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![]() Dunkin' Brands headquarters pictured in 2009 | |
Company type | Formerly: Public |
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Nasdaq: DNKN (2011–2020) | |
Industry | Fast food restaurants |
Founded | 1994 as Allied Domecq Quick Service Restaurants 2004 as Dunkin' Brands |
Defunct | December 15, 2020 |
Fate | Merged to Inspire Brands |
Successor | Inspire Brands |
Headquarters | Canton, Massachusetts, United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Nigel Travis (Executive Chairman) David Hoffmann (CEO) |
Revenue | ![]() |
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Total assets | ![]() |
Total equity | ![]() |
Number of employees | ![]() |
Subsidiaries | Baskin-Robbins Dunkin' Mister Donut |
Dunkin' Brands Group, Inc. was an American restaurant holding company that ran three chains of fast-food restaurants: Dunkin' Donuts, Mister Donut, and Baskin-Robbins. It was headquartered in Canton, Massachusetts. [3] It was acquired by Inspire Brands in 2020.
In 1973, British food company J. Lyons & Co. purchased Baskin-Robbins from United Brands. J. Lyons and Co. merged with Allied Breweries, becoming Allied-Lyons in 1978. In 1990, Allied-Lyons acquired Dunkin' Donuts and Mister Donut.
In 1994, Allied-Lyons merged with Pedro Domecq S.A., becoming Allied Domecq. The restaurant operations were merged under a subsidiary named Allied Domecq Quick Service Restaurants. In 1997, Togo's was acquired by Allied Domecq. [4]
In 2004, Allied Domecq Quick Service Restaurants was renamed "Dunkin' Brands, Inc.". On December 12, 2005, Pernod Ricard, which had just taken control of Allied Domecq, announced the sale of Dunkin' Brands to a consortium of private equity firms consisting of Bain Capital, The Carlyle Group and Thomas H. Lee Partners for $2.425 billion in cash. [5] [6] Dunkin' Brands, Inc. was renamed "Dunkin' Brands Group, Inc." after the transaction.
On November 30, 2007, Dunkin' Brands sold Togo's to Mainsail Partners, a San Francisco-based private equity firm, in partnership with Tony Gioia, a former president of Baskin-Robbins. [7] [8]
In July 2011, Dunkin' Brands completed its initial public offering and became listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market (NASDAQ-GS large cap) under the symbol "DNKN".
In August 2012, Dunkin' Brands became completely independent of private equity firms. [9]
In October 2017, Dunkin' Brands announced the company would invest $100 million in United States locations of Dunkin’ Donuts’. The company also said they are considering a name change to the shortened Dunkin'. The name change is being tested in a California location and a new store in Quincy, Massachusetts. [10]
On July 30, 2020, the organization announced it would permanently close 800 of its donut and coffee shops by the end of the year due to a sales slump caused by the coronavirus pandemic, primary locations inside convenience stores, namely Speedway. [11]
Dunkin' Brands reported in October 2020 that negotiations were being held with the private equity-backed company Inspire Brands for Inspire to acquire the company. The potential deal includes Dunkin' Brands private stocks would be sold at $106.50 a share, a 20 percent premium over the closing prices reported on the 23rd of October, implying that the company is being evaluated at around $8.8 billion. A statement released by Dunkin' claimed that "there is no certainty that any agreement will be reached" and that no further comments will be released until an agreed-upon transaction is found. [12] Shares of the Dunkin' Brand have reportedly risen 33% in 2020 because of the possible Inspire Brands' deal. [13]
On October 30, 2020, Dunkin' Brands announced that it would be acquired by Arby's owner Inspire Brands in a transaction valued at $11.3 billion, including the assumption of Dunkin' Brands' debt. The deal closed on December 15, 2020. [14] [15]
The Carlyle Group Inc. is an American multinational private equity, alternative asset management and financial services corporation based in the United States with $426 billion of assets under management. It specializes in private equity, real assets, and private credit. It is one of the largest mega-funds in the world. In 2015, Carlyle was the world's largest private equity firm by capital raised over the previous five years, according to the PEI 300 index. In the 2024 ranking however, it had slipped to sixth place.
Baskin-Robbins is an American multinational chain of ice cream and cake specialty shops owned by Inspire Brands. Baskin-Robbins was founded in 1945 by Burt Baskin and Irv Robbins in Glendale, California. Its headquarters are in Canton, Massachusetts, and shared with sibling brand Dunkin' Donuts. It is the world's largest chain of ice cream specialty stores, with more than 8,000 locations.
Dunkin' Donuts, trading as Dunkin' since 2019, is an American multinational coffee and donut company, as well as a quick service restaurant. It was founded by Bill Rosenberg (1916–2002) in Quincy, Massachusetts, in 1950. The chain was acquired by Baskin-Robbins' holding company Allied Lyons in 1990; its acquisition of the Mister Donut chain and the conversion of that chain to Dunkin' Donuts facilitated the brand's growth in North America that year.
Allied Domecq PLC was an international company, headquartered in Bristol, United Kingdom, that operated spirits, wine, and quick service restaurant businesses. It was once a FTSE 100 Index constituent but has been acquired by Pernod Ricard.
TOGO'S Eateries, LLC is an American chain of fast casual sandwich restaurants owned by Southfield Mezzanine Capital who purchased the company in March 2019. TOGO'S is headquartered in Campbell, California.
Bain Capital, LP is an American private investment firm based in Boston, Massachusetts, with around $185 billion of assets under management. It specializes in private equity, venture capital, credit, public equity, impact investing, life sciences, crypto, tech opportunities, partnership opportunities, special situations, and real estate. Bain Capital invests across a range of industry sectors and geographic regions. The firm was founded in 1984 by partners from the consulting firm Bain & Company. The company is headquartered at 200 Clarendon Street in Boston with 22 offices in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.
Saucony is an American brand of athletic footwear and apparel. Founded in 1898, the company is owned by Wolverine World Wide. Products commercialised by Saucony include footwear and clothing ranges, such as athletic shoes, jackets, hoodies, T-shirts, sweatpants, shorts, and socks. Accessories include hats and backpacks.
Mister Donut is an international chain of doughnut stores. It was founded in the United States in 1956 by Harry Winokur. Primary offerings include doughnuts, coffee, muffins and pastries. After being acquired by Allied Domecq in 1990, most of the North American stores became Dunkin' Donuts. Outside of the United States, Mister Donut maintains a presence in Japan, El Salvador, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Taiwan, and Singapore.
SPC Group is a South Korean food company based in Seoul that manufactures food, bread, and other confectionery products. Sangmidang, the precursor of Samlip General Food was founded in 1945 and the group was launched in 2004. SPC Group is one of the oldest brands in the confectionery and bakery industry in Korea. Its catering centers are based in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province.
Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P. is an American private equity firm headquartered in Boston. The firm focuses on investing in middle market growth companies across various sectors, including financial technology, services, healthcare, technology, and business solutions.
Hellman & Friedman LLC (H&F) is an American private equity firm, founded in 1984 by Warren Hellman and Tully Friedman, that makes investments primarily through leveraged buyouts as well as growth capital investments. H&F has focused its efforts on several core target industries including media, financial services, professional services and information services. The firm tends to avoid asset intensive or other industrial businesses. H&F is based in San Francisco, with offices in New York and London.
Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores, doing business as Love's, is an American family-owned and -operated chain of more than 630 truck stops in 42 states in the United States. The company is privately owned and headquartered in Oklahoma City. Love's ranked No. 10 on the 2022 Forbes list of America's largest private companies. Love's has two primary kinds of stores: country stores and travel stops. Country stores are fueling stations with a convenience store attached. The larger travel stops are located along highways and offer additional amenities such as food from restaurant chains such as Arby's, Bojangles, Burger King, Chester's, Dunkin' Donuts, McDonald's, Taco John's, Subway, Wendy's, Hardee's/Carl's Jr., truck parking spaces, showers and laundry. The company started adding RV hookups and RV Stops in 2022. Love's had more than 40,000 employees in 2023.
Roark Capital Management, LLC, also known as Roark Capital Group or simply Roark Capital, is an American private equity firm with around $37 billion in assets under management. The firm is focused on leveraged buyout investments in middle-market companies, primarily in the franchise/multi-location, restaurant and food, health and wellness, and business services sectors. It is named for Howard Roark, the protagonist in Ayn Rand's novel The Fountainhead. The firm says that its name is not meant to connote any particular political philosophy but instead signify the firm's admiration for the iconoclastic qualities of independence and self-assurance embodied by the central figure in The Fountainhead.
Jollibee Foods Corporation is a Filipino multinational company based in Pasig, Metro Manila, Philippines. JFC is the owner of the fast food brand Jollibee.
Nigel Travis is an English businessman and corporate executive. Travis was the CEO of the Dunkin' Brands group from January 2009 to July 2018. He has served the board at other corporations, including Papa John's and Blockbuster.
Hur Young-in is a South Korean entrepreneur and chairman of SPC Group, which owns brands such as SPC Samlip, Paris Croissant, Paris Baguette, Baskin-Robbins and Dunkin' Donuts operations in South Korea.
Inspire Brands LLC is an American fast-food restaurant franchise company. Owned by Roark Capital Group, it owns the Arby's, Buffalo Wild Wings, Sonic Drive-In, Jimmy John's, Mister Donut, Dunkin' Donuts, and Baskin-Robbins chains, which have a combined 31,700 locations and US$30 billion in system sales.
Paul J. Brown is an American businessman and the co-founder and chief executive officer of Inspire Brands. He is the former chief executive officer of Arby’s.
Robert M. Rosenberg is an American businessman, professor, and author. He was the chief executive officer of Dunkin' Donuts for thirty-five years from 1963 to 1998 and also served on the board of directors of Sonic Corp and Domino's Pizza. He was also an adjunct professor at Babson College's F. W. Olin Graduate School of Business.