US restaurant group Yum! Brands has agreed to sell Pizza Hut in a 2.7 billion dollar (£2 billion) deal. The move will see Yum sell the pizza chain excluding Chinese operations to private equity firm LongRange Capital for 1.5 billion dollars (£1.1 billion). This will include the group’s UK operation, which was rescued from administration by Yum last year after previous operator DC London Pie collapsed.
Meanwhile, Yum said it will sell the Pizza Hut China business to Yum China in a 1.2 billion dollar (£890 million) transaction. It comes after Yum launched a review in November last year to consider a potential sale of the restaurant chain amid a challenging backdrop for the casual dining sector.
Yum, which also owns Taco Bell and KFC, said on Tuesday that the sale allows the company to “maximise shareholder value”. Chris Turner, chief executive of Yum! Brands, said: “Under LongRange and Yum China, Pizza Hut will be well positioned for future growth with ownership that brings deep expertise in the restaurant industry. Pizza Hut is one of the most iconic restaurant brands in the world, and we are proud of the important role it has played in Yum’s history.”
Yum bought Pizza Hut’s UK operations in October last year after DC London Pie, the firm running Pizza Hut’s UK dine-in restaurants, fell into administration. The UK chain shut 68 restaurants and 11 delivery sites as a result, in a move which put 1,210 jobs at risk. Around 64 restaurants were saved by Yum as part of its rescue deal.
