STAFF REPORT
Glasgow News 1
Pizza Hut has a new owner in a multibillion-dollar deal that will split the global pizza chain between two buyers while local stores continue to adjust to recent changes. On Tuesday, Yum Brands said it agreed to sell Pizza Hut in a combined transaction valued at $2.7 billion. According to the company, private equity firm LongRange Capital will acquire Pizza Hut restaurants in the United States and around the world, excluding mainland China, for $1.5 billion. Yum China, which operates as a separate company, will buy Pizza Hut’s restaurants in mainland China for $1.2 billion.
Yum Brands also owns Taco Bell and KFC, which officials say have been performing well even as many consumers cut back on eating out. Pizza Hut, by contrast, has been a drag on Yum’s overall performance, prompting the company to explore strategic options for the brand starting last November. Excluding mainland China, Pizza Hut operates about 15,500 restaurants in 108 countries and generates roughly $10 billion in annual sales, according to Yum Brands.
PepsiCo bought Pizza Hut in 1977 for $300 million, an amount Yum Brands notes would be about $1.6 billion today. Under PepsiCo, Pizza Hut boomed in the 1980s and ’90s, with its red-roofed dine-in restaurants becoming a familiar family destination. In the late 1990s, PepsiCo spun off its restaurant operations, including Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and KFC, into what would later become Yum Brands. While many legacy dine-in locations have closed over the years, Yum Brands reports it has also continued to open new Pizza Hut restaurants, even as about 250 stores shut down in the first half of this year.
In Glasgow, residents have seen that shift firsthand. The Pizza Hut at South Gate has closed, while the Pizza Hut on Happy Valley Road was rebuilt and reopened in March. Manager Casey Rhinehart at the Happy Valley Road location said deliveries “have for sure picked up” since the nearby closure and added, “I don’t think we’ve been negatively effected at all.”
LongRange Capital, which will become the new owner for most Pizza Hut restaurants outside mainland China, is a relatively small private equity firm launched in 2019 in Stamford, Connecticut. “Pizza Hut is a beloved global brand with a rich heritage and a loyal customer base that few brands can match,” Bob Berlin, a founder and managing partner at LongRange, said in a statement.
– Yum Brands is selling Pizza Hut in a combined $2.7 billion deal
– LongRange Capital will acquire restaurants outside mainland China for $1.5 billion
– Yum China will take over Pizza Hut locations in mainland China for $1.2 billion
– Yum Brands says the sale will allow it to become a more focused company
– Pizza Hut has about 15,500 restaurants in 108 countries outside mainland China
– Glasgow’s South Gate Pizza Hut has closed, while the Happy Valley Road store was rebuilt and reopened in March
– The Happy Valley Road manager says deliveries have picked up and the store has not been negatively affected by the nearby closure
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