Franchise Equity Partners Invests in Large 7 Brew Franchisee
Drive-thru coffee chain 7 Brew is one of the fastest-growing franchises out there. Since Blackstone invested in the brand in 2024, when it had about 190 locations, the company has more than doubled its unit count to about 460 this year.
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN / Franchise Times / October 3, 2025 — Drive-thru coffee chain 7 Brew is one of the fastest-growing franchises out there. Since Blackstone invested in the brand in 2024, when it had about 190 locations, the company has more than doubled its unit count to about 460 this year.
Franchise Equity Partners, a private investment firm, acquired the second-largest 7 Brew franchisee in September. Along with its investment in 7 Crew, a 50-unit franchisee group, FEP will develop another 200-plus stores.
“We try and keep our pulse on emerging brands within the [quick-service restaurant] space, and we’ve been very strategic and deliberate about staying on top of that and monitoring the trends,” said David O’Donnell, the head of investments at FEP.
The firm looked for opportunities within the coffee segment and identified 7 Brew as an attractive investment. From there, FEP evaluated publicly available data and then reached out to franchisees to learn about their experience and identify potential investment opportunities, O’Donnell said.
“When we met the former majority owners, Masked Rider Capital and Red Sky, and met the management team, we were really impressed with what they had built,” he said. “They had been operating the brand for quite a period of time and had built an organization oriented toward growth and a really high-quality operation. That was probably the most immediately attractive thing that we saw.”
Red Sky Holdings and Masked Rider rolled some of their proceeds into the deal and will remain partners in 7 Crew. Red Sky is a real estate development company, which FEP Vice President Katie Haverty said is an asset for identifying new sites.
“That was a really good alignment to have the developer also invested in the equity of the operating company,” Haverty said.
FEP will open an additional 200 7 Brew locations, but Haverty and O’Donnell declined to give a timeline. 7 Crew started the year with about 30 units and today has 50, so the franchisee is growing quickly.
The cost to open a traditional 7 Brew location ranges from $894,000 to $2.2 million, according to the franchise disclosure document.
The brand opened 141 7 Brews last year, a 78.3 percent increase year over year. Sales growth was through the roof, too, up by 162.8 percent to $502 million. That makes for a 2024 average unit volume of more than $1.5 million.
The brand signed development agreements with prominent multi-brand franchisees this year. A Jersey Mike’s franchisee group signed a 70-unit deal with 7 Brew for the Washington, D.C., market. Prospect Capital Partners also owns 51 Jersey Mike’s and 15 Wingstop locations.
Taco Bell franchisee Tacala bought nine 7 Brew units in Tennessee last month, bringing its portfolio to 31 cafes—22 of which it built.
All that activity in the brand made FEP’s investment more attractive. FEP is keeping 7 Crew’s management team members, who are equity owners alongside the firm, O’Donnell said.
“A large part of the attractiveness of the investment was investing in that team and retaining them,” he said.
FEP will invest its time and resources to propel upgrades in data analytics and back-office support. That includes preparing the business to grow rapidly and become a larger operator in the 7 Brew system, Haverty said.
