International Franchise Deals Are Picking Up

By: Eddy Goldberg
Published: May 25th, 2021

As the air clears from more than a year of the Covid-19 pandemic, business activity and the economies of many countries (not all!) are picking up across the world. That includes international franchising. Here are some of the recent deals global brands have announced.

• Chem-Dry has signed a master franchise agreement for Gabon with business partners Wissam Hejeij and Camille Zeinaty. They will be joined and advised by Maha Hijazi, who holds master franchise agreements for Lebanon and Cyprus.
• Copper Branch, a U.S. vegan restaurant brand with 40 units (only two of which are in the U.S.), has been acquired by Foodtastic, a Canadian franchisor with more than 370 restaurants of more than a dozen concepts. Foodtastic plans to open more than 40 new Copper Branch locations in the next 3 years.
• Crepe Delicious, with 65 units, is expanding into Nova Scotia, with a summer 2021 opening date scheduled in the Micmac Mall in Dartmouth, across the harbor from Halifax. The brand is now launching in seven Canadian provinces.
• Island Poké, a U.K. brand, has signed its first two franchise partners, both in the United Kingdom. The new partnerships will bring a development pipeline of 23 locations over the next 5 years, tripling its current U.K. footprint, alongside the 42 already planned in France and Benelux over the same period.
• Mr Jeff, a laundry franchise founded in Spain with 2,000 franchisees in more than 30 countries in Europe, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, is expanding into the U.S. Laundry is the only service offering that will be available in the U.S. at this time. The brand’s other services – fitness, massage, and beauty – will be introduced at a later date.
• StretchLab has signed a master franchise deal for at least 50 studios in Australia. The agreement is a collaboration between StretchLab and Stretch X Operations Pty, a company started by entrepreneurs Matt, Bill, and Candice Gordin, who have extensive experience with Xponential Fitness, having already signed a master franchise agreement in 2020 for CycleBar, another Xponential brand, and opening the first of up to 45 studios.
• The Habit Burger Grill announced it would open a fourth restaurant in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on May 14 in partnership with Kampuchea Tela Company, Ltd.
• Twin Peaks is adding 2 more restaurants in Mexico City this year after opening its first location there in November 2020. The brand also has its sights set on rapid development overseas, targeting Eastern and Central Europe and Southeast Asia.
• uBreakiFix has opened in Victoria, B.C., Canada. uBreakiFix Victoria is owned by brothers Sumeet and Vineet Thapar, who also operate 10 uBreakiFix stores in the Lower Mainland region of Vancouver, with plans to open 5 more in the coming year.
• Wayback Burgers opened its first location in Germany, in Augsburg. Outside of the U.S., Wayback has locations in Brunei, Sudan, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Canada, Ireland, and the Netherlands.
• Wendy’s, seeking to expand internationally, reports it currently has about 150 potential franchisees in its global pipeline, including more than 20 in the U.K., a market Wendy’s will enter for the first time on June 2 and could hold as many as 400 stores. The brand also signed new development agreements with franchisees to open more than 50 stores in Central Asia by 2030 and to double its footprint in Quebec, Canada.
• Wienerschnitzel is searching for international partners to expand globally. Wienerschnitzel operates or franchises 325 restaurants in 11 states and is part of the Galardi Group, also the parent company of Hamburger Stand and Tastee-Freez.

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