Rogersville Pizza Hut among restaurants Flynn buys from NPC | Business

Six Pizza Huts in East Tennessee, including one in Rogersville, have a new owner, as does one in far Southwest Virginia.

San Francisco-based Flynn Restaurant Group LP,  the largest franchise operator in America, Wednesday announced that it has acquired 937 Pizza Hut and 194 Wendy’s locations throughout the United States from Kansas City-based NPC International, which is bankrupt.

According to Flynn spokesman Alexis Paul, those are Pizza Huts in Rogersville, Morristown, Sevierville, Kodak, Pigeon Forge and Newport. Also included is the Grundy, Va. location. Tri-Cities Pizza Huts and the Greeneville one were not included.

No Tennessee Wendy’s are included, although Middle and West Tennessee Pizza Huts are, and no other Wendy’s or Pizza Huts in far Southwest Virginia were included.

Flynn Restaurant Group will nearly double its restaurant count as a result of this acquisition, now owning and operating a combined total of 2,355 quick-service, fast casual and casual dining restaurants, generating $3.5 billion in sales and employing 73,000 people in 44 states.

A Flynn news release also said that with a portfolio that already includes leading brands like Applebee’s, Panera Bread, Taco Bell and Arby’s, the newly acquired Pizza Hut and Wendy’s restaurants will further Flynn’s goal of diversification between premier brands and segments within the restaurant industry. 

“We are excited to announce the addition of Pizza Hut and Wendy’s to our portfolio,” Greg Flynn, founder,  chairman and chief executive officer of Flynn Restaurant Group, said in a news release. “They bring with them a wonderful team of dedicated operators and support personnel, who we welcome whole-heartedly into the Flynn family. Further, both Pizza Hut and Wendy’s are deeply established as leading concepts in their sectors, and our entry into their systems furthers our goal to operate at scale in top-tier brands.”

The transaction was supported by long-term Flynn partners Main Post Partners and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, the release said.