Buy-Side Financial Due Diligence & Acquisition Assessment

Southern Chicken Co.

Multi-Unit QSR

Metric$120M+ Revenue
Metric$18M+ Adj. EBITDA
Metric97 Locations
Metric~$145M Illustrative EV

Situation

Regional QSR platform consisting of 97 restaurants across five states — 61 company-owned and 36 franchised — generating $120.3M LTM revenue and $18.1M adjusted EBITDA (15.0% margin).

Mandate

Buy-side financial and commercial due diligence supporting a confidential PE sponsor evaluating a control acquisition / majority recapitalization. Indicative valuation of 7.5x–8.5x Adj. EBITDA, with an illustrative base enterprise value of ~$144.8M at 8.0x, financed with ~4.0x debt/EBITDA and a ~20% founder equity rollover.

Scope of Analysis

Financial Due DiligenceQuality of EarningsStore Cohort AnalysisFour-Wall EconomicsCapex ReviewValuationCapital StructureSponsor ReturnsValue Creation Planning

Selected Findings

Revenue grew from $98.4M to $120.3M (10.6% CAGR) while Adj. EBITDA margin expanded ~200bps to 15.0%. Mature locations generated ~$2.05M AUV and 24.8% four-wall EBITDA margins. Eight underperforming locations diluted consolidated EBITDA margin by ~90–110bps, and a further 34 stores required an estimated $1.9M of deferred capex.

Transaction Perspective

8.7/10 attractiveness. Recommendation: proceed to exclusivity, subject to confirmatory QoE, a capex reserve and operational remediation at underperforming locations.

Selected Deliverables

Public · Screening Memo

Buy-Side Screening Memo

Concise transaction screening assessment covering the investment thesis, financial profile and key diligence considerations.

View Screening Memo →

Full Report

Financial Due Diligence Report

Detailed buy-side financial due diligence covering quality of earnings, unit economics, operating performance, capex, valuation, transaction considerations and value creation.

Leverage Strategic is led by Prashant Gupta, CA, MBA, bringing 10+ years of experience across transaction advisory, M&A, corporate strategy and investor relations. About Prashant → | LinkedIn →

Anonymized / Modified Engagement. Representative work presented for portfolio and capability-demonstration purposes; company names, financial information and transaction details may be anonymized, modified or modeled to preserve confidentiality.
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