Jun 16, 2026 · 32 min · 11 segments
Two friends. Two franchise brands. Both blindsided by the same private equity playbook. I break down what happened — the right of first refusal trap, the replacement cost game, the "second bite of the…
Erik Van HornHost
a franchise brand that says, hey, private equity company A and B, you two have first rights to buy out any franchisee in this state.

So that removes other competition from being able to get in there and grow in that state.

And then the franchisor says, yeah, we are actually going to execute this thing in our contract that says this, we can now buy it for that same multiple, that same price.
representing Franchise Secrets, Eric Von Horn.

in the Facebook group and then just on social in general about two conversations that I had with some friends of mine that they don't even know each other and they're both dealing with private equity and as franchisees.
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a franchise brand that says, hey, private equity company A and B, you two have first rights to buy out any franchisee in this state.

So that removes other competition from being able to get in there and grow in that state.

And then the franchisor says, yeah, we are actually going to execute this thing in our contract that says this, we can now buy it for that same multiple, that same price.
representing Franchise Secrets, Eric Von Horn.

in the Facebook group and then just on social in general about two conversations that I had with some friends of mine that they don't even know each other and they're both dealing with private equity and as franchisees.