Yum sells stake to Chinese firms for $460m

Logos of KFC, owned by Yum Brands Inc, are seen on its delivery bicycles in front of its restaurant in Beijing February 25, 2013. [Photo/Agencies]

Yum! Brands Inc, which operates KFC and Pizza Hut, said it will sell a combined $460 million stake in its Chinese business to Primavera Capital Group and an Alibaba Group Holding Ltd affiliate, Ant Financial Services Group.

Primavera and Zhejiang Ant Small & Micro Financial Services Group will invest $410 million and $50 million, respectively, in the Yum China Holdings Inc spinoff, according to the statement on Friday. The deal was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. Primavera's founder Fred Hu, Goldman Sachs Group Inc former chairman in charge of Greater China, will become chairman of Yum China.

Yum last year bowed to activist pressure and agreed to spin off its China business into a separate publicly traded company after a prolonged sales slump caused by food-safety scandals.

Yum has seen its dominance of a fast food industry it helped to create deteriorate as health-conscious Chinese consumers shift to healthier options and domestic food chains.

Representatives for Primavera and Ant couldn't be immediately reached for comment after business hours.

Ant, the Alibaba affiliate, operates the widely used Alipay mobile payments platform.

Bloomberg