Yum! Brands, owner of the KFC fast-food chain, is exiting Russia and selling the business there to Smart Service Ltd, which is operated by one of the company’s existing KFC franchisees there. The new owner will be responsible for rebranding the restaurants to non-Yum concepts and retaining the company’s employees, the company said in a statement Monday. Yum said that after the transaction, it will cease having any corporate presence in Russia. Peers including McDonald’s Corp.
also have pulled out of Russia following the nation’s invasion of Ukraine earlier this year. Yum previously said that it had sold Pizza Hut in Russia to a local operator in June, who has started rebranding the locations. Yum, which also owns Taco Bell, said in August that it had removed 1 112 units in Russia from its global store count, about 4% of KFC total locations. Yum shares fell 2.6% to $108.11 at 2:40 p.m. in New York.