Taiwanese food group Uni-President Enterprises is in advanced talks to buy Jardine Restaurant Group, the operator of about 1,000 KFC and Pizza Hut outlets across Asia, Reuters reported. Two people familiar with the matter put the value of a deal at about $400 million. The talks were reported on 10 November 2026. No agreement has been announced, and the discussions could still fall through.
What the Jardine Restaurant Group deal covers
Jardine Restaurant Group is the fast-food arm of Jardine Matheson, the Hong Kong trading group. It runs KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants in Hong Kong, Macau, Myanmar, Taiwan and Vietnam. It also owns PHD, a pizza delivery and takeout chain in Hong Kong. The business employs about 25,000 people across those five markets.
The unit makes between $35 million and $40 million a year in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation, known as EBITDA, the sources told Reuters. At a price of about $400 million, a buyer would pay roughly 10 to 11 times that annual profit measure. The figure gives a sense of how the two sides value a business built on franchise brands rather than on its own name.
For Uni-President, buying Jardine Restaurant Group would add a large restaurant network to a food business better known for noodles, drinks and packaged foods in Taiwan. The company already operates in Taiwan, one of the markets where the restaurant group trades. Buying the unit would give it control of KFC and Pizza Hut outlets in five Asian markets at a stroke, along with the PHD delivery chain.
A $400m price tag for Jardine Restaurant Group
The reported price for Jardine Restaurant Group sits in the middle of the range for restaurant deals of this size. A buyer pays for the outlets, the staff, and the franchise rights, but the KFC and Pizza Hut brands themselves belong to Yum! Brands, the American owner of both chains. Jardine Matheson holds the franchise rights in its markets, and a sale would pass those rights to the buyer under terms agreed with the brand owner.
Jardine Matheson has been reshaping its business, and a sale would let it put money into its core operations. The group has interests that run from property and hotels to cars and retail, and the restaurant unit is a small part of the whole. Selling Jardine Restaurant Group would free capital and management time for the larger businesses. The group has not commented on the talks.
The price also reflects the limits of the asset. The outlets sell fried chicken and pizza in markets where rents and wages have risen, and where delivery apps take a cut of every order. A buyer paying 10 to 11 times annual profit needs the outlets to keep trading well to earn that money back. The sources spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, as the details of the talks are not public.
Who else bid for Jardine Restaurant Group
Uni-President is not the first suitor. Reuters reported in May 2026 that private equity firm Carlyle Group and restaurant operator Yum China Holdings were among the parties looking at the unit. Uni-President had also shown interest at that stage, along with other private equity firms. Non-binding bids for the unit were due that week, the report said.
Carlyle knows the sector. It agreed in December last year to buy KFC Korea, a separate franchise business. Yum China runs KFC and Pizza Hut in mainland China, and in August 2026 it completed the purchase of Pizza Hut’s ownership in mainland China from Yum! Brands for $1.2 billion. Either buyer would have brought scale to the Jardine unit. Neither deal for Jardine Restaurant Group went ahead in May, and the sale process stayed open.
When Reuters reported the May interest, Jardine Matheson declined to comment. Carlyle also declined to comment, while Yum China and Uni-President did not respond to requests for comment at the time. The new report says Uni-President has moved ahead of the other suitors into advanced talks. Whether the two sides agree terms, and at what price, is still to be settled.
Web story: KFC Asia Operator Jardine Restaurants in $400m Talks