Liberty Tax Service, the tax store chain, has become an increasingly smaller part of its parent. Liberty, which had sales of $132.5 million for the year ended April 30, is part of the Franchise Group, which now claims revenue of about $2.5 billion with its pending purchase of the American Freight Group.The Franchise Group, originally known Liberty Tax, has ballooned through purchases in the last year. Those acquired companies include Buddy’s Home Furnishing Stores Sears Outlet Stores and the Vitamin Shoppe. And on January 16, the group announced its purchase of the American Freight Group for $450 million.
The former Liberty Tax parent changed its name last yea under new owenrship following turmoil set about by the firing for founder, John Hewitt, in September 2017. The new owners have quickly set about buying operations so that the tax chain is dwarfed by other units.
The Franchise Group did not disclose the revenue of the new acquisition. However, pro forma revenue for the company before the AFG deal was $1.56 billion for the year ended April 30, 2019. Besides the historical Liberty sales of $132.5 million, the reported sales for the others were as follows: Buddy’s, $2.6 million for the year ended March 31; Sears Outlet Stores, $448.6 million for the year ended May 4; and the Vitamin Shoppe, $1.1 billion for the year the ended Dec. 29, 2018.
