TOP TEN HEADLINES

Top 10 Franchise Headlines

FRANCHISE HEADLINES

10. Dunkin’ Deal of The Decade

The owner of 100 Dunkin’ stores in Florida sold all their locations to Boston based private equity firm, Exeter Capital – marking the biggest Dunkin’ transaction in over a decade!

9. Dominos Legend Takes Over RBI

The former CEO of Domino’s, who led the pizza franchise from 2010-2018, is credited with turning around Domino’s and revamping its stock price from $10 to $270 per share. Patrick Doyle is now in charge of Restaurant Brands International, which means you can expect big things from Burger King, Tim Horton’s, Popeyes, and Firehouse Subs in 2023!

8. Level 5 Capital Purchases 112 OrangeTheory’s

L5 is known in the industry for their dual sided investment strategy: acquiring majority equity stakes in franchisors, while also building dozens of locations as “anchor franchisees”. This time however, they showed they aren’t afraid to invest solely as multi-unit franchisees with their 112 unit purchase of OrangeTheory’s!

7. McDonald’s Leaves Russia

After more than 30 years of operation, McDonald’s left Russia in solidarity with Ukraine. While many expected this move to be made, Russian McDonald’s represented nearly 10% of the golden arches revenue, and the decision is expected to cost them $1.2-$1.4 billion.

6. FranShares Announces TNT Fund

FranShares, perhaps the most innovative company in the franchise industry right now, went live for the first time in March of this year. While their first fund was for accredited investors only, you can expect non-accredited investors to be able to get in on the action in 2023!

5. BurgerIM Sued Founder Flees Country

BurgerIM sold 1,500 locations to aspiring but under-capitalized buyers, collected substantial franchise fees, then didn’t refund the owners after their financing fell through – effectively stealing tens of millions of dollars since 2017 when they started selling franchises. The founder fled the country in the biggest franchise lawsuit in over a decade!

4. Yum! Brands Launches Accelerator

The parent company of KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and The Habit Burger Grill launched a program to make franchise ownership more accessible for female entrepreneurs and people of color. This is an incredible opportunity and a fantastic initiative by Yum!, and I expect other big brands to follow suit.

3. Beast Burger Breaks Single Day Sales Record

The first physical Beast Burger location sold more burgers in 24 hours than any restaurant EVER! I have good reason to believe they will eventually begin franchising, and I truly believe this brand has the potential to be the quickest billion dollar burger franchise in history.

2. The OG Planet Fitness Franchisee Sells $800M Portfolio

Shane McGuinness was the very first Planet Fitness franchisee – he opened his first location in Altamonte Springs, Florida back in 2003. Fast forward 19 years and he grew to 114 gyms across Florida, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. In early January, it was announced that Planet Fitness Corporate was acquiring all of his locations for a whopping $800 million!

1. Cookie Wars Heat Up

While this couldn’t be summed up in a single headline, the Cookie wars made waves multiple times in 2022. A few highlights include:

• Crumbl crossed $1 billion in system wide sales
• Multiple brands were sued by Crumbl, which resulted in a huge Dirty Dough ad campaign that fueled 150 units being sold
• Danny Meyer, arguably one of the greatest restaurateurs ever, invested $10M into Chip City

Cookies is the hottest category in franchising, and many shots were fired this year.

Bonus: Three Predictions For 2023

1. Pickleball Franchises Are Coming

One of the hottest industries in the world right now is pickleball. In 2023 we will see multiple franchises pop up in this space, as facilities specifically for pickleball are still in low supply in the vast majority of the country

2. Beast Burger Will Offer Franchises

With a solid proof of concept for their first physical restaurant, Beast Burger will look to expand rapidly via franchising, something that can be done very quickly through Mr. Beast’s YouTube network. 

3. Private Equity Will Have A Banner Year

It’s no secret that recession fears are high at the moment, and 2023 could be a rough year economically. With that said, private equity investment in franchises has been steadily increasing the last few years, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see a record year for PE acquisitions if they can acquire franchisors for cheap.

See you in 2023!