Restaurant Brands New Zealand Limited, trading as Restaurant Brands, is a New Zealand fast food company. Restaurant Brands currently operates and owns the master franchising rights for the Carl's Jr., KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell brands in New Zealand. Restaurant Brands operates most of New Zealand's stores for the brands they own rights to and provides management and support services to New Zealand's independent franchisees of the remaining stores. History Restaurant Brands was formed to acquire shares in KFC and Pizza Hut from PepsiCo. It acquired KFC in 1989 and Pizza Hut in 1995. The company originally purchased 122 stores, 91 KFC stores, 46 Pizza Hut stores and 2 Joint KFC and Pizza Hut stores. In 1997, it listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange with an offer price of NZ$2.20. In 2016, Restaurant Brands shares jumped 9.8 percent on the news that it had purchased New South Wales largest KFC franchiser, QSR Pty Ltd, for A$82.4 million in cash and scrip. As a result of this deal, QSR's vendor Copulos Group will gain a 4.9% shareholding in Restaurant Brands. In March 2017, Restaurant Brands purchased 100% of the shares in Pacific Island Restaurants Inc, the sole franchisee of Pizza Hut and Taco Bell in Hawaii, Guam and Saipan, for US$105 million. This consisted of 45 Pizza Hut stores and 37 Taco Bell stores. The Group came into a conditional agreement in December 2019 to acquire 70 stores in Southern California, USA, for $US73 million. The purchase consisted of 59 KFC stores and 11 combined KFC Taco Bell stores together with a head office facility. The purchase was conditional on Yum! approval and the assignment of property leases. After satisfying a number of conditions, including the approval from the franchisor, Yum! Restaurants International, the transaction for 69 stores was settled on 2 September 2020 in New Zealand (1 September in the USA). The company experienced a decline in profits during the 2021–2022 inflation surge, due to rising food costs. Brands Current KFC KFC entered the New Zealand market in August 1971, with the opening of its first restaurant in Royal Oak, Auckland. By September 1973, KFC had opened nine restaurants - four in Auckand and one each in Hamilton, Rotorua, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. Restaurant Brands acquired the brand in 1989 after being publicly floated by PepsiCo. KFC is Restaurant Brands largest revenue earner; in the 2017/18 financial year,