Dunkin’ owner Inspire Brands files documents for an IPO

The world’s worst kept secret is no longer a secret.

Inspire Brands, which has been speculated as a likely restaurant industry IPO almost from the day it was created nearly a decade ago, on Friday said it has confidentially filed documents to do just that.

In the process, the Atlanta-based company will potentially give investors another shot at Dunkin’, the fifth largest restaurant chain in the U.S., along with several other well-established restaurant chains, including Sonic, Arby’s, Buffalo Wild Wings, Jimmy John's and Baskin-Robbins.

IPO and industry impact

It also potentially sets up another big industry IPO, as the sandwich chain Jersey Mike’s has also confidentially filed for an offering.

The Roark Capital-owned Inspire was founded in 2018 when Arby’s acquired the chicken wing chain Buffalo Wild Wings. The company then went on a big acquisition spree, acquiring Sonic for $2.3 billion and folding in another Roark-owned concept in Jimmy Johns.

It made one of the restaurant industry’s largest deals in history with the $11.3 billion acquisition of Dunkin’.

Company performance and sales

Today, Inspire’s concepts generate $33 billion in system sales from more than 33,000 global locations, according to the company.

The biggest of the brands is Dunkin’, which generated $15.5 billion in global system sales last year from more than 14,000 locations. In the U.S., its system sales grew 5.1%, thanks to balanced growth in average-unit volumes and unit growth, according to the Technomic Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report.

Overall, Inspire’s concepts had a mixed record in 2025. Sonic, the drive-in chain, saw system sales decline 2.6%. Arby’s declined 2%. But Jimmy John’s grew sales 5.3% and Baskin-Robbins, the ice cream chain that generates $1.6 billion in sales outside the U.S., grew by 5.3% worldwide. Buffalo Wild Wings grew sales by 1.2%, according to Technomic data.

The potential IPO would represent another exit for Roark, the private-equity firm that had largely built its reputation on not exiting. Yet it sold the treat chain Nothing Bundt Cakes earlier this year for $2 billion. An Inspire IPO would be the second time the company took public one of its restaurant chains, having sponsored the Wingstop IPO in 2015.

Roark has been reportedly considering an IPO for some time. Reports emerged in 2024 of an IPO and again earlier this year. Bloomberg had earlier reported that the company would seek to raise nearly $2 billion.

By filing privately, Inspire can weigh potential interest in an IPO without opening its books to the public. The company will have to go public with its documents once it starts a roadshow with investors.