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Dunkin’ Brands in talks to be bought by Inspire Brands

The owner of Arby's, Sonic Drive-In, Buffalo Wild Wings, Jimmy John's Sandwiches and Rusty Taco could announce the purchase of the Dunkin' and Baskin-Robbins brands as soon as Monday

Bret Thorn, Senior Food Editor

October 25, 2020

3 Min Read
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Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc., parent company of the Dunkin’ and Baskin-Robbins chains, is in talks to be purchased by Inspire Brands, which would take the company private, a Dunkin’ executive confirmed Sunday.

According to a report in The New York Times, citing “two people with knowledge of the negotiations,” the deal could be announced as early as Monday and would involve the purchase of Dunkin’ Brands shares at $106.50 for a valuation of around $8.8 billion.

Shares in Dunkin’ closed on Friday at $88.79.  

“Dunkin’ Brands confirms that it has held preliminary discussions to be acquired by Inspire Brands. There is no certainty that any agreement will be reached. Neither group will comment further unless and until a transaction is agreed,” Dunkin’ Brands chief communications officer Karen Raskopf said in an email.

If the deal goes through, Dunkin’ and Baskin-Robbins would join Inspire’s growing  portfolio, which currently includes Arby’s, Buffalo Wild Wings, Rusty Taco, Sonic Drive-In and Jimmy John’s Sandwiches.

Inspire Brands was formed in February of 2018, when Arby’s acquired Buffalo Wild Wings, which itself owned Rusty Taco. The multi-concept group is majority-owned by affiliates of Atlanta-based private-equity firm Roark Capital.

Inspire bought Sonic in December of that year, and Jimmy John’s, which already was owned by another Roark affiliate, in the fall of 2019.

Related:Dunkin’ to close up to 1,150 underperforming restaurants in 2020

The acquisition of Dunkin’ Brands would bring more than 20,000 restaurants into the 11,000-unit Inspire Brands fold: As of the end of its second quarter, ended June 27, Dunkin’ Brands had 13,125 Dunkin’ locations and 7,981 Baskin-Robbins units, all franchised, although Dunkin’ Brands executives said they planned to close up to 1,150 underperforming Dunkin’ locations.

Sonic and Jimmy John’s, with around 3,500 and 2,800 locations, respectively, are also largely franchised. Around 65% of Arby’s roughly 3,300 locations are franchised, and Buffalo Wild Wings locations are about evenly split, with around 52% of its approximately 1,200 locations being company-owned, according to Nation’s Restaurant News’ Top 200 data.

There are around 30 units of Rusty Taco, according to its web site.

In a keynote during Restaurants Rise powered by MUFSO last week, Inspire CEO Paul Brown said Inspire Brands has weathered the coronavirus crisis in part by learning from each brand’s maverick qualities and not just serving as a holding company or franchisor.

Dunkin’ was hit hard by the pandemic, especially early on as locations in its core markets of New York City and Boston closed and as other locations saw the core of their business, breakfast, collapse as workers stopped commuting.

Related:Dunkin’ Brands Group names Philip Auerbach chief digital and strategy officer as the parent of Dunkin' and Baskin-Robbins doubles down on customer engagement

But sales have improved steadily each month as the chain implemented curbside pickup at more than 1,400 locations, many of which did not have drive-thru windows,  and upgraded its app to facilitate ordering and payment. The chain also introduced snacks and cold beverages suitable to the growing afternoon snack daypart, including croissant sandwiches and Dunkin’ Refreshers, vitamin-fortified iced green tea drinks.

Contact Bret Thorn at bret.thorn@informa.com 

Follow him on Twitter: @foodwriterdiary

About the Author

Bret Thorn

Senior Food Editor, Nation's Restaurant News

Senior Food & Beverage Editor

Bret Thorn is senior food & beverage editor of Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality.

Hi is responsible for spotting and reporting on F&B trends across the country for both publications. 

He is the co-host of a podcast, Menu Talk with Pat and Bret, which features interviews with chefs, food & beverage authorities, and other experts in foodservice operations.

From 2005 to 2008 he also wrote the Kitchen Dish column for The New York Sun, covering restaurant openings and chefs’ career moves in New York City.

He joined Nation’s Restaurant News in 1999 after spending about five years in Thailand, where he wrote articles about business, banking and finance as well as restaurant reviews and food columns for Manager magazine and Asia Times newspaper. He joined Restaurant Hospitality’s staff in 2016 while retaining his position at NRN. 

A magna cum laude graduate of Tufts University in Medford, Mass., with a bachelor’s degree in history, and a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Thorn also studied traditional French cooking at Le Cordon Bleu Ecole de Cuisine in Paris. He spent his junior year of college in China, studying Chinese language, history and culture for a semester each at Nanjing University and Beijing University. While in Beijing, he also worked for ABC News during the protests and ultimate crackdown in and around Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Thorn’s monthly column in Nation’s Restaurant News won the 2006 Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Award for best staff-written editorial or opinion column.

He served as president of the International Foodservice Editorial Council, or IFEC, in 2005.

Thorn wrote the entry on comfort food in the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, 2nd edition, published in 2012. He also wrote a history of plated desserts for the Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets, published in 2015.

He was inducted into the Disciples d’Escoffier in 2014.

A Colorado native originally from Denver, Thorn lives in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Bret Thorn’s areas of expertise include food and beverage trends in restaurants, French cuisine, the cuisines of Asia in general and Thailand in particular, restaurant operations and service trends. 

Bret Thorn’s Experience: 

Nation’s Restaurant News, food & beverage editor, 1999-Present
New York Sun, columnist, 2005-2008 
Asia Times, sub editor, 1995-1997
Manager magazine, senior editor and restaurant critic, 1992-1997
ABC News, runner, May-July, 1989

Education:
Tufts University, BA in history, 1990
Peking University, studied Chinese language, spring, 1989
Nanjing University, studied Chinese language and culture, fall, 1988 
Le Cordon Bleu Ecole de Cuisine, Cértificat Elémentaire, 1986

Email: bret.thorn@informa.com

Social Media:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bret-thorn-468b663/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bret.thorn.52
Twitter: @foodwriterdiary
Instagram: @foodwriterdiary

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