Sunbelt Sells Out to its Franchisees

Sunbelt Business Brokers, the Charleston, S.C., business brokerage with local offices in Fayetteville, Fort Smith and Little Rock, was recently bought out by its franchisees.

The company was previously privately owned by its president, Ed Pendarvis, for nearly two decades.

A group of franchisees organized as Sunbelt Acquisition Co. actually bought the company, but no details regarding the transaction were disclosed. Carl Grimes, owner of the Fayetteville franchise, was part of the group’s steering committee.

“We didn’t want to take Sunbelt away from Ed,” Grimes said. “We simply wanted to ensure the continued growth and success of the company.”

Sunbelt has 346 offices throughout the United States and 11 foreign countries. The company said the buyout is the first of its kind in the business brokerage industry. Sunbelt completed the sale of more than 3,600 businesses last year. The average sale price of businesses sold was $280,000 with a total value of more than $1 billion.

Eighty percent of the firm’s franchisees participated. Pendarvis retains some stock in the firm and will remain as its president and chairman for at least five years.