 "McDonald's India franchisee Hardcastle to merge with parent")
Mumbai: Hardcastle Restaurants, master franchisee for south and west India operations of burger chain McDonald’s Corp, said it will merge with its parent Westlife Development Ltd .
After the merger, the parent plans to increase McDonald’s retail footprint to strengthen its presence in the existing market and enter newer ones, Amit Jatia, vice-chairman of Westlife Development, said in a statement on Friday.
[caption id=“attachment_549851” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Merger on the cards. Reuters[/caption]
Hardcastle will become a wholly owned unit of Bombay Stock Exchange-listed Westlife, giving investors a chance to participate in the growth of McDonald’s in India.
Hardcastle, which operates 148 restaurants in India, has been growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 22.3 percent over the last three years.
Shares of Westlife, an illiquid stock, ended up 2 percent on the BSE on Friday.
Reuters
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