---
title: "If Five Guys Sells: What a PE Deal Would Mean for Restaurant Tech"
description: What if Five Guys sells? The implications of a potential private equity deal for Five Guys, and how it could reshape the restaurant tech landscape and industry dynamics.
image: https://popcorngtm.com/hubfs/FIVE%20GUYS%20SELLS.jpg
---
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# If Five Guys Sells: What a PE Deal Would Mean for Restaurant Tech
[By \- Paul Molinari,](https://popcorngtm.com/blog/author/paul-molinari) Nov 13, 2026
For four decades, the Murrells have taken the meeting and passed. Jerry Murrell has listened to private equity firms, including the Carlyle Group, and told them he wanted to stay private and in control ([Forbes](https://www.forbes.com/forbes/2012/0806/restaurant-chefs-12-five-guys-jerry-murrell-all-in-the-family.html)).
Then the family sold something. Sir Charles Dunstone reportedly agreed to buy the Murrells' 50% stake in Five Guys Europe. Europe now pays a royalty back to the U.S. brand owner, and Goldman Sachs is shopping up to half of the European business to buyout firms at a valuation near £600 million ([Sky News](https://www.fosse107.co.uk/news/national-news/burger-chain-five-guys-hunts-new-investor-to-flip-stake)).
Let me be clear! No one has reported that Five Guys U.S. is for sale. The question is still worth asking. The U.S. company is a cleaner asset than it was a year ago, and the business is under pressure. If a PE firm ends up owning it, restaurant tech vendors will feel the change inside a year.
## Why the question is live
Five Guys U.S. is still a family company with outside partners. As of Forbes' 2012 profile, the seven Murrells held 75% together, Philadelphia's Miller Investments held 20%, and a few of Jerry's school friends held the rest ([Forbes](https://www.forbes.com/forbes/2012/0806/restaurant-chefs-12-five-guys-jerry-murrell-all-in-the-family.html)). An outside investor with a 20% position is exactly the kind of holder who eventually wants an exit.
The U.S. business is also under pressure:
- **Closures are rising.** The 2026 franchise disclosure document shows 31 closures in 2025, up from 28 in 2024, with 37 openings projected for 2026 ([Fast Company](https://www.fastcompany.com/91539806)).
- **Some closures cite money.** State filings for four California stores listed "financial hardship" as the reason ([Newsweek](https://www.newsweek.com/map-shows-california-five-guys-locations-closing-amid-layoffs-11936309)).
- **Guests want value.** The 40th-anniversary BOGO drew such crowds that stores ran out of food, and the company paid about $1.5 million in crew bonuses to make it right ([Northern Virginia Magazine](https://northernvirginiamag.com/food-and-drink/food-news/2026/03/11/five-guys-is-offering-a-do-over-bogo-burger-deal/)).
- **The menu is bending.** A "Make it a Meal" test adds a Little Fry and a drink to any sandwich for $5 ([Five Guys](https://www.fiveguys.com/news/press-release/five-guys-tests-new-convenient-make-it-a-meal-combo-option/)).
None of that says the family wants to sell. It does say a buyer would show up with a thesis: fix value, sharpen the store base, and grow.
## Five ways a deal could play out
### The last few years of restaurant buyouts give us a playbook. Founder-led chains have sold before, and the structure of each deal told operators and vendors exactly what was coming.
| Deal | Buyer | Closed | Reported value | Founder or family role after |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Jersey Mike's | Blackstone | Jan 2025 | About $8B with debt ([AP](https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/jersey-mikes-sandwich-chain-acquired-private-equity-firm-116005904)) | Peter Cancro keeps a significant stake and keeps running it ([NJBIZ](https://njbiz.com/blackstone-completes-jersey-mikes-subs-acquisition/)) |
| Subway | Roark Capital | Apr 2024 | About $9.6B ([Hartford Business Journal](https://hartfordbusiness.com/article/ct-based-subway-completes-96b-sale-to-private-equity-firm/)) | First ownership change since 1965; no leadership changes announced ([NRN](https://www.nrn.com/quick-service/roark-capital-completes-its-purchase-of-subway)) |
| Dunkin' Brands | Inspire Brands (Roark-owned) | Dec 2020 | $11.3B ([Inspire Brands](https://inspirebrands.com/inspire-brands-completes-acquisition-of-dunkin-brands/)) | Public company folded into Inspire's shared services platform |
| Whataburger | BDT Capital Partners | 2019 | Not disclosed | Dobsons kept a minority stake; CEO and chairman left day-to-day roles ([QSR](https://www.qsrmagazine.com/growth/finance/whataburger-sells-majority-interest-bdt-capital-partners/)) |
Map those onto Five Guys and five scenarios fall out:
1. **The family stays the face of the brand.** This is the Jersey Mike's model. A large firm buys control, the Murrells keep a stake and a public role, and the money goes to growth. Blackstone said its capital would fund Jersey Mike's expansion and its "technology and digital transformation" ([NJBIZ](https://njbiz.com/blackstone-completes-jersey-mikes-subs-acquisition/)). Expect the same language here.
2. **A merchant bank buys control and the family steps back.** This is the Whataburger model. BDT took a majority, the Dobsons kept a minority stake, and leadership was rebuilt from inside. Same food, new playbook for growth.
3. **Five Guys joins a multi-brand platform.** This is the Inspire and Roark model. The brand keeps its name and menu, while purchasing, data, digital and engineering move to shared services. The efficiency is real. So is the risk that free peanuts and fresh-cut fries start to look like line items.
4. **A minority growth deal.** A firm takes up to half, the family keeps control, and the check pays for remodels, drive-thrus and digital. Dunstone is running this exact play with Five Guys Europe right now, so the family has a front-row seat to how it works.
5. **The squeeze.** The downside case. Sale-leasebacks, refranchising company stores, cheaper inputs and a menu engineered for margin. For a brand whose whole story is "we don't cut corners," this burns equity faster than it builds returns.
The less control the family keeps, the more the stack changes Five Guys sale scenarios, placed by Popcorn GTM judgment Family-led growth Family-led overhaul New owner, familiar playbook Platform and cost focus 4 · Minority growth deal 1 · Family stays the face 2 · Merchant bank takes control 3 · Multi-brand platform Biggest tech stack shake-up 5 · The squeeze Little changes in the restaurant Big changes to menu, systems and costs How much changes after the deal Family influence after the deal High Low
*Popcorn GTM analysis. The further a deal sits down and to the right, the more of the restaurant's systems are up for review.*
---
## What it would do to the rest of the industry
### A Five Guys deal would set the price for premium burgers and push every other premium burger chain toward value.
- **A price tag for the category.** One of the last big founder-owned burger chains changing hands gives bankers a comp. Every remaining family burger chain gets a phone call the week it's announced.
- **A sharper value war.** A new owner would lean into combos, app offers and loyalty. That pulls the premium tier deeper into the value fight McDonald's and Wendy's already run, and the chains stuck in the middle feel it first.
- **Franchisee pressure.** Expect development targets, remodel mandates and new technology fees. Smaller franchisees sell to bigger multi-unit operators, and the franchise base consolidates.
- **Supply chain buying power.** Platform-scale buying changes the beef conversation. Five Guys Europe already blamed beef inflation for a drop in EBITDA from £58m to £53m in 2025 ([MCA](https://www.mca-insight.com/five-guys/2446.subject)).
- **Labor and automation.** The brand promises cooking "by people not machines," with no timers ([Five Guys at McArthurGlen](https://www.mcarthurglen.com/ru/outlets/es/designer-outlet-malaga/stores/five-guys/)). A margin-focused owner will test that promise in the back of house.
## The restaurant tech angle: every deal starts a stack review
### When a restaurant brand changes hands, the new owner reviews every system the brand runs. Some vendors win the platform. Others lose the account.
Inspire Brands wrote the case study. CIO Raghu Sagi said each brand Inspire acquired came with its own technology stack, team and culture. Inspire moved away from that patchwork and built a shared, multi-tenant platform for digital, data, security, engineering and cloud. Point-of-sale stayed with each brand, because forcing one system on everyone cost too much. The payoff was speed: a new brand could get digital capabilities in weeks ([CIO.com](https://www.cio.com/article/3620050/how-inspire-brands-it-serves-up-innovation-at-scale.html)). Supply chain followed the same path when Inspire rolled one quality platform across its brands ([Food Logistics](https://www.foodlogistics.com/software-technology/e-commerce-solutions/press-release/21197978/cmx-cmx-to-help-enable-integrated-quality-management-and-assurance-across-inspire-brands-supply-chain)).
After a buyout, shared systems move first and POS moves last Deal closes New owner audits the stack Every contract, integration and data source Moves to the shared platform Digital ordering and guest data Security, engineering, supply chain quality Stays with the brand Point-of-sale and other brand systems Too costly to force one system on all Contracts consolidated, renegotiated or cut
*Based on Inspire Brands' integration model (CIO.com, Food Logistics). Point-of-sale stays with the brand longest because it is the most expensive to replace.*
Apply that to the five scenarios and the vendor picture gets clear:
- **Family stays, growth capital (scenarios 1, 2 and 4).** Technology budgets go up. Digital ordering, loyalty and guest data come first, because the buyer wants value offers it can measure. Incumbents with clean data and results they can show keep the account and grow it.
- **Multi-brand platform (scenario 3).** Brand-level contracts for digital, loyalty, analytics and supply chain are at risk. The platform's existing vendors win by default. Kitchen and POS vendors get more time, but not forever.
- **The squeeze (scenario 5).** Every renewal turns into a cost conversation. Back-of-house tools that show dollar savings on labor, food cost and waste survive. Nice-to-have tools get cut.
The buyer changes too. After a deal, the person who decides on your contract may sit at the PE firm as an operating partner or portfolio technology lead, and the brand's IT team may not have the final say. Most restaurant tech vendors have never marketed to that person.
## What restaurant tech vendors should do now
### Prepare for the next founder-led brand in your book that takes a call from a banker. Five Guys may never be that brand.
1. **Map ownership across your accounts.** Flag every founder-held brand with an outside investor, every brand with a recent refinancing, and every brand closing stores. That's where the next change of control is most likely. Franchise data makes this faster, and it's why we partner with [FRANdata](https://popcorngtm.com/frandata).
2. **Build your numbers before the audit.** A post-close review comes down to a spreadsheet. Show up as a row with numbers: dollars saved per store, adoption rates, time to value.
3. **Be ready for a platform.** Multi-brand support, clean APIs, enterprise security reviews and data the buyer can move. If your product only works for one brand, it's easy to cut.
4. **Market to the operating partner.** Write for the person who runs a portfolio of brands. Portfolio economics, cross-brand rollouts and risk are their language.
5. **Price for consolidation.** Have a portfolio offer ready before procurement asks for one.
The guests won't see any of this. They'll still want a fresh burger and a full bag of fries. The operators in those stores need tech partners who protect that while the owners change around them.
If you sell into multi-unit brands and want help building that story for the operating partner audience, that's the work we do at [Popcorn GTM](https://popcorngtm.com).
---
##### Research and Sources:
- [Forbes: Five Guys, all in the family (2012)](https://www.forbes.com/forbes/2012/0806/restaurant-chefs-12-five-guys-jerry-murrell-all-in-the-family.html)
- [Sky News via Fosse 107: Five Guys hunts new investor to flip stake (Nov 2025)](https://www.fosse107.co.uk/news/national-news/burger-chain-five-guys-hunts-new-investor-to-flip-stake)
- [Fast Company: Five Guys store closures, updated Aug 28, 2026](https://www.fastcompany.com/91539806)
- [Newsweek: California Five Guys closures](https://www.newsweek.com/map-shows-california-five-guys-locations-closing-amid-layoffs-11936309)
- [Northern Virginia Magazine: Five Guys do-over BOGO (Mar 2026)](https://northernvirginiamag.com/food-and-drink/food-news/2026/03/11/five-guys-is-offering-a-do-over-bogo-burger-deal/)
- [Five Guys: Make it a Meal combo test](https://www.fiveguys.com/news/press-release/five-guys-tests-new-convenient-make-it-a-meal-combo-option/)
- [MCA Insight: Five Guys coverage](https://www.mca-insight.com/five-guys/2446.subject)
- [AP via ABC News: Blackstone to acquire Jersey Mike's (Nov 2024)](https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/jersey-mikes-sandwich-chain-acquired-private-equity-firm-116005904)
- [NJBIZ: Blackstone completes Jersey Mike's acquisition (Mar 2025)](https://njbiz.com/blackstone-completes-jersey-mikes-subs-acquisition/)
- [Nation's Restaurant News: Roark completes purchase of Subway (Apr 2024)](https://www.nrn.com/quick-service/roark-capital-completes-its-purchase-of-subway)
- [Hartford Business Journal: Subway completes $9.6B sale](https://hartfordbusiness.com/article/ct-based-subway-completes-96b-sale-to-private-equity-firm/)
- [Inspire Brands: Completes acquisition of Dunkin' Brands (Dec 2020)](https://inspirebrands.com/inspire-brands-completes-acquisition-of-dunkin-brands/)
- [QSR Magazine: Whataburger sells majority interest to BDT (2019)](https://www.qsrmagazine.com/growth/finance/whataburger-sells-majority-interest-bdt-capital-partners/)
- [CIO.com: How Inspire Brands IT serves up innovation at scale (2021)](https://www.cio.com/article/3620050/how-inspire-brands-it-serves-up-innovation-at-scale.html)
- [Food Logistics: CMX rollout across Inspire Brands](https://www.foodlogistics.com/software-technology/e-commerce-solutions/press-release/21197978/cmx-cmx-to-help-enable-integrated-quality-management-and-assurance-across-inspire-brands-supply-chain)
- [Five Guys store page, McArthurGlen](https://www.mcarthurglen.com/ru/outlets/es/designer-outlet-malaga/stores/five-guys/)
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