Yum Brands has exited the Russian market with the completion of the sale of its KFC business to Smart Service Ltd., a local operator led by Konstantin Yurievich Kotov and Audrey Eduardovich Oskolkov, the company said Monday. Both U.S. and Russian governments approved the sale, allowing for it to be completed.
The deal, which was originally announced in October, includes all 1,112 Russian KFC units, its operating system, master franchise rights and the trademark for the Rostik’s brand. KFC originally bought Rostik’s in 2011 and converted it into KFCs as part of Yum’s Russian expansion. The KFC units in Russia represented about 4% of KFC’s total unit count as of the beginning of 2022.
