Inspire Brands completes purchase of Dunkin’ Brands Group for $11.3 billionInspire Brands completes purchase of Dunkin’ Brands Group for $11.3 billion

Joanna Fantozzi

Inspire Brands Inc. announced Tuesday that the Arby’s, Buffalo Wild Wings, Sonic Drive-In, Jimmy John’s and Rusty Taco parent company has completed its acquisition of Dunkin’ Brands Group for $11.3 billion (or $106.50 a share) as previously announced in October. With the acquisition of Dunkin’ Brands Group (including Dunkin’ and Baskin-Robbins stores), Inspire Brands is now the second-largest foodservice company in the U.S. by locations and sales, totaling nearly 32,000 restaurants in 60 countries globally, with $26 billion in sales.

“We are very excited to welcome the Dunkin’ and Baskin-Robbins brands into the Inspire family. Dunkin’ and Baskin-Robbins are category leaders and two of the most iconic restaurant brands in the world,” Paul Brown, cofounder and CEO of Inspire Brands, said in a statement. “This is an incredible moment in our journey as a company. I want to thank all our team members, franchisees and suppliers whose hard work helped make this possible.”

The Dunkin’ and Baskin-Robbins brands will be able to take advantage of Inspire’s “shared services platform” and “consumer packaged goods licensing capability.”

David Hoffman, former CEO of Dunkin’ Brands, will continue on as senior advisor to Brown. Scott Murphy, who previously served as president of Dunkin’ Brands, will now be the head of the beverage-snack category and president of Dunkin’. Senior vice president of Baskin-Robbins U.S. and Canada, Jason Maceda, will now serve as president of Baskin-Robbins.

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“We are excited to reach this important milestone together with our incredible franchisees, licensees, employees, and suppliers,” Hoffmann said in a statement. “Over the past few years, we have accomplished much to be proud of including the execution of our strategic plans that led to the transformation of our two beloved, iconic brands.  We are confident that Inspire’s proven stewardship of franchised restaurant concepts and best-in-class capabilities will drive further growth for both Dunkin’ and Baskin-Robbins around the world.”

Inspire Brands was formed in February of 2018, when Arby’s acquired Buffalo Wild Wings, which itself owned Rusty Taco.

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.

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