Wrote Gilbert & Sullivan in their opera, HMS Pinafore: “Things are seldom what they seem. Skim milk masquerades as cream.”1
There has been an overt, very overt, expression of interest in franchise companies over the last several years in the financial sector. While the Mom and Pop franchisors are still being developed in great numbers, private equity funds, venture capitalists, public companies and existing franchisors are looking to buy established and semi-established franchise systems in droves. When we think of famous owners of franchise companies, images of Ray Kroc, Dave Thomas, and, yes, Colonel Sanders, come to mind—all founders of iconic brands. But as you look beneath the surface, you will today find that many of the successful franchise companies are now owned by companies whose names are not familiar to anyone except to those in the franchise or financial community; names like Roark Capital (29 systems) and Kahala (15 systems), and many others.2
