What standards must a proposed transferee meet to gain All County's approval for a franchise transfer?
All_County Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
ecurity convertible to your stock to any person or entity other than an existing owner;
- 20.3.4. transfer of an interest in you, this Agreement or the Business in a divorce, insolvency or corporate or partnership dissolution proceeding or otherwise by operation of law;
- 20.3.5. transfer of an interest in you, this Agreement or the Business, in the event of your death or the death of one of your owners, by will, declaration of or transfer in trust or under the laws of intestate succession;
- 20.3.6. pledge of this Agreement (to someone other than us) or of an ownership interest in you as security, foreclosure upon the Business or your transfer, surrender or loss of possession, control or management of the Business; or
- 20.3.7. transferring any of the accounts or clients of the Business to anyone except to another ALL COUNTY® business that has been approved in writing by us or to us or our designees.
- 20.4. Conditions for Approval of Transfer. If you and all owners are in full compliance with this Agreement, we will approve a transfer that meets all of our applicable requirements and otherwise meets our applicable standards for ALL COUNTY® businessfranchisees. A transfer of ownership, possession or control of the Business may be made only in conjunction with a transfer of this Agreement. If the transfer is of this Agreement or a controlling interest in you, or is one of a series of transfers which in the aggregate constitute the transfer of this Agreement or a controlling interest in you, all of the following conditions must be met prior to or concurrently with the effective date of the transfer:
- 20.4.1. Abilities. The transferee and its direct and indirect owners have the moral character, skill, aptitude, attitude, experience, references, credentials, acumen and financial capacity to operate the Business.
- 20.4.2. Current Accounts. You have paid all Royalties, Ad Fees, amounts owed for purchases from us and all other amounts owed to us or to third party creditors and have submitted all required reports and statements.
- 20.4.3. Training. The transferee's Managing Owner has agreed to complete training to our satisfaction and does complete training to our satisfaction prior to closing.
- 20.4.4. Franchise Agreement. The transferee has agreed to be bound by all of the terms and conditions of this Agreement for the remainder of its Term or, at our option, must execute our then current standard form of franchise agreement and related documents used in the state in which your Business is located (which may provide for different royalties, advertising contributions and expenditures, duration and other rights and obligations than those provided in this Agreement). In the event this Agreement is transferred to a third party transferee in accordance with the terms of this Agreement and the remaining Term of this Agreement is two (2) years or less, then you acknowledge that prior to any such transfer you must notify the proposed transferee in writing, with additional written notice to us, that as a required condition of the proposed transfer the transferee must be willing
to execute our then current standard franchise agreement. Our then current franchise agreement shall include a complete term of effectiveness, unless otherwise we agree in writing with the proposed transferee to some other modified term of the franchise agreement, in our sole business judgment.
- 20.4.5. Transfer Fees. You must pay us a transfer fee in the amount of Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000) at the time of the proposed transfer. In addition to the transfer fee, you agree t
Source: Item 17 — Renewal, Termination, Transfer, and Dispute Resolution (FDD pages 31–34)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to All County's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, a transfer of ownership can only occur with a transfer of the Franchise Agreement. For All County to approve a transfer, several conditions must be met. The transferee needs to demonstrate the appropriate moral character, skills, aptitude, attitude, experience, references, credentials, business acumen, and financial capacity to successfully operate the All County business.
In addition to the transferee's qualifications, the current franchisee must be in full compliance with the existing Franchise Agreement. This means all royalties, advertising fees, and other amounts owed to All County or third-party creditors must be paid. All required reports and statements must also be submitted. The transferee's managing owner must also complete All County's training program to their satisfaction before the transfer can be finalized.
The transferee must agree to be bound by the existing Franchise Agreement's terms for the remainder of its term. However, All County has the option to require the transferee to execute the then-current standard form of the franchise agreement, which may include different terms such as royalties, advertising contributions, duration, and other obligations. The franchisee must also pay All County a transfer fee of $10,000, along with legal and administrative costs. This fee is waived for transfers among owners or first or second-degree relatives, though reimbursement for legal and administrative costs is still required. The transferee must also pay a $2,500 Transferee Administrative Fee.