McDonald’s is cracking a deal to buy Casper’s Company, one of its oldest and most successful franchisees, owned by Blake Casper. Casper, whose estimated net worth is at least $4 million, and his family have agreed to sell their 60 locations in Tampa and Jacksonville to the franchisor. Casper, a large multi-unit franchisee, was instrumental in forming the independent McDonald’s National Owners Association (NOA) in 2018.
Casper wrote an inspirational quote, “Our country continues to struggle with mass shootings that make no sense, that test our faith. We operate in an environment charged with division, anger, and despair. Where there is little common ground, where understanding and compassion are in short supply.”
Reasons behind the Acquisition
There are several ambiguities surrounding Casper’s retirement and concurrent sale of his family business. Many are attributing this to the recent changes in McDonald’s ownership structure, where the renewal standards for franchise agreements have been increased. The NOA, which Casper leads, recently surveyed more than 600 McDonald’s operators. The results, released on Monday, found that a staggering 87% of respondents supported calling a vote of “no confidence” on CEO Chris Kempczinski and the company’s U.S. president, Joe Erlinger (whose estimated net worth is at least $20.3 million).
On the eve of vote of no confidence, 95 percent of respondents expressed the view that franchisor’s senior management does not have the best interest of owners in its approach to franchising, according to CNBC. Moreover, 83 percent said the new rules were a “veiled attempt to raise rents.” This came out to be the major reason behind acquisition of Casper’s Company.
McDonald’s continues to buy franchised stores
The McDonald’s continues to buy up franchised stores and upcoming franchises stores go on flipping in the market. A record 400 owners exited the system last year, which totaled about 1,750 restaurants changing hands—from retiring owners and operators wishing to cash in on high valuations to disgruntled franchisees. They are unable to imagine themselves aligning with the franchise giant’s future direction. According to the message obtained by Franchise Times, many of restaurants of Caspers Company earned some of the highest average sales, guest counts, and cash flows in their business unit.
McDonald’s Government Relations Team has built relationships with key government officials to give McDonald’s story a fair treatment of the business. Same-store sales at McDonald’s restaurants in the U.S. increased 3.5 percent in the first quarter of 2022, fueled by price hikes. The company reported a net income of $1.1 billion in the first quarter at more than 40,000 locations in more than 100 countries.
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