Yum Brands sells Pizza Hut to LongRange Capital and Yum China

Yum brands It announced Tuesday that it is selling Pizza Hut to private equity firm LongRange Capital for approximately $1.5 billion.

The deal excludes the pizza chain’s locations in mainland China; Yum China It will acquire those in a separate deal for about $1.2 billion.

Through both transactions, Yam expects to receive approximately US$2.3 billion in net proceeds after taxes, closing adjustments and fees, excluding a potential gain of US$75 million by 2030 from LongRange. Yum also expects one-time expenses of approximately $85 million during the remainder of 2026 related to transactions.

These deals culminate years of struggles for Pizza Hut, which have impacted Yum’s overall financial performance. In the US, the pizza chain has moved from the sit-down, salad-bar system of the past to focusing on delivery and carryout — something far behind the curve. competition Domino’s Pizza It took market share from Pizza Hut for years; Third party delivery applications e.g DoorDash They stole more sales from the chain.

In November, Yum said it was exploring strategic options for Pizza Hut. The company said Tuesday that its leadership team and board of directors decided that selling Pizza Hut would provide the “strongest path” to maximizing shareholder value and giving the pizza chain an ownership structure “tailored to its distinct markets, competitive strengths and long-term priorities.”

Brothers Dan and Frank Carney founded Pizza Hut in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas. A year later, they were franchising the concept.

In 1969, Pizza Hut went public. Just two years later, it became the world’s largest pizza chain, although it lost that title in 2017 to Domino’s.

The deal severs Pizza Hut’s decades-long ties with Taco Bell and KFC, its sister brands in the Yum portfolio.

PepsiCo It bought Pizza Hut in 1977, marking the beverage giant’s entry into the restaurant business. By 1986, it also owned Taco Bell and KFC. When PepsiCo spun off its restaurant unit in 1997, the holding company was called Tricon Global Restaurants — and later renamed Yum.

Clarification: The headline has been updated to reflect that the $2.7 billion sale value includes deals with both LongRange Capital and Yum China.