Caspers Company in Tampa to be Acquired by McDonald's

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Caspers Company, situated in Tampa, will be acquired by McDonald’s. This family-run franchise business spanned over six decades and was instrumental in forming the National Owners Association, an organization composed entirely of franchise owners. The Caspers Company has 60 stores across Tampa and Jacksonville in Florida. The plans that McDonald’s has in store for those restaurants have not been made public.

According to restaurantbusinessonline.com, Blake Casper, who also helped to form the National Owners Association in 2018, serves as CEO of Caspers Company. Casper has also served as chairman of the National Owners Association from the organization’s inception to the present day. The transaction is anticipated to be finalized by the first of October. Casper and his brother-in-law Robby Adams, who currently run the Caspers Company, will retire once the buyout has been completed.

According to Caspers Company, “After meeting Ray Kroc at a men’s apparel business outside of Chicago, Fritz Casper decided to open the first McDonald’s restaurant in the state of Florida [in 1958]. It was located on South Dale Mabry Highway. The Casper family has “Shone the Arches” for three generations, during which time they have provided millions of satisfied customers with their meals.”

In 1970, Joe Casper, Fritz Casper’s son, took the helm of the family business, which consisted of only five sites. Joe Casper expanded the family’s franchise holdings to 44 locations over his career. Blake Casper and Adams became employees of the Caspers Company in 1996, as Nation’s Restaurant News reported. Blake Casper and Adams began their employment with the company in the same year in 1999 as area supervisors and managers, respectively, before obtaining approval to become owner-operators. They have been at the helm of the company and its operations since 2005, which has grown to encompass sixty locations.

McDonald’s Corporation has recently acquired several franchisees, the most recent of which is Caspers. To distribute ownership among its franchisees more evenly, McDonald’s often liquidates its purchases and sells the businesses to more recent operators. According to restaurantbusinessonline.com, over 400 franchisees operate nearly 1,800 restaurants out of McDonald’s 13,000-plus franchise sites. This website also reported that McDonald’s paid “well into the nine figures” for the Caspers Co. locations.

McDonald’s recently made public its intention to establish new guidelines and requirements for legacy franchisees who intend to pass on their businesses to their children or other heirs. The firm recently informed franchisees that, in certain circumstances, it would apply new qualifying restrictions to renew franchise agreements.

The sale will spread rumors that McDonald’s is trying to silence its internal critics by purchasing them. According to restaurantbusinessonline.com, the National Owners Association has been leading the charge for franchisees in their pushback against various concerns, including renovation requirements, technology costs, and changes in ownership laws. Another franchisee group, the National Black McDonald’s Operators Association, has expressed their lack of confidence in McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski due to the most recent changes for rules that affect owners.