Dunkin’ owner Inspire Brands confidentially files for IPO
A cup of coffee and a strawberry iced donut at a Dunkin’ Donuts location in Los Angeles on September 6, 2017.
Patrick T. Fallon | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Owner of Dunkin’ and Buffalo Wild Wings Inspire Brands has filed confidentially for an initial public offering. the company announced on Friday.
If Inspire goes public, it would be one of the largest restaurant offerings ever. Private equity firm Roark Capital, which backs Inspire, reportedly wanted Its valuation is approximately $20 billion.
Inspire was formed in 2018 through the merger of Arby’s and Buffalo Wild Wings. Acquisitions followed: Sonic Drive-In in late 2018 and Jimmy John’s in 2019. In 2020, Inspire took Dunkin’ and its sister chain Baskin Robbins private in an $11 billion deal.
Across these six chains, Inspire has more than 33,300 restaurants worldwide and has annual sales of $33.4 billion, according to the company’s website.
Inspire isn’t the only restaurant company pursuing an IPO. Last month, Jersey Mike’s also announced it had filed confidentially with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The market for initial public offerings remains subdued, but that may change later this year. Market volatility, economic uncertainty and recent poor performance among IPO stocks have led to a backlog of listings.
But several blockbuster IPOs are expected in the coming months, such as the SpaceX offering that could value the company at more than $1 trillion.
