🔒Stamford PE firm strikes $1.5B deal to acquire Pizza Hut from Yum Brands

Stamford-based private equity firm LongRange Capital has agreed to acquire Pizza Hut’s global operations, excluding mainland China, from Yum Brands for $1.5 billion. The acquisition would be the largest in LongRange’s seven-year history. Founded in 2019 by former Baupost Group executive Bob Berlin, LongRange invests in midsize companies in North America and Europe. Its portfolio includes 24 Hour Fitness USA, US Synthetic and AlpinUnlimited. Berlin previously helped lead Baupost’s acquisition of Arby’s. Founded in 1958, Pizza Hut operates more than 15,500 restaurants in 108 countries and generates about $10 billion in annual sales. The chain has struggled in recent years, with its share of Yum Brands’ revenue falling to 12% in 2025, according to the company’s annual report. Yum’s Pizza Hut division saw its operating profit fall from $391 million in 2023 to $340 million in 2025 — a 13% decline over two years — even as KFC and Taco Bell posted double-digit operating profit growth, the report says. Yum announced plans to close about 250 Pizza Hut locations in the U.S. last year. “Pizza Hut is playing catch-up on nearly every front that matters in quick-service pizza,” eMarketer analyst Zak Stambor told Reuters. He said private ownership could give the company more flexibility to improve its operations. In a separate deal announced Tuesday, Yum China agreed to pay $1.2 billion for full ownership of Pizza Hut China, which operates 4,375 restaurants in more than 1,100 cities. Together, the deals value Pizza Hut at $2.7 billion. Yum said it expects to receive about $2.3 billion in net proceeds and has authorized a new $4 billion share repurchase program. The deals are expected to close in the third quarter, subject to regulatory approvals. Yum Brands operates more than 61,000 restaurants worldwide under the KFC, Taco Bell and Habit Burger Grill banners.