Disclaimer: Unless noted otherwise, views and analysis expressed here are the author's own and based on public sources. The article is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional for investment decisions.

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Now that Jersey Mike's Subs is public - and trading at 25x EBITDA - are we going to see more QSR franchise deals by Independent Sponsors? 

If you’re hesitating, let us point you to two case studies, both from the UK. 

The first case study is 23.5 Degrees: the world’s first Starbucks franchisee that basically crowdfunded to a 9x exit - to Starbucks itself (core insight: going all-in on Drive Thru). 

The second one is Lemon Pepper Holdings (LPH) aka Wingstop master franchise holder for the UK and Ireland (and now also Poland). TL;DR: the entrepreneurs Tom Grogan, Herman Sahota and Saul Lewin (pictured above) cold emailed Wingstop in 2017 after stumbling upon it on a Rick Ross rap track (more on that later). Opened the UK's first Wingstop store in 2018. And lo and behold, exited to Sixth Street in early 2025!

Granted, we’re not exactly breaking new ground: the UK media has extensively covered the LPH story. The problem with hagiographic profiles is that they are like junk food: instantly filling but lacking substance.   

Who funded the trio - and on what terms? How much did that investment return? And fundamentally, why would white-shoe US Private Equity pay half a billion for, er, a bunch of chicken shops?  

Armed with the 2025 accounts of LPH and its new parent, Rooster Bidco, we meticulously reconstructed the project going back almost a decade. 

Read on to find out about:

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Before we tuck into this juicy story, two public service announcemements.

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The hip-hop industry is literally built on self-aggrandisement. Even so, it takes getting used to the off-the-chart ostentation of Rick Ross, the Miami-based rapper behind bangers like “Money In the Grave”, “Purple Lamborghini”, and of course “Hustlin’”:

Never mind the haters: already back in 2012, The New Yorker challenged the veracity - and the ethics of Ross’s drug lord cosplay. Sample quote from the article: “He never cares to unpack the morals of the drug trade - what he revels in is the security and relief of being fabulously wealthy”).  

Coincidentally, just as highbrow New Yorkers were getting incensed about Ross’s trap house antics, he was embarking on a corporate mogul makeover. In 2011, Ross opened his first Wingstop franchise in Memphis, Tennessee. The motivation appeared to be part genuine fondness for grilled chicken (interview quote: “I bought my first franchise because I love Lemon Pepper Wings”) and part stone-cold ROI (“I paid $300,000 and made $1,000,000 in the first year”). 

As Ross’s franchise tally grew to 30 locations eventually, his repertoire acquired a distinct avian flair. Name-checking Wingstop’s signature dry rub in “Trap Boomin’” (“When I hit a lick it, I bought a Wingstop / I sprinkle lemon pepper in that re-rock"). Juggling double entendres in “Wing Stop Remix” (“Let's trap at Wing Stop, I'm in the kitchen with the chicken / Guaranteed to numb his face if he finger lick it”).  

Across the ocean in London, a 27-year-old property developer (and rap aficionado) Tom Grogan was “in the Mayfair office listening to Rick Ross and he mentions this brand called Wingstop.” Curious, Tom researched the Ross/Wingstop connection, discovering that the brand wasn't yet present in the UK. 

Tom shared the idea with Herman Sahota and Saul Lewin, both of whom he'd met through London property milieu. Of the three, only Saul had restaurant franchising experience, albeit of a different kind. Saul’s firm V2 helped bring the Novikov brand to London in 2011 and brokered a number of similarly high-end restaurant openings, such as Sumosan Twiga and Park Chinois. 

Anyway, some time in 2017 Tom fired off a 4-sentence cold email to David Vernon, Wingstop’s Head of Franchising, that said:

“Dear David, I trust this email finds you well. We are interested in exploring an exclusive franchise agreement for Wingstop in the UK. Could you confirm if this is a topic we can discuss and/or if you already have partners selected for the United Kingdom? Please advise.”

That’s it. Astonishingly, by that point the trio had not eaten at, or even visited a Wingstop. David replied and, after several months of negotiation, the Brits secured a 30-year master franchise for the UK & Ireland. 

They called the fledgling enterprise Lemon Pepper Holdings.