KFC has announced that it will buy 218 restaurants owned by a franchisee and sister company of supermarket Asda.
The fast food chain said that it would take over the sites in the UK and Ireland, which employ around 7,800 people. Around half of the 218 sites are drive-through locations, said KFC, which is owned by Yum! Brands, the company behind Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.
They had previously been owned by Issa brothers' EG Group, a Blackburn-based company owned by the same brothers who bought Asda in early 2021. Sabir Sami, KFC division chief executive, said: "The KFC business is a powerhouse for Yum! globally and the UK and Ireland is one of our strongest markets.
"Over the past five years, we’ve secured our leadership position within the UK and Ireland chicken market, opening 200 new restaurants, and we’re now close to being a £2 billion business in the UK, 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."