A Maltese company has acquired the McDonald's restaurant operations in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia which involve 19 outlets.

The deal was struck through a company called Premier Capital Ltd, owned by Marin, Beppe and Melo Hili.

Through its subsidiary company First Foods Franchises, Premier Capital Ltd also operates the McDonalds development licence for Malta and Gozo.

Hili Group chairman Marin Hili said the deal would further enhance the Group's association with McDonald's and widen the organisation's presence in the Baltic states.

"The market in the Baltics is growing at a fast pace and we welcome the opportunity to spearhead this development," Mr Hili said.

The Baltics set-up employs just under 2,000 people. The restructured operation will now be responsible for 27 restaurants in four countries.

The Hili Group has been operating in the Baltic sates - in the shipping and ports sector - for the past 10 years.

The president of McDonald's Europe, Denis Hennequin, expressed his warmest congratulations to Melo Hili, "who already has an established track record of his success in running McDonald's in Malta".

"One of our core aims throughout our European operations is to preserve local relevance and, in turn, provide the uniquely McDonald's experience our customers expect.

"What better way to do this than giving opportunities to businessmen like Melo, enable them to deploy their business acumen and harness their expertise in growth regions such as the Baltics," Mr Hennequin said.

Melo Hili is the developmental licensee at McDonald's Malta, where he leads 550 full and part-time employees, which go up to 700 in summer.

"More than 14,000 people in the Maltese islands place their trust in McDonald's every day and my family and I are now looking forward to using our experience to build upon the momentum already created in the Baltics, focusing on great tasting food, quick service and great value for money for our customers," Mr Hili said.

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