Tricon announces name change to Yum! Brands Inc

YUM is already the company's ticker symbol on the New York Stock Exchange. The name change will be submitted for shareholders' approval at the annual meeting on May 16, 2002.

"The change of name will not materially affect the 280 KFC and 293 Pizza Hut restaurants our franchisees operate in the Middle East," said Irfan Mustafa, vice president and managing director of Tricon Restaurants Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan.

"Putting a YUM on people's faces around the world has become our company's mission. By serving hot and freshly prepared food, our friendly employees strive to create a special kind of eating experience where people smile with a "YUM!" These three letters speak volumes about our company's customer focused team and mouth-watering fast food," added Mustafa.

Tricon also announced it has completed its acquisition of Long John Silver's (LJS) and A&W All-American Food Restaurants for $320-million in cash from Yorkshire Global Restaurants (YGR), growing the world's largest restaurant system to more than 32,500 restaurants.

"We have a small presence of both these brands in the Middle East and soon we will be engaging our Partners to see how best we can exploit their potential here," stated Mustafa.

In 2000, Tricon entered into a license agreement with YGR to test multibranding options. Tricon's acquisition was based on proven test results that drove significant increases in average unit volumes and profits. "We also expect a very successful integration given we have been working together for over two years, know the operations and will retain the top management and their core teams," said David Novak, Tricon Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

2-for-1 Stock Split
The company also announced that its board of directors has approved a two-for- one split of the company's outstanding shares of common stock. The stock split will be effected in the form of a stock dividend and will entitle each stockholder of record at the close of business on June 6, 2002 to receive one share for every outstanding share of common stock held on the record date. The stock dividend will be distributed on June 17, 2002. Tricon Global Restaurants Common Stock will begin trading on a split-adjusted basis on June 18, 2002.

"We are very pleased to inform our shareholders, many of whom are Tricon employees, of this stock split. The momentum of our business continues to be very positive, driven by the execution of our highly focused strategies of international new unit expansion, multibranding leadership and customer- focused operations. We are confident this momentum will continue and we are gratified to share the Company's success with our shareholders," Novak said.

Ends