Louisville, Kentucky, June 16, 2026, 19:05 (PKT)
- Yum! Brands is set to sell Pizza Hut through two deals totaling $2.7 billion after signing definitive agreements.
- LongRange Capital is set to acquire Pizza Hut operations outside mainland China for around $1.5 billion. Yum China plans to take over the mainland China business for about $1.2 billion.
- Yum said it expects both deals to close in the third quarter of 2026, if regulators sign off.
Yum! Brands is set to unload Pizza Hut in a $2.7 billion split. Most of Pizza Hut will go to LongRange Capital, while Yum China Holdings takes over the China business. The Louisville-based parent said it reached firm deals following its review, which kicked off in November 2025. The agreement puts Pizza Hut outside mainland China in LongRange’s hands for about $1.5 billion. Yum China will pay around $1.2 billion for the mainland business.
Yum CEO Chris Turner said the deals “enable Yum! to be a more focused company,” as the owner of KFC, Taco Bell and Habit Burger & Grill steps back from a brand trailing the rest. Yum projects net proceeds of about $2.3 billion after taxes, closing adjustments and transaction fees, with a possible extra $75 million earn-out from LongRange by 2030 not included. The board also cleared an extra $4 billion for share buybacks. Yum
Pizza Hut is coming off a rough period in the U.S., where sales are soft, stores are old, and rivals have been gaining. The Associated Press said Yum had been thinking about selling and Pizza Hut planned to shut 250 U.S. locations. “Pizza Hut has long been the weak link in Yum’s portfolio,” GlobalData managing director Neil Saunders said, noting a fix would need money and time Yum didn’t want to spend. AP News
Pizza Hut is under pressure from inflation, higher commodity prices and more cautious spending, Reuters said. Rivals have pushed ahead in delivery, tech and marketing. EMarketer’s Zak Stambor told Reuters Pizza Hut is “playing catch-up on nearly every front” in the fast pizza market. Private ownership could give Pizza Hut more room to fix things, he said. Reuters
Yum China gets full control over the Pizza Hut brand in China as part of the deal. Reuters said Yum China already runs and franchises over 18,000 stores, with KFC making up around 13,000 of them, and set a goal for more than 6,000 Pizza Hut stores in China by 2028. Yum will still work with Yum China on KFC sales incentives and plans to keep pushing Taco Bell growth on the mainland.
Yum’s board signed off on both deals, and the transactions are set to close in the third quarter of 2026 if they clear normal conditions and get the needed regulatory sign-offs. Yum said it won’t report Pizza Hut as a separate division after closing, but will still run its Byte by Yum tech platform and give some transition services to Pizza Hut locations outside China as the split happens.
