Pizza Hut’s parent company says it’s considering selling the chain

Pizza Hut could soon be up for sale Yum Brands Pizza Hut s parent company stated Tuesday it s conducting a formal review of options for the brand which has struggled to compete in a crowded pizza realm Yum CEO Chris Turner declared Pizza Hut has a multitude of strengths including a global footprint and strong increase in numerous markets Pizza Hut has nearly stores in more than countries and its international sales were up in the first nine months of this year China is its second-largest sphere outside the U S But Pizza Hut gets nearly half its sales from the U S where it has around stores and U S sales fell in the same period Pizza Hut was long saddled with large outdated dine-in restaurants at a time when consumers yearned fast pickup and delivery In one of Pizza Hut s largest franchisees filed for bankruptcy protection and closed stores Pizza Hut now controls of U S pizza chain sales down from in according to Technomic a food operation consulting company The Pizza Hut organization has been working hard to address business and category challenges however Pizza Hut s performance indicates the need to take additional action to help the brand realize its full value which may be better executed outside of Yum Brands Turner declared in a comment To truly take advantage of the brand we ve built and the opportunities ahead we ve made the decision to initiate a thorough review of strategic options Yum has not set a deadline for the completion of the review The company explained it will not make any further comments on the review Yum Brands shares were up nearly in early afternoon trading Tuesday The company also owns KFC Taco Bell and Habit Burger Grill Yum disclosed Tuesday that its third-quarter revenue rose thanks to strong sales at both KFC and Taco Bell Pizza Hut was founded in in Wichita Kansas by two brothers who borrowed from their mother to open the store They chose the name because their sign only had room for eight letters Pizza Hut s familiar red roof debuted in and by it was the top pizza chain in the world by sales PepsiCo acquired Pizza Hut in but spun off its restaurant division which became Yum Brands in Domino s with its focus on delivery and carryout pizza has since become the world s largest pizza chain with stores The news of Pizza Hut s uncertain future comes the day after another s-era dine-in icon Denny s informed it was being sold to an investor group and taken private Like Pizza Hut Denny s has also struggled with customers shift to delivery and growing competition in casual dining options Source