KUALA LUMPUR -- Malaysian firm KFC Holdings, Bhd, reported Feb. 26 that it will buy two Singapore firms which hold Malaysia's franchise licenses for the Kentucky Fried Chicken and Pizza Hut fast-food chains.
Sale price for the stores was S$73 million ($40.5 million U.S.), far short of Asian foodservice industry analysts' estimates of S$200 million (U.S. $108 million) published last year in the Singapore Times.
KFC Holdings will buy Kentucky Fried Chicken Management, Pte Ltd for S$55 million, and Pizza Hut Singapore, Pte Ltd for S$18 million. The sellers were Kentucky Fried Chicken Singapore Holdings, Pte, Ltd, and KFCC/Tricon Holdings, Ltd.
PHS also is a six-store Taco Bell franchisee, and though those stores were put up for sale with the others last fall, it is not yet clear whether those stores are part of this deal.
All three brands are owned by Tricon Global Restaurants, in Louisville, Ky.