In response to demands for a boycott due to the conflict between Hamas and the Israeli government, McDonald's Corporation said on Thursday that it would buy Alonyal, the owner of 225 McDonald's outlets in Israel.
The transaction's terms were not made public. In a statement, McDonald's stated that the agreement was subject to certain terms that it did not specify.
Operating McDonald's restaurants in Israel for almost 30 years, Alonyal currently has 225 franchised locations with over 5,000 workers, all of whom will be retained after the sale.
McDonald's stated that the conflict in Gaza, which started in October with Hamas strikes on Israel, was having an impact on company profits when it presented its 2023 financial report in February.
Calls for a boycott of McDonald's were made after the Israeli military received hundreds of free meals from franchised locations throughout the country.
Chris Kempczinski, the CEO, stated on an analyst call that "we recognise that families in their communities in the region continue to be tragically impacted by the war and our thoughts are with them at this time."
Analysts were disappointed with McDonald's sales in the fourth quarter. Similar sales decreased by 0.7 percent in franchised restaurants outside of the US.
Kempczinski said, "Obviously, the place that we're seeing the most pronounced impact is in the Middle East. We are seeing some impact in other Muslim countries like Malaysia, and Indonesia".
According to him, this also occurred in nations like France that have sizable Muslim populations, particularly for restaurants located in mostly Muslim areas.
In Thursday's post-market trade, McDonald's shares fell by about 2 percent.
