Yum Brands Sells U.S. Pizza Hut Business to LongRange Capital for $1.5 Billion

U.S. 5 billion.

The deal was announced Tuesday.

Pizza Hut's China business will remain with Yum's China unit and is being sold separately. LongRange Capital also owns 24 Hour Fitness, Batesville casket and urn maker, a ski resort group, a diamond materials firm, and a European food manufacturer.

Hut's share of limited-service pizza demand fell from 19% to 15% between 2019 and the present, while Domino's rose to 30% over the same period, according to Technomic data. 2% on the day of the announcement.

Kaplan, finance professor at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, said Yum Brands lacked the resources to turn around the brand. Robert Byrne, senior director for consumer research at Technomic, said Pizza Hut receives less credit for innovation and affordability than competitors.

LongRange Capital founder Bob Berlin previously invested in Arby's, and managing director Sunny Patel previously worked at Kraft Heinz.