Piz­za Hut, the 68-year-old chain that has long strug­gled with grow­ing com­pe­ti­tion and out­dat­ed restau­rants, will be sold for US$2.7 bil­lion by par­ent com­pa­ny Yum Brands.

Yum Brands, which al­so owns KFC and Taco Bell, be­gan to ex­plore its op­tions for Piz­za Hut in No­vem­ber. Last year, Yum Brands’ glob­al sales rose five per cent but Piz­za Hut’s sales fell twop­er cent.

In Feb­ru­ary, Yum Brands an­nounced plans to close 250 US Piz­za Hut lo­ca­tions. Piz­za Hut had 19,974 restau­rants world­wide at the end of last year.