A report by Technomic and Restaurant Finance Monitor finds that many chains continue to see franchising as a significant growth opportunity.

In fact, many chain restaurant operators continue to sign development agreements to open new stores or acquire preexisting locations to expand their unit counts, Technomic reports in its "2012 Top 400 Restaurant Franchise Company Report." Here are a few other notable findings from the study.

$34 Billion The estimated revenue generated by the Top 400 restaurant franchise companies in 2011. This represents almost 10 percent of the sales the commercial restaurant industry generated in 2011.

27,206 Total locations from the Top 400, comprising nearly 5 percent of the commercial restaurant industry's units.

$938 Million The revenue generated by NPC International, the largest Pizza Hut franchisee with 1,151 restaurants at the end of last year. This represents a 1.3 percent increase from 2010.

87 The percent of McDonald's sales that came from franchised locations. This translated into $29.7 billion in revenue. The next largest chain in terms of total U.S. franchise sales was Burger King at $7.4 billion.