Pizza Hut: The fortune owed by firm behind UK restaurants before rescue
The company behind Pizza Hut’s restaurants in Britain owed more than £50m as it collapsed before being rescued, it has been revealed.
Heart With Smart (HWS) was saved in January by an entity controlled by investment firm Directional Capital in a deal which salvaged all but one Pizza Hut location.
Its new owner was the brand’s main partner in Denmark and Sweden while HWS was Pizza Hut’s dine-in franchise partner in the UK.
The pre-pack administration, which was overseen by Interpath Advisory, came at the end of a two-month process to find new investors for the company.
The deal saved more than 3,000 jobs across the country.
Before being saved, HWS was owned by lender Price and the firm’s bosses following a management buyout worth £100m in 2018.
Prior to that, the Pizza Hut franchise was owned by private equity firm Rutland Partners.
While HWS licensed the Pizza Hut name from owner Yum! Brands, the US food giant which also controls KFC, it was not involved in its delivery outlets.
Pizza Hut firm owed huge sum
Now a new document filed with Companies House by Interpath Advisory has revealed how much HWS owed when it collapsed.
According to the filing, the business had a total deficiency of £53.1m.
Of that total, it had a shortfall of £31.5m to Pricoa Private Capital and £8.3m to Pricoa Capital Partners. It also owed £8.3m to unsecured creditors.
In August, Morning Wire reported that Yum! Brands, the owner of KFC and Pizza Hut surged back into the black last year after a bumper year.
The group’s European division reported a pre-tax profit of $317.1m for 2023 having posted a pre-tax loss of $300m in the prior year.
The following month, Morning Wire also revealed the European arm of Pizza Hut had also returned to the black after making a loss of almost $140m.