Acquisition ‘Raises the Bar for Franchising’ with Expanded Events, Media Holdings, Education and Advocacy
The International Franchise Association has finalized its acquisition of Franchise Update Media, bringing together two of the most influential organizations in franchising. The merger will bring Franchise Update Media’s Multi-Unit Franchising Conference and Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine, as well as other holdings, under the IFA umbrella.
“Our priority is simple: to serve the franchise community with a bigger voice than ever before through education, relationships and advocacy,” said IFA President and CEO Matt Haller. “This merger isn’t just about combining resources — it’s about raising the bar for franchising.”
The International Franchise Association, the world’s largest franchising organization, advocates globally on behalf of the franchise business model through lobbying at all levels of government, public relations and educational outreach. The IFA’s membership includes more than 1,200 brands and tens of thousands of franchise owners, as well as franchising suppliers.
Franchise Update Media (FUN), founded by Gary Gardner and Therese Thilgen in 1988, has a network of thousands of successful multi-unit franchisees, and produces conferences, as well as print, digital and online products. Gardner and Thilgen will remain active “through the next chapter,” Haller said, and the two organizations will maintain their separate brands while operating under the IFA.
‘Raising the Bar for Franchising’
Haller said the merger brings “game-changing value” to members of the franchising community. He outlined the following vision and plans.
- Events
“By bringing together the best of both IFA and Franchise Update Media’s event portfolios, we’ll deliver even more value through content-rich, high-impact conferences,” Haller said. These include:
• Expanding to 11 annual events, totaling more than 25,000 attendees at IFA/FUM conferences. The next joint event will be the Franchise Leadership and Development Conference, Oct. 7-9 in Atlanta.
• Almost doubling IFA’s event exhibitors to a combined 1,300 providers of franchise opportunities and critical services to the business model.
- Insights and Education
“Together, we’re creating a more robust pipeline of data, benchmarking and strategic content — from franchise development to leadership to multi-unit growth — available year-round to our members,” Haller said. Specifics include:
• Doubling each organization’s website reach to 415,000 monthly visitors across franchise.org and franchising.com, providing education to prospective franchisees and more robust platforms for franchise development lead generation, brand and franchisee storytelling and thought leadership.
• Growing reach across two franchisor and two multi-unit franchisee magazines, along with a dozen digital newsletters, to a distribution of over 125,000 across the franchise community.
- “One Voice, One Vision”
“This partnership allows us to align and amplify the voice of franchising – across advocacy, media, education and community – ensuring the franchising community continues to thrive responsibly and sustainably,” Haller said, specifically with:
• Membership of more than 1,200 brands and 650 suppliers.
• Hundreds of in-person and online education programs, multiple annual research reports and economic impact studies, all elevating our best-in-class learning and resources for responsible franchising.
Protecting, Enhancing and Promoting Franchising
“With its North Star of helping all stakeholders in franchising improve and grow their businesses, FUM has undoubtedly delivered on its mission,” Haller said. “Over the years, FUM has provided an environment where the franchise community can learn, find new business opportunities, network and be inspired by their peers. This expanded partnership will preserve what FUM has built over nearly 40 years while enhancing IFA’s mission to protect, enhance and promote franchising.”
Haller praised the work of FUM founders Gardner and Thilgen. “Their leadership has been instrumental in shaping modern franchise media and building thriving communities of multi-unit franchisees, franchisors and suppliers – and we are deeply committed to building on that legacy as we bring our resources together,” he said.
Franchising Growth Forecast
Franchising will continue its steady growth in 2025, adding more than 20,000 new units and 210,000 jobs, according to the 2025 Economic Outlook report released by the IFA earlier this year. That level of growth reflects a 2.5% expansion of the franchising sector and an increase to 851,000 total units operating around the U.S., according to the report.
Employment in franchising increased 2.2% in 2024, with 189,000 new jobs that year, according to the report.
The report, prepared annually for the IFA by FRANdata, provides a thorough and independent analysis of anticipated performance and challenges. The FRANdata team draws on franchising’s largest database of the business model’s operations to deliver its insights and predictions.
