Yum! Brands Is Selling Pizza Hut for $2.7 Billion After Years of Declining Sales
After years of sliding sales and mounting pressure from investors, Yum! Brands has agreed to sell Pizza Hut in a pair of deals totaling $2.7 billion — ending the parent company's ownership of the iconic pizza chain after nearly five decades.
The Deal
Yum! Brands announced June 16 that it has entered into definitive agreements to split Pizza Hut's global operations between two buyers. Private equity firm LongRange Capital will acquire Pizza Hut's business outside mainland China for $1.5 billion, while Yum China Holdings will purchase the Pizza Hut China business for $1.2 billion. Both transactions are expected to close in the third quarter of 2026, pending regulatory approval.
After taxes, closing adjustments, and transaction fees, Yum! expects to receive approximately $2.3 billion in net proceeds. LongRange's deal also includes a potential earnout of $75 million by 2030. Yum! also approved an incremental $4 billion share repurchase authorization in connection with the announcement, and anticipates roughly $85 million in one-time separation costs before year's end.
Why Yum! Is Letting Go
The sale caps a strategic review that Yum! launched in November 2025 under CEO Chris Turner, who took over the top role in October of that year. At the time, Turner acknowledged that Pizza Hut's potential might be better realized under different ownership. "We believe a different approach, including but not limited to a sale of the business, would allow Pizza Hut to realize its full potential," Turner said during Yum!'s fall earnings call.
The numbers made the case plainly. In the first quarter of 2026, Pizza Hut's U.S. same-store sales fell 4% and systemwide sales declined 6%. For fiscal 2025, same-store sales dropped 5% and systemwide sales decreased 8% — following similar declines the year before. Pizza Hut was the only Yum! division to post year-over-year operating profit declines in Q1 2026, with its operating margin falling nearly 7% from the same period in 2025.
The chain's U.S. footprint has also contracted significantly. It finished the first quarter with 6,121 domestic locations, down from 6,551 five years earlier. Yum! had already announced plans to shutter roughly 250 more U.S. locations in the first half of 2026.
Who Is LongRange Capital?
LongRange Capital was founded in 2019 by Bob Berlin, who previously led a turnaround at Arby's. The firm manages about $1.7 billion in capital across five major investments, including 24 Hour Fitness and the ski resort company Alpin Unlimited. It describes its approach as long-term and operationally focused — a strategy analysts say is exactly what a brand like Pizza Hut needs.
On Tuesday, Berlin said he was looking forward to working with Pizza Hut's executive team and franchisees to drive "its next phase of growth."
A Brand With Deep Roots
Pizza Hut was founded in 1958 by brothers Dan and Frank Carney in Wichita, Kansas. It went public in 1969 and was acquired by PepsiCo in 1977 for roughly $300 million. In 1997, PepsiCo spun off Pizza Hut alongside KFC and Taco Bell into what would eventually become Yum! Brands.
At the end of 2025, Pizza Hut operated nearly 20,000 locations across 108 countries and territories and reported $12.8 billion in annual system sales. The U.S. remains its biggest market at roughly 40% of system sales, with China accounting for about 20%.
Despite the sale, Yum! will continue providing Pizza Hut with its proprietary Byte by Yum! technology platform and certain corporate services through a transition agreement.
Yum! Brands CEO Chris Turner said the deal allows the company to sharpen its focus on KFC and Taco Bell. "Under LongRange and Yum China, Pizza Hut will be well positioned for future growth with ownership that brings deep expertise in the restaurant industry," he said.
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