Inspire Brands, Inc. is an American holding company and the owner and franchisor of the Arby's, Buffalo Wild Wings,

Sonic Drive-In Sonic Corporation, founded as Sonic Drive-In and more commonly known as Sonic (stylized as SONIC), or "The Drive-In," is an American drive-in fast food restaurant Chain store, chain owned by Inspire Brands, the parent company of Arby's and Buf ...

, Jimmy John's,

Rusty Taco 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. , there are 37 restaurants in nine sta ...

, Mister Donut,

Dunkin' Donuts Dunkin' Donuts LLC, also known as Dunkin' and by the initials DD, 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 195 ...

and Baskin-Robbins restaurant chains. Inspire operates Support Centers in Atlanta, Oklahoma City, Champaign, Minneapolis, and

Canton, Massachusetts Canton is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 24,370 at the 2020 census. Canton is part of Greater Boston, about 15 miles (24 kilometers) southwest of downtown Boston. Hist ...

. Inspire Brands is majority-owned by affiliates of

Roark Capital Group Roark Capital Group is an American private equity firm with over $33 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 fo ...

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. Arby's CEO Paul Brown was selected to continue as Inspire Brands CEO. Brown expected that Inspire would acquire additional chains in different segments. He plans to structure the company similar to Hilton Hotels & Resorts. 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. In September 2018, Inspire had the 27-location R Taco reverted to the

name. 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. On August 28, 2018, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal announced that Inspire was moving its headquarters to Sandy Springs, Georgia in 2019. Inspire Brands on September 25, 2018 announced that it was buying Oklahoma City-based

for $2.3 billion. The acquisition was completed on December 7, 2018. Inspire Brands announced that it was buying Jimmy John's on September 25, 2019. The deal closed on October 18, 2019. Inspire Brands on October 25, 2020 announced that it was buying Dunkin' Brands for $11.3 billion. The acquisition was completed on December 15, 2020. Inspire received Franchise Times’ 2019 Dealmaker of the Year award for its acquisitions of Buffalo Wild Wings and Sonic Drive-In.

References

External links

* {{Official website, inspirebrands.com Companies based in Sandy Springs, Georgia Fast-food chains of the United States Fast-food franchises Restaurant chains in the United States Restaurant groups in the United States 2018 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Economy of the Southeastern United States American companies established in 2018 Restaurants established in 2018 Private equity portfolio companies