Report: Inspire Brands May Launch IPO This Year or Next

Fast-food chain owner Inspire Brands may be nearing an initial public offering (IPO).

Private equity firm Roark Capital has talked with potential advisers about a listing of Inspire Brands in late 2024 or 2025, valuing the business at about $20 billion, Bloomberg reported Wednesday (Feb. 14), citing unnamed sources. 

The company’s deliberations are ongoing, no final decisions have been made, and any move may depend on market conditions, according to the report. 

Roark Capital did not immediately reply to PYMNTS’ request for comment. 

The private equity firm created Inspire Brands in 2018, the report said. Today, the business includes Arby’s, Baskin Robbins, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dunkin’, Jimmy John’s and Sonic Drive-In.

Inspire Brands’ 2022 acquisition of Dunkin’ was one of the largest-ever restaurant transactions, at $11 billion, per the report.

It was reported Sunday (Feb. 11) that this year could mark a recovery for the IPO market, as Goldman Sachs said its IPO Issuance Barometer has risen to its highest level in two years.

So far, there have been 10 IPOs completed on the U.S. markets with more than $25 million in proceeds, raising $1.9 billion. If this pace continues, it will exceed the levels seen in 2022 and 2023.

“We expect the U.S. economy will continue to grow, the nominal 2-year UST yield will decline modestly, and valuations will remain elevated relative to history,” Goldman Sachs strategists wrote. “If soft data improve to match the hard economic data and equity investor pricing of economic growth, it could lead to a further increase in our IPO Issuance Barometer in coming months.”

In another recent move by Roark Capital, the private equity firm acquired sandwich chain Subway in August for $9.55 billion, subject to customary closing conditions. The firm will reportedly keep Subway as a separate entity within its portfolio.

However, it was reported in September that this deal is expected to be reviewed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) due to concerns over potential antitrust issues. These concerns encompass Roark Capital’s ownership of other brands that may be competitors of Subway and the fact that the combined entity would have more than 40,000 restaurants — three times the number of McDonalds locations in the U.S.