Yum! Brands Buys Habit Burger: What Does It Mean For The Burger Chain?

Yum! Brands (YUM), the parent company of Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and KFC, has announced that it has entered into a deal to purchase The Habit Burger Grill from The Habit Restaurants (HABT) for approximately $375 million.

Under the deal, Yum! Brands will pick up all of the issued and outstanding shares of the burger chain for $14 per share, including 300 company-owned and franchised restaurants in the U.S. and China.

“We’ve emerged from our three-year transformation stronger and in a better position to accelerate the growth of our existing brands and leverage our scale to unlock value from strategic acquisitions,” David Gibbs, CEO at Yum! Brands said in a statement.

Gibbs also went on to say, “The transaction is a win-win because it allows us to offer an exciting new investment to our franchisees and to expand an award-winning, trend-forward brand through the power of Yum!’s unmatched scale and strengths in franchising, purchasing and brand-building.”

Habit Burger is a fast-casual restaurant that was founded in California in 1969. The company offers a variety of chargrilled menu items that include charburgers, chicken sandwiches, and ahi tuna sandwiches.

Over the last few years, Habit Burger has grown its delivery business and mobile channels, which the company said made it an “attractive candidate” for a sale. Through the deal, Habit Burger hopes to take advantage of Yum! Brands “global scale, resources, and franchising capabilities.”

Yum! Brands is the largest restaurant company in the world in regards to units. The company has about 49,000 restaurants in more than 145 countries.

The purchase by Yum! Brands was unanimously approved by Habit Restuarants' board of directors.

Shares of Yum! Brands were down 0.27% as of 12:35 p.m. EST on Monday while shares of The Habit Restaurants were up 32.45% at the same time.