Franchise Group

Last updated

Franchise Group, Inc.
Company type Private
Genre
Founded2019;5 years ago (2019)
FounderBrian R. Kahn
Headquarters Delaware, Ohio
Key people
Brian R. Kahn (CEO)
Eric Seeton (CFO)
RevenueIncrease2.svg $4.937 billion (2023) [1]
Decrease2.svg $-68.573 million (2023)
Subsidiaries Buddy's Home Furnishings
American Freight
The Vitamin Shoppe
Pet Supplies Plus
Sylvan Learning
Website www.franchisegrp.com

Franchise Group, Inc. is an American privately-held holding company that acquires and manages mainly franchise companies. It owns brands in various retail industries including American Freight, Buddy's Home Furnishings, The Vitamin Shoppe, Pet Supplies Plus, and Sylvan Learning.

Contents

On August 21, 2023, it was announced that a consortium of investors had acquired Franchise Group for $2.6 billion. [2]

History

Founded in 2019 through the merger of Liberty Tax and Buddy's Home Furnishings, [3] it originally operated under the name Liberty Tax. However, when it was renamed Franchise Group, the company retained Liberty Tax and Buddy's Home Furnishings as its subsidiaries. [4]

One year after purchasing The Vitamin Shoppe and Sears Outlet, [5] the company purchased American Freight for $450 million in cash in 2020. [6] [7] - then Sears Outlet merged into American Freight. [8]

On November 5, 2020, Franchise Group announced that it would acquire Fort Smith, Arkansas-based regional furniture retailer FFO Home, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on the same day. [9] The acquisition was completed on December 29. [10]

In the year it sold Liberty Tax to NextPoint Financial for $249 million, [11] Franchise Group made numerous acquisitions in 2021. Around that time, it purchased Pet Supplies Plus in a deal valued at $700 million, [12] Sylvan Learning for $81 million, [13] and Badcock Home Furniture for $580 million. [14] [15]

In August, a group of investors bought Franchise Group for US$2.6 billion. In November 2023, Kahn was identified by Bloomberg as one of two co-conspirators in a securities fraud case, following the guilty plea of John Hughes, co-founder of Prophecy Asset Management [16]

In December 2023, Conn's acquired Badcock Home Furniture &more from the Franchise Group. [17]

Subsidiaries

Current subsidiaries

Former subsidiaries

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References

  1. ↑ "FRG Financials". Yahoo!.
  2. ↑ "Under new ownership: Leadership team completes Franchise Group acquisition". Furniture Today. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
  3. ↑ "Mini-Berkshire In The Making At Franchise Group: Strong Organic Growth, Accretive M&A To Drive Stock Price". Seeking Alpha. December 14, 2021.
  4. ↑ Piper, Michael S. (September 19, 2019). "Liberty Tax, Inc. Changes Name to Franchise Group, Inc". GlobeNewswire . Los Angeles: West Corporation . Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  5. ↑ "The Vitamin Shoppe to be Acquired by Liberty Tax". Business Wire . San Francisco: Berkshire Hathaway. August 8, 2019. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  6. ↑ "Franchise Group, Inc. to Acquire American Freight Group, In". GlobeNewswire (Press release). December 30, 2019.
  7. 1 2 "Franchise Group, Inc. Closes on the Acquisition of American Freight Group, Inc". GlobeNewswire (Press release). February 14, 2020.
  8. ↑ "Sears Outlet, American Freight Combine to Create One-Stop-Shop for Your Home". GlobeNewswire (Press release). February 27, 2020.
  9. ↑ Engel, Clint (November 5, 2020). "FFO Home files for bankruptcy". Home News Now. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  10. ↑ Engel, Clint (December 29, 2020). "Franchise Group completes FFO Home purchase". Home News Now.
  11. ↑ Pierceall, Kimberly (February 22, 2021). "Virginia Beach's Liberty Tax to be sold for $243 million, will offer consumer loans through LoanMe". The Virginian-Pilot. Retrieved April 11, 2022.
  12. ↑ McNulty, John (March 12, 2021). "Sentinel Closes Sale of Pet Supplies Plus". Private Equity Professional.
  13. ↑ Ghumatkar, Pranav (September 27, 2021). "Franchise Group acquires Sylvan Learning for $81M". Seeking Alpha .
  14. ↑ Thomas, Brad. "Franchise Group Stock: The Plan Is Working". Seeking Alpha. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
  15. 1 2 Nutcher, Paul. "Mulberry-based W.S. Badcock acquired by Franchise Group Inc. for $580 million". The Ledger. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
  16. ↑ Voreacos, David. "Prophecy Fund Co-Founder Pleads Guilty to $294 Million Fraud". Yahoo! Finance. Retrieved November 18, 2023.
  17. ↑ "Conn's makes deal that adds W.S. Badcock as a 380-store subsidiary". Furniture Today. December 18, 2023. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
  18. ↑ "Buddy's Newco LLC". Bloomberg News . New York City: Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  19. ↑ Kaminsky, Andrew F. (December 16, 2019). "Franchise Group, Inc. Closes on the Acquisition of The Vitamin Shoppe". GlobeNewswire (Press release). Virginia Beach: West Corporation . Retrieved December 16, 2019.
  20. ↑ "Real Estate".
  21. ↑ Kirchen, Rich. "Franchiser of Pet Supplies Plus, Sylvan Learning submits bid for Kohl's: Reuters". Milwaukee Business Journal. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
  22. ↑ Kaminsky, Andrew F. (October 23, 2019). "Franchise Group, Inc. Closes on the Acquisition of the Sears Outlet Business from Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores, Inc". GlobeNewswire . Los Angeles: West Corporation . Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  23. ↑ Aycock, Jason (October 23, 2019). "Sears Hometown and Outlet +2.7% after merger transaction". Seeking Alpha . Ra'anana: Seeking Alpha Ltd. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  24. ↑ "JTH Tax Inc". Bloomberg News . New York City: Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
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