BofA to sell Pizza Hut franchisee stake for $755 mn

Bank of America Corp, the second-largest bank in the US by assets, yesterday sold its stake in the largest Pizza Hut franchisee to a company formed by Olympus Partners, as part of its assets shedding plan.

Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America's NPC International Inc. will be repaid by the purchaser when the deal is completed, which is expected by 28 December, NPC said in a filing with the regulators.

Bank of America received the stake in NPC with its 2009 acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co.

Although all parties did not disclose the financial terms of the deal, NPC sold the stake for around $755 million and the deal is likely to net Bank of America $375 million to $400 million, The Wall Street Journal said, citing a source.

The sale "is consistent with our strategy of focusing on our core customer-facing activities," bank spokesman Jerry Dubrowski said.

Founded in 1962 and based in Overland Park, Kansas, NPC operates more than 1,100 eateries spread across 28 states, mostly in the Midwest and South and accounts for about one-fifth of US Pizza Hut restaurants.

Stamford, Connecticut-based health-care, financial firms and consumer businesses focused Olympus Partners manages more than $3 billion for corporate pension funds, endowments and state retirement funds.

The sale comes after Bank of America agreed in September to sell its stake in US hospital operator HCA Holdings for $3 billion and sold a Canadian credit-card unit for C$7.5 billion ($7.4 billion).

In August, the bank agreed to sell about half its stake in China Construction Bank Corp., the world's second-biggest lender by market value, for $8.3 billion.