Popular pizza chain saved by rescue deal after 150 restaurants were at risk of closure
Share:
PIZZA Hut could be saved from the brink of collapse by a major investment firm. Directional Capital, which controls vast numbers of the chain's restaurants in Denmark and Sweden, will reportedly take over roughly 150 sites in the UK. If the rescue deal is successful it will save the majority of its British restaurants and jobs.
![[Pizza Hut restaurant sign.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/sign-atop-pizza-hut-restaurant-964229709.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
HWS was previously known as Pizza Hut Restaurants and employs around 3,000 staff members. Financiers believe it is likely that the transaction would be implemented through a pre-pack administration of HWS. Pizza Hut employees have been told that an insolvency of the corporate entity wouldn't result in redundancies and job losses.
![[Half pepperoni, half veggie pizza in a box.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/s437af-pizza-hut-half-half-910511941.jpg?strip=all&w=720)
They said that only a "handful or so" of the existing chains are at risk of closure. HWS chief executive Jens Hofma told Sky News: "Over te past six years, we have made great progress in building our business and strengthening our operations to become one of the uk's leading hospitality franchise operators, all whilst navigating a challenging economic backdrop.".
"With the acquisition by Directional Capital announced today, the future of the business has been secred with a strong platform in place.". Pizza Hut first arrived in the UK in the 1970s and grew rapidly in popularity. In 2020, the chain decided to close 29 branches, after struggling from the backlash of Covid.
At that time, it operated more than 240 sites across the UK. The company launched a voluntary arrangement (CVA) restructuring deal. A CVA is an agreement between a business and its lenders to secure cost-cutting measures - it doesn't mean a company has gone bust.
