Yum Brands to sell Pizza Hut for $1.5 billion after years of challenges
Yum Brands is selling Pizza Hut to investment firm LongRange Capital for about $1.5 billion. It is also selling Pizza Hut restaurants in mainland China. Yum China will buy those assets separately for about $1.2 billion.
According to CNBC, Yum expects to receive about $2.3 billion in net proceeds across both deals after taxes and fees. This amount does not include a possible $75 million additional payment from LongRange by 2030. Yum also expects one-time expenses of about $85 million in the second half of 2026 related to the asset sales.
Sale as a way out of crisis
The deal ends a difficult multiyear period for Pizza Hut. The chain had long weighed on Yum’s financial performance. In the U.S., Pizza Hut tried to move away from its old dine-in format with salad bars and focus on delivery and carryout. But that shift came later than at its competitors, forcing the company to close some locations.
Domino’s Pizza has been taking market share from Pizza Hut for years. Third-party delivery services such as DoorDash added more pressure and also took part of the chain’s sales.
In November, Yum said it was reviewing strategic options for Pizza Hut. The company has now decided that selling the chain is the best way to increase shareholder value. Yum also believes Pizza Hut will get an ownership structure better suited to its markets, competitive strengths and long-term goals.
Pizza Hut’s history
Pizza Hut was founded by brothers Dan and Frank Carney in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas. A year later, they began expanding the chain through franchising.
In 1969, Pizza Hut went public. Two years later, it became the world’s largest pizza chain. The company held that status for decades but lost the top spot to Domino’s in 2017.
The sale of Pizza Hut ends its long-standing link with Taco Bell and KFC, two other major brands in Yum’s portfolio.
PepsiCo bought Pizza Hut in 1977. The deal marked the beverage company’s entry into the restaurant business. By 1986, PepsiCo also owned Taco Bell and KFC. In 1997, the company spun off its restaurant business into a separate entity called Tricon Global Restaurants. It was later renamed Yum Brands.
As a reminder, Pizza Hut previously became involved in a lawsuit over a delivery system dispute.
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