Multi-Brand Franchisor Buys 83 Units in N.J. and Pennsylvania
The Flynn Group has purchased 83 Wendy’s restaurants in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, bringing its investment in the brand to 277 restaurants. That total makes the Flynn Group one of Wendy’s largest U.S. franchisees, with ownership of nearly one in every 20 of the nation’s Wendy’s, Reuters reported. CEO Greg Flynn said in a news release that the deal closed on Wednesday.
Ohio-based Wendy’s has about 6,200 U.S. restaurants, according to Hasdata.com. Worldwide, the fast-food brand has more than 7,200 restaurants, based on numbers from Statista. The Flynn Group says it operates more than 2,900 franchises, employs more than 75,000 people and posts more than $5 billion in annual sales, Reuters and QSR Magazine said in their reports about the new purchase.
Flynn Group Brands and Deals
Describing itself as the biggest franchise operator in the world, the Flynn Group also owns Applebee’s, Taco Bell, Arby’s, Panera Bread, Pizza Hut and Planet Fitness locations. Flynn Group became a Wendy’s franchisee in 2021 when it bought 194 units from bankrupt franchisee NPC International, QSR Magazine stated; that $552.6 million deal included the purchase of 937 Pizza Huts.
CEO Flynn said that Wendy’s corporate leadership had initially rebuffed his company as an investor because of the franchisee group’s ownership of competing brands Arby’s and Panera. “It went from a stiff arm — to keep us out of their system — to an embrace, now that they’ve realized we’re the kind of franchisee they’d like to see grow in the system,” he said in the Reuters article.
The CEO declined to reveal the price and the seller of the Wendy’s involved in this week’s deal. But Restaurant Business speculated that the 83-unit Wendy’s purchase involved The Briad Group, which is one of the largest operators of Wendy’s restaurants in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
More Wendy’s for Flynn Group
Flynn said that buying the additional Wendy’s locations is part of his 25-year-old company’s “ongoing effort to rebalance ourselves toward quick service [restaurants],” Restaurant Business reported. Flynn added that he plans to expand his company’s ownership within the fast-food chain: “Wendy’s is a wonderful brand. We’re excited to grow specifically with Wendy’s.”
Expansion is expected both abroad and domestically. Flynn told Restaurant Business that his company plans to open six Wendy’s in the U.S. this year. Down Under is also a big market for Flynn Group, which in 2023 became the sole Wendy’s franchisee in Australia. Nation’s Restaurant News reported that through a master franchise agreement, Flynn Group plans to develop 200 restaurants there within the next 10 years; the first one should open before the end of this year, Restaurant Business reported. Earlier this year, Flynn Group also bought the Wendy’s New Zealand franchise, and additional Wendy’s development is expected there.
Wendy’s customer traffic declined 2% in the second quarter of this year, Restaurant Business said, but Flynn said the brand is doing better than some of its competitors. “For us, sales and profit have held up quite well,” he told the online publication.
Flynn Group Sale Rumors Debunked
Rumors circulated in early February of this year that San Francisco-based Flynn Group was looking to sell some of its ownership stakes. But several days after media reports surfaced that a potential sale was being explored, Flynn – who is chairman of Flynn Group’s board of directors as well as its CEO – flatly denied it, as reported by Franchise Times. “Just for the record, I’m not selling, and we’re not going anywhere,” Flynn said on Feb. 19 near the conclusion of the annual International Franchise Association Convention in Phoenix, Ariz.
