# Codebook: data/fdd_ownership.csv (private-equity-franchise-ownership, 2026-10-08)

One row per brand of the shared 259-brand Minnesota CARDS sample (one Clean FDD per brand, issued 2025-01-24 to
2026-08-18). Ownership is recorded as of the FDD in the sample (including amendments). License: CC BY 4.0,
attribution "Franchise Consultants and Brokers, franchiseconsultantsandbrokers.com".

| Column | Meaning |
|---|---|
| brand, franchisor, sector, sector_label, fdd_issue_date | From the shared sample (franchise-royalty-rates dataset) |
| mn_document_id, mn_document_url | Minnesota CARDS document id and current download link (emerging-franchise-brands link check) |
| ownership_page | PDF page of the main ownership statement in the FDD |
| immediate_parent, ultimate_parent | Parent entities as named in the FDD (blank if none named) |
| no_parent_disclosed | yes if the FDD names no parent entity |
| fdd_owner_type | Reader code from the FDD alone: fund, public, individuals, other, corporate_unstated, not_stated (see item1_codebook.md) |
| fund_names, fund_stake, fund_quote | Funds or private equity firms named in the FDD, stated stake (controlling, minority, unclear, na) and a verbatim quote with page |
| public_names | Listed parent and exchange as printed in the FDD |
| founder_owner_stated | yes / no / unknown: FDD states a founder holds an interest |
| owner_statement | Verbatim ownership sentence(s) from the FDD, max 45 words |
| web_finding, web_owner_name, web_fund_stake | Owner-published evidence result for brands searched (fund, public, individuals, other, none_found), owner named, stake stated |
| web_evidence_url, web_evidence_type, web_evidence_quote, web_evidence_date, web_in_place_at_fdd | The page opened (fund site, owner site, company press release or SEC filing), a quote of 30 words or fewer, its date, and whether the ownership was in place at the FDD date |
| owner_type | Final owner type at the FDD date: pe_fund, public, founder_indiv, other_private, unclassified |
| owner_basis | fdd, fund_site, owner_site, press_release, sec_filing, or none |
| fund_minority_only | yes if the only fund evidence is a stated minority or venture stake (not counted as fund owned) |
| owner_change_after_fdd | Owner change after the FDD date with its source type (blank if none found) |
| affiliate_brands, affiliate_brands_n, multi_brand | Other franchise brands Item 1 lists for the franchisor, its parents or affiliates (current or former), their count, and yes if 1 or more |
| platform_name | Group name if the FDD names one |
| change_events | JSON list of dated ownership events from 2016 on, with type and FDD page |
| control_change_since_2023, control_change_types_since_2023 | yes if a control-changing event (fund_acquired, platform_acquired, founder_sale, recapitalization) is dated 2023 or later |
| current_owner_since, franchisor_formed | Years stated in the FDD |
| read_confidence, corrected_fields | Reader confidence and fields changed by data/reading_corrections.csv |
| royalty_type, royalty_pct_std | Joined from franchise-royalty-rates/data/fdd_fees.csv |
| item7_low, item7_high | Joined from franchise-initial-investment/data/fdd_item7.csv (total_low, total_high) |
| area_protection, res_acquisition, res_other_brands | Joined from franchise-territory-rights/data/fdd_item12.csv |
| franchisor_assign_free | Joined from franchise-agreement-terms/data/fdd_item17.csv |
| item20_fiscal_year, franchised_start, franchised_end, exits, exits_3yr, t3_start_3yr_sum, years_franchising | Joined from franchise-closure-rates/data/item20_counts.csv (t3_start_3yr_sum = sum of start-of-year franchised outlets over the years shown) |
| parent_guarantee | Joined from franchisor-financial-health/data/item21_fields.csv |
| hand_checked | yes for the 20 brands in the random hand-check |

Free-text working notes from readers and web researchers are kept out of this file because they can mention leads
(news reports, databases) that the method does not accept as evidence.