald’s has now refranchised about 1,300 restaurants.