MANILA, Philippines--Golden Arches Development Corp., the Philippine master franchise holder of fast-food chain McDonald’s, said it had shelved plans for an initial public offering (IPO) of stock in view of weak market conditions.

Company chairman George Yang said there would be no IPO, “at least not in the next few years.”

Golden Arches last year engaged Ernst & Young as financial adviser on an IPO, and said “McDonald’s Philippines, with its impressive performance in the last three years and with the current strong performance of the local capital markets, believes that going public this year [2007] would further underpin its aggressive growth strategy.” Elizabeth Sanchez-Lacson; edited by INQUIRER.net/strong>