McDonald’s, eager to leverage its size to gain an advantage in the competitive fast-food market, on Monday said it plans to acquire Dynamic Yield, a personalization and decision logic technology firm based in New York and Tel Aviv.
The deal is valued at $300 million, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Chicago-based burger giant plans to use Dynamic Yield's technology in its drive-thru menu displays, enabling them to show food based on time of day, weather, restaurant traffic, and menu items.
The technology would also be able to suggest additional items based on customers’ selections.
McDonald’s said it tested the technology in several restaurants last year. Once the deal is closed, the company said it will add the technology to its U.S. drive-thrus this year, with plans to expand their use in international markets thereafter.
McDonald’s also said it would work to integrate the technology into its self-order kiosks and mobile app.
Steve Easterbrook, McDonald’s CEO, said that technology is a key element of the company’s growth plan. “With this acquisition, we’re expanding both our ability to increase the role technology and data will play in our future and the speed with which we’ll be able to implement our vision of creating more personalized experiences for our customers.”
The acquisition is the latest move in which McDonald’s is flexing its financial might to give it an advantage in the ultra-competitive fast-food world.
The company has been making major investments in its restaurants—notably a $6 billion project to add kiosks to all of its 14,000 U.S. restaurants. That followed a deal with Uber Eats to provide delivery at its locations, now in 9,000 of them. The deal has helped fuel major growth in the restaurant delivery space.
In this one, McDonald’s is making an acquisition to improve technology in its drive-thrus, the source of more than two-thirds of the company’s business.
Dynamic Yield was founded seven years ago. Liad Agmon, the company's co-founder and CEO, said it is “thrilled to be joining an iconic global brand such as McDonald’s and excited to innovate in ways that have a real impact on people’s daily lives.”
McDonald’s has been working aggressively to increase the amount of technology in its restaurants, including its mobile app, mobile order and pay, digital menu boards and the kiosks.
Once the deal is closed, McDonald’s will become Dynamic Yield’s sole owner and said it would continue to invest in its core personalization product. Dynamic Yield will remain a stand-alone company, and its workers will operate out of offices around the world and will continue to serve current and attract additional clients.
UPDATE: This story has been updated to include more details.
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