McDonald’s Corp might have found buyers for its hundreds of branches in Taiwan, as Ambassador Hotel Ltd (國賓大飯店) yesterday confirmed its president, Hubert Lee (李昌霖), has expressed interest in a deal.
Ambassador Hotel, which operates three upscale hotels, as well as two budget hotels under the Amba brand, issued a brief statement saying that Lee plans to invest in the fast-food business, an investment that would be unrelated to the hotel operator or its parent company, Yeangder Group (仰德集團).
As part of a global turnaround plan, the US fast-food giant has been looking for buyers for the franchise rights to its 350 branches in Taiwan. It has been revamping its ownership structure throughout Asia, including plans to sell its operations in China, Hong Kong and South Korea.
The Taiwanese deal, likely to be made official next month, is estimated to be worth US$300 million in cash, local Chinese-language media outlets reported.
Ambassador Hotel declined to provide further details, saying that it intends to focus on hospitality-related business and would not foray into unfamiliar territory.
If realized, the deal would end the fast-food giant’s 31-year business model of operating its own stores in Taiwan.
Lackluster performance has led McDonald’s to search for a franchisee to buy a 90 percent stake in its Taiwanese operations, which would require a 20-year franchise contract, media outlets have reported.
Lee is reportedly planning to close the deal with funding from his family. He is the younger brother of Emmet Hsu (許育瑞), chairman of Yeangder Group, which owns Ambassador Hotel, Shihlin Electric & Engineering Corp (士林電機) and HCT Logistics (新竹貨運), as well as other business interests.
Hsu took the surname of his mother, the eldest daughter of Yeangder Group founder Hsu Chin-de (許金德).
According to local media reports, Lee is passionate about the hotel and restaurant industries, as well as real-estate development.
McDonald’s has about 16,000 employees in Taiwan. It declined to comment on the deal with Lee, saying that reforms of its business model remain under way.
The fast-food chain operator would need approval from the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Investment Commission before it can withdraw its investment from the market.
It is common for foreign fast-food chains and restaurants to adjust the number of company-owned stores and franchises to adapt to constant shifts in consumers’ tastes, the ministry has said.
Anna Bhobho, a 31-year-old housewife from rural Zimbabwe, was once a silent observer in her home, excluded from financial and family decisionmaking in the deeply patriarchal society. Today, she is a driver of change in her village, thanks to an electric tricycle she owns. In many parts of rural sub-Saharan Africa, women have long been excluded from mainstream economic activities such as operating public transportation. However, three-wheelers powered by green energy are reversing that trend, offering financial opportunities and a newfound sense of importance. “My husband now looks up to me to take care of a large chunk of expenses,
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday signed a letter of intent with Alaska Gasline Development Corp (AGDC), expressing an interest to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) and invest in the latter’s Alaska LNG project, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement. Under the agreement, CPC is to participate in the project’s upstream gas investment to secure stable energy resources for Taiwan, the ministry said. The Alaska LNG project is jointly promoted by AGDC and major developer Glenfarne Group LLC, as Alaska plans to export up to 20 million tonnes of LNG annually from 2031. It involves constructing an 1,290km
NEXT GENERATION: The company also showcased automated machines, including a nursing robot called Nurabot, which is to enter service at a Taichung hospital this year Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) expects server revenue to exceed its iPhone revenue within two years, with the possibility of achieving this goal as early as this year, chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said on Tuesday at Nvidia Corp’s annual technology conference in San Jose, California. AI would be the primary focus this year for the company, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), as rapidly advancing AI applications are driving up demand for AI servers, Liu said. The production and shipment of Nvidia’s GB200 chips and the anticipated launch of GB300 chips in the second half of the year would propel
‘MAKE OR BREAK’: Nvidia shares remain down more than 9 percent, but investors are hoping CEO Jensen Huang’s speech can stave off fears that the sales boom is peaking Shares in Nvidia Corp’s Taiwanese suppliers mostly closed higher yesterday on hopes that the US artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer would showcase next-generation technologies at its annual AI conference slated to open later in the day. The GPU Technology Conference (GTC) in California is to feature developers, engineers, researchers, inventors and information technology professionals, and would focus on AI, computer graphics, data science, machine learning and autonomous machines. The event comes at a make-or-break moment for the firm, as it heads into the next few quarters, with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s (黃仁勳) keynote speech today seen as having the ability to
RSS