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Bloomberg reports that LongRange has won the exclusive right to negotiate, beating out other bidders including Sycamore Partners. The parties are discussing the terms of a potential deal, which could be finalized as soon as in the coming weeks. However, sources emphasize that an agreement is not yet guaranteed.
The deal would mark a new milestone for one of the world’s best-known pizza brands. Last year, Yum launched a strategic review of the Pizza Hut business after several years of trying to return the chain to its previous growth rates.
The chain’s revenues do not exceed $1 billion a year
The numbers show how much the balance within Yum’s restaurant empire has shifted. While Pizza Hut accounted for more than 18% of the group’s revenue in 2019, by 2025 its share had shrunk to around 12%. At the same time, the chain’s own revenues remained virtually unchanged at just over $1 billion a year.
Against this background, Yum’s other brands grew much faster. The company’s total revenue over the same period increased by about 47% to $8.2 billion. Yum’s market value today is about $41 billion.
LongRange Capital is a relatively young player in the private equity market. The fund was founded in 2019 by former Baupost Group employee Bob Berlin, who was previously involved in an investment in restaurant chain Arby’s. Its portfolio includes fitness chain 24 Hour Fitness and investment platform Alpin Unlimited, which invests in ski resorts, including Austria’s KitzSki.
Investor interest is high
Investor interest in Pizza Hut has persisted for months. Reuters reported in April that LongRange Capital, Sycamore Partners and Apollo Global Management were among the potential buyers of the chain.
It should be noted that Pizza Hut in recent years shows weak financial dynamics. At the end of 2025, the chain had about 20 thousand restaurants around the world, more than 99% of which operate under the franchise model. At the same time, Pizza Hut system sales decreased to $12.8 billion against $13.1 billion a year earlier. At the end of last year, the chain operated 19,974 locations in 108 countries, remaining the second largest pizza chain in the world by the number of restaurants after Domino’s (it has 22.1 thousand pizzerias).
