QSR International, Quiznos’ master franchisee for Central and South America and the Caribbean, is opening its 15th country for Quiznos with the signing of a five-unit deal with Apolo Import S.A. for Paraguay.
In addition, this month, Camex Inc., QSR’s area developer in Guyana, is scheduled to open its first Quiznos restaurant in Georgetown, the country’s capital. QSR Interntional is an international 119-unit, multi-brand franchisee and master franchisor of quick-service brands.
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Enterprise Holdings is franchising the use of its Alamo Rent A Car and National Car Rental brands to Sao Paulo-based Unidas, a Brazilian car rental operator. The 15-year agreement will allow Unidas to bring the Alamo and National brands to approximately 100 airport and city locations throughout Brazil. According to Enterprise, this franchise agreement marks Enterprise Holdings’ entry into the Brazilian market and helps the company substantially complete its Latin American footprint.
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Healthstore Holdings and the Rwandan Ministry of Health are partnering with One Family Health Foundation and GSK, Ecobank to establish 240 health posts across Rwanda over the next three years. The posts, which are franchised as Child and Family Wellness (CFW) Health Posts, a social-sector franchisor based in the U.S., will be run by local nurses. The model is based on a successful pilot in Kenya, which gives nurses access to capital, as well as financial training, so they can run profitable clinics.
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A boon in international deals is creating a new practice area for franchisee attorneys. Ron Gardner of Dady & Gardner in Minneapolis said he is seeing an uptick in work from master franchisees outside the U.S., but who have clauses in their contracts to arbitrate in the States. Most of the cases involve termination issues, along with misuse of trademarks.
International clients create some challenges. Often documents have to be translated, because although the clients may speak English, they don’t always have a good command of the written language—especially when it involves legalese. But language and accents aside, international dealings interfere with the adage, timing is everything. "This sounds so mundane, but so true. It’s the time difference," Gardner said. "In the U.S., you expect a response back quickly and that’s how you judge the response."
In addition, he added, "Things that in the U.S. take an hour, take three days."
The distance sometimes excludes witnesses present at the hearing, and seeing third-party witnesses via Skype lessens their credibility. "It’s hard to get the drama you need in 2D, as opposed to 3D," he said.
An international practice has also led to Gardner being asked to speak at the International Bar Association meeting in Dublin this October, and at an international distributors conference in Venice this month.
