Inspire Brands

Last updated

Inspire Brands LLC
Company type Private
PredecessorsArby's Restaurant Group, Inc.
Dunkin' Brands
FoundedFebruary 5, 2018;6 years ago (2018-02-05)
FoundersNeal Aronson and Paul J. Brown
Headquarters
Sandy Springs, Georgia
,
United States
Number of locations
31,700 (2023 [1] )
Areas served
Key people
 Paul J. Brown (CEO)
Subsidiaries
Website inspirebrands.com

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. [1] [5] [6]

Contents

History

Inspire Brands was formed when Arby's Restaurant Group merged with Buffalo Wild Wings on February 5, 2018. Buffalo Wild Wings also owned the Rusty Taco chain. [7] [8] Arby's CEO Paul Brown was selected to continue as Inspire Brands CEO. [7] Brown expected that Inspire would acquire additional chains in different segments. He plans to structure the company similar to Hilton Hotels & Resorts. [9] Co-owner The Wendy's Company's stake was reduced from 18.5% to 12.3% due to the infusion of capital from Roark Capital to fund the purchase. [10] In September 2018, Inspire had the 27-location R Taco reverted to the Rusty Taco name. [11]

On August 16, 2018, The Wendy's Company announced that it sold its 12.3% stake in Inspire Brands back to the company for $450 million, which included a 38% premium over the stake's most recent valuation. [5] On August 28, 2018, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal announced that Inspire was moving its headquarters to Sandy Springs, Georgia in 2019. [12]

Inspire Brands on September 25, 2018, announced that it was buying Oklahoma City-based Sonic Drive-In for $2.3 billion. [13] The acquisition was completed on December 7, 2018. [14]

Inspire Brands announced that it was buying Jimmy John's on September 25, 2019. [6] [15] The deal closed on October 18, 2019. [16]

Inspire received Franchise Times ’ 2019 Dealmaker of the Year award for its acquisitions of Buffalo Wild Wings and Sonic Drive-In. [17]

Inspire Brands on October 25, 2020, announced that it was buying Dunkin' Brands for $11.3 billion. [18] [19] The acquisition was completed on December 15, 2020. [20]

On December 19, 2022, Inspire Brands announced that it had sold Rusty Taco to Gala Capital Partners, owner of Cicis Pizza, Dunn Brothers Coffee, and Mooyah. [21]

Brands

As of October 2023, the chains that the company owns and/or operates include:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sonic Drive-In</span> American fast food chain

Sonic Corporation, founded as Sonic Drive-In and more commonly known as Sonic, is an American drive-in fast-food chain owned by Inspire Brands, the parent company of Arby's, Dunkin' Donuts and Buffalo Wild Wings. Sonic, founded by Troy N. Smith, Sr., opened its first location in 1953, under the name Top Hat Drive-In. Originally a walk-up root beer stand outside a log-cabin steakhouse selling soda, hamburgers, and hotdogs, Sonic currently has 3,545 locations in the United States. Sonic is known for its use of carhops on roller skates, and hosts an annual competition to determine the top skating carhop in the company. The company's core products include the "Chili Cheese Coney", "Sonic Cheeseburger Combo", "Sonic Blasts", "Master Shakes", and "Wacky Pack Kids Meals".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arby's</span> American sandwich chain based in Sandy Springs, Georgia

Arby's is an American fast food sandwich restaurant chain with more than 3,300 restaurants. The flagship property of Inspire Brands, it ranked third in systemwide sales in the United States in the quick-service and fast-casual restaurant industries in 2012, behind Subway and Panera Bread. In October 2017, Food & Wine called Arby's "America's second largest sandwich chain ".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dunkin' Donuts</span> American multinational food company

Dunkin' Donuts, doing business as Dunkin' since 2019, is an American multinational coffee and doughnut 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. Dunkin' and Baskin-Robbins eventually became subsidiaries of Dunkin' Brands, headquartered in Canton, Massachusetts, in 2004, until being purchased by Inspire Brands on December 15, 2020. The chain began rebranding as a "beverage-led company", and was renamed Dunkin', in January 2019; while stores in the U.S. began using the new name, the company intends to roll out the rebranding to all of its international stores eventually.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dunkin' Brands</span> American restaurant company

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. It was acquired by Inspire Brands in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Back Yard Burgers</span> American regional franchise chain of restaurants in the Southern and Midwestern US

Back Yard Burgers, Inc., is an American regional franchise chain of quick serve restaurants. As of March 2022, there are 38 restaurants in the Southern and Midwestern United States. Back Yard Burgers is a subsidiary of private equity firm Axum Capital Partners, and is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jimmy John's</span> American sandwich chain

Jimmy John's is an American sandwich chain headquartered in Champaign, Illinois. The business was founded by Jimmy John Liautaud in 1983. After Liautaud graduated from high school, his father gave him a choice to either join the military or start a business. Liautaud decided to start a hot dog business, which changed to sandwiches due to costs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buffalo Wild Wings</span> American sports bar and restaurant chain

Buffalo Wild Wings is an American casual dining restaurant and sports bar franchise in the United States, Canada, India, Mexico, Panama, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and United Arab Emirates which specializes in Buffalo wings and sauces.

Sally J. Smith is president and former chief executive officer of Buffalo Wild Wings, Inc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jimmy John Liautaud</span> American restaurateur

James John Liautaud is an American restaurateur, who is widely known as the founder and former chairman of Jimmy John's sandwich chain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McLane Company</span> American wholesale supply chain services company

McLane is an American wholesale supply chain services company that distributes products to convenience stores, discount retailers, wholesale clubs, drug stores, military bases, fast-food restaurants, and casual dining restaurants throughout the United States. It is also a wholesale distributor of distilled beverages in some parts of the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Wendy's Company</span> American multinational restaurant holding company

The Wendy's Company is an American parent company for the major fast food chain Wendy's. Originally founded as the Deisel-Wemmer Company, it is sourced in Dublin, Ohio. The company's principal subsidiary, Wendy's International, is the franchisor of Wendy's restaurants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Love's</span> Truck stop and convenience store company in the United States

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', McDonald's, Taco John's, Subway, Wendy's, Hardee’s/Carls 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rusty Taco</span> American fast food chain

Rusty Taco is an American-based chain of fast food restaurants originating in Dallas, Texas in 2010, by founders Rusty Fenton and his wife, Denise Fenton. Rusty Taco is a subsidiary of Gala Capital Partners. As of 2022, there are 37 restaurants in nine states.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul J. Brown</span> American businessman

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.

References

  1. 1 2 "Inspire Brands and the Making of a Restaurant Group Unlike Any Other". QSR. August 1, 2023.
  2. ↑ "Arby's FAQ". Arby's.
  3. ↑ "Choose Country". buffalowildwings.com. Buffalo Wild Wings. Archived from the original on November 15, 2019. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
  4. ↑ "Inspire Brands Fact Sheet" (PDF). inspirebrands.com. Inspire Brands. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 15, 2019. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
  5. 1 2 "Wendy's sells stake in Arby's owner for $450 million". CNBC. August 16, 2018. Archived from the original on October 6, 2020. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  6. 1 2 Dyer, Kristian (September 25, 2019). "Arby's owner beefs up portfolio, eating up another fast-food franchise". Fox Business. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
  7. 1 2 Thorn, Bret (February 5, 2018). "Arby's, Buffalo Wild Wings new parent Inspire Brands debuts". Nation's Restaurant News. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
  8. ↑ "Arby's closes deal for Buffalo Wild Wings, makes new company". Star Tribune. Associated Press. February 5, 2018. Archived from the original on February 7, 2018. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
  9. ↑ Klein, Danny (February 5, 2018). "Arby's CEO: We're Not Done Buying Brands After BWW". QSR magazine. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
  10. ↑ Klein, Danny (August 2018). "Wendy's Sells Inspire Brands Stake for $450 Million". QSR Magazine.
  11. ↑ Romeo, Peter (September 5, 2018). "Inspire Brands reveals plans for its 3rd brand, now Rusty Taco". Restaurant Business. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  12. ↑ Neighbor Newspapers Staff (August 28, 2018). "Inspire Brands bringing 1,100 jobs, $32 million to Sandy Springs". Northside Neighbor. Marietta Daily Journal. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  13. ↑ Thorn, Bret (September 25, 2018). "Inspire Brands to buy Sonic Corp. for $2.3B". Nation's Restaurant News. Retrieved September 25, 2018.
  14. ↑ Ruggless, Ron (December 7, 2018). "Inspire closes on Sonic acquisition". Nation's Restaurant News. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
  15. ↑ Lucas, Amelia (September 25, 2019). "Arby's owner Inspire Brands buys Jimmy John's". CNBC. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
  16. ↑ Ruggless, Ron (18 October 2019). "Inspire completes purchase of Jimmy John's". Nation's Restaurant News. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  17. ↑ "Art of the deal panel to highlight FFGC". Franchise Times. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  18. ↑ Fontanella-Khan, James; Aliaj, Ortenca; Gray, Alistair; Temple, Patrick (October 25, 2020). "Dunkin' closes in on $9bn sale to Inspire Brands" . Financial Times . Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  19. ↑ Haddon, Heather (30 October 2020). "Inspire Brands to Acquire Dunkin' Brands Group for $11.3 Billion Including Debt". Wall Street Journal . ISSN   0099-9660. OCLC   781541372. Archived from the original on 31 October 2020. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  20. ↑ "Inspire Brands Completes Acquisition of Dunkin' Brands". www.businesswire.com. December 15, 2020. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
  21. ↑ Maze, Jonathan (December 19, 2022). "Inspire Brands sells Rusty Taco to the owner of Cicis Pizza". Restaurant Business. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
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