Yum Brands, Long John Silver's and A&W restaurants.
Yum Brands said Tuesday that it hopes to sell two of its well-known food businesses, A&W All-American Food and Long John Silver’s.
The company has been performing well overseas and the two fast-food properties are focused in the domestic U.S. market.
Yum, which also owns Pizza Hut, KFC and Taco Bell, has recently focused its attentions on China and other foreign countries with emerging and growing markets. More than two thirds of Yum’s profits now come from international markets.
“We do not believe Long John Silver’s and A&W-All American Food restaurants fit into our long-term growth strategy,” Yum CEO David Novak said in a statement.
Long John Silvers and A&W are two Yum brands that have not seen as much success overseas as the company’s other brands.
“A&W and Long John’s are not strong brands,” said Keith Siegner, an analyst with Credit Suisse. “It’s a distraction in a noncore concept.”
The two brands account for 1,630 fast food restaurants in Yum’s massive portfolio, which includes around 37,000 restaurants in more than 100 nations. Siegner estimated that A&W and Long John Silver have produced combined operating profits of around $20 million in 2009.
Yum is based in Louisville, Ky. It acquired A&W and Long John Silver’s in 2002 through a purchase of the chains’ parent company, Yorkshire Global Restaurants, for $320 million.
As parts of its focus on China, Yum has opened a new fast food chain the country called East Dawning. The company estimates that by 2015, foreign countries will make up 75 percent of its profits.