LongRange Capital to Buy Pizza Hut Ex-China for $1.5 Billion
Yum! Brands said the sale completes a strategic review begun in late 2025 and leaves it a more focused company.
LongRange Capital completed the acquisition of Pizza Hut, excluding Mainland China, from Yum! Brands, Inc. (YUM), for approximately $1.5 billion, subject to certain adjustments, with the opportunity for Yum! to receive an additional earn-out of $75 million by 2030 based on future performance.
The closing capped a two-buyer split of the pizza brand that Yum! announced in June 2026. Under the same set of definitive agreements, Yum China Holdings, Inc. (YUMC; 9987) took ownership of Pizza Hut in Mainland China for $1.2 billion, a deal that closed on Aug. 7. The two transactions together were valued at $2.7 billion in the aggregate, subject to purchase-price adjustments.
Yum! said the LongRange deal remained on track to close that month, subject to customary closing conditions, including receipt of required regulatory approvals. The company had previously expected both Pizza Hut sales to close in the third quarter of 2026.
LongRange is described in Yum!’s June release as a private equity firm with a customer-centric and operationally oriented approach. The company said the sale provides the strongest path to maximize shareholder value while giving Pizza Hut an ownership structure tailored to its distinct markets, competitive strengths and long-term priorities under leadership with significant relevant quick-service-restaurant experience.
Yum! will continue to provide Byte by Yum!, its proprietary technology platform, to Pizza Hut Ex-China and will provide certain corporate services under a transition services agreement to support an orderly separation. The company said it expects the fees received for those services in 2026 to offset corporate general-and-administrative expenses historically allocated to Pizza Hut. After the close, Yum! will no longer report on the Pizza Hut division.
Across the two transactions, Yum! expected to receive approximately $2.3 billion of net proceeds after taxes, closing adjustments and transaction-contingent fees, excluding the earn-out, and to incur one-time expenses of approximately $85 million during the remainder of 2026 to effectuate the separation. The board also approved an incremental $4 billion share-repurchase authorization.
Yum! Brands and Yum China agreed to financial incentives that will generate value for both companies’ shareholders should KFC China’s future system-sales growth rates accelerate, and said they will work together on long-term growth plans for Taco Bell in Mainland China.
“With this transaction complete, Yum! Brands now moves forward as a more focused company with significant opportunities for growth around the world,” said Chris Turner, chief executive officer of Yum! Brands.
In June, Turner said the transactions enable Yum! to be a more focused company that continues to leverage scale, technology and talent to accelerate its “raising the B.A.R.” priorities. The strategic review of Pizza Hut commenced in November 2025.