Franchise M&A Advisory

Our hallmark service is sell-side advisory, otherwise known as sell-side mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Simply put, this is the process of selling a franchisee’s business at the highest price and on the best terms with the least risk. We offer our franchise clients access to Unbridled Capital’s record-breaking success rate of around 90% in closing billions of dollars of M&A assignments over many years.

We have access to thousands of buyers, franchisees, investors, family offices, private equity firms and new operators who are seeking to acquire myriad franchise companies. Our scope is not limited by deal size; for the right assignment, we will represent individual owners or the largest franchisees in the country. We target brands that have large regional or national footprints, and we seek clients who have strong, sustainable, growth-oriented businesses.

In the course of selling a company, however big or small, a business owner needs both access to buyers and expertise in navigating the process of a sale. Selling a franchise business involves financing considerations, contracts, employees, leases, and franchise approvals, among other things. There are many reasons why a business owner would be interested in selling; some of these include selling to realize a gain, retirement, partner disputes, or distress.

Regardless of the reason, Unbridled Capital’s core business is helping owners understand the value of their companies and then selling them at the highest prices (best EBITDA multiples & cap rates) and under the best possible terms while reducing stress and deal risk associated with a transaction.

Buy-side advisory services are incredibly valuable when designed properly. They are also badly administered because they are often poorly constructed, and the tenacity or practicality of the client is not properly evaluated beforehand. For these reasons, the success rate of buy-side advisory is generally low, and many franchisees unfortunately do not ascribe much value to these services.

At Unbridled Capital, we know this. And we also know how to overcome the low success rates and time-consuming efforts for all parties involved.

Our process starts with a very frank series of discussions about goals and objectives. Next, we take prospective clients deeply through our valuation model so there are no surprises on acquisition prices or investment returns. Then, we only select assignments when a buyer can commit to a narrow set of brands – no more than three. Lastly, the Unbridled team has an informal vote internally on whether we feel the client is committed to our process and is ready to acquire when the right opportunity presents itself at the right price.

This process sounds backwards, right? Like we are interviewing the potential buy-side client more than they are interviewing us? Well, that is because it is. And guess what? It produces results. Franchisees who become our buy-side advisory clients are few. However, when we are fully aligned with one-another and mutually focused on the mission of acquiring a franchise platform or investment, we produce success for our clients at a rate that is double or triple the industry average. No one can argue with those results.