McDonald’s is acquiring 225 restaurants from Alonyal Limited, which operated the brand in Israel for more than 30 years. The companies announced the agreement Thursday. McDonald’s will own Alonyal Limited’s restaurants and operations, while its more than 5,000 employees will be retained on equivalent terms.
“For more than 30 years, Alonyal Limited has been proud to bring the Golden Arches to Israel and serve our communities. We’ve grown the brand to be the leading and most successful restaurant chain in Israel and are grateful to our management, employees, suppliers, and customers who made this possible. We are encouraged by what the future holds,” Alonyal CEO and owner Omri Padan said in a statement.
McDonald’s has faced boycotts in the region over its perceived support for Israel in the Israel-Hamas war. The protests came after Alonyal’s restaurants advertised their decision to offer free and discounted meals to Israel soldiers following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. During the company’s most recent earnings call, CFO Ian Borden noted the war has “meaningfully impacted” its International Developmental Licensed Markets segment performance, resulting in fourth quarter comp sales of less than 1%. He added that the company does not expect to see improvement until there is a resolution in the Middle East.
“We’re really fortunate in that we have some very strong, very well-capitalized franchisees in the Middle East,” CEO Chris Kempczinski said during the earnings call. “But as we have historically done, as we work through challenges around the world, you've seen us in partnership with franchisees do things to support them during difficult periods that sometimes can be deferrals, sometimes it can be other forms of support. And so those are ongoing conversations that we'll have with our franchisees.”
Terms of the Alonyal agreement were not disclosed and the agreement itself is subject to certain conditions, with closing anticipated in the coming months.
“McDonald’s remains committed to the Israeli market and to ensuring a positive employee and customer experience in the market going forward,” Jo Sempels, president of McDonald’s International Developmental Licensed Markets, said in a statement.
Notably, McDonald’s Corporate also recently acquired a minority stake from Carlyle, which runs the chain’s China business.
Contact Alicia Kelso at [email protected]