FranchiseVerdict
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FV-01422·MODERATEStandard67

KLDiscovery

Business Services - OtherFranchising since 2023Website
Investment
$118K – $163K
95th pct Other
Avg revenue
57th pct Other
Royalty
8.0%
14th pct Other
Units
0
0th pct Other
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $118K – $163K including a $50K franchise fee, 8.0% ongoing royalty.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 65/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 6 loans (below the industry average).
  • Auditor disclosed a going-concern note — flagged doubt about the franchisor's ability to continue operations. Verify against the latest FDD.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
KLDiscovery Franchising, LLC
Parent company
KLDiscovery Holdings, Inc.
Incorporated in
Delaware
HQ
9023 Columbine Road, Eden Prairie, Minnesota 55347
Auditor
Ernst & Young LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$0
Most recent fiscal year
⚠ Going-concern note
Disclosed in FDD 2024
Status as of 2024; may have been resolved in a later filing we don't yet have.

Yale framework · single-unit ROIC

Returns Analysis

Pulls Item 7 (investment) and Item 19 (revenue) from this brand's FDD into the Yale unlevered-ROIC formula. Override any input to stress-test it against your own assumptions.

The model · Yale framework

What would one KLDiscovery unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
Item 19 not disclosed — typing your own estimate
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: generic
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $118K–$163K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $40K–$40K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

62%

Above typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$113K
EBITDA margin
15.0%
Total invested
$181K
Payback
19 mo
Unit-level only. A multi-unit portfolio gives up roughly 5–15% of this to shared services (corporate G&A) before reaching the ~10-unit break-even Yale describes.

Overview

About

KLDiscovery franchisees appear to operate in the legal discovery/e-discovery services sector, likely managing document review, litigation support, and digital forensics services for law firms and corporate clients. Day-to-day operations likely include client management, staff coordination for document review projects, quality assurance of discovery work, and technology platform management.

CEO
Chris Weiler
Founded
2022
FDD year
2024
States available
0

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$118K – $163K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$40K – $40K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$50K
Royalty
8.0%
Gross Revenue · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
0.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
8.0%
vs 9–13% typical

Item 19

Financial Performance

This franchisor did not disclose financial performance representations in Item 19, or our extractor could not parse them.

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
0
Opened
0
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Company-owned
0
Corporate units in the system
2022
0±0
Franchised units
2023
0
Franchised units
2024
0
Franchised units

Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.

Government records

SBA Loan Data

Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.

Total loans
6
Loan volume
Avg loan
Default rate
0.0%
vs <3% typical · system-wide
5-yr default

FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17

Risk & Legal

65
Risk · 0-100
MODERATE65 / 100

Zero active units combined with undisclosed financials and territorial vulnerability creates substantial execution risk for a franchise system of unknown viability.

Score breakdown · what drove the 65 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINORZero franchised units despite established brand suggests system collapse, rebranding, or non-existent franchise network
  2. 02MINORNo Item 19 financial performance disclosure (average revenue and net income hidden) prevents ROI validation against $118k-$162k investment
  3. 03MINORUnprotected territory creates direct competition risk and cannibalization within franchise system
  4. 04MINORHigh 8% royalty rate with no revenue disclosure makes profitability assessment impossible
  5. 05MINOR5-year term is shorter than industry standard (10 years typical), increasing renewal/renegotiation risk
  6. 06HIGHGoing concern status suggests financial instability or operational challenges at franchisor level

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal

Contract & Territory Detail

Protected territory
No
Initial term
5 years
Renewal term
5 years
Online sales rights
Restricted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
0
Right of first refusal
Yes
Franchisor can buy back on resale
Mandatory arbitration
No
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Non-compete
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Required
Governing law
Delaware

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
29 hrs
On-the-job training
27 hrs
POS system
Salesforce, Relativity, Nebula, Globalscape
Operating tech stack

Item 20

Franchisee Contacts

Phone numbers extracted directly from this brand's FDD Item 20. After purchase, you'll also receive a list of validation questions tailored to this brand.

Franchisee contacts

26 numbers

Locked
(608) 266-••••
HI
(808) 586-••••
HI
(703) 747-••••
HI

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

KLDiscovery · FDD (2024) PDF

Single-page checkout · instant download · CSV export of contacts available separately above