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Rebranding of McDonald's chain in Russia can cost almost $161 mln — expert

In turn, Ivan Samoylenko, managing partner at B&C Agency, told TASS that the new name should have associations with fast food, but not with McDonald's

MOSCOW, May 19. /TASS/. The new owner of the Russian network McDonald's may need almost 10 billion rubles ($161 mln) for rebranding, chief of the fast-food chain Teremok Mikhail Goncharov, who is also public ombudsman in the field of big business in Moscow, told TASS.

Earlier on Thursday, McDonald's announced that it would sell its Russian business to current licensee Alexander Govor. Under the terms of the deal, Govor acquires the entire restaurant portfolio of the chain and will further develop it under a new brand.

"The chain has about 850 restaurants. Even a light rebranding probably costs about 10 million rubles ($160,746) per point. That is, almost 10 billion rubles in total for the chain," Goncharov said. He noted that everything will depend on the depth of rebranding.

"But how [the deal] will affect sales is a more complex question, it is completely impossible to predict. At the start, for example, it can be comparable sales, but if there is a serious menu adjustment or a serious price increase, sales can decline quite sharply," the Ombudsman concluded.

In turn, Ivan Samoylenko, managing partner at B&C Agency, told TASS that the new name should have associations with fast food, but not with McDonald's.

"Such a development (an idea, a standard for writing a name, colors, a font) can cost from several million to hundreds of millions of rubles. And then the costs will include the production of a new sign for each point, repairs, the purchase of light displays, POS materials (leaflets, wobblers), uniforms for staff, coloring of delivery vehicles - everything that creates the atmosphere of a restaurant," he said.

In his opinion, the new brand will have to carry the same semantic load as McDonald's.

"This is a chain of fast-food restaurants with low prices and food that you can eat on the go. Therefore, cardinal changes are unlikely to occur: the price level will be important for the consumer (the price of meals should not rise), the speed of service and the quality of prepared dishes," Samoylenko concluded.