MALAYSIAN foodies have apparently rejected the notion that the recent prospect of Johor Corp Bhd (JCorp) and private-equity firm CVC Capital Partners wanting to exit their KFC and Pizza Hut fast-food businesses is squarely attributable to anti-Zionist boycott campaign following the Iran-Israel conflict since mid-2024.
On the contrary, inconsistent product quality and pricing amid current lean times have significantly contributed to poor sales and corporate losses.
This follows a post by Facebooker Faridzul Asyraf Mat Arifin who “congratulated” the rightist fraternity for their incessant boycott till KFC has to be disposed of by its owner, QSR Brands (M) Holdings Bhd.
“How much are they looking to sell for? It was reported at RM4 bil. But bear in mind that these folks originally acquired QSR Brands (the operator of KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants in Southeast Asia) for RM 5.2 bil,” recounted the tech entrepreneur.
“Even though people complain about poor service at KFC, small chicken portions and so on, the primary reason for the sharp drop in their sales is the boycott movement.”
The poster went on to justify his claim with QSR Brands (M) Holdings Bhd’s revenue vs earnings from 2022 to 2025.
2022: RM4.81 bIl with a net profit of RM 49.58 mil
2023: RM4.87 bil with a net loss of RM66.2 mil
2024: RM3.23 bil with a net loss of RM332.67 mil
In 2025, once calmness was restored, there was some recovery though the losses over the previous two years had been severe with them recording (a revenue of) RM3.85 bil with a small profit.
The electrical engineer by qualification further expressed his disappointment that despite “the company is owned by Bumiputera, it’s the very same group of people who’s the most aggressive in calling for a boycott against it”.
“When I posted my support of KFC and McDonald’s previously, people immediately jumped in with comments accusing me of being ‘pro-Israel’ or claiming that the businesses were ‘funding bullets’ – when in reality, they were mostly just destroying the businesses of our own people.”
This was when rebuttals started to pour in with one commenter viewing that “if it were purely a matter of boycott, McDonald’s would have been harder hit”.
“Yet McDonald’s is holding steady; they’re even running promotions and continuing to roll out new products,” observed one Arif Hairuddin.
The truth is such that the quality at KFC itself has just gotten worse. Sometimes the coleslaw tastes like nothing but water. The mashed potatoes sometimes taste like nothing but flour. And don’t even get me started on the chicken.
It’s true that the boycott exercise is driven primarily by Muslims. However, many Muslims have become more informed and are now aware of who actually owns brands like KFC and McDonald’s.
But if a brand fails to thrive on its own merits – especially when its quality is steadily deteriorating – then you are going to lose this war.”
A number of KFC patrons chipped in with claims that “the chicken portion is small while the waiting time is long” or that “product quality varies from one outlet to another coupled with poor marketing strategy”.
On the same note, one commenter told the poster to “make your own comparison by buying KFC, Texas Chicken, Marrybrown or Ahmad’s HotChicken”.
As one commenter argued, while many home-grown fast-food players seized the moment to improvise by rolling out promotional campaigns, when boycott was at its peak, KFC was “sitting on its laurels by merely attributing sales drop to the boycott phenomenon”.
Above all else, in times of belt tightening, “people can choose whether they want something cheap or expensive”.
“People have choices; it’s not just KFC that sells chicken,” one commenter aptly pointed out.
“Plenty of others sell the same thing by the roadside – Ayam Alang, Ayam Muiz, night market fried chicken and many more. Enough with the constant talk about boycotts”
Editor’s Note: Recall that QSR Brands (M) Holdings Bhd alongside KFC Holdings (M) Bhd were delisted from the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia on Feb 7, 2013 following a RM5.12 bil privatization buyout by Johor Corp Bhd (JCorp), the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and CVC Capital Partners through Massive Equity Sdn Bhd.
JCorp holds a 55.63% stake in Massive Equity while Melati Asia Holdings Ltd holds 44.19% with the rest held by several individuals. Melati Asia is jointly owned by the EPF (51%) and CVC (49%).
Since then, the largest Malaysian fast food chain operator has repeatedly considered and planned an initial public offering (IPO) on Bursa Malaysia though it has postponed or shelved the plans multiple times
The operator of KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants in Southeast Asia first targeted a major listing aiming to raise around RM2 bil with a valuation of roughly RM6 bil.
However, QSR Brands put the IPO on hold in April 2019 due to choppy local market conditions and economic uncertainties.
Again, the listing idea was revived in August 2021 only for a domestic listing targeting up to US$500 mil (approx RM2.2 bil) to be indefinitely shelved as its businesses have been affected by anti-Zionist boycott campaign following the Iran-Israel conflict since mid-2024.
As it is, QSR Brands remains a private company jointly owned by JCorp, EPF and CVC till reports surfaced in November 2026 that JCorp and CVC (a private-equity firm) are exploring potential options to sell the KFC and Pizza Hut fast-food operations with an asking price of around RM4 bil
“They have been looking for buyers. They’re targeting foreign ones, in particular from the Middle East,” a source familiar with the matter tells The Edge on Monday (Nov 2), adding that foreign investment bank Citi is running the process. Citi declined comment.
- Focus Malaysia
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