Struggling Pizza Hut chain will be sold by Yum! Brands in $2.7 billion deal

Struggling restaurant chain Pizza Hut is set to be sold by its parent company, Yum! Brands, in a deal valued at $2.7 billion.

The sale follows a period of significant challenges for the brand, as outdated restaurant locations and intense competition in the fast-food sector led to a decline in sales.

Yum! Brands, which also owns KFC and Taco Bell, said in February that it was considering selling the chain as it also announced the closure of 250 underperforming locations in the United States.

The company initiated a strategic review of Pizza Hut in November, prompted by declining sales at comparable stores.

Private equity firm LongRange Capital is buying Pizza Hut, excluding the mainland China business, for about $1.5 billion, the company said Tuesday. The mainland China Pizza Hut will be purchased by Yum China Holdings Inc. for approximately $1.2 billion.

Chris Turner, CEO of Yum Brands, expressed optimism about the future, stating, "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 was founded in Wichita, Kansas, in 1958, and was part of PepsiCo before being spun off into Yum Brands in 1997. Both transactions are anticipated to finalize in the third quarter.

Pizza Hut has nearly 20,000 stores in more than 100 countries, but the company gets nearly half its sales from the United States, where it has about 6,500 stores.

Yum!’s Board of Directors unanimously approved the sale and the company expects both transactions to close in the third quarter of 2026.

Struggling Pizza Hut restaurant chain will be sold for $2.7 billion

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