Yum Brands announced it sold Pizza Hut to private equity firm LongRange Capital for about $1.5 billion on Tuesday. Separately, Yum China Holdings Inc. will acquire Pizza Hut’s mainland China locations in a deal worth approximately $1.2 billion. This move follows years of struggles for Pizza Hut as it lost market share to competitors like Domino’s and shuttered many U.S. locations.
The sale comes after Yum Brands began exploring options for Pizza Hut in November 2025. The chain, once the world’s largest pizza brand, has faced significant challenges including the closure of 500 locations by mid-2021 and another 300 following the bankruptcy of major franchisee NPC International. Despite having nearly 20,000 restaurants worldwide at the end of last year, Pizza Hut’s footprint in the U.S. has shrunk by nearly 1,500 locations since its early 1990s peak, according to fortune.com.
Pizza Hut was founded in 1958 by Dan and Frank Carney with a $600 loan and went public in 1969. It became the largest global pizza chain by 1971 and was a staple for American families for decades. However, it lost the top spot to Domino’s in 2017. Meanwhile, Yum Brands’ other chains like KFC and Taco Bell have continued to perform well, prompting the company to divest Pizza Hut to focus on its more successful brands.
Pizza Hut’s sale to LongRange Capital marks a major shift for the brand that defined 1990s dining nostalgia. The chain had 19,974 restaurants worldwide at the end of 2025, but many U.S. locations have closed since then. The deal’s completion is expected to reshape Pizza Hut’s future under private equity ownership, according to fortune.com.