B2B services

After numerous acquisitions and diversification of their franchise offerings into the home services arena, LYNX Franchising has tapped Zide to keep pace with rapid growth

ATLANTA — LYNX Franchising, a multi-branded franchise platform with a complementary collection of B2B essential services and outdoor focused residential services, recently announced that they have promoted Scott Zide as LYNX Franchising’s CEO. This announcement comes as LYNX Franchising has experienced its best year yet, with continuous double-digit organic growth, several acquisitions, and a newly developed partnership with Outdoor Living Brands to expand into residential home services.

Zide, formerly the President and COO of Outdoor Living Brands, a leading franchisor in the outdoor residential services sector, was promoted to CEO several months after LYNX Franchising and Outdoor Living Brands joined forces in September 2020. The investment in Outdoor Living Brands served as a strategic diversification move by LYNX to expand their offerings beyond commercial services into residential home services. To ensure the continued smooth consolidation of LYNX Franchising and Outdoor Living Brands, Chris Grandpre, former Chairman & CEO of Outdoor Living Brands, who joined the LYNX Franchising board of directors in September 2020, has now been named Chairman.

“I am thrilled to take on this new role with LYNX Franchising as the company has made tremendous strides in the past year assembling a portfolio of industry leading commercial and residential service brands poised for explosive growth in the years ahead,” said Zide. “Looking ahead, we aim to continue this momentum as we aggressively look for opportunities to acquire emerging brands and incubate new franchise concepts in our sectors of interest.”

LYNX Franchising operates three leading commercial service franchise systems including JAN-PRO, Intelligent Office, and FRSTeam. In addition, LYNX operates four leading residential service franchise systems through its Outdoor Living Brands platform, including the Archadeck Outdoor Living, Outdoor Lighting Perspectives, Conserva Irrigation, and recently acquired Superior Fence & Rail franchise systems. With a track record of partnering with founders to help accelerate the growth and development of their systems, LYNX Franchising anticipates that they will continue to add to its portfolio of commercial and residential services in the months and year ahead.

Under the leadership of Zide, LYNX Franchising looks to continue its track record of strong system sales growth rates while also improving the attractive unit level economic profiles of the company’s franchise brands. Zide will also be responsible for integrating LYNX Franchising and Outdoor Living Brands into one, unified platform franchise organization.

“I have no doubt that, under the leadership of Scott, LYNX Franchising will continue to diversify its portfolio through being highly acquisitive in the commercial and residential services sectors,” added Grandpre. “Scott has been a key part of every strategic decision that Outdoor Living Brands has made since we formed the company in 2008 and constructed the platform. That work will continue as we continue to integrate LYNX and Outdoor Living Brands. Most importantly, as a former franchisee, Scott has made it a priority to bring the voice of the franchisee into every decision and always puts franchisee’s unit level economics first.”

LYNX Franchising is a portfolio company of MidOcean Partners, a leading private equity firm with an excellent track record investing in successful, growth-focused franchise businesses. LYNX Franchising’s mission is to help people realize their dreams of business ownership through service industry franchising. The company is committed to continually innovating a reliable, best in class mentoring, and support framework to help its franchises and associates grow and prosper.

LYNX to expand their offerings beyond commercial services into residential home services.

ATLANTA — LYNX Franchising, a multi-brand franchise platform with a complementary collection of B2B essential services, recently announced that they have partnered with Outdoor Living Brands, a leading franchisor in the outdoor residential services sector. LYNX Franchising is a portfolio company of MidOcean Partners, a leading private equity firm with an excellent track record investing in successful, growth-focused franchise businesses. The investment in Outdoor Living Brands is a formational element of a diversification strategy by LYNX to expand their offerings beyond commercial services into residential home services.

“We are thrilled to invest in Outdoor Living Brands, as it is a leading franchise company with an excellent track record investing in successful residential services businesses,” said LYNX Franchising CEO Russ Reynolds. “Outdoor Living Brands will serve as the residential home services platform and leadership team within the LYNX organization, expanding our offerings and providing a foundation upon which to add additional residential services to our portfolio.”

LYNX operates three leading franchise systems that provide commercial services including JAN-PRO, FRSTeam, and Intelligent Office. JAN-PRO is a commercial cleaning franchise system and one of the world’s largest players in that sector. Intelligent Office offers professionally staffed, office space and services for entrepreneurs, small businesses, and corporate clients. FRSTeam provides restoration of fabrics, electronics and household contents, helping families and businesses recover from disasters such as smoke, fire, water, and mold. Collectively, these three brands have grown to nearly $700M in system revenues with franchisees across the United States, Canada and a growing number of international markets.

“We are excited about what this partnership means for our future. Our primary mission will be to continue to drive the strong growth of the Archadeck, Outdoor Lighting Perspectives, and Conserva Irrigation franchise systems,” said Outdoor Living Brands CEO, Chris Grandpre. “In addition, Outdoor Living Brands will continue to look for opportunities to develop and incubate new franchise concepts in a ‘greenfield’ approach as we have accomplished with Mosquito Squad and Conserva Irrigation. In addition, together with LYNX and MidOcean, we are already exploring acquisition opportunities that align with our strategic focus on home services. We appreciate having Boxwood Partners advise us through this process to help position Outdoor Living Brands for continued growth as part of the LYNX organization.”

Chris Grandpre will step out of the CEO role to join the LYNX Franchising board of directors. Scott Zide, President and COO of Outdoor Living Brands, will continue to lead the brands in partnership with the LYNX executive team. Zide has been a key part of every strategic decision that Outdoor Living Brands has made since the company was formed in 2008 and as a former franchisee, he has made it a priority to bring the voice of the franchisee into every decision.

“We are thrilled to be joining the LYNX Franchising team and are confident that our combined experiences in franchising will help us support the continued growth and success of our existing franchisees, as well as create new opportunities for Outdoor Living Brands to invest in additional residential services franchise concepts,” said Zide.

Together, LYNX Franchising and Outdoor Living Brands’ mission is to help people realize their dreams of business ownership through service industry franchising. The company is committed to continually innovating a reliable, best in class mentoring, and support framework to help its franchises and associates grow and prosper. The company is dedicated to providing its franchises a professional environment of integrity, trust, and mutual respect that nurtures strong, lasting, and mutual relationships within its network of owners and associates.