Citic And Carlyle Reportedly Near Deal To Buy McDonald's China Assets

(RTTNews) - A team led by Chinese conglomerate Citic Group Corp and US-based private equity house Carlyle has emerged as the final global group seeking to buy McDonald's (MCD) China franchise, a deal that could fetch between $2 billion - $3 billion, according to reports citing people familiar with the deal.

The reports indicated that TPG Capital and Bain Capital, two other global contenders originally involved in the deal for the fast-food chain's 2,800 outlets in China, have dropped out of the process. That has left Citic Group and its partner Carlyle as the favoured bidder.

TPG had partnered with Wumart Stores. It was unclear if the Beijing-based retailer was still in the running for McDonald's China outlets. Bain had partnered with GreenTree Hospitality.