Allowances of Yum China shot up more than 16 percent on Thursday after The Word reported that Hillhouse Capital Group, one of China’s major investors in tech, is in talks to receive the fast-food restaurant company.
Yum China stock was briefly halted due to volatility.
Hillhouse Initial, a private equity firm known for its investment in tech companies sort Tencent, could help Yum China with its goal of incorporating innumerable technology in its restaurants.
Hillhouse is planning to recruit other investors to concoct a consortium for its bid to buy Yum China, according to The Information, which cited three people up on with the matter.
The talks, however, are in an early stage and the value of a arrangement is still being discussed, the people told The Information. The deal could even now fall apart, they warned.
Yum China, a spin off of the original Yum Stamps, is down more than 6 percent this year and currently has a $14.5 billion retail capitalization. The company operates more than 8,000 KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants in mainland China making it the biggest fast-food manipulator in the country, according to The Information.