Multi-Unit Restaurants Seller Financing: An Independent Sponsor's Counsel
When the deal is multi-unit restaurants and the question is Seller Financing, the structure decisions in the first 30 days outlast the next five years. This is where Jason Powell works.
Multi-Unit Restaurants deals in the lower middle market run a specific playbook. Seller Financing is where the structure either holds or starts to leak.
The typical multi-unit restaurants platform sits at $8M to $80M EV with EBITDA in the $2M to $14M range. The thesis runs on franchisee roll-up or regional concept acquisition. The franchisor consent letter is the deal. Get it lined up before you spend money on diligence.
How Seller Financing actually gets structured.
Anchor seller notes at 5 to 15 percent of EV, with a 4 to 6 year term.
Subordinate explicitly to senior and mezzanine debt with a clear standstill on default.
Price interest at 6 to 8 percent, with cash pay or PIK depending on the senior package.
Build prepayment optionality so refinancing flexibility is preserved.
In multi-unit restaurants, layer in franchisor LOI letter requested before market as part of the Seller Financing workstream.
Treating the seller note as a hand-shake. Sellers sue on notes more often than on equity disputes.
"A seller note is debt. Document it like debt. Service it like debt."Jason Powell · Seller Financing
The deal is one thing. The capital that opens up after close is another.
Capital after close is where the IRR actually gets made. The right introductions at month nine through month thirty are where this practice works as hard as it does at the LOI.
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Seller Financing for Multi-Unit Restaurants, on independent sponsor terms.
Independent sponsor counsel that already speaks fluent deal-by-deal economics, structures clean LPAs, and travels with capital markets relationships for what comes after close.