Pizza Hut in the UK is expected to be sold in the next‎ few days to a buyout team led by its chief executive.

The deal is thought to be worth more than £100m, as reported by Sky.

The transaction will involve CEO Jens Hofma, who has run Pizza Hut UK since 2009, being backed by US-based company Pricoa.

Pizza Hut has a restaurant in Gloucester and a number of takeaway stores across the county.

Its fortunes were turned around under Mr Hofma, with financial results for 2016 showing a 15 per cent increase in restaurant‎ earnings before interest. But figures for what is thought to have been a difficult 2017 are not yet available.

Mr Hofma and his team have presided over an expensive modernisation programme involving the refurbishment of most of its restaurants and are said to be confident in the‎ chain's future.

The deal comes more than two years after Pizza Hut's current owner Rutland Partners hired advisers to run an auction.

Earlier this year, a number of other casual dining chains, including Prezzo  and Jamie's Italian, announced closures and job losses.