Inspire Brands Files Confidentially for IPO

• The restaurant franchisor owns major brands including Dunkin’, Arby’s, Buffalo Wild Wings, Jimmy John’s, Sonic and Baskin-Robbins.

• The IPO could help Inspire repay debt, but it comes as restaurants face slower traffic, rising costs and pressure on value-focused consumers.

Restaurant mega-franchisor Inspire Brands has filed confidentially for an initial public offering. Inspire plans to use IPO proceeds to repay outstanding debts and cover the fees and expenses incurred to execute the IPO.

Inspire, whose best-known brands are Arby’s, Baskin-Robbins, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dunkin’, Jimmy John’s and SONIC Drive-In, collectively owns 33,300-plus locations worldwide and has more than $33.4 billion in sales. The biggest of the brands is Dunkin’, which generated $15.5 billion in system sales last year from more than 14,000 locations worldwide, according to Nation’s Restaurant News.

Atlanta-based Inspire Brands, whose majority owner is the private equity firm Roark Capital, was established in 2018 after Arby’s acquired Buffalo Wild Wings and Rusty Taco. (Gala Capital Partners bought Rusty Taco in 2022, QSRMagazine.com pointed out in its report on the potential IPO.) In December 2018, Inspire Brands bought SONIC for $2.3 billion, NRN.com said.

The umbrella franchisor acquired Jimmy John’s in 2019; the price was not disclosed. And in December 2020, Inspire Brands purchased Dunkin’ Brands Group, which includes Baskin-Robbins ice cream, for $8.8 billion, The Wall Street Journal said.

Dunkin’ is Inspire’s fastest-growing brand, according to QSRMasgazine.com, with Jimmy John’s in second place. Third is Buffalo Wild Wings GO, which launched a net of 79 new sites last year, the publication said.

Roark Capital is heavily invested in other high-profile fast-food brands as well, owning Auntie Anne’s, Carvel, Cinnabon, CKE brands (the parent of Carl’s and Hardee’s), GoTo Foods (parent of Jamba, Moe’s Southwest Grill and Schlotzsky’s), McAlister’s Deli and Subway (a $9 billion-plus acquisition completed two years ago). In addition, Roark holds a minority stake in The Cheesecake Factory after making a $200 million investment back in 2020, per an article posted on NRN.com.

• The private equity firm generally holds onto its investments long term, but this year did sell Nothing Bundt Cakes for $2 billion. (Roark had bought Nothing Bundt Cakes in 2021, according to Restaurant Business; terms were not disclosed.)

• If Inspire Brands does become a publicly traded company, it would be Roark’s second, following Wingstop’s IPO, which occurred in 2015. (Roark had acquired Wingstop in 2010, Restaurant Business reported.)

• Through its confidential filing with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission, Inspire Brands can assess investors’ interest without publicly reporting its financial data. Inspire will have to disclose that information to investors if it moves forward with the IPO, however.

The Wall Street Journal noted in its report that Inspire Brands’ confidential IPO filing comes as restaurant revenue has been dented by a slowdown in traffic due to consumers’ feeling the financial pinch of the rising cost of gasoline along with other inflationary pressures. Across the restaurant industry, traffic fell 2.3% in March 2026 as compared with March 2025, according to a May 11 CNBC article that cited Black Box Intelligence.

In that article, CNBC reported that Applebee’s and Domino’s, in particular, experienced sluggish sales in March as gasoline prices repeatedly increased. CNBC quoted John Peyton, the CEO of Dine Brands, the owner of Applebee’s and IHOP, as saying that March and April were softer than January and February for his restaurants, especially among value-oriented consumers who are “staying home more often or dining at lower-cost alternatives. … We attribute that to gas prices specifically and the economy more generally.