Yum! Brands Inc., which owns fast food restaurant chains KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, on Thursday announced details regarding its China spin-off operation.

The China arm, which accounted for more than half of Yum!'s total operating profit during the third quarter this year, while continuing to be based and listed in the United States, will explore IPO opportunities in Hong Kong and other Asian exchanges, the Louisville-based company said at its annual investor conference.

Yum! Brands and Yum! China each have the potential to deliver an estimated 15 percent shareholder return, including dividend, compared with previous growth target of at least 10 percent growth of earnings per share.

The company plans to return up to 6.2 billion U.S. dollars to shareholders before the spin-off, which Yum! said will complete by the end of next year.

After the spin-off, Yum will continue to receive a license fee of 3 percent of system sales for KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell in China.

Yum! Brands announced the decision to separate its China operation in October this year. It currently runs around 6,900 restaurants across 1,000 Chinese cities and has plans to triple the number of restaurants.