Yum Brands to sell struggling Pizza Hut chain for $2.7B

Fast-food group Yum Brands announced Wednesday that it had agreed to sell Pizza Hut in two separate transactions worth a combined $2.7 billion, as the US restaurant group moves to sharpen its focus on its remaining core brands.

The company said Pizza Hut, excluding mainland China, will be acquired by private equity firm LongRange Capital for about $1.5 billion, while Pizza Hut’s mainland China business will be sold to Yum China Holdings for about $1.2 billion.

The sale follows a strategic review launched last November after the pizza chain struggled with weaker comparable-store sales and tougher competition in key markets.

Yum Brands said the transactions are intended to give Pizza Hut a more suitable ownership structure across its different markets while allowing the company to focus on its other fast food/casual dining outlets, KFC, Taco Bell, and Habit Burger & Grill.

“These transactions enable Yum! to be a more focused company,” Yum Brands CEO Chris Turner said in the company statement.

Turner said Pizza Hut would be “well positioned for future growth” under LongRange and Yum China, adding that the brand remains one of the world’s most iconic restaurant names.

Pizza Hut has faced pressure from changing consumer habits, rising competition in delivery and value-focused fast food, and a broader slowdown in demand in the US pizza market. The chain, founded in Wichita, Kansas, in 1958, was acquired by PepsiCo in 1977 and later became part of Yum Brands after a spin-off in 1997.

Under the deal with LongRange, Yum Brands will sell the Pizza Hut business outside mainland China for about $1.5 billion, with the company also eligible to receive an earn-out payment of $75 million by 2030.

Yum China will acquire Pizza Hut China for about $1.2 billion. Yum China, which was separated from Yum Brands in 2016, operates and franchises restaurant brands in China, including KFC and Pizza Hut.

Yum Brands said it expects about $2.3 billion in net proceeds from the sales and around $85 million in one-time separation costs. The company added that both transactions have been unanimously approved by its board and are expected to close in the third quarter of 2026, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.