UK-based Guy Hands, whose investment firm Terra Firma controls Australia’s Consolidated Pastoral Co, has made a large investment in McDonald’s restaurants in northern Europe.

Mr Hands, a pioneer of the European private-equity industry, has agreed to buy all 435 McDonald’s restaurants in Norway, Finland, Denmark and Sweden for an undisclosed amount.

McDonald’s is selling the Nordic franchise as part of long-term plans to franchise 95 percent of its stores globally.

Since the beginning of 2015, McDonald’s has sold almost 1000 of its restaurants to franchisees, the company said in October.

Earlier this month, the company reported it was selling an 80pc stake in its China operations, worth $1.7 billion, to a group of investors that included US private-equity firm Carlyle Group and China’s Citic. In December it sold its ownership interest in more than 390 restaurants in Singapore and Malaysia to Saudi Arabia’s Lionhorn Pty Ltd.

“This is an exciting opportunity to form a strong partnership with one of the world’s leading global brands,” Guy Hands said in a statement issued by McDonald’s this week.

“I and my family look forward to working with the McDonald’s teams in place across the region.  We plan to leverage our industry knowledge and financial expertise, take a rigorous approach to insights and analysis and employ a hands-on approach to operational excellence to build on the strength of the brand with customers and create growth opportunities.”

While some Australian beef apparently does find its way into northern European McDonald’s supply chains, there does not appear to be any direct connection between Mr Hands’ personal investment in McDonald’s Nordic restaurants, and his Terra Firma Capital Partners investment in Consolidated Pastoral Co in Australia.

CPC, Australia’s second largest beef producer, is majority owned by Terra Firma, one of Europe’s leading private equity firms, which bought the business in 2009. Former CPC chairman Ken Warriner retains a shareholding.

Under Terra Firma ownership, CPC has acquired six additional properties and grown its herd by more than 70,000 head.

Beef Central understands that Consolidated Pastoral Co was one of the supplier-participants in a recent certified sustainable beef pilot trial carried out on McDonald’s behalf in Australia by processor Teys Australia.

In 2014, McDonald’s set a goal to begin purchasing a portion of its beef requirements from sustainable sources in 2016.

“We’re proud to say we’ve accomplished that goal, while understanding that the journey is far from over,” the company said.

McDonald’s says its ‘aspiration’ is to secure all of its beef requirements in its supply chain from verified sustainable sources.

“Because beef production varies widely around the world, local solutions are essential,” the company’s website says.

The company set about establishing pilot programs in a number of beef supplier countries around the world to test the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef principles and criteria in the ‘real world.’