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Dunkin’ is going public again — this time with an entire restaurant empire in tow

America’s biggest coffee-and-donut chain may be heading back to Wall Street after nearly six years… but this time, it’ll be doing so as the crown jewel in a burgeoning fast-food empire.

Last Friday, Inspire Brands, the private equity-backed restaurant conglomerate behind Dunkin’, Arby’s, and others, announced that it has confidentially filed for an IPO.

Formed in 2018 after Arby’s acquired Buffalo Wild Wings, Inspire added Sonic to its family of brands later that year, then Jimmy John’s in 2019, and Dunkin’ Brands, including Baskin-Robbins, in an $11.3 billion deal in 2020, taking the coffee chain private. Across its six brands, the company says it now has more than 33,300 restaurants around the world and generated about $33.4 billion in systemwide sales in 2025.

Mmm... donuts

While the IPO may seem like a chance to bet on a sprawling restaurant portfolio, Dunkin’ really is doing most of the heavy lifting, accounting for nearly half of Inspire’s global systemwide sales last year, according to Nation’s Restaurant News.

Indeed, the coffee-and-donut giant has pulled far ahead of its parent co’s other major brands in the US. Per data from QSR, Dunkin’s US systemwide sales climbed to about $12.5 billion in 2024, more than double Sonic’s and nearly triple Arby’s — both of which saw sales fall from the previous year, while the rest of Inspire’s brands also saw sales slip or growth slow.

Dunkin’s rise has been especially pronounced since 2021, helped by a store-refresh push that added more mobile-order pickup, drive-thru, and digital-order features, scaling from 1,000 updated locations in early 2021 to 4,000 by mid-2024.

With Inspire’s backer Roark Capital reportedly seeking a $20 billion valuation, the filing comes as just the latest PE-backed chain readying itself to test the public waters. Last month, Blackstone-backed Jersey Mike’s also quietly filed, reportedly aiming for a valuation of at least $12 billion.

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Right after posting an earnings beat last Wednesday, the second weekend of May marked yet another box office triumph for movie powerhouse Disney.

Following a groundbreaking debut, “The Devil Wears Prada 2” added $118.8 million worldwide across weekend two — not only seeing the stylish sequel stay atop the box office, but also bringing Disney Studios’ total global cinema ticket takings to over $2 billion worldwide for just the first five months of 2026, per Deadline. This makes the House of Mouse the only studio so far to reach the milestone this year, having also bested Warner Bros and Universal by some way in the 2025 studio rankings.

Other titles that have added to Disney’s total since January include “Hoppers” ($371.7 million globally) and “Send Help” ($94 million). But holdover theatrical earnings from late 2025 releases “Zootopia 2” and “Avatar: Fire and Ash” — which have now grossed almost $1.87 billion and $1.49 billion worldwide, respectively — have also helped to boost the company’s 2026 tally.

Disney is no stranger to a billion-dollar blockbuster. According to data collated by Box Office Mojo, there are just 60 films that have grossed more than $1 billion since their release... and Disney Studios is now behind 35 of them. Even more staggeringly, Disney owns the rights to six of the seven movies that have notched lifetime grosses exceeding $2 billion.

Bibbidi-bobbidi-billions

Across its expansive portfolio of hit factories — Pixar, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, and 20th Century Studios, to name a few — Disney has become a money-making machine at the box office, with Star Wars spin-off “The Mandalorian and Grogu” set to premiere later this month and the hotly anticipated “Avengers: Doomsday” slated for December.

However, as the company highlighted in last week’s earnings, it doesn’t just stop at the silver screen. With streaming revenue growing 13% in Q2, Disney+ is cashing in on the rewatchability of some of its family friendly movies, only adding to their universal box office appeal.

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Off the charts: Which virus has sent Moderna shares higher this morning on vaccine hopes after a deadly cruise-ship outbreak? [Answer below]. 

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Important Information

1  Source: Morningstar Direct as of 3/31/26.

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