(a) Upon giving the franchisor written notice of intent to transfer the franchisee‘s business, any individual owning or deceased individual who owned an interest in a franchise may transfer or assign the franchisee’s business to the spouse, child, grandchild, parent, brother or sister of such individual. The consent or approval of the franchisor shall not be required.

Terms Used In Tennessee Code 47-25-1508

  • Franchise: means a written or oral agreement for a definite or indefinite period, in which a person grants to another person authority to use a trade name, trademark, service mark or related characteristic within an exclusive territory, or to sell or distribute goods or services, within an exclusive territory, at wholesale, retail, by lease agreement or otherwise. See Tennessee Code 47-25-1502
  • Franchisee: means a person to whom a franchise is offered or granted only if such person is required to be licensed under §. See Tennessee Code 47-25-1502
  • Franchisor: means a person who grants a franchise to another person where such person is the holder of a permit issued pursuant to §. See Tennessee Code 47-25-1502
  • Person: means a natural person, corporation, partnership, trust or other entity and, in case of an entity, it includes any other entity which has a majority interest in such entity, or effectively controls such other entity, as well as the individual officers, directors and other persons in active control of the activities of each such entity. See Tennessee Code 47-25-1502
  • written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(b) Any individual owning or deceased individual who owned an interest in a franchise may transfer the franchisee’s business to a person other than such individual’s spouse, child, grandchild, parent, brother or sister; provided, that:

(1) Such individual has notified the franchisor in writing of the nature, terms and provisions of such transfer;
(2) Such individual has provided the franchisor the opportunity to match the terms and conditions of such offer; and
(3) The proposed transferee meets the nondiscriminatory, material, and consistently applied and reasonable qualifications and standards of the franchisor.
(c) If the franchisor disapproves of a transfer as proposed in subsection (b), the consent or approval of the franchisor shall not be required if the franchisor does not elect to match the terms and conditions of such transfer or proposal, within sixty (60) days of notice, and another transferee who meets its requirements matches the terms and conditions of such offer.