NPC International was one of the largest restaurant franchisees and was one of the largest restaurant operators of any kind in the United States. NPC was the largest franchisee of both

Pizza Hut Pizza Hut is an American multinational restaurant chain and international franchise founded in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas by Dan and Frank Carney. They serve their signature pan pizza and other dishes including pasta, breadsticks and dessert a ...

and

Wendy's Wendy's is an American international fast food restaurant chain founded by Dave Thomas (1932–2002) on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio. Its headquarters moved to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. As of December 31, 2018, Wendy's was t ...

, and owned more than 1,200 Pizza Hut locations and 385 Wendy's locations until March 2021. O. Gene Bicknell opened his first franchised Pizza Hut restaurant in Pittsburg, Kansas in 1962. In 1984, Bicknell and NPC went public, finishing the decade with 320 locations. In the 1990s, NPC acquired, and then later sold, both Skippers Seafood & Chowder House and

Tony Roma's Romacorp Inc., which does business as Tony Roma's, is an American casual dining chain restaurant specializing in baby back ribs. The first location was established by the founder, Tony Roma, in 1972 in North Miami, Florida. Clint Murchison J ...

restaurant chains. Under the leadership of CEO Jim Schwartz, the company went private in 2001 and underwent two separate private equity acquisitions in 2006 and 2011. In 2013, NPC acquired its first Wendy's restaurants. NPC filed for

Chapter 11 Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, wheth ...

bankruptcy on July 1, 2020. Analysts pointed to a "perfect storm of problems...including coronavirus-related shutdowns, a massive debt burden of nearly $1 billion and rising labor and food costs." NPC reached an agreement with Pizza Hut to close 300 of its locations. Following the closures, the leases of 163 of the former sites were put up for sale. In November 2020, Flynn Restaurant Group submitted a $816 million bid to acquire the entirety of NPC's business, exceeding NPC's asking price of $725 million.

References

{{authority control Restaurant groups in the United States Pizza Hut Wendy's International Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2020 American companies established in 1962 Restaurants established in 1962 1962 establishments in Kansas