A Canadian franchisee is in the process of selling all of its 232 Yum! Brands restaurants in Ontario and British Columbia. The Priszm Income Fund operates most of Canada’s KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut restaurants.
According to The Canadian Press, Priszm is selling its units to a European franchisee of Yum! Restaurants International for about $46.4 million (or about $46 million in U.S. dollars).
The deal is expected to close by the end of February. The purchase price may change by that time.
Priszm’s decision came after a review of its operations to sell assets to meet liquidity needs. The company will also meet its franchise upgrade requirements with money from the sale.
Priszm also announced that it will extend franchise agreements for 70 Yum! restaurants through Jan. 15. The company has until that date to pay its contributing fee, which was withheld to save cash ahead of the traditional sales decline at KFC units during winter months.
Although Priszm announced during the summer that it would focus on sales growth, the fund has struggled with same-store sales. It had also agreed to upgrade 75 of its restaurants during 2010, which would have cost at least $15 million.
Prior to this agreement, Priszm operated more than 400 quick-service outlets in seven provinces throughout Canada.
