Shares in the globe's largest hamburger chain McDonald's Corp (NYSE:MCD) nudged higher in early deals as it has three final offers to mull over for its China and Hong Kong outlets.
The fast food giant announced in the spring it was reorganising its Asian operations. It has around 2,400 restaurants in China and Hong Kong and the business is said to be worth up to US$3bn.
One bidder is the huge US private equity group Carlyle Group, which has teamed up with Chinese state group CITIC Group.
Another - TPG Capital - has reportedly partnered with mini-market operator Wumart Stores.
The third final bidder, and also like TPG, having little experience in the restaurant business, is the real estate concern Sanpower Group, which owns British department store House of Fraser.
It has previously said it was teaming up with Beijing Tourism Group.
Earlier this month, US-listed Yum, which owns the KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell brands, sold a US$460mln stake in its China unit to investment firm Primavera Capital and an affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.
McDonald's today repeated a previous comment that it is making progress in finding a long-term partner for the assets.