Pizza Hut is being sold. Fast-food conglomerate Yum! Brands Inc., has agreed to sell the classic chain for $1.5 billion to private equity firm LongRange Capital, according to a June 16 news release.
Pizza Hut in Mainland China will be acquired by Yum China Holdings for approximately $1.2 billion, the release said. Yum! expects both transactions to close in the third quarter of 2026, subject to closing conditions and regulatory approvals.
“These transactions enable Yum! to be a more focused company that continues to leverage scale, technology and talent to accelerate our raising the B.A.R. priorities and deliver sustained value for our stakeholders,” CEO Chris Turner said in the 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.
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“Pizza Hut is one of the most iconic restaurant brands in the world, and we are proud of the important role it has played in Yum!’s history. Pizza Hut was built by the passion and dedication of our team members, employees and franchisees, and we’re excited for the next chapter.”
What does the Pizza Hut sale mean for Florida pizza lovers?
Immediately, nothing. The actual deal is months away, and the more than 440 Pizza Hut locations in Florida should continue operating as normal. Yum! Brands expects to provide an update on the sale of Pizza Hut and its 2026 financial projections during its second-quarter earnings report on July 30.
However, Chief Financial Officer Ranjith Roy said during the company’s earnings call in February that the company planned to close 250 underperforming Pizza Hut locations in the first half of 2026 as part of a “Hut Forward” campaign, which includes “vibrant marketing, modernization of technology, and franchise agreements.”
Pizza Hut’s new owners could decide to make changes, close more locations, or otherwise streamline the beloved pizza chain to remain competitive and profitable.
Yum! Brands is known for its restaurant chains, including Kentucky Fried Chicken, Taco Bell, Habit Burger and Grill, and Pizza Hut.
Have any Pizza Hut locations closed in Florida?
According to a comparison of the current locations list to one from November 2025, 23 Pizza Huts have closed in Florida in Arcadia, Beverly Hills, Daytona Beach, DeLand, Doral, Fort Myers, Gulf Breeze, Lake Mary, Lake Worth, Miami, New Smyrna Beach, Ocoee, Okeechobee, Palm Springs, Pensacola, Port St. Joe, Satellite Beach, Seminole, St. Johns, St. Petersburg, Stuart, Tampa, and Winter Park.
However, in that same time period, Pizza Hut added 12 new locations in Florida, including three in just West Palm Beach. The others are in Boynton Beach, Jacksonville, Key Biscayne, Lake Placid, Milton, Miami Beach, Punta Gorda, Seffner, and Wellington.
Pizza Hut sees a resurgence of nostalgia
The new owners could also decide to go nostalgic.
Some Pizza Hut franchise owners have recently embraced Americans’ love of the old Pizza Hut and its red cups, checkered tablecloths, vinyl booths, Tiffany-type lampshades, salad bars, classic arcade games, and the chain’s signature red roof design.
So far, 155 “Pizza Hut Classics” have opened across the country, and videos of TikTokkers delightedly finding them have gone viral. As of May, the only Pizza Hut Classic location in Florida was in Homosassa at 4845 S. Suncoast Blvd.
Pizza Hut also brought back its BOOK IT! campaign this summer, allowing parents to enroll their children to get free personal pan pizzas for reading books.
Pizza Hut, founded in 1958 in Kansas, has grown into an international brand, with more than 19,000 locations in over 100 countries and territories. The pizza brand was spun off from the PepsiCo corporation in 1997, along with KFC and Taco Bell, as part of a new Louisville-based company called Tricon Global Restaurants that was renamed Yum! Brands in 2002.
Olivia Evans is a reporter for the Louisville Courier Journal. C. A. Bridges is a journalist for the USA TODAY Network-Florida’s service journalism Connect team. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY.
(This story was updated to add new information.)
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Pizza Hut selling for $2.7 billion. What will happen in Florida?
Reporting by C. A. Bridges and Olivia Evans, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
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By C. A. Bridges and Olivia Evans, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida | USA TODAY Network
