I wonder if the deal will make the pizza’s quality better.
Yum! Brands the parent company of Pizza Hut announced it has sold the pizza chain for $2.7 billion.
Pizza Hut was sold to two buyers one being from China and the other from the United States.
CBS News reported more on the lucrative deal and the buyers behind it:
Yum! Brands said Tuesday that it is selling Pizza Hut in a $2.7 billion deal that will split ownership of the restaurant chain between a U.S. private equity firm and a Chinese restaurant company.
Pizza Hut, excluding the mainland China business, will be sold to LongRange Capital for $1.5 billion, while Pizza Hut China will be sold by Yum China Holdings for $1.2 billion, the company said in a news release.
“Under LongRange and Yum China, Pizza Hut will be well positioned for future growth with ownership that brings deep expertise in the restaurant industry,” Yum Brands CEO Chris Turner said in a statement.
LongRange Capital was founded in 2019 by Bob Berlin, who led a turnaround at fast-food chain Arby’s. On Tuesday, he said he was looking forward to working with Pizza Hut’s executive team and franchisees “to drive its next phase of growth.”
Yum China was previously part of Yum! Brands but was spun off in 2016.
The Pizza Hut sale follows years of underperformance. Yum’s latest earnings report shows Pizza Hut’s sales growth lagging that of its other major restaurant chains, such as KFC and Taco Bell. In February, Yum! Brands said it would close 250 Pizza Hut locations in the U.S. The pizza chain has over 6,000 locations nationwide.
Here’s what Gov. Ron DeSantis had to say about the sale:
Need to go old school. Give the Gen Xers a chance to relive the Pizza Hut of their youths. https://t.co/3BJhRMm009
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) June 16, 2026
One corporation has already heeded DeSantis’ advice and is trying to bring Pizza Hut back to the old ways that made it popular in the first place.
The New York Post reported more on the Pizza Huts going back in time at some locations:
2026 has proven to be the year of nostalgia. Youngsters are resorting to old-school tech like vintage flip phones and iPods. Others are returning to analog hobbies and activities.
Even beloved restaurant chain Pizza Hut is going back in time, reverting to its retro glory — red checkered tablecloths and all.
Tim Sparks, president of Daland Corporation, a Kansas-based company that operates almost 100 Pizza Hut locations across the country, is helping keep Pizza Hut alive by rewinding the clock and redecorating over 80 annoyingly modern, stark-looking locations to make them look like they did decades ago.
Red roof? Check
Red-checkered tablecloths, vinyl booths and Tiffany-style lamps? Check, check and check.
The beloved salad bar and red plastic cups will be back.
Even the old-school Pac-Man machines will return.
Unsurprisingly, customers are losing their minds over this massive change.
ADVERTISEMENT“I am so excited and when they are restored I will be eating there as a new tradition every Friday,” one wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
“This was our Thursday night meal out before kids. Salad bar and pac-man. Waitress knew our order too. It would be nice to return to that atmosphere in our retirement too where you can have an audible conversation while in a restaurant,” another wrote in a Facebook comment.
Take a look at the Pizza Hut that has gone back into time:
Businessman Tim Sparks has been quietly restoring old Pennsylvania Pizza Hut’s back to its initial glory pic.twitter.com/Vy5mgtX9wW
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) May 16, 2026
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