National Franchise Sales completed the sale of 14 Papa John’s restaurants in Hawaii. The seller held the PJ rights for the State of HI. The multi-unit, multi-brand buyer, VQ PJS Hawaii LLC, is new to the Papa John's brand.
The buyer needed to close on at least a portion of this acquisition in the 2019 calendar year. There were leases that were unable to be approved and completed near the end of the year and the seller was instrumental in successfully negotiating long term leases.
The transaction was complicated, and completed in two separate transactions. Closed 4 units Dec 30th while simultaneously taking control of the remainder of the units under a management agreement. The remainder of units were transferred in Feb of 2020.
Challenges included working through Christmas Holiday schedules. Financing challenges to meet Buyers and Lenders approval. Financing was approved by a NFS referred Lender, and the Seller also assisted in some Seller Carry financing to assist in expediting the closing.
Opportunity had unusual characteristics:
• A military Base location which most of the last 24 months had service members that were deployed
• A college stadium -seasonal location
• An original Mexican Grill fast casual restaurant also located on the Military Base next door to Papa John’s was included in the transaction
• Originally had short lease term locations and some had no options that were all negotiated in about 40 days to meet Buyer and Lender needs
• The current environment of the Brands declining sales due to Founders public comments
• The Lender understanding the potential of the opportunity