Yum Brands just sold Pizza Hut for 2.7 billion.
The giants are dumping assets that cannot keep up with their endless demand for scale.
Private equity firms are circling the carcass now. They do not care about quality or legacy. They only care about strip mining the brand for every remaining cent of profit.
Look at the history here. They turned a family experience into a bland corporate commodity. Now they wonder why sales are falling. They optimized the soul out of the product to satisfy Wall Street quarterly targets.
This is the end of the road for the generic chain era.
When private equity takes the wheel expect the ingredients to hit rock bottom. We are talking cardboard crusts and synthetic cheese until the brand name is completely hollowed out.
It is the same pattern we saw with Red Lobster and Toys R Us. They buy a recognizable name. They slash costs until the quality dies. They exit with their pockets full while the consumer gets stuck with the bill.