Promotes Micky Pant to Chief Executive Officer of International
Division; and Creates Yum! Restaurants India as Separate Division
LOUISVILLE, Ky.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE: YUM) today announced it has reorganized its
Yum! Restaurants International division (YRI) to continue to drive
aggressive international expansion and build strong brands globally. The
Company also announced that Micky Pant, 57, was promoted to Chief
Executive Officer of YRI, replacing Graham Allan, 56, who is retiring
from the Company early in 2012. Pant most recently served as President
of YRI and Global Branding. He now will report to David C. Novak,
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Yum! Brands, Inc. At the same
time, Yum! announced it will separate its India business from YRI,
creating a standalone reporting division called Yum! Restaurants India.
Niren Chaudhary, 48, was promoted to President of this division,
reporting directly to Novak.
“The growth at Yum! Restaurants International during the past eight
years under Graham Allan’s leadership has been stellar. YRI is a global
powerhouse, having opened more than 7,500 new restaurants and grown its
system-wide sales from $8.4 billion to more than $15 billion during
Graham’s tenure as CEO. Graham Allan has established the strategies,
structure and people capability that have proven so successful to our
international expansion. Over his 20-year career with YRI, he has made
an outstanding and lasting impact on our company. While we certainly
respect his personal decision to retire from YRI and return to the U.K.
to be closer to his family, we thank him for his many significant
contributions to setting our company up for continued future growth,”
said David C. Novak. “At the same time, I’m very pleased Micky Pant has
been promoted to CEO of YRI, ensuring a seamless transition in
leadership. Micky is an exceptional strategic and conceptual thought
leader, who has tremendous passion, energy and commitment to building
our business and satisfying our customers. He has also forged
outstanding relationships with our franchisees and is a culture champion
who has mentored and developed outstanding leaders across our Company,”
Novak said.
Pant joined the Company in 2005 as Chief Marketing Officer, following
senior-level marketing positions at Unilever plc, PepsiCo and Reebok. He
quickly rose through the YRI system following a series of successes,
including the development of strategic global brand plans for KFC and
Pizza Hut, the launch of KFC’s global “so good” campaign, and the
introduction of international sales layers like Krushers and KFC A.M. At
Pizza Hut International, he provided a strategic framework for
separating the dine-in and delivery businesses, including the
introduction of PHD (Pizza Hut Delivery). Further, he has led the
ongoing expansion of Taco Bell International while successfully
overseeing seven international business units. The leaders of each of
the Company’s international business units, along with all YRI executive
staff functions will now report directly to him, effective December 6.
“We have separated our India business from YRI to create a standalone
reporting division to underscore the potential scale of this exciting
emerging market for Yum! Brands. There is clear evidence that we are at
the same stage of development as we were in China at a similar juncture
in its life cycle, and I’m confident we will turn India into a major
growth engine for Yum! under Niren Chaudhary’s inspiring leadership,”
Novak said.
Chaudhary joined the Company in 1994, overseeing KFC in the Netherlands
and Germany. He took over the company’s India operations in 2007,
following a successful track record. Since that time, he and his team
have dramatically grown the business, with system sales up 42 percent
year-to-date. He has adopted best operating and development processes
from the company’s China division and applied those to India. In 2010,
the India business surpassed its 100th KFC, with strong unit
growth and excellent unit margins. Pizza Hut in India is in 34 cities
with 175 restaurants. Chaudhary and his team have established a highly
successful business model to accelerate aggressive future growth.
“These changes to our YRI organizational structure will make us an even
stronger company. We are still clearly on the ground floor of global
growth, and I am confident we are putting our best leaders in place to
deliver superior results,” Novak added.
Yum! Brands, Inc., based in Louisville, Ky., is the world’s largest
restaurant company in terms of system restaurants with more than 38,000
restaurants in more than 110 countries and territories. The Company is
ranked #214 on the Fortune 500 List, with revenues of more than $11
billion in 2010. Four of the company’s restaurant brands - KFC, Pizza
Hut, Long John Silver’s and Taco Bell - are the global leaders of the
chicken, quick-service seafood, pizza and Mexican-style food categories.
A&W Restaurants is the longest running quick-service franchise chain in
America. Outside the United States, the Yum! Brands system opened
approximately four new restaurants each day of the year, making it a
leader in international retail development. The Company has consistently
been recognized for its reward and recognition culture, diversity
leadership, community giving, and consistent shareholder returns.
Yum! Brands Inc.
Analysts:
Tim Jerzyk, 888-298-6986
Senior
Vice President Investor Relations
or
Steve Schmitt,
888-298-6986
Director Investor Relations
or
Media:
Amy
Sherwood, 502-874-8200
Vice President Public Relations
Source: Yum! Brands, Inc.