Yum Brands sells Pizza Hut for $2.7 billion in split deal with LongRange Capital and Yum China
The fast-food chain changed hands after years of underperformance, with LongRange Capital acquiring the international business and Yum China taking the mainland China operations.
A split transaction
Yum Brands agreed on Tuesday to sell Pizza Hut in two pieces totalling $2.7 billion. Private equity firm LongRange Capital will buy the restaurants outside mainland China for $1.5 billion, while Yum China Holdings acquires the Chinese operations for $1.2 billion. The parent company expects to close both transactions in the third quarter of 2026.
Pizza Hut had roughly 19,974 restaurants at the end of 2025, about 4,000 of them in China. Excluding China, the chain operates around 15,500 locations across 108 countries and generated about $10 billion in annual system sales.
These transactions enable Yum to be a more focused company.
Pizza Hut's decline
The sale follows a long struggle to revive a brand that once led the pizza category. In 2025, Yum Brands' global system sales rose 5%, but Pizza Hut's sales fell 2%. The chain has been weighed down by a dining-room-heavy footprint, rising competition from delivery-first rivals like Domino's, and cautious consumer spending linked to inflation and the growing use of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs.
- Yum Brands begins reviewing strategic options for Pizza Hut.
- Yum announces plans to close 250 underperforming US Pizza Hut locations.
- Yum enters exclusive negotiations with LongRange Capital.
- Sale agreement signed: LongRange Capital buys international business for $1.5 billion, Yum China takes China operations for $1.2 billion.
Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, described Pizza Hut as a persistent drag on the portfolio.
Pizza Hut has long been the weak link in Yum's portfolio. Despite efforts to revitalize the brand and close unprofitable locations, it has become increasingly clear that returning the unit to growth would require a level of investment and patience that Yum is simply not ready to give.
In February, Yum announced plans to shutter 250 underperforming US sites. An additional 70 closures were targeted in the United Kingdom, according to Polish business reports. The brand's menu, which includes pasta dishes that some critics say fall short of Italian standards, has struggled to attract diners, squeezing margins.
Yum narrows its focus
The decision to exit Pizza Hut allows Yum to concentrate on its stronger fast-casual brands, KFC and Taco Bell, both of which have continued to expand. In November 2025, Yum began reviewing strategic options for the pizza chain, and by May it had entered exclusive talks with LongRange Capital.
- Yum Brands overall
- 5 %
- Pizza Hut
- -2 %
Yum will keep providing its proprietary technology platform to Pizza Hut outside China under a transition services agreement, along with certain corporate services. The company said fees from those services in 2026 would offset the general and administrative costs historically allocated to Pizza Hut.
The road ahead
LongRange Capital, a relatively small firm founded in 2019 in Stamford, Connecticut, will take on a brand with deep American roots. Pizza Hut was started in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas, by two brothers who borrowed $600 from their mother. It grew into the world's largest pizza chain before being sold to PepsiCo in 1977 and later spun off as part of what became Yum Brands.
In Poland, the chain operates roughly 145–170 restaurants under master franchisee AmRest Holdings. Across the broader European footprint, store-level economics will depend on how quickly the new owner can update menus and shift toward a more delivery- and carry-out-oriented model. Yum shares traded about 2% higher at $158 in early Tuesday action.
