A Recap of this Year’s Major M&A Deals and Strategic Collaborations
Franchising continues to grow year after year, attracting investments from private equity firms as promising long-term investments. According to the IFA 2024 Franchising Economic Outlook report, franchise output is expected to rise by 4.1% to $893.9 billion this year. As a stable force in the economy, franchising is projected to grow 1.9% and add 221,000 jobs. (If that forecast proves true, there will be about 8.9 million franchise employees across the U.S.)
Franchising thrives on collaboration and teamwork, with franchisees and staff members regularly receiving support and training from franchisors to foster growth. This spirit of partnership extends to franchisors who often join forces to increase their reach across the U.S. and worldwide. A recent example is the February merger of fitness powerhouses Orangetheory Fitness and Self Esteem Brands — parent company of Anytime Fitness, The Bar Method, Stronger U Nutrition and more. Together, they formed Purpose Brands, an umbrella company now operating 7,000 locations across 50 countries and territories.
That’s just one of the many franchise mergers and acquisitions that made headlines this year. Read on for a recap of strategic collaborations from 2024.
November 2024 Franchise Mergers and Acquisitions
- Private equity giant Blackstone revealed that it struck a deal to take a majority ownership stake in Jersey Mike’s for $8 billion.
October 2024 Franchise Mergers and Acquisitions
- NewSpring Capital initiated a “major refresh” of Great Harvest Bread Company by acquiring it.
September 2024 Franchise Mergers and Acquisitions
- Blackstone announced that Oravel Stays will buy G6 Hospitality, an umbrella brand whose holdings include budget accommodation brands Motel 6 and Studio 6, for $525 million.
- Playa Bowls entered a new stage of growth with the backing of private equity firm Sycamore Partners.
- Salty Dawg, a dog grooming concept, became Loyalty Brands’ eighth franchise concept.
August 2024 Franchise Mergers and Acquisitions
- At the end of the summer, Extraordinary Brands made an investment in Neighborhood Barre.
July 2024 Franchise Mergers and Acquisitions
- Darden Restaurants announced plans to buy Chuy’s Holdings, a Tex-Mex restaurant chain, for about $605 million.
- Elite Restaurant Group acquired MOD Pizza in July, saving the pizza franchise from potentially having to file for bankruptcy.
- Tierra Encantada, a Spanish-immersion early education franchise, said sí to a minority growth investment of $38 million from Susquehanna Growth Equity.
June 2024 Franchise Mergers and Acquisitions
- EverSmith Brands expanded its portfolio with the acquisition of Prism Specialties.
May 2024 Franchise Mergers and Acquisitions
- BELFOR Franchise Group made waves by adding JUNKCO+, a basement-to-attic residential and commercial junk removal concept, to its portfolio.
- Private equity giant Roark Capital completed its $9 billion-plus purchase of Subway. The deal came after nearly eight months of regulatory review and negotiations.
- Extraordinary Brands, a fitness conglomerate, purchased the Row House boutique fitness franchise from Xponential Fitness.
- Waud Capital Partners purchased Senior Helpers from Advocate Health’s investment arm, Advocate Aurora Enterprises.
April 2024 Franchise Mergers and Acquisitions
- BRIX Holdings, a multi-brand investor, announced that it would add the Clean Juice franchise to its portfolio. Clean Juice is known for using USDA-certified-organic ingredients.
- Blackstone made it known that it would acquire Tropical Smoothie Café from private equity firm Levine Leichtman Capital Partners.
- Five Star Franchising grew its portfolio with the acquisition of Card My Yard, a yard rental company.
- Flatheads LLC acquired Tijuana Flats from TJF USA the same day the Tex-Mex franchise filed for bankruptcy.
- Best Life Brands, a senior care portfolio company, brought Next Day Access under its umbrella of franchises with the backing of The Riverside Company.
- The Riverside Company acquired The Lash Lounge, which is central to the global investment firm’s newly created health and beauty platform, Head to Toe Brands, along with Bishops Cuts / Color and Frenchies Modern Nail Care.
March Franchise Mergers and Acquisitions
- 9Round Kickboxing Fitness flexed its muscles when it announced that it acquired iLoveKickboxing back in March.
- Threshold Brands further established its presence in the home services space with the purchase of Miracle Method LLC, a Colorado Springs-based bath and kitchen surface refinishing franchise.
February 2024 Franchise Mergers and Acquisitions
- Back in February, Orangetheory Fitness and Self Esteem Brands jointly announced that they would merge as equals in an all-stock transaction. The two franchisors became a new company, which was later announced as Purpose Brands.
- Unleashed Brands added the Sylvan Learning franchise to its portfolio of child enrichment brands.
- In February, BizCom Associates, a relations agency for franchises, disclosed its acquisition of franchise marketing and lead-generation firm Brand J.
- Propelled Brands, franchisor of FASTSIGNS International Inc., MY SALON Suite and NerdsToGo, added Camp Bow Wow to its portfolio of services brands earlier this year.
January 2024 Franchise Mergers and Acquisitions
- THE MAX Challenge and Farrell’s eXtreme Bodyshaping started the year off with a bang by merging to form FIT Franchise Brands.
- The acai brand Oakberry received a $67 million investment from BTG Pactual to support its global expansion.
