Dunkin' Brands Group, Inc. was an American restaurant holding company that ran three chains of

fast-food restaurants A fast-food restaurant, also known as a quick-service restaurant (QSR) within the industry, is a specific type of restaurant that serves fast food, fast-food cuisine and has minimal Foodservice#Table service, table service. The food served ...

Dunkin' Donuts DD IP Holder LLC, doing business as Dunkin', and originally Dunkin' Donuts, is an American multinational coffee and doughnut company, as well as a quick service restaurant. It was founded by Bill Rosenberg in Quincy, Massachusetts, in 19 ...

Mister Donut Mister Donut is an international chain of doughnut stores, operating mostly in Asia. 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 ...

, and

Baskin-Robbins Baskin-Robbins, Inc. is an American multinational chain of ice cream and cake specialty store, specialty shops owned by Inspire Brands. Baskin-Robbins was formed in 1945 by Burt Baskin and Irv Robbins in Glendale, California.Canton, Massachusetts Canton is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 24,370 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Canton is part of Greater Boston, about southwest of Downtown Boston. History The area that is present ...

. It was acquired by

Inspire Brands Inspire Brands LLC is an American fast-food restaurant franchise company. Backed by Roark Capital Group, it owns the Arby's, Buffalo Wild Wings, Sonic Drive-In, Jimmy John's, Dunkin' Donuts, and Baskin-Robbins chains, which have a combined ...

in 2020.

History

Allied-Lyons

In 1973, British food company J. Lyons & Co. purchased

Baskin-Robbins Baskin-Robbins, Inc. is an American multinational chain of ice cream and cake specialty store, specialty shops owned by Inspire Brands. Baskin-Robbins was formed in 1945 by Burt Baskin and Irv Robbins in Glendale, California.United Brands Chiquita Brands International S.à.r.l. (), formerly known as United Fruit Co. The United Fruit Company (later the United Brands Company) was an American multinational corporation that traded in tropical fruit (primarily bananas) grown o ...

. J. Lyons and Co. merged with

Allied Breweries Allied Breweries was the result of a 1961 merger between Ind Coope (of Burton), Ansells (of Birmingham), and Tetley Walker (of Leeds). In 1978, Allied Breweries merged with the food and catering group J. Lyons and Co to form Allied Lyons. The b ...

, becoming Allied-Lyons in 1978. In 1990, Allied-Lyons acquired

and

Allied Quick Service Restaurants

In 1994, Allied-Lyons merged with Pedro Domecq S.A., becoming

Allied Domecq Allied Domecq PLC was a multinational company, headquartered in Bristol, United Kingdom, that operated spirits, wine, and quick service restaurant businesses. It was once a FTSE 100 Index constituent and the world's second-largest spirits gro ...

. The restaurant operations were merged under a subsidiary named Allied Domecq Quick Service Restaurants. In 1997, Togo's was acquired by Allied Domecq.

Dunkin' Brands

In 2004, Allied Domecq Quick Service Restaurants was renamed "Dunkin' Brands, Inc.". On December 12, 2005,

Pernod Ricard Pernod Ricard () is a French company best known for its anise-flavoured pastis apéritifs Pernod Anise and Ricard Pastis (often referred to simply as ''Pernod'' or '' Ricard''). The world's second-largest wine and spirits seller, it also produ ...

, which had just taken control of

, announced the sale of Dunkin' Brands to a consortium of

private equity firms A private equity firm or private equity company (often described as a financial sponsor) is an investment management company that provides financial backing and makes investments in the private equity of a startup or of an existing operating com ...

consisting of

Bain Capital Bain Capital, LP is an American Investment company, private investment firm based in Boston, Massachusetts, Boston, Massachusetts, with around $185 billion of assets under management. It specializes in private equity, venture capital, credit, p ...

The Carlyle Group The Carlyle Group Inc. is an American multinational company with operations in private equity, alternative asset management and financial services. As of 2023, the company had $426 billion of assets under management. Carlyle specializes in ...

and

Thomas H. Lee Partners 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, ...

for $2.425 billion in cash. 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. In July 2011, Dunkin' Brands completed its

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...

and became listed on the

NASDAQ The Nasdaq Stock Market (; National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the U.S. by volume, and ranked second on the list ...

Global Select Market (NASDAQ-GS

large cap Market capitalization, sometimes referred to as market cap, is the total value of a publicly traded company's outstanding common shares owned by stockholders. Market capitalization is equal to the market price per common share multiplied by ...

) under the symbol "DNKN". In August 2012, Dunkin' Brands became completely independent of private equity firms. 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 Quincy ( ) is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest city in the county. Quincy is part of the Greater Boston area as one of Boston's immediate southern suburbs. Its population in ...

. 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 The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, primary locations inside convenience stores, namely

Speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Daytona International Speedway, a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida. *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta. *Indianapolis Motor Spe ...

. Dunkin' Brands reported in October 2020 that negotiations were being held with the private equity-backed company

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. Shares of the Dunkin' Brand have reportedly risen 33% in 2020 because of the possible Inspire Brands' deal. On October 30, 2020, Dunkin' Brands announced that it would be acquired by

Arby's Arby's is an American fast-food restaurant, 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-ca ...

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. Dunkin' Brands ceased to exist as a separate company, with Dunkin', Baskin-Robbins, and the trademark management of Mister Donut, becoming part of Inspire Brands.

Subsidiaries

Baskin-Robbins Baskin-Robbins, Inc. is an American multinational chain of ice cream and cake specialty store, specialty shops owned by Inspire Brands. Baskin-Robbins was formed in 1945 by Burt Baskin and Irv Robbins in Glendale, California.Dunkin' DD IP Holder LLC, doing business as Dunkin', and originally Dunkin' Donuts, is an American multinational coffee and doughnut company, as well as a quick service restaurant. It was founded by Bill Rosenberg in Quincy, Massachusetts, in 1950. T ...

References

External links

Official website
(archived, 25 Apr 2020) {{authority control Food and drink companies of the United States Fast-food chains of the United States Holding companies of the United States Companies based in Norfolk County, Massachusetts Canton, Massachusetts Holding companies established in 2004 American companies established in 2004 2011 initial public offerings Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq 2020 mergers and acquisitions Inspire Brands American companies disestablished in 2020 Bain Capital companies The Carlyle Group companies