Yum! Brands, the parent company of KFC, Pizza Hut, Long John Silver’s and Taco Bell, has reorganized its international division as part of its strategy to continue driving aggressive international expansion.
As part of the reorganization, the company will separate its India business from Yum! Restaurants International (YRI), creating a stand-alone division that will be called Yum! Restaurants India.
Yum! Chairman and CEO David C. Novak said the growth of YRI over the last eight years has been “stellar,” with more than 7,500 new restaurants being opened during that time and systemwide sales growing from $8.4 billion to more than $15 billion. Novak added that the decision to separate the company’s India business underscores the potential scale of that market for Yum!.
“There is clear evidence that we are at the same stage of development as we were in China at a similar juncture in its life cycle,” Novak said.
Yum recently received approval from China’s Ministry of Commerce to proceed with its proposal to privatize Little Sheep Group Ltd., a company that operates “hot pot” concept restaurants throughout China. Yum! currently owns approximately 27 percent Little Sheep and is seeking to increase its ownership to approximately 93 percent, with the remaining share held by the company’s founders.
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