Assistant Editor
Olympus Partners announced it paid $675 million to acquire Texas-based Excel Fitness, a large Planet Fitness franchisee with more than 90 locations and 750,000 members, from Altamont Capital Partners. Olympus Partners, a 34-year-old private equity firm based in Stamford, Connecticut, plans to grow the business to more than 100 locations by the end of 2022, plus it has plans to build an additional 80 clubs. The Planet Fitness system has approximately 15.2 million members at its 2,254 clubs in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Australia, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico. Of those, more than 90 percent of Planet Fitness stores are owned and operated by franchisees. Excel’s clubs are in Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Northwest Arkansas, Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Virginia. Excel was previously acquired by Altamont Capital Partners in 2016.
The Riverside Company, a large global private investor, acquired General Fire Extinguisher Service as an add-on to its fire and life safety platform, Performance Systems Integration. General Fire is based in Spokane, Washington, and provides continuous fire and life safety services such as system inspection, repair and maintenance services and parts, plus installation services for new construction and retrofits in the Spokane area. PSI is based in Portland, Oregon, and provides fire and life safety services in the Pacific Northwest, Mountain West and Northern California regions. General Fire is the seventh add-on to PSI under Riverside’s ownership, and Riverside Managing Partner Loren Schlachet hopes it will strengthen PSI’s presence in the Eastern Washington area. Riverside has invested in more than 300 platform and add-on companies in the business services sector since 1988, and is also the parent company of home service umbrella portfolio, Threshold Brands.
Home services franchisor Main Line Brands, formerly Authority Franchise Systems, added Fitness Machine Technicians, a Philadelphia-based company with more than 50 franchises that specializes in fitness equipment repair and maintenance. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. FMT primarily services exercise equipment in fitness centers, corporations, hotels, condos, residential homes, high schools, colleges and universities, plus government buildings. FMT sold its first franchise in 2012 before rolling out its national program in 2018 and now has more than 100 territories in operation in 30 states in the U.S. and three Canadian provinces. North Carolina-based Main Line Brands also owns and operates Mosquito Authority and Pest Authority. Susquehanna Private Capital made an investment in Main Line, then Authority Franchise Systems, in October 2020.
Cristina and Fernando Bertero, owners of the Fully Promoted franchise in Greater West Cleveland, Ohio, acquired 35-year-old Garment Specialties, which sells apparel and decorated products. It also provides special niche offerings to police, firefighters and emergency personnel such as tactical and armored protective gear—a market that Fully Promoted hasn’t entered yet. The new owners expect their sales to double as a result of this purchase, in addition to expanding their franchise reach in the Southwest region of Cleveland. Both brands will benefit from lower costs by consolidating production to one location, they say. Based in Twinsburg, Ohio, Garment Specialties will also gain promotion items, trade show materials, signage and paper printing as a result of the acquisition. Fully Promoted is a part of the United Franchise Group umbrella, and Fully Promoted Brand President Mike Brugger was personally involved in the transaction. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
FullSpeed Automotive, one of the largest automotive aftermarket services operators and franchisors in the U.S., acquired Kwik Kar and 25 stores formerly owned by franchisees in its tenth acquisition this year. Kwik Kar specializes in full-service oil changes, scheduled maintenance, state inspections and other automotive repair services. FullSpeed is also the parent company of Grease Monkey and SpeeDee Oil Change & Auto Service. This deal follows FullSpeed’s acquisition of 25 Kwik Kars in Dallas, and FullSpeed now owns 54 company-operated Kwik Kar stores and 25 franchise centers. In 2022, FullSpeed also bought four Texas Express Lube centers and units in Connecticut, Florida, New Mexico and Wisconsin. Since being acquired by MidOcean Partners in November 2020, FullSpeed has completed more than 30 acquisitions covering 110 locations, bringing its grand total to 740 franchised and company-owned locations.
Mac Haik Enterprises acquired Slapfish, a 22-unit fast-casual seafood concept based in Huntington Beach, California, from founder and chef Andrew Gruel. Details were not disclosed. Mac Haik first invested in Slapfish in 2019 and agreed to develop 30 franchised units in Texas and Arkansas, which are not open yet. Haik also invested in First Watch and opened units as Egg & I, plus invested in ChopShop, and Bellagreen. Slapfish was founded as a food truck by Gruel and is known for sourcing sustainable seafood with a menu featuring tacos, lobster rolls, sandwiches, salads and bowls. Gruel will continue to own and operate his other concept, Big Park Pizza in Tustin, California, and plans to open a new restaurant in Huntington Beach called Calico Fish House.
RKR Restaurants acquired 17 Wendy’s restaurants in Florida. As part of the deal, C Squared Advisors raised debt capital and refinanced RKR’s existing debt on its other 18 Wendy’s restaurants in Texas. Huntington Bank, the lender, provided a development line of credit for future models and development projects.
Assistant Editor
Intrigued by fascinating founder stories and quirky business ideas, Callie takes the lead on any executive moves and emerging brands in franchising, plus merger and acquisition news for our monthly Dealmakers e-newsletter.
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