KBP Brands acquired 28 KFC restaurants in North Carolina and South Carolina from Scottish Food Systems. Laurinburg, North Carolina-based Scottish Foods Systems has operated KFC restaurants since 1964, when founder Edwin Pate signed an agreement with Colonel Harland Sanders in Laurel Hill, North Carolina. Kansas-based KBP owned 642 KFCs, 117 Arby’s and 54 Taco Bells at the end of last year. Unbridled Capital provided sell-side advisory services to Scottish Food Systems.
Already a Sonic franchisee, AS Food Services expanded its portfolio with the acquisition of 24 restaurants in the Houston area and surrounding markets. The seller is Garza Management Group, which prior to the transaction owned more than 40 Sonics. Advanced Restaurant Sales represented the selling group.
Fitness Ventures, the second largest Crunch Fitness franchisee, has a new private equity owner in Meaningful Partners, which acquired the Florida-based operator of 47 gyms. This is the second private equity transaction for Fitness Ventures after Prospect Hill Growth Partners took a majority ownership stake in the company in 2020. Brian Hibbard, who founded Fitness Ventures in 2016 and is CEO, said in an announcement of the deal that Meaningful Partners will help his company as it continues to develop Crunch clubs in multiple states. Based in Los Angeles, Meaningful Partners has invested in brands such as &Pizza, Westrock Coffee and Active Apparel Group.
Elsewhere in the Crunch system, 16-unit franchisee JF Fitness of North America attracted an investment from Trive Capital and 808 Capital Partners. In connection with the investment, JF Fitness acquired Team Roldan, an eight-unit Crunch franchisee with gyms in Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina. The purchase makes JF Fitness, founded in 2014 by CEO John Freeland and based in Richmond, Virginia, one of the five largest Crunch operators. Trive Capital, a private equity firm based in Dallas, is also an investor in beverage franchise HTeaO. 808 Capital Partners is a Maui, Hawaii-based independent sponsor led by Eric Epstein, who is also a shareholder in Crunch operator Fitness Holdings North America. King & Spalding served as legal counsel to Trive. Roth Jackson Gibbons Condlin served as legal counsel to JF Fitness. MOK Advisors served as financial adviser to Team Roldan.
Karali Group became the United Kingdom’s largest Taco Bell operator after acquiring 46 restaurants from Caskade Group. Begbies Traynor and FRP Advisory, the joint administrators of T Bello Group and T Bello U.K., secured the sale through a pre-packaged administration process. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The group was previously the largest U.K. franchisee of Burger King before it exited 74 sites in 2022. Freeths and PwC advised Karali Group on the deal with Taco Bell.
An unnamed private equity firm acquired The Cookie Place, a franchisee of Great American Cookies and Marble Slab Creamery with stores in 14 states in the Southeast. The Cookie Place was established in 1984. The company has 63 Great American Cookies stores, including 11 co-branded with Marble Slab Creamery. Brookwood Associates was the financial adviser to Cookie Place and its affiliates on the sale.
Wedding services franchise Wed Society closed a Series A funding round with a $5.8 million valuation secured to help accelerate franchise development. Founded in 2007, Wed Society added 11 locations since the start of the year and provides services in five states.
ERA Prime Real Estate Group, with offices in Farmington and Grand Blanc, Michigan, acquired Compass Realty Pro in Southgate, Michigan. Founded in 2017, ERA Prime Realty Group is owned by Willie Ray. Last fall, Ray acquired the Farmington-based operations of a fellow ERA broker/owner.
Hounds Town USA President David Martinelli acquired a location of the pet care and boarding franchise in Denver. Other co-owners include David Martinelli’s husband, Tony Martinelli, Jeanna Novy, vice president of finance; and her husband, Mark Novy. The Denver unit, located in the city’s Baker neighborhood, opened in 2022.