Franchising

KFC to acquire 218 franchised units in UK, Ireland

December 7, 2023

KFC will acquire 218 franchised restaurants owned by EG Group in the U.K. and Ireland, according to a press release.

The brand currently operates 50 company-owned restaurants across the two countries.

KFC U.K. and Ireland has a strong track record of consistent growth that has continued this year, with system sales up 7% and same-store sales up 5% across its 1,040 restaurants.

Since 2018, KFC has opened 200 restaurants across the U.K. and Ireland and previously announced plans to open a further 500 restaurants across the market by 2030.

"The KFC business is a powerhouse for Yum! globally and the UK and Ireland is one of our strongest markets," Sabir Sami, KFC Division CEO, said in the release. "Over the past five years, we've secured our leadership position within the U.K. and Ireland chicken market, opening 200 new restaurants, and we're now close to being a £2 billion business in the U.K., thanks to our extremely talented local management team. We're pleased to add these restaurants to our equity portfolio, in a market where we are well placed to drive strong growth while also making further digital and strategic progress."

"We are proud to have been a strategic partner of KFC in the U.K. and Ireland, playing an important role in helping the brand expand its footprint," Zuber Issa and Mohsin Issa, CBE co-founders and co-CEOs of EG Group, said in the release. "Now is the right time to hand the baton to the KFC leadership team to continue to grow the brand in the U.K. This is the latest transaction in our significant deleveraging this year — to put in place a sustainable capital structure. I would like to thank all the colleagues who have helped deliver such exceptional brand standards and customer service over recent years, including during the COVID-19 period."

Today KFC operates over 1,000 restaurants across the U.K. and Ireland with 27,000 team members in the U.K. and Ireland.