Inspire Brands

Conglomerate

Inspire Brands is the Atlanta multi-brand restaurant company private equity firm Roark Capital formed in February 2018 by merging the parents of Arby's and Buffalo Wild Wings, and it has bought a brand a year since: Sonic in 2018, Jimmy John's in 2019, and Dunkin' Brands for $11.3 billion in December 2020, which brought Baskin-Robbins with it. Its own site puts the group at more than 33,400 restaurants and more than 2,500 franchisees across 55 global markets. Roark confidentially filed for an Inspire Brands IPO in May 2026 with proceeds reported as earmarked to repay debt; no S-1 was public on SEC EDGAR as of August 2026, so the company remains privately held. The two brands tracked here are both almost entirely franchised, which means the restaurants are owned by independent operators while the trademarks, the franchise agreements and the royalties sit inside Inspire.

Restaurants: 33,400+ (2026) · 2 companies on Ferret

Dunkin'

Coffee · 14,241+ locations — Dunkin' has been New York's most common chain store for eighteen years running, with 623 locations. Almost every one belongs to a franchisee; the brand belongs to Roark Capital's Inspire Brands. Those franchisees have drawn child-labor penalties in four states and a $1.5 million New York City scheduling settlement.

Red Flag

Jimmy John's

Dining · 2,776+ locations — Jimmy John's reads like a scrappy Illinois sandwich shop, but its founder sold control to Roark Capital years ago. Now owned by Inspire Brands alongside Arby's and Dunkin', the nearly all-franchised chain has drawn wage and overtime settlements, a child-labor penalty, and repeat FDA food-safety warnings.

Red Flag

Firm data last updated August 2026