Restaurant Buyer Annual Report – 2009
December 31, 2009

This 2009 business transaction year was fairly depressing overall, but there are signs that the recession may be coming to an end. Although activity picked up in the final quarters of the year, the extremely weak first and second quarter which is when many deals seem to get started had very weak activity. Registered buyers in 2008 was down overall by over 25% compared to the prior year with cash available down over 45% which is a large result of loss of equity in U.S. homes. A large portion of business buyers and business owners in the past have utilized equity from their homes to be able to buy or invest in their own businesses. With equity depleted from the housing market dive, the amount at a typical buyer's disposal has been diminished. The high unemployment pool does have people who have money which could present a new buyer pool of people that are looking to employ themselves by buying a business; this could be great for sellers. Restaurant owners looking to sell need to anticipate what is going on and be prepared to possibly self finance a deal, take less cash, or be very creative in the transaction process. As we stated in 2008, there are plenty of buyers out there, and it's a matter of time and patience for transactions to be done.

Below find charts summarizing the buyer activity for the year:
 

2009 Summary	Midwest	Northeast	South	West	International	Total
New Buyers	322	470	805	726	600	2923
Percentage	11.0%	16.1%	27.5%	24.8%	20.5%	100%
Median Cash Available	$103,000	$100,000	$116,000	$119,000	$100,000	$109,000
Average Cash Available	$382,000	$355,000	$366,000	$344,000	$385,000	$363,000
Total Estimated Cash	$123,004,000	$166,850,000	$294,630,000	$249,744,000	$231,000,000	$1,065,228,000

Please note that the information provided in the Restaurant Buyer Activity Reports are for informational purposes to our site users and may not be published or otherwise utilized without the express written consent of Restaurants For Sale Online, LLC.

 

RFSO Defined Regions
West	PACIFIC: Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington
	MOUNTAIN:  Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming
Midwest	EAST NORTH CENTRAL:  Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin
	WEST NORTH CENTRAL: Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota
Northeast	MIDDLE ATLANTIC: New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania
	NEW ENGLAND: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.
South	EAST SOUTH CENTRAL: Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee
	SOUTH ATLANTIC: Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia
	WEST SOUTH CENTRAL: Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas
International	ALL REGIONS OUTSIDE OF THE USA: Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and all other countries/regions,