Property Types Retail
NPC International to Acquire, Sell Pizza Huts
Nov 7, 2008
By: Elena Gontar, Staff Writer

NPC International Inc. will acquire 191 Pizza Hut restaurants from Pizza Hut Inc. for $52.9 million, and will sell 70 additional units to Pizza Hut for $19.6 million.

When all is said and done, NPC will increase its net holdings of Pizza Hut restaurants by 12 percent, to a total of more than 1,100 locations. NPC is the world's largest Pizza Hut franchisee.

"This unique transaction demonstrates the strength and depth of our relationship with PHI as well as both parties' ability and willingness to work with each other, noted NPC chairman & CEO Jim Schwartz, in a release. "We are strong believers in the Pizza Hut brand and believe that now is an excellent time to increase our investment in the brand."

Of the units being acquired by Overland Park, Kan.-based NPC, 82 are located around Tampa, Florida, and 52 are near Kansas City. The additional units are in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Atlanta. The units being sold to Pizza Hut Inc. are in Jackson, Miss.; Spokane, Wash.; Savannah, Ga.; and Jacksonville, Fla.

NPC will fund the purchase with proceeds from the sale of the 70 restaurants to Pizza Hut, as well as utilizing a $75 million credit line and cash on hand.

 
Recent Retail Headlines
Dollar Retailing Seeing Good Times
The Dow Jones index took something of a dive yesterday, possibly because of ill tidings from the likes of Time Warner and Intel, or the anticipation of bad job market numbers, or maybe because it was time to yo-yo back to roughly where the market started at the beginning of the year. In any case, the Dow was down 245.40 points, or 2.72 percent, while the S&P 500 lost 3 percent exactly and the Nasdaq lost 3.23 percent.
Cushman Report: Even Manhattan Humbled in 2008 
After a steep decline in office rents and leasing activity at the end of 2008, many owners are attempting to lure tenants with aggressive deals, according to Cushman & Wakefield Inc.’s year-end report on the Manhattan office market.
The News: Holiday Fallout, Public Confidence, Debt Loom
Now that 2008 is mercifully behind the retail sector, the question of what should be on the radar for 2009 is front and center. Conversations with industry veterans and research suggest that consumer spending, the economic policies of the new president and Congress, and fallout from the holiday shopping season will shape the retail sector for at least the early part of the year.
Ken Riggs The Expert: Structural Shift on the Way
Projections that fourth-quarter-2008 holiday retail sales would usher in despair not seen since the Great Depression had everyone on pins and needles. Although November reports indicated that seasonally-adjusted retail sales, excluding automobiles, were down slightly more than 4 percent from year-ago sales, recent figures from the International Council of Shopping Centers show December comparable store sales to have declined by only 1 to 1.8 percent. From some of the pre-December sales-report jitters, I would not have been surprised to see retail spending fall 10 percent as 2008 came to a close!
No Bottom Yet for Residential Market
Despite poor consumer confidence and sour housing numbers, U.S. equity markets had a fairly positive day Tuesday, with the Dow Jones index ending up 184.46 points, or about 2.17 percent, and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq up 2.44 percent and 2.67 percent, respectively.