“A few large transactions in the marketplace will definitely enhance the diversity of the portfolio of any franchisor,” says Valerie Daniels-Carter, CEO of Milwaukee-based V & J Holding Co., which owns 39 Burger Kings, 72 Pizza Huts, and one Wing Streak.

“We need franchisors to step up to the table and make the commitment to do large transactions to help us get at parity in the marketplace,” she says.

And such deals don’t have to be limited to franchisees. They may include suppliers and, as was the case with Spirit, minority-owned investment firms. New York-based Palladium Equity Partners, a private-equity firm founded in 1997 by Marcos A. Rodgriquez, in 2005 acquired TB Corporation, parent of the Taco Bueno restaurant.

But it takes the ideal combination to make a successful transaction. While chains are interested in increasing diversity, they won’t sacrifice quality, service, and price, says Charles “Chuck” James III, CEO of C.H. James Restaurant Holdings in Chicago, which owns 43 Burger Kings. “That remains the problem: how to connect the players.”

Financing remains critical. Yet for the MBE with the right experience, there is capital available, says Kevin Jordan, managing director of Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group, which provides growth capital backing for minority entrepreneurs. The company makes investments ranging from $5 million to $50 million, with the higher end of the scale being preferable.

Doing business with an MBE in a big way was an anomaly when Daniels-Carter and her brother, John Daniels Jr., opened their first Burger King franchise in 1984.

“We were a small operator for a number of years,” Daniels-Carter says. “When we got to seven restaurants, that’s when we started multi-unit acquisitions. Our largest was the 61-unit acquisition with Pizza Hut in 1997.”

Former Milwaukee Buck Ulysses “Junior” Bridgeman also followed the traditional path. “You have to go back 20 years,” says Bridgeman, whose company, Bridgeman Foods in Louisville, Kentucky, owns 160 Wendy’s franchises and 25 Chili’s.

“Times were different then,” he says. “We started as a franchise with one store, then bought five then built some … it went that way for a number of years.”

Now franchisors increasingly want a greater return on their agreements. Jordan understands the appeal. “As we say in our business, it takes just as much work to do a small deal as a large deal. So why not do a large deal?”

Large franchisees and vendors offer an appealing economy of scale. James, for instance, can amortize the cost of hiring a community-relations representative over his 43 stores. The same is true for insurance and other operational costs, he says.

Moreover, a large franchisee company can prove less vulnerable to the shifting marketplace. A one-unit franchisee with an underperforming store could struggle and fail. But a multi-unit operator could offset those losses with better-performing restaurants.

There are also pluses on the supply end. In an economy in which there is pressure to keep costs down, a firm capable of mass distribution offers improved savings. “If you’re trying to supply a quick-serve, you’ve got to have national distribution and the ability to get all your products at the same quality level throughout the network,” Richardson says.