MUMBAI: Yum Brands is selling struggling fast food chain Pizza Hut in a $2.7 billion deal to two entities, the American company said on Tuesday. As part of the transactions, the Pizza Hut business excluding Mainland China will be bought by private equity (PE) firm LongRange Capital for nearly $1.5 billion while the China operations will be sold to Yum China Holdings for about $1.2 billion.
“Across the two transactions, Yum! expects to receive approximately $2.3 billion of net proceeds after taxes, closing adjustments and transaction-contingent fees, excluding the earn-out. Yum! additionally expects to incur one-time expenses of approximately $85 million during the remainder of 2026 to effectuate the separation,” the company said.
Under the new arrangement, the India business of Pizza Hut will also come under LongRange Capital, a global spokesperson for Yum Brands confirmed in a mailed statement. Local franchise partner Devyani International (DIL) will continue to run the operations in India although DIL will report to the management of LongRange Capital going ahead, analysts said. Both transactions are expected to close in the third quarter of 2026.
“Pizza Hut in India had focused more on dine-in as compared to delivery by its key competition-Domino’s. With increasing commute time and pizza becoming a commoditised food offering, Pizza Hut has lost its only USP of better dine-in service. The half hearted delivery focus has also not worked for Pizza Hut in India,” said Ravindra Yadav, partner at The Knowledge Company. Average revenue per outlet per year for Domino’s is around 3.2 times more than that of Pizza Hut, Yadav said.
