By George Anderson
A group of buyout firms, including Bain Capital, Thomas H. Lee Partners, and The Carlyle Group, have been in talks to purchased Dunkin' Donuts from its French parent, Pernod Ricard SA.
Pernod, which officially takes over ownership of Dunkin' Donuts as well as Baskin-Robbins and Togo's today from Allied Domecq, previously announced its intention to sell the foodservice businesses.
According to The Boston Globe, Pernod has hired JPMorgan Chase & Co. to help find buyers for the Dunkin' brands. An auction for the business is planned for September.
Both Bain Capital (Domino's Pizza and Burger King) and The Carlyle Group (Dr Pepper/Seven up Bottling Group Inc.) have investments in the food sector.
Dennis Lombardi, executive vice president of food service strategies for the design development firm WD Partners said, "This is not about Dunkin' Donuts going away or Baskin-Robbins going away. This is about how do you make the brands stronger."
Dunkin's Donuts is the strongest of the three businesses with more than 6,000 stores worldwide. Sales for the unit were up 12 percent last year. Baskin-Robbin's sales were up about two percent while Togo's sales were down slightly for the same period.
Moderator's Comment: What do you make of the seemingly increasing number of deals involving buyout firms to takeover retail and foodservice businesses? What does the ownership of these businesses by private equity firms mean for the acquired companies? - George Anderson - Moderator