300 Pizza Huts close after giant franchisee goes bankrupt

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NPC International, which filed for Chapter 11 in July, announced an agreement with the owner of Pizza Hut on Monday Yum! Brands (YUM)to close about a quarter of its restaurants and sell the remaining locations. Restaurants and specific hours have not yet been determined, but the NPC said a “substantial majority” of affected places have dining facilities.

The deal gives NPC “the flexibility to explore options to achieve a value-maximizing outcome as it seeks to finalize the terms of a comprehensive financial restructuring and emerge from Chapter 11,” he said. in a press release. A perfect storm of coronavirus-related closures, a massive debt burden of nearly $ 1 billion, and rising labor and food costs have tipped NPC into bankruptcy.

Pizza Hut said Monday that the 300 US locations “are significantly underperforming” compared to the rest of NPC’s Pizza Hut locations, and that would help employees find jobs at nearby Pizza Hut restaurants. The chain has abandoned the opening and operation of restaurants with dining rooms. Instead, it encourages customers to order withdrawal through its website or third-party apps.

“We continued to work with NPC and its lenders to optimize the footprint of NPC Pizza Hut restaurants and strengthen the portfolio for the future, and the joint agreement reached today to close up to 300 NPC Pizza Hut restaurants is an important step towards a healthier business. pizza chain said in a statement.

NPC’s 1,227 Pizza Hut locations represent 18% of the chain’s 6,700 US locations. NPC’s remaining portfolio includes 6,500 Wendy’s restaurants in the United States.

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