Flynn Group Adds 51 Applebee's Franchises

Flynn Group, the largest U.S. franchise operator of quick-service food outlets, is adding 51 Applebee’s locations to its portfolio in two transactions.

San Francisco-based Flynn Group has acquired 26 existing Applebee’s franchises in Georgia and Florida from Doherty Enterprises, a longtime franchisee of the restaurant chain who will continue to operate 80 Applebee’s outlets in New York and New Jersey.

In a separate agreement with Applebee’s, Flynn Group will operate 25 new locations the restaurant chain plans to open in markets around the U.S. over the next seven years.

The deal enhances Flynn Group’s status as the largest franchisee of Applebee’s, owning or operating more than 450 of the popular restaurants. Greg Flynn began his company’s massive franchise portfolio with Applebee’s in 1999.

“Applebee’s has always been a special brand to us. There is untapped potential in markets across the U.S.,” Flynn said, in a release.

Flynn Group’s consumer business portfolio, most of which is restaurants, includes more than 2,600 franchise locations in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand, with brands including Panera, Pizza Hut, Arby’s, Wendy’s, Taco Bell and Planet Fitness.

Formerly known as Flynn Restaurant Group, the company rebranded itself as Flynn Group in November when it acquired 37 Planet Fitness gym locations in Boston and Atlanta.

Flynn also has a hospitality real estate investment company, Flynn Properties, which in a joint venture with Varde Partners in 2022 acquired an 80% ownership stake in a portfolio of 89 select-service and extended-stay hotels around the U.S. in a $1.1B deal with sellers Highgate Hotels and Cerberus Capital Management.

At the end of last year, the joint venture acquired the remaining 20% ownership stake in the portfolio via the refinancing of about $800M of CMBS debt acquired in the original deal.

Flynn Properties owns Bay Area luxury hotel properties, including the Carneros Resort & Spa and Solange in Napa Valley.

Last year, a joint venture between Flynn Properties and Highgate acquired an historic Nob Hill property, the Huntington Hotel, by purchasing a $56M loan backed by the property from Deutsche Bank.