How can the Southern Steer Multi-Unit Development Agreement be modified?
Southern_Steer Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
The Multi-Unit Developer acknowledges that (a) the terms, conditions and economics of the Franchise Agreement may be modified from time to time by the Franchisor, (b) any changes or modifications made to the Franchise Agreement in the future will not be applicable to any Franchise Agreement previously executed by the Multi-Unit Developer, and (c) the Multi-Unit Developer will be required to pay any additional Fees contained in any Franchise Agreement signed by the Multi-Unit Developer after the date of this Agreement.
Source: Item 5 — and 7 of the FDD, Section 3.1 of the Franchise Agreement and Section 4.1 of the Multi-Unit Development Agreement are hereby amended to state that payment of the initial franchise fee and development fee will be deferred until We have satisfied Our pre-opening obligations, and You have commenced business operations. (FDD pages 168–290)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to the 2025 Southern Steer Franchise Disclosure Document, the terms, conditions, and economics of the Franchise Agreement may be modified from time to time by Southern Steer. Any changes or modifications made to the Franchise Agreement in the future will not apply to any Franchise Agreement previously executed by the Multi-Unit Developer. The Multi-Unit Developer will be required to pay any additional Fees contained in any Franchise Agreement signed after the date of the Multi-Unit Development Agreement.
This means that while the Multi-Unit Development Agreement itself may not be easily modified by the franchisee, the underlying Franchise Agreements that the developer signs for each Southern Steer location can be changed by Southern Steer for agreements signed in the future. This could impact the fees, operational requirements, or other terms for new locations opened under the development agreement.
It is important for a prospective multi-unit developer to understand that the terms of future franchise agreements are subject to change and that they will be bound by those changes for any new locations they open. This could affect the overall profitability and operational requirements of their Southern Steer businesses. The franchisee should seek legal counsel to fully understand the implications of these potential modifications and how they might impact their investment and business operations.