Deal Story: Dunkin’ Brands

To Scott Sperling, Dunkin’ Brands was unlike most other franchise businesses—its franchisees were actually happy. Yet the business was under-managed as part of a large French conglomerate, and THL and its co-investors felt they could make a stand-alone Dunkin’ more profitable. Upon acquisition, they extracted value by expanding the company’s domestic and international footprint and product offerings. It was an unmitigated success: The company’s cash flow nearly doubled, and its private equity owners exited through a successful IPO and secondary stock offerings. As told by Scott Sperling.