Sell a Franchise Food Groups business

Owner-operator franchise food groups businesses trade at 3x–5x SDE for typical $500K–$3M SDE ranges. At $3M+ EBITDA scale the same operators sell at 5.5x–9x EBITDA. Multiples in this category are ebitda-based and data-sourced from Franchise Times M&A Report 2025 + IFA Multi-Unit Franchisee Report. Where you land in the range is driven by growth trajectory, revenue mix, customer concentration, and management-team depth beyond the owner.

Flynn Group (world's largest franchisee, 2,700+ units), Sun Holdings, Fransmart, and PE platforms (Roark Capital, Trive Capital, Levine Leichtman) drive multi-unit franchisee consolidation. Active buyer archetypes in franchise include Multi-unit franchise PE, Larger franchisee group, Individual acquirer. Which of these bids for your business depends on scale — sub-$1M SDE is typically individual or search-fund territory, $1-3M SDE opens up PE platforms and strategics, and $3M+ EBITDA gets full LMM buyer attention.

Multi-unit food-service franchisees with 20+ units, strong AUV performance versus system average, and modernized-remodel-completion status trade at premium — the unit count and AUV over-index are what franchise-M&A markets price. Beyond the industry-specific factor, the universal drivers in franchise are same-store sales growth trajectory (sssg); territory density in target metros (reduces overhead per unit); strong franchisor relationship and development-agreement quality.

Franchisees face franchisor-approved-buyer requirements that constrain the exit market and franchise-agreement renewal/refranchising terms; buyers scrutinize your franchise-agreement remaining-term and renewal economics. Buyers in this category also standardly scrutinize franchisor consent required on ownership transfer and restaurant-level margin compression (labor + food cost). Addressing these in advance in a well-prepared CIM materially reduces retrade risk during diligence.

Typical transaction range for franchise food groups is $3.0M–$200M in annual revenue. Below that, buyer pool narrows to individual and small-search-fund. Above that, PE platforms and strategics dominate. NAICS code 722513 — buyers screen by NAICS in most deal sources.

From the day you engage a broker to close, expect 6–12 months for a well-prepared business in franchise. The prep work — financial cleanup, addbacks documentation, key-employee retention agreements, real estate lease sorting — is where 3-6 months of the timeline hides. Starting that early is what separates a full-multiple exit from a discounted one.