Yum sells Pizza Hut business for $2.7 billion

Yum China ​acquires mainland business for $1.2bn, US private equity fund buys the rest

Pizza Hut opened its first branch in China in 1990 in Beijing, and today runs 4,375 stores that delivered a 19% increase in operating profit last year. (Photo: Zheng Zhou via Wikimedia Commons)

‌Yum Brands has announced that it would sell its Pizza Hut chain for a combined $2.7 billion in two deals that highlight separate trajectories for its business in China and the rest of the world.The chain’s stores in the United States and the rest of the world except for mainland China will be sold to the private equity firm LongRange Capital for $1.5 billion, the Louisville, Kentucky-based company said.

Those operations, which encompass ​over 15,500 restaurants in more than 100 countries, ⁠have struggled recently in many markets, hit by inflation, higher commodity costs and the growing use of weight-loss drugs, which has nudged consumers toward healthier options.

Same-store sales for Pizza Hut in the United States have declined for 10 consecutive quarters.