The consolidation of under performing brands/concepts aggregated under one tent in an effort to spread costs while hoping for either momentum to build or a turn around in one of the ailing concepts is an interesting business model. In the end each concept obviously has to stand on it's own merits. Certainly, some of these brands will grow, while many others will languish. I assume that the investment model of these equity firms takes that into account and the numbers/laws of probability make sense in the end. For the individual potential franchisee it is still difficult to seperate the potential success story from all of the others. These consolidators certainly don't make it any easier to seperate the wheat from the chaff. They typically employee seasoned sales people, present a very well produced sales pitch, and sell the dream as well as anyone else. Many of the concepts that they own or represent or either short on capital or were picked up while in financial distress. Consequently these are typically either business models that have run into rough times or have yet to be proven out.

My one recommendation is that all potential buyers have a very firm grasp of the business model and how it is actually performing in the real world. This usually means that they spend a few dollars on obtaining both financial and legal advice from people knowledgable and reputable in the franchise industry that are unrelated to the sale in any way.