barty
I agree with you that a year ago an MBO was not possible as the company had no cash flow streams that could have underpinned bank financing.
And indeed, this situation has now changed. Since the results last week it is clear that the company will be generating lots of cash (selling leaseholds and franchises + royalties + improving operating results) in the coming months/years.
... so MBO is possible today, but what makes you think of such a scenario? CFE not processing franchise applications fast enough and mm's not selling large quantity of stock are not strong enough arguments for me...
also note that mngt hold decent amount of stock options already...