---
title: "Franchise Times: The Big Get Bigger as JAE Group Acquires 34 Wendy’s"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/92696a0c-6281-434a-975c-33e51b6c6815
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/franchise-times-the-big-get-bigger-as-jae-group-acquires-34-wendys-2705796
category: "Burger"
industry: "Restaurants"
segment: "Burger"
topics: ["Finance & M&A"]
published: 2018-03-05T16:11:01.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T04:10:38.031Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/1b3abf2c59e5cbb8d4197e58148b47ba6995.jpg
---

# Franchise Times: The Big Get Bigger as JAE Group Acquires 34 Wendy’s

**TL;DR:** JAE Restaurant Group has acquired 34 Wendy's locations, expanding its total to 212 in Florida, New Mexico, Texas, and Tennessee. The acquisition is part of Wendy's Systems Optimization Initiative to shift to more franchise locations.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2018-03-05. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/franchise-times-the-big-get-bigger-as-jae-group-acquires-34-wendys-2705796).*

## Story

JAE Restaurant Group has announced it is investing in more Wendy's locations. According to a recent Franchise Times article, the largest multi-unit franchisee is adding another 34 locations into its operations in Knoxville, Tennessee, bringing its total number to 212 in Florida, New Mexico, Texas and Tennessee.

“We chose to invest in the Knoxville market because it’s one of the highest growth areas in the country right now, thanks to its friendly tax environment, affordable housing, younger population and large number of university students,” said Jhonny Mercado, co-chairman of JAE Restaurant Group. “These favorable demographics are perfect for Wendy’s, and we feel that Knoxville is an under-penetrated market for the brand.”

JAE will be remodeling a handful of the Knoxville locations to reflect updated features such as Wi-Fi, flatscreen TVs, digital menu boards and fireplaces. The sale by Wendy’s is part of the company’s effort to shift to more franchise locations with a goal of having only 5 percent of the 6,500 restaurants be company owned in what it is calling its Systems Optimization Initiative.

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- Restaurants (sector)
- unit expansion (topic)
- Wendy's (company)
- multi-unit franchisee (topic)
- Knoxville (location)
- franchise optimization (topic)
- JAE Group acquisition of 34 Wendy's (deal)

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Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/franchise-times-the-big-get-bigger-as-jae-group-acquires-34-wendys-2705796). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/92696a0c-6281-434a-975c-33e51b6c6815).