1Three listings, as published
| Business | Units | Asking | Revenue | Earnings | Asking ÷ earnings | Asking ÷ revenue | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Own concept, Tampa, FL: 8 company stores plus 3 franchised, franchisor rights included | 11 | $8,500,000 | $10,124,235 | $1,395,094 SDE | 6.1x | 0.84x | 13.8% |
| Carl's Jr. franchisee portfolio, California | 11 | $4,200,000 | $15,000,000 | $858,000 EBITDA | 4.9x | 0.28x | 5.7% |
| Franchise sandwich shops, Philadelphia area, absentee-run | 3 | $2,000,000 | $2,160,000 | $436,000 EBITDA | 4.6x | 0.93x | 20.2% |
Sources 1 to 3. SDE is seller's discretionary earnings, profit before the owner's pay; EBITDA is profit after a manager's pay, so the two multiples are not identical. All three are leased; one discloses rent. The Carl's Jr. buyer must have 3 years' experience, $1M net worth, $300,000 liquid and 20% down, per the franchisor.
2What restaurants actually sell for
| Benchmark | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Sold multiple of earnings, median, 8,692 restaurants 2021 to 2025 | 1.85x | BizBuySell; asking median 2.50x; sold median price $220,000 |
| Average cash-flow multiple, first half 2026 | 2.41x | We Sell Restaurants; sold at 90% of asking |
| Multi-unit franchisee portfolios | 4x to 7x EBITDA | Ad Astra Equity, a broker's guide; no sold record is published for portfolios |
| Brands and platforms | 5x to 20x EBITDA | Nation's Restaurant News, July 2026: casual dining 5 to 10, fast casual 8 to 13, quick service 10 to 20 |
| Pre-tax profit, industry median 2024 | 2.8% full-service, 4.0% limited-service | National Restaurant Association; labor 36.5% and 31.7% of sales; occupancy costs 5.7% and 5.2% |
Sources 4 to 7. Franchisee portfolios trade at about 5x while the brands that collect their royalties trade at 10x to 20x; the franchisor's gates shrink the buyer pool.
3What bankruptcy sales cleared at
| Chain | Sale | Per unit |
|---|---|---|
| TGI Fridays, 2025 | 9 airport and Maryland units to one buyer, $34.5M; 15 leased units to another, $3M; 3 units, $100,000 | $3.8M; $200,000; $33,000 |
| On The Border, 2025 | 60 U.S. and 20 Korean locations on a $15.9M opening bid; final price undisclosed. A year later the new owner closed 34 and filed Chapter 7 | $199,000 at the opening bid |
| Buca di Beppo, 2024 | Its lender's $27M stalking-horse bid against $39M owed, for 44 units | $614,000 |
| Red Lobster, 2024 | $376M to its lender's buyer, after closing 95 units | — |
Sources 8 to 11. The same chain cleared at $3.8M a unit for its best sites and $33,000 for its worst, both in January 2025. Leases and locations set the price.
4Why distress is the opportunity
About 700 restaurants filed Chapter 11 in 2026 by late August, on pace to pass the pandemic year. At least ten large franchisees filed, including a 136-unit Popeyes operator and a 77-unit Hardee's operator. Franchisee margins run 3% to 5% before tax; food and labor are up 36% since 2019.
| Where the price moves | What to do |
|---|---|
| Portfolios ask 4.6x to 6.1x with no sold record behind the range | Open at the single-store sold median for the weak stores and pay up only for stores with growing sales and good leases. A group in a court sale trades below healthy-portfolio asks; our sample sheet on the home page uses 2.5x to 3x. |
| Sellers bundle non-store income | The Tampa listing sells franchisor rights and royalties to justify 6.1x. Value the stores and the royalty stream separately. |
| Rent and labor decide survival | Underwrite to the industry medians (rent 5% to 6%, labor 32% to 37%) and read every lease for term and options. |
| Bankruptcy sales show the floor | Two 2025 sales cleared near $200,000 a leased unit for ordinary sites; the worst units went for $33,000. Offer there on troubled groups, before the auction. |
Sources 12 and 13.
Sources
- BizBuySell, Tampa multi-unit restaurants with franchisor rights: bizbuysell.com
- Crexi, 11-unit Carl's Jr. portfolio, California: crexi.com
- BizBuySell, 3 franchise sandwich shops, Philadelphia area: bizbuysell.com
- BizBuySell restaurant valuation benchmarks: bizbuysell.com
- We Sell Restaurants, H1 2026 report, via Franchising.com, Aug 25, 2026: franchising.com
- Nation's Restaurant News, July 20, 2026: nrn.com
- National Restaurant Association, 2024 operations data: labor and profit; occupancy costs. Portfolio multiples: Ad Astra Equity (broker guide)
- TGI Fridays sales: verdictfoodservice.com; njbiz.com
- On The Border: culturemap.com; franchisetimes.com
- Buca di Beppo: restaurantdive.com
- Red Lobster: restaurantdive.com
- Restaurant Chapter 11 count (BankruptcyData figures) via Bloomberg Tax: news.bloombergtax.com
- Franchisee bankruptcies, Restaurant Dive, Sept 2026: restaurantdive.com
Listing figures are the brokers' as of the date read. Derived multiples are DHI Capital's arithmetic. Not investment advice.
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