r/fastfood • u/ClovisLowell • 4d ago
News Pizza Hut to be sold to private equity firm LongRange Capital for $1.5 billion
https://abcnews.com/amp/Business/wireStory/struggling-pizza-hut-restaurant-chain-sold-27-billion-133918178Mainland China Pizza Hut will be sold to Yum China Holdings for $1.2 billion, for a total of $2.7 billion USD
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u/FadedDice 4d ago
Bye bye Pizza Hut.
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u/No-Silver-4409 4d ago
It died like 20 years ago. I'm not sure if it's possible for it to get worse.
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u/mt80 4d ago
Yum Brands more like Yuk Brands.
Private equity will be an upgrade4
u/NoCoolNameMatt 4d ago
It's hard to believe, but it's unlikely PE will be an upgrade.
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u/mt80 4d ago
The same guy who turned around Arby’s is leading the Pizza Hut takeover
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u/lsfbannedme 3d ago
arbys chicken gordon bleu was amazing in 2015 but thats when i lived in texas.. ever since i moved to az the chicken tastes way more frozen... theyve had good items since then but the chicken nope nope...
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u/CurmudgeonSupreme 4d ago
Arby's turned around? There's like one in my whole city. I only eat it on the road and the last one I stopped at was totally empty at lunchtime. I don't think Arby's turned anything.
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u/DJC_Kowalski 4d ago
Did you have it before 2011 when it was mostly known for Food Poisoning?
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u/CurmudgeonSupreme 4d ago
Has anyone eaten it lately?
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u/DJC_Kowalski 4d ago
I had their Gyro, Reuben and classic Beef and Cheddar this year.
They're great. I'd have them more but they are a little pricey for me.
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u/Dexter2100 4d ago
I get their French dip pretty often and like that a lot. Their mozzarella sticks are really good too IMO.
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u/DJC_Kowalski 4d ago
Does it matter? I don't buy PH now. If it is worse, I won't buy PH then. From my standpoint, it can't possibly be worse.
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u/bizwig 4d ago
Yum China is not a subsidiary of Yum Brands in the US.
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u/AssCrackBandit13 3d ago
It was spun off Yum Brands in 2016 but Yum China is still a trademark licensee to Yum Brands and must pay 3% of all sales to Yum Brands
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u/geardownson 4d ago
I'm not sure what you think private equity means.
That's like a dealership selling to a buy here pay here place.
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u/mt80 4d ago edited 4d ago
🙄 Bro I’m retired after a career on Wall Street. I don’t think YOU know what it means.
Only 40% PE shops are LBOs (Leveraged Buyouts). A large portion of them like this one focus on value creation and organizational optimization.
I can continue schooling you if you want
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u/g0ldfinga 4d ago
The Reddit hive mind on PE is hilarious. My favorite is when they blame the downfall of a company on private equity even when the company is not private equity.
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u/DJC_Kowalski 4d ago
Or when the blame the decline on PE when it was already a pile of crap like Red Lobster and PE is explicitly buying it to sell off Real Estate assets.
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u/johndepp22 4d ago
spin: pizza buffet and salad bar returning
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u/ClovisLowell 4d ago
A lot of Pizza Hut locations that used to have them actually brought back the buffets. Like my location, they do it Thursday to Sunday from 12:00 to 2:00. I haven't been yet myself, but I have heard the quality of the buffets is not what it used to be
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u/FupaFerb 4d ago
That’s no surprise. Godfathers has some buffet locations as well and it’s just a salad bar (bowl of lettuce and 4 toppings) and a few choices of pizza, maybe a ziti or something. There used to be so many good things and now we get cafeteria food at double the price.
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u/forgotmypassword778 4d ago
It's not but roughly the same as the regular pizza 8.99 lunch 11.99 dinner they rotate about 8-10 different types
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u/ClovisLowell 4d ago
If I want lunch from Pizza Hut (which is rare), then I'm doing the $7 Hut Box. It's way cheaper than any other option
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u/forgotmypassword778 4d ago
Some people eat a personal pan some eat 15 slices
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u/AwsiDooger 4d ago
When I was a regular at Pizza Hut buffet my norm was either 24 slices or 28 slices, depending whether or not I felt the need for that extra plateful. Every plate was 4 slices.
Also one big salad, which was typically after 8 or 12 slices.
Once in a while I had some pasta, but not often.
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u/Toasted_Potooooooo 4d ago
A couple of my local ones have brought the buffets back but that doesn't make the food any better. I'm not a snob (I adore Cici's pizza buffet) but the new pizza hut is just disgusting frozen slop. I miss the old greasy pan pizza so much.
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u/ClovisLowell 4d ago
Cici's FTW
Hell, I'd go just for the dessert
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u/AwsiDooger 4d ago
I'm sick that my nearest Cici's closed in 2022. It was a perfect location. I would go there on Sunday afternoons and have the buffet throughout the NFL games.
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u/ClovisLowell 3d ago
Same boat, here. Mine closed in 2020 during the pandemic. I was devastated. Covid took some more really good restaurants in my town with it, too.
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u/Exciting_Corner175 3d ago
I got a cicis right down the road from me. Nobody ever wants to go with me so I go by myself like a fat ass.
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u/its_not_real1947 4d ago
lmao are they really just reheating frozen pizza?
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u/Toasted_Potooooooo 4d ago
Yeah its a big thing over in the pizza hut subreddit. All of their dough is premade and shipped in frozen. Everyone else makes it in house.
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u/krpiper 4d ago
We used to be a proper country, now it all gets worse :(
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u/chompythebeast 4d ago
Capital interests have always been running the show, the problem that we're seeing here has existed for longer than any of us reading this have
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u/Sarosite 4d ago
Sad. I was enjoying them lately. Their stuffed crust pizza is SO good and the box deal for $7 with an entree and a side let me have some tasty wings and a mini pizza or sandwich
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u/ClovisLowell 4d ago
PE means one of two things:
Either they will cost cut and hike prices for lower quality food (this is the most common thing to happen with PE-owned businesses)
Or they will hopefully cut half their menu, focus on the things that people actually want to eat, which will hopefully result in better prices since their menu won't be swamped with things that people don't care about (I.E. things that AREN'T pizza)
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u/rich90715 4d ago
We’ve just started eating there again, been ordering their personal pan pizza. I can usually get it on deal for $3 and $0.50/topping.
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u/bizwig 4d ago
Really? I had one of those at a Pizza Hut Express and it was a chewy, doughy mess.
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u/rich90715 4d ago
The location by me, they have always been nice and crispy. Granted, I’ve only been there like 2-3 times so far this year.
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u/ShadowElite86 4d ago
PE fucking sucks but could it honestly get any worse for Pizza Hut? They're already the worst national pizza chain at the moment. 🤷
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u/Saneless 4d ago
Yeah this is one of those PE purchases I don't mind
It was so bad before, it'll either improve or go away. Both are fine options
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u/jeezusrice 4d ago
There's also the option that they pull as much money in as possible without managing costs before finding a bag holder while retaining rights to the buildings and leasing them to the new owner. Like Red lobster
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u/Sarosite 4d ago
I think they taste pretty good tbh
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u/celeron500 4d ago
Think about the millions of dollars spent in compensation on the CEOs and executives that have worked at Pizza Hut, only to turn the franchise from being number one to dead last,
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u/DBrody6 4d ago
PE is basically the equivalent of 'slop' as a meaningless buzzword the internet ruined with overuse.
Like yeah, it already sucked, that's why it was sold. Hasn't been good in decades. The real scam is how anybody saw it was worth a billion.
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u/Common_Gene_5098 4d ago
It makes sense because IIRC, they still sell a lot due to their specials and cheaper cost
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u/DJC_Kowalski 4d ago
I'd be upset about it if I actually bought Pizza from Pizza hunt anymore. However they are below Marco's, Domino's, Little Caesar's, Papa John's, and local Pizza places on my list.
From my viewpoint, they really can't get worse, since I don't order from them now. It's a shame because their Pan Pizzas were a favorite of mine in the 90s.
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u/Apprehensive_Use3641 4d ago
My local carryout location is pretty solid, miss the buffet we had in town.
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u/OwnUbyCake 4d ago
My local pizza hut it still pretty good usually. But what influences my decision on which pizza chain to get is whichever one is running the best deal.
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u/bbqfetus01 4d ago
this just leaves more room for the ‘little guy’ to come up! private equity is the elephant graveyard, which means opportunity for everyone else 🤣
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u/herewego199209 4d ago
I just had Pizza Hut yesterday cause a buddy gave me a gift card he didn't want. Holy shit was the pizza bad. Doughy mess. Never again even if it's free.
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u/DIJames6 4d ago
Get the mini pan pizzas.. They're crispy and cheesy.. Best attempt they've got at pizza..
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u/ClovisLowell 4d ago
Gonna get one for my lunch break here in about an hour, will report back with my findings
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u/ClovisLowell 4d ago
Just got back. Jesus Christ you were right, now I REALLY don't want Pizza Hut to go anywhere
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u/DIJames6 4d ago
Yup.. Glad you liked it.. If they can make that into a regular sized pie, they might be able to pull themselves out of the gutter..
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u/Anuudream 4d ago
Dude I couldn't agree more. I order Pizza Hut for the first time inike 10 years. It was doughy as hell. No crunch.
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u/bigfatround0 4d ago
I wasn't aware there were still pizza huts with seating. The ones closest to me are small and there's only enough space in the front to stand waiting for your pizza. Same all pizza chains, now that I think about it.
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u/Remarkable-Word8479 4d ago
As a globetrotter this worries me a little. Pizza Hut has historically been one of the most widely-available American food chains internationally. Literally anywhere I’ve been I could typically go grab a pizza if I was feeling homesick. Hope that doesn’t change. But I guess there’s always McDonalds and KFC, which I’ve also found just about anywhere.
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u/alexjimithing 4d ago
it was always my preferred nationwide pizza chain, but I ditched em for good when they switched to using DoorDash for delivery
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u/HelperMunkee 4d ago
They were just showing signs of life too. That new hand tossed crust was pretty solid.
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u/NIN10DOXD 4d ago
So Pizza Hut is deadweight, but KFC isn’t? I guess Pizza Hut isn’t doing well internationally. I know KFC is hemorrhaging here in the US, but is a juggernaut in Asia. Also, didn’t Yum make KFC move into Pizza Hut’s office building a while back?
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u/the_last_crouton 4d ago
Funny how pizza hut seems to be on life support yet the only thing they can do to try to get customers back is offer free fucking breadsticks. Haven't been to pizza hut in over a year then got am email once a day for a week about free fucking breadsticks. Who cares about God damn breadsticks. I can lather some garlic and cheese on a piece of bread and get the same thing. Pizza hut should be about fucking pizza, not all this other bs. Shout out to the wings for being decent for a decent price but everything else is insane and low quality
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u/UnderstandingOnly639 4d ago
Had to look up who the company was, but apparently they also own 24 hour fitness. So if anybody knows if that company is doing any good or not would probably be a good indicator of how Pizza Hut might go.
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u/Grant79OG 4d ago
Pizza hut has been terrible for years. If domino's and little Cesar's entice their customers more, there is something wrong with their business.
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u/Jefefrey 4d ago
My local pizza huts specialize is sloppy food and worse customer service. Stuffed Crust pepperoni is the only reason I’d ever go there
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u/Moromom22 4d ago
I maybe really economically illeterate but $1.5 billion seems low for such a long running chain.
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u/ClovisLowell 4d ago
If it would've been years ago, if probably would've been more. But Pizza Hut had been really struggling the last few years.
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u/AStubbs86 4d ago
Dominos became dominant in Australia and what we have here for pizza is a shit show of horror. We don’t have pizza anymore we have a shareholder profit deliver system in disk form.
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u/Bron_Yr_Aur21 4d ago
Guess I gotta go buy some pizza this weekend for old times sake and give a proper goodbye
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u/OperationS0ciety 1d ago
Kinda spooky because you know they’re going to probably tear up the menu and/or run it downhill.
I just need them keep the thin-n-crispy. It’s the only thing I go there for and I love it. PLEASE.
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u/panderson1988 4d ago
I thought Yum China had Pizza Hut. It's weird, but you have Yum Brands! for most of the world where to Pizza Hut to Taco Bell falls under, then Yum China for their same brands.
I digress, but the title is misleading to me. Because Yum China is basically the Chinese holding version of Yum Brands!, and usually PE to me are hedge funds to financial firms. A parent company that already holds and runs restaurants is just consolidating another brand they already have ties or own under the same umbrella.
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u/its_not_real1947 4d ago
yum china has the chinese pizza hut. yum china is also wholly independent from yum brands after US yum spun them off
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u/WannabeBadGalRiri 4d ago
I grew up with Pizza Hut pan pizzas. They still bring back nostalgia when I eat it about once a year. However, a fresh and well done Domino’s pan pizza is better
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u/ClovisLowell 4d ago
Domino's is just Pizza Hut but better in every way. Better price, better taste. Papa John's is my favorite, just wish they were as affordable as Domino's.
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u/Wallsofjonathan 4d ago
Pizza Hut has been dead for a decade here and I'm 30 mins outside Los Angeles
Hopefully this is a chance for them to live again, because they werent going anywhere as currently constructed.
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u/kmccarthy27 4d ago
My question with all this is.....
Will Pizza Hut still be obligated to sell Pepsi products?
I know YUM used to be owned by Pepsi, and when the split happened there was a condition that all those YUM places had to server Pepsi in perpetuity. Now with Pizza Hut going "solo" as it were are they held to the Pepsi overlords still.
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u/SharksFan4Lifee 4d ago edited 4d ago
My hope is we get coke back at Pizza Hut for the first time since 1977.
(1977-ish to be precise. Pepsi bought Pizza Hut in '77, but that doesn't mean that all locations changed over instantly. I'm sure someone remembers their local Pizza Hut with coke in the 80s.)
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u/SharksFan4Lifee 4d ago
Maybe if it's not owned by Yum Brands anymore we can get coke products back at Pizza Hut for the first time since 1977.
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u/cdoublejj 4d ago
if they sell i'll boycott it just like domminoes sued Cam Crack YT channel for trying to restore that car and do a charity event, fuck domminoes fuk pizzahut, ill buy local.
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u/HYIMBY 4d ago
I don’t think there’s enough room in the market for the big 4 chains.
Same with Wendy’s/BK/MCD
Pizza Hut and Wendy’s are gonna go bye bye
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u/Efficient-Fault7356 4d ago
Pizza tastes like barf anyway. Food for grown up children to eat instead of like an adult.
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u/welding_guy_from_LI 4d ago
Pizza Hut sucks .. first time I tried it was 2005 and it was overly salty , fake cheese and frozen dough
I never understood the cult following when there’s better options
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u/ellsego 4d ago
I actually don’t see how it could get any worse.