Franchise M&A Update: December 2024
Welcome back to Franchisor.com’s “Franchise M&A Update” column, your monthly inside scoop for all franchise M&A, industry rumors and bankruptcy stories.
As we await President-Elect Trump’s second inauguration, there isn’t much going on in the M&A world within franchising as of now. Lots of moving and shaking, not a lot of action this holiday season. This is to be expected though; there’s always a calm before the storm! A couple of deals went from bankruptcy court à short-term bidder à long-term home this month, plus a rumor of a multi-billion dollar transaction in the works.
Now, let’s dive in:
Show Me The Money:
Food & Beverage
Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza Sold To Multi-Unit Franchise Group, Florida Burger, Inc For Undisclosed Sum: As part of the fire-sale post-bankruptcy for the BurgerFi Holdings, Anthony’s went from bankruptcy court, to TREW Capital to another owner in the span of a month. Florida Burger, Inc, most well-known for operating Burger King and Round Table Pizza around the Southeast, will be taker in trying to make this brand a winner. Considering Anthony’s was only recently franchised, time will tell if that will continue or if the primarily-corporate strategy will remain. BurgerFi Holding’s most recent CEO, Carl Bachmann, will remain in his role at Anthony’s through the transition and potentially beyond.
BurgerFi Sold To Asker Brands For Undisclosed Sum By Debt Holder, TREW Capital: About a week after Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza was sold, BurgerFi Holdings’ namesake, BurgerFi, was officially sold to Asker Brands, owner of Fat Boy’s Pizza, Happy’s Pizza & Savvy Sliders. Asker Brands CEO has been quoted across all of the trades about the synergies between sister companies, but I’m not sure I buy this. Having competing brands across your portfolio is a recipe for potential disaster, I’m not certain how happy a Savvy Sliders franchisee would be right about now! Interesting to see which burger concept will become the growth vehicle here there could be conversions one way or another in our future here. And if this story didn’t get weird enough, Asker Brands’ Founder has had some issues with the law in the past, making me think this could be a simple “buy the cash flow” play.
Specialty Retail
After Long Auction Process, Baird Finally Finds Buyer For Metal Supermarkets With Riverarch Equity Partners: After an allegedly drawn-out auction process, Baird finds a buyer for one of the more unique franchise brands out there, Metal Supermarkets. In an industry hyper-exposed to precious and industry metal commodities, investors were having a hard time trying to put a value on this brand. Despite this, there was tons of curiosity around a brand with such a unique niche (and a dedicated clientele to boot). Riverarch was the first investor in platforms like Authority Brands and Radiance Holdings, so stay tuned for a potential specialty retail platform play with the cash flow of Metal Supermarkets as the anchor.
On The Franchise Trade Block:
Private Equity Giant, TPG, Looking to Cash Big On Crunch Fitness: With more dry powder, comes the rumor mill. Not much is known aside from a bank being hired (Jefferies) and the value being about $1.5B (about 15 times EBITDA), so I’ll hold my tongue until we see more aside from one comment: fitness is going to start consolidating FAST. Crunch is a wonderful anchor for a “Purpose Brands” adjacent platform, don’t be surprised if you see franchising’s next big platform form out of this potential transaction.
Bad, Bad News:
Thank you for a wonderful 2024! It has truly been a pleasure writing about a space I’m so passionate about each month. If you have any tips and have some comments you’d like me to quote you in here, please email me at zack@franchisesuppliernetwork.com. Happy holidays to all, see you in 2025!
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