McDonald’s has owned a few other businesses in the past. In the 1990s, the company bought other restaurant chains, but it has been getting rid of many of them so it can focus on growing the McDonald’s brand.
In 1999, McDonald’s bought Donatos Pizza from its owner, Jim Grote. In 2003, though, McDonald’s sold the business back to Grote. McDonald’s started investing in Chipotle Mexican Grill in 1998. By the end of that year, it owned the majority of shares, but in a stock exchange in 2006, it sold all of its shares. In 2000, McDonald’s bought Boston Chicken, which is now called Boston Market. In 2007, Sun Capital Partners bought the chain from McDonald’s. Seed Restaurant Group and McDonald’s worked together on Fazoli’s restaurants, but in 2003, they ended their partnership. In 2002, McDonald’s came up with the idea for Redbox, but in 2009, Coinstar bought McDonald’s share of Redbox.