KBP Brands started operation in 1999 in Kansas. It has 799 restaurants (660 KFCs, 139 Taco Bells) in 28 states. As a Yum Franchisee, KBP Brands reaches $1 Billion in Sales with an additional $62 million in sales in 2020.
It acquired 56 restaurants over the past 12 months, including the purchase of 28 Taco Bells in Colorado in November, and later this month is opening an urban inline KFC location in New York City.
KBP’s president and CEO, Mike Kulp has been with the company since 2001 when it was Zancanelli Management Corp. and had just a handful of KFCs. KBP uses a “combination of geography and scale” as part of its criteria. “If it’s in our geography, scale isn’t really in question because we can bolt on” locations under existing infrastructure, he said. “But if it’s outside our geography, then scale becomes a bigger factor,” with 15-20 units needed for a deal to make sense.
Next comes asset quality. “We stay very disciplined and process driven,” said Kulp, two distinguishing traits of the company that became especially important in 2020 as QSR brands with drive-thrus—such as Taco Bell and KFC—saw sales surge amid COVID-19 shutdowns. Many franchisees wanted to take advantage of inflated earnings, he continued, “so it was a really complex environment to evaluate businesses in.”
KBP’s approach was to maintain that discipline “and use reasonable judgment on if they would sustain those earnings,” said Kulp. “More often, we would pass because we didn’t think the stores would retain those earnings.”
When KBP engages in a transaction, they always close it, which bolsters its reputation as a serious buyer. They also have the capital ready before they decide to buy it, which saves valuable time during the sale process.
Source: Franchise Times
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