The Company

Quick Service Foods of Tampa

Fifteen Church’s Chicken franchises in Tampa and Orlando, operating in bankruptcy.

The Challenge

After they were unable to refinance their secured loans, and with no available credit left, the company could not advertise effectively and was close to losing its franchise rights. The businesses were deteriorating rapidly. The lender wanted to take possession of the real property, and did not believe a going concern sale could be achieved in a timely fashion, particularly since the financial markets had just collapsed and financing was hard to come by. The owner had significant personal guarantee exposure and wanted to maintain some control over a sale process.

The Process

Equity Partners, along with its real estate auction partner,, was able to convince the lender and franchisor to cooperate in a time-defined sale process while the company continued to operate. Equity Partners ran a broad national marketing program and a “multi-par” auction that allowed for people to bid on individual stores as well as all possible groupings, all in highly competitive process.

The Solution

The auction was very successful, achieving values which exceeded all expectations. The court approved a buyer and a backup buyer for every store, and all stores were sold as operating businesses.  In some cases, the initial bidder was unable to close, but because we had backup bidders, the seller was able retain forfeited deposits and then quickly close with other buyers.