# What makes McDonald’s assets stand out amid a weak Hong Kong retail property market?

- **Source:** EdgeProp Singapore
- **Published:** 2026-08-13T03:00:00.000Z
- **Author:** Peggy Ye
- **Original:** https://www.edgeprop.sg/property-news/what-makes-mcdonalds-assets-stand-out-amid-weak-hong-kong-retail-property-market
- **Topics:** Commercial & Industrial, New Launches, Transactions & Deals

## Featured rationale

The disposals signal selective demand for prime, blue-chip-tenanted assets offering yields above 6%, while larger-ticket or less conventional shops may remain harder to sell.

## AI summary

McDonald’s sold 11 of its 23 Hong Kong shops for more than HK$900 million despite shop values remaining over 50% below pre-pandemic highs.

## Original article

One year after McDonald’s began selling its self-owned Hong Kong shops, the fast-food giant has found buyers for nearly half its portfolio even as the city’s retail property market endures its weakest spell in decades.

McDonald’s planned to dispose of all 23 shops in phases, market sources said, with the portfolio initially valued at about HK$3 billion ($480 million).

Since launching the disposal plan with JLL in July last year, the chain has sold 11 properties for more than HK$900 million — five last year and six worth HK$607 million this year, according to calculations by South China Morning Post. The sales included the first batch of eight properties marketed by JLL through public tender.

Read also: Singapore-based investors now the top non-local buyers of Hong Kong office assets

The progress is notable amid Hong Kong’s retail property downturn. While McDonald’s is still realising gains over its historical purchase costs, other shops have sold at prices more than 30% below peak valuations or original asking prices.

Shop values remained more than 50% below pre-pandemic highs, while veteran investors and major landlords continued to offload assets, according to analysts. Only 379 shop transactions were completed in the first half, little changed from a year earlier, according to Centaline Commercial.

Analysts said the McDonald’s sales did not signal a broad recovery, but showed investors remained willing to buy assets with the right qualities: being in prime locations, having long leases and backed by blue-chip tenants. Capital remained available for retail property — but increasingly only for assets offering stable income and defensive returns.

Eunice Tang, executive director of capital markets at JLL, which has been marketing six of the McDonald’s shops, said the disposals highlighted continuing investor interest in top-tier retail properties despite the broader market downturn.

“Retail transactions for properties valued above HK$50 million have been sluggish since last year,” Tang said. “Nevertheless, the availability of prime-location retail assets backed by blue-chip tenancies has captured the attention of high-net-worth buyers.”

Across Hong Kong, only 32 shop transactions priced above HK$50 million were completed by July, with a combined value of HK$3.17 billion, down from 37 deals worth HK$4.31 billion a year earlier, according to Centaline Commercial.

Read also: ‘Positive problem’: Surging demand strains Hong Kong’s metals storage capacity

The McDonald’s shops were sold under sale-and-lease-back agreements, allowing the chain to continue operating the restaurants on leases of up to 20 years. Most offered initial rental yields above 6%, providing investors with stable income at a time when rents and capital values remain under pressure.

The buyers were mixed, including high-net-worth individuals, family offices and experienced private investors. Local investor Ng Yin acquired three of the McDonald’s properties worth a total of about HK$300 million, while veteran investor Chang Yen-hsu, known in the market as “Taiwan’s Chang”, bought two.

Other buyers included Malaysian developer MB World Group and mainland China private investors, according to data from the Land Registry and the Companies Registry.

The properties were owned by MCD Real Properties, a company linked to the US mother company, which had retained them after selling the local operating business to a Citic Capital-led consortium in 2017. Many of the properties were acquired during the company’s expansion in the 1980s and early 1990s, allowing McDonald’s to unlock decades of appreciation.

McDonald’s did not respond to a request for comment.

Stanley Poon, managing director at Centaline Commercial, attributed the disposal plan’s results to both the quality of the assets and McDonald’s execution by releasing the portfolio in phases instead of flooding the market.

“Selling this many shops in today’s market is not easy,” he added.

The next phase, however, may prove more challenging. Several properties, including the flagship Star House shop in Tsim Sha Tsui, remain unsold.

Read also: China’s bond market faces climbing re-defaults as property crisis drags on

Poon said the issue was less about location than the larger ticket size, which limited the pool of potential buyers, while the basement portion of the property also made it less attractive than a conventional street-front shop.

Beyond the transactions themselves, the disposal plan reflects a broader shift in how multinational companies manage real estate.

Yan Yuejin, deputy head of the Shanghai-based E-House China R&D Institute, said McDonald’s sale-and-lease-back strategy was part of a global move towards lighter balance sheets, allowing companies to unlock capital tied up in property while continuing to operate their businesses.

Unlike store chain Ikea’s sale of underperforming mainland China shops as part of an operational restructuring, McDonald’s was monetising profitable operating assets rather than exiting the market, Yan said.

“In the future, multinational companies will place greater emphasis on operating efficiency than on owning property,” Yan added. “More non-core real estate will be monetised, while local partners take on a bigger role in supporting expansion and long-term growth.”

Yan also noted that the plan reflected broader changes in Hong Kong’s retail property market. As integration between Hong Kong and neighbouring mainland Chinese cities deepened, more residents were expected to shop across the border, weakening local retail demand and putting further pressure on rents and property valuations.

“The valuation gap with mainland China’s first-tier cities is likely to narrow as consumption on the mainland continues to upgrade,” Yan said.

## Chinese translation

> Translation model: grok_cli

### 在香港零售物业市场疲弱之际，麦当劳资产凭何脱颖而出？

麦当劳分阶段出售策略有助于维持买家兴趣，即便更大金额的零售资产更难出手。

麦当劳开始出售其自有香港商铺一年后，即便这座城市的零售物业市场正经历数十年来最疲弱时期，这家快餐巨头仍已为其近半数组合找到买家。

市场消息人士称，麦当劳计划分阶段处置全部23间商铺，该组合最初估值约30亿港元（4.8亿美元）。

自去年7月与仲量联行启动处置计划以来，该连锁已售出11处物业，成交额超过9亿港元——去年售出5处，今年售出6处、成交额6.07亿港元，此为《南华早报》计算所得。交易包括仲量联行通过公开招标推出的首批八处物业。

延伸阅读：新加坡投资者现为香港写字楼资产最大非本地买家

在香港零售物业下行背景下，这一进展尤为引人注目。尽管麦当劳仍相对其历史购入成本实现收益，其他商铺的成交价则较峰值估值或原先叫价低逾30%。

分析师称，商铺价值仍较疫情前高点低逾50%，资深投资者与大型业主仍在持续出货。据中原工商铺数据，上半年仅完成379宗商铺交易，与一年前几乎持平。

分析师表示，麦当劳的成交并不意味着市场全面复苏，但显示投资者仍愿意买入具备合适特质的资产：位于核心地段、租约较长，并由蓝筹租户支撑。零售物业仍有资金可投——但越来越仅限于能提供稳定收入与防御性回报的资产。

负责营销其中六间麦当劳商铺的仲量联行资本市场执行董事邓蔼慈（Eunice Tang）表示，这些处置凸显尽管大市下行，投资者对顶级零售物业仍持续有兴趣。

邓蔼慈说：“去年以来，估值超过5,000万港元的零售交易一直低迷。尽管如此，有蓝筹租约支撑的核心地段零售资产，仍吸引了高净值买家的关注。”

据中原工商铺数据，截至7月，全港仅完成32宗成交价超过5,000万港元的商铺交易，合计成交额31.7亿港元，低于一年前37宗、成交额43.1亿港元的水平。

延伸阅读：“甜蜜的烦恼”：需求激增令香港金属仓储能力承压

麦当劳商铺以售后回租协议出售，使该连锁可在最长20年的租约下继续经营餐厅。多数项目初始租金收益率超过6%，在租金与资本价值仍受压之际，为投资者提供稳定收入。

买家构成多元，包括高净值人士、家族办公室及经验丰富的私人投资者。本地投资者吴贤（Ng Yin）购入三处麦当劳物业，总价约3亿港元；市场称为“台湾张”的资深投资者张彦旭（Chang Yen-hsu）购入两处。

土地注册处及公司注册处数据显示，其他买家还包括马来西亚发展商MB World Group及中国内地私人投资者。

这些物业由与美国母公司相关的MCD Real Properties持有，该公司在2017年将本地运营业务出售给中信资本牵头财团后仍保留这些物业。许多物业购于公司1980年代至1990年代初扩张期，使麦当劳得以兑现数十年升值。

麦当劳未回应置评请求。

中原工商铺董事总经理潘志伟（Stanley Poon）将处置计划的成效归功于资产素质，以及麦当劳分阶段释放组合、而非一次性涌入市场的执行方式。

他补充：“在当今市场卖掉这么多商铺并不容易。”

不过，下一阶段或更具挑战。包括尖沙咀星光行旗舰店在内的若干物业仍未售出。

延伸阅读：中国债券市场再违约攀升，房地产危机拖累持续

潘志伟表示，问题与其说在于地段，不如说在于更大的成交金额限制了潜在买家池，而该物业的地库部分也使其较传统临街铺面吸引力更低。

除交易本身外，该处置计划也反映出跨国企业如何管理房地产的更广泛转变。

上海易居中国研发中心副总经理严跃进表示，麦当劳的售后回租策略属于全球减轻资产负债表负担的一部分，使企业能释放沉淀在物业中的资金，同时继续经营业务。

严跃进称，与宜家连锁出售表现不佳的中国内地门店作为运营重组的一部分不同，麦当劳是在变现仍具盈利的经营性资产，而非退出市场。

严跃进补充：“未来，跨国企业将更重视运营效率，而非持有物业。更多非核心房地产将被变现，本地合作伙伴将在支持扩张与长期增长方面扮演更大角色。”

严跃进还指出，该计划也反映香港零售物业市场的更广泛变化。随着香港与邻近内地城市融合加深，预计将有更多居民跨境消费，削弱本地零售需求，并对租金与物业估值形成进一步压力。

严跃进说：“随着内地消费持续升级，与内地一线城市的估值差距可能会收窄。”