(ECNS) -- China's trademark Peking Duck restaurant group Quanjude has denied that its surprising organizational reshuffle is due to a bid for McDonald's Hong Kong and Chinese mainland outlets.
Quanjude announced the collective resignation of its President Wang Zhiqiang, General Manager Xing Ying and Board Secretary Shi Bingfeng on Sunday night without giving details for their departure, merely saying they were due to "job changes".
The term of Wang, 61, and Xing, 57, was expected to run until November 2018, according to Quanjude's annual report.
It was added that the trio would still hold other positions in the group, which is a leading restaurant chain in China.
There is widespread speculation that changes at the top are due to a bid by Beijing Tourism Group, main shareholder in Quanjude, for McDonald's outlets in Hong Kong and on the Chinese mainland. Beijing Tourism Group is expected to form a new team to secure the bid.
But a manager at Quanjude told local media that "it's a normal personnel change and everything in the group's operation and management is all right".
Quanjude said it will disclose more information about the managerial changes this week.
The group estimated in its half-year report that net profits would be around 58.2 million ($8.7 million) to 78.7 million yuan, a range that would mean a decrease of 15 percent to an increase of 15 percent.
