CMG in Integration Mode as Multi-Brand Franchisee Also Adds Arby’s, Dunkin’ to Portfolio

This communicative is portion of "Post-Close: An Inside Look astatine Franchise M&A Outcomes," a integer bid successful which Franchise Times revisits past Dealmakers winners to research however they're putting concern dollars to work, if integration of that acquisition is going arsenic planned and what they've learned successful the process.

Check retired much Post-Close stories here.

Last twelvemonth was a play of onboarding for leaders astatine CMG Companies, aft the ownership radical inked 14 deals crossed 3 brands for 118 locations.

In 2024, the Plano, Texas-based radical added good implicit 100 units with Ace Hardware, Little Caesars and Sonic Drive-In, each of it completed with the organization's ain capital. It marked the enlargement of a portfolio with respective edifice concepts and brands successful different industries, and the flurry of deals earned CMG a Franchise Times Dealmakers grant past year.

Today, the radical has 160 stores with some KFC and Taco Bell, on with 271 Sonic units, 61 Little Caesars restaurants, 40 Ace Hardware outlets and 7 Valvoline Instant Oil Change shops. CMG besides added Arby's and Dunkin' to its system, acquiring 121 units with the erstwhile and processing a pipeline of caller java shops with the latter.

Established 25 years ago, CMG Companies operates much than 600 units crossed the aforementioned brands, on with different concepts. For overmuch of its history, founding spouse Al Bhakta said its enlargement has mostly travel done M&A activity.

"We make successful our brands and the franchisors privation america to make truthful we proceed to bash that," Bhakta said. "However, we similar the imaginable of acquisitions. The opportunities travel along, and we'll bargain 100 stores astatine a clip if we tin get them. We're opportunistic, and sometimes the deals are larger, portion sometimes we person to bash a batch much smaller deals to get wherever we privation to be."

That was the lawsuit successful 2024, with a plethora of transactions taking place, and galore of those were completed precocious successful the year. Cory Posey, manager of M&A astatine CMG, said each that enactment led to a slowdown successful transactions for 2025 arsenic the enactment worked to negociate the caller locations, and the accompanying employees.

"For 2025, with that galore units, we wanted to absorption connected them being acclimated into our system," Posey said. "We did a transaction with Little Caesars. It didn't mean we were little busy, due to the fact that we're inactive taking connected those caller stores. We were conscionable much focused connected the existing portfolio."

Navin Nagrani, different founding spouse with CMG, said portion it takes plentifulness of effort to integrate caller units, doing truthful has go 2nd quality for the radical acknowledgment to its years of M&A experience.