On the heels of news that Wendy’s will be partnering with Honest Tea to bring an organic product to its menu, the brand announced today it is planning to sell 640 restaurants in the United States and Canada to franchisees to increase cash and lower expenses.

The brand had previously announced its plans to sell certain restaurants to lower the number of company-operated locations, and plans on now selling 380 restaurants by year’s end and 260 restaurants next year. This plan will give the brand $400-$475 million in pretax income and “significantly reduce future capital expenditure requirements.”

"Going forward, we intend to buy and sell restaurants opportunistically to act as a catalyst for growth by further strengthening our franchisee base, driving new restaurant development and accelerating Image Activation adoption," CEO Emil Brolick said in a statement.

The Dublin, Ohio-based brand posted first quarter earnings of $27.5 million compared to $46.3 million one year ago.

Read more here.

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Nick Powills

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Nick Powills

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Nick Powills, CFE, founded No Limit Agency in 2008 and serves as Chief Brand Strategist for the Chicago-based firm. No Limit is a full-service communications agency that establishes and elevates brands by bridging Public Relations, Social Media, Marketing, Advertising, Digital, and a lot of creativity, to best strategize well-rounded and successful campaigns for 50+ global franchise brands. By presenting visionary ideas and building real relationships, No Limit is able to create effective media branding strategies to help companies grow. Nick currently leads a staff of writers, media strategists, designers, social media experts and digital producers in an office think-tank where brands are humanized for strong, compelling media stories. Prior to starting No Limit at the age of 27, Nick spent four years working at a franchise PR agency where he mastered the art of building rapport with media outlets and creating newsworthy pitches for earned media placements. He holds a Bachelor of Journalism from Drake University in Iowa.