McDonald's, the American hamburger chain giant, announced that it has agreed to acquire a company that operates franchise stores in Israel. Western media have reported that this is due to widespread boycotts in the Middle East and other countries in reaction to local stores providing free meals to Israeli soldiers.
McDonald's announced on the 4th that it has agreed to acquire Aronial, a company that franchises 225 McDonald's restaurants in Israel.
The company has operated franchised stores locally for more than 30 years and employs more than 5,000 people, and McDonald's will continue to employ them under the same terms and conditions after the acquisition.
The background to the acquisition is that Western media reported that since the military conflict between Israel and the Islamic organization Hamas broke out in October last year, boycotts have spread in the Middle East and elsewhere in response to the company's provision of free meals to Israeli soldiers. It has been reported that business performance has deteriorated.
Countries with a large Muslim population are beginning to boycott products from Israeli companies, and the effects of the ongoing military conflict are also spreading to corporate management.