[Courtesy of McDonald's ]
A US-South Korean consortium of Carlyle Group LP and Maeil Dairy Industry Co. has become the sole candidate in contention to acquire or jointly run the Korean unit of US iconic fast food chain McDonald's.
South Korea's KG Group said its consortium with NHN Entertainment Corp. has withdrawn from the race to buy McDonald's Korean business. The KG-NHN consortium had been vying with a consortium of Carlyle and Maeil Dairy since CJ Group, a food and entertainment conglomerate, dropped out.
Due to its shrinking business and tough competition, McDonald's has struggled to reorganize its operations in East Asia by looking for local partners to run its outlets as franchise stores in return for commissions.
South Korea media reports suggested that the price proposed by Carlyle was estimated at 600 billion won (543 million US dollars). The US private equity firm has also sought to buy McDonald's operations in China and Hong Kong.
McDonald's entered the South Korean market in 1988 but closed its first outlet here in Seoul in 2007 and the second in March this year. There are more than 400 McDonald's stores in South Korea. Many McDonald's outlets abroad are now managed through franchises or joint partnership, but all its stores in South Korea are directly managed.
Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
