Helping Franchisees Grow

Video

04.02.2019

Unbridled has developed a profound love for supporting franchisees. We recognize that they are the life-blood of a successful franchisor. As the franchise world becomes more complex, franchisees need greater access to investment-banking expertise.

Our goal at Unbridled Capital is to provide world-class investment banking services to the franchise community. Over 15 years ago, I began my restaurant career with Yum Brands Corporate. Since then, we have developed a profound love for supporting franchisees. We recognize that they are the lifeblood of a successful franchise owner.

As the franchise world becomes more complex, franchisees need access to investment banking expertise. Services like ours are typically reserved for large, often publicly traded companies. We bring this expertise to franchisees in the following ways; first, by high prices in the sale of their companies. We are getting incredibly high prices for our M&A clients when they sell. Most franchise companies we sell are realizing five to 10 or more offers on their businesses. And we have over 600 restaurants for sale across the country, currently.

Two is partnerships with family offices and private equity firms to help franchisees grow. We know hundreds of investors who want to partner with existing operators.

Third is sophisticated guidance in all areas of franchising. Fourth is access to debt capital at the best rates and on the best terms. We know over 50 franchise lenders who have dedicated lending platforms for most franchise brands. We help franchisees secure debt capital at the lowest rates, and on the best terms.

Some areas of focus include lengthening amortizations, lowering lender fees, reducing personal guarantee exposure, increasing development lines of credit for remodeling and acquisitions, lightening bank covenants, and reducing interest rates for our clients.

Our involvement lowers costs and times involved in getting loans closed, real estate financing at competitive terms as well. Whether a franchisee wants separate real estate financing from a traditional lender on very attractive terms, or they want financing through real estate investment trusts or on the 10-31 market, we provide access to the best terms, pricing, cap rates, and certainty of close.

Access to mezzanine or equity capital. Some franchisees want creative solutions to grow. They may not be able to borrow more money, or might not want to take on more debt. At the same time, they don't want to give up a majority ownership and control of their company.

We have several options here, including mezzanine financing, equity capital injection, unitranche financing, and dividend recapitalizations. These vehicles are complex, we're happy to talk about them simply with you at any time.

Cost savings and low fees. We typically save hundreds of hours and hundreds of thousands of dollars for our franchise clients when they sell or finance their businesses. Franchisees are often badly under-prepared for the vast amount of time, and the huge hidden costs involved in a transaction. We lessened both dramatically. We offer valuations for M&A decisions for tax planning or estate planning. Valuations are, in fact, the cornerstone of everything we do. We have unparalleled expertise here, having completed valuations for tens of thousands of restaurant companies.

Access to multi-unit operators. This is a growing service at Unbridled. We know hundreds of operators, and give us a call if we can help with an informal introduction to an operator who can help your business grow. We also offer buy-side services, whether franchisees want to acquire restaurants from corporate, or a franchisee inside or outside their core brand, we specialize in making these transactions successful.

Representation in the workout or bankruptcy process. While this is never a fun or an easy topic to talk about, some franchisees are in financial trouble and need our help. I've personally worked in many distress transactions. I've sat in bankruptcy courts in Delaware, helped renegotiate revised loan terms, and helped with lenders and their relationship with franchisees when they sell the restaurants, when pressured by franchisors or creditors. We are glad to be a resource here when difficult situations arise.

Finally, we have a consultative approach and offer assistance in remodeling, leases, and franchise agreements. At Unbridled, we see thousands of franchise restaurant P&Ls, remodeling programs, leases, and franchise agreement terms. We have perspective software franchisees that will save money, help make better decisions in lending and in leasing decisions.

We'd be honored to talk any time with you about why unbridled capital would be the best return on investment decision that franchisees can make when selling financing or buying restaurants.