M&A Insider - January 2026
M&A Insider is our inside look at the deals shaping franchising behind the scenes, pulled directly from our monthly insider newsletter, Franchise Unfiltered. Each edition breaks down the acquisitions, exits, and moves that matter most, with context you won’t find in press releases or headline-only deal coverage.
With another year officially in the books, December once again proved to be a quiet month in the world of M&A, particularly in the final two weeks. According to my sources, many deals were completed, but most are being held for announcement till 2026 when visibility is at its highest.
Even so, a handful of transactions made it across the finish line before the buzzer. Below are the deals worth noting before we closed the books on the year.
Riverside Company Continues Its Run
Leading off this month are two deals from franchising’s most prolific PE firm, Riverside Company. This month, EverSmith Brands has added 1-Tom-Plumber and Evive Brands has struck thrice with yet another addition, Shine.
While 1-Tom-Plumber may appear to be a strange fit on a commercial services platform, their massive commercial book-of-business speaks for itself, making the acquisition a perfect fit. As for Shine, this is a brand that has caught the attention of many strategic platforms in the space for several years. With a successful blend of window washing, outdoor lighting and holiday lighting, Shine is a brand that could really catapult Evive Brands into a truly fantastic home services platform. Tons of white-space, year-round business and a high lifetime value of the customer. Music to this author’s ears.
Deal Grades: A- (1-Tom-Plumber) | A+ (Shine)
Unleashed Brands Exits XP League
As long suspected, Unleashed Brands has finally parted with XP League, the smallest of their acquisitions. Now that Unleashed is on their second PE partner in Seidler, they needed to get out of the “franchise incubation” business, especially when the model was territory-based like XP League. As I’ve suspected for some time, the merger of XP League and the other upstart in e-sports franchising, Valhallan, was the outcome here. Tidy move for UB to get out of an energy drain.
Deal Grade: A-
Stellar Service Brands Sells Softroc
Stellar Service Brands is also getting out of the “franchise incubator” as they sell their youngest brand, Softroc, to the former Brand President, Courtney Harmon. After seeing this deal come across the wire, many industry insiders speculated that this was the beginning of a lot of change for SSB in the months ahead, which I tend to agree with. Are acquisitions coming? Will there be more changes at the executive level? More divestitures on the horizon? Lots of questions, we’ll see what 2026 brings.
Deal Grade: B+
California Pizza Kitchen Changes Hands—Again
While AUVs have risen for California Pizza Kitchen in 2025, the brand is still struggling to recapture the magic of their pre-COVID days, with the brand filing for bankruptcy in July 2020. Ever since their lenders took control of the brand out of the bankruptcy proceedings, the brand has been rumored for a sale. After 5.5 years, the time has finally come: Eldridge Industries, Aurify Brands and Convive Brands (who will be the day-to-day operator) have come together to take CPK off their lenders’ hands. CPK’s name recognition is more synonymous with CPG than brick & mortar nowadays, which begs the question: will we continue to see CPK go down the franchise route or will CPG become an even bigger focus under new ownership?
Deal Grade: B-
Rytech Restoration Sells to a Strategic Platform
Sleepy commercial restoration brand Rytech Restoration has sold to one of the many PE-backed restoration roll-ups we’re seeing. With franchise sales stagnating in the past 8-10 years and the owners aging out, this was a prudent move for a strategic looking to break into franchising. The open question is whether unit count holds steady in a historically risk-averse franchise system under new ownership.
Deal Grade: B
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