Dunkin' Donuts Reportedly Sold (to Carlyle Group)

Yet another reason to eat Krispy Kremes.

http://www.thestreet.com/_googlen/stocks/food/10257073.html?cm_ven=GOOGLEN&cm_cat=FREE&cm_ite=NA

By TSC Staff
12/12/2005 4:58 PM EST

Dunkin' Donuts' future will be charted by three private equity firms that reportedly have won the auction for the Pernod Ricard (PDRDF:OTC - commentary - research - Cramer's Take) unit.

Two Boston-area giants, Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee, will join the Carlyle Group in buying the doughnut and coffee chain, whose strongest presence is in the Northeast, several reports said.

Reuters put the purchase price at $2.4 billion, citing sources familiar with the matter.

Pernod is divesting the business in connection with its acquisition of Allied Domecq. The purchase prices is less than half the chain's annual sales in 2004.

I think it IS a front to laundry money. Think....lots of small purchases, no receipts, AND world wide locations. Sounds like the perfect front. Cold cash and hot dough....

they filed for bankruptcy.

http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/2005/04/18/daily5.html

(Although, I don't know if that means that they'll be going away or not.)

It's their Canadian franchisee.

Although Krispy Kreme has been having financial problems. They ditched their CEO and brought in a turnaround specialist.

I plead ignorance when it comes to business/money :)

and Togo's Sandwiches.

I like Krispy Kremes better than DD anyway...but to lose Baskin-Robbins! ACK!
:dilemma:

You can still pack on dozens of useless, yummy ice cream pounds without contributing to the global domination of the BFEE. Get yer ice cream at Marble Slab instead of Baskin Robbins.

But it's NO Way as good as old Baskin-Robbins.

:sigh:

napalm.

I'm not very awake yet. Whatchyoo talkin' 'bout, Willis?

because the parent company manufactured napalm for the Pentigon...

I think it was the same company that made Wonder Bread. "Burns strong bodies 12 ways".

Anyone else remember this?

including household cleaners, Saran Wrap, and some OTC Pharmaceuticals.

Don't recall any food products, though.

Anyone else have info?

But I'll not stop drinking the coffee.

dysentery & diarrhea. :puke:

their coffee is some nasty shit.

...and how adept the help is at maintaining coffee freshness. Some franchises are good. But when I lived in Battle Creek, MI the local DD franchise was horrible...no idea if it's turned around now, but for awhile they had gone from good to wretched....stale coffee and stale donuts, and indifferent help. The best donut action in Battle Creek was always Zeller's Donut Shoppe, but they are no more as the last of the owners decided to retire. I was glad I was in town visiting family for its last days in business...dammit I miss those maple-frosted creme-filled triangles, washed down with Paramount Diner's Choice coffee...heaven. :( Ah well...as Bruce Cockburn once sang, every thing that exists in time runs out of time someday. Bummer, that...

Todd in Beerbratistan

condiments from....

Boston Creme donuts are gone forever.

... for the ending of production of the Dunkin Donut. The one with the handle, easy to dunk. Its NOT the same as an old fashioned. Totally different taste.

:nuke: :grr:

DD is bad enough without Carlyle.

in this country. if you divide 5 billion dollars by 300 million people, that's 16 bucks spent by every man, woman, child, baby, infirm elderly patient...

look, i didn't spend a penny on dunkin' donuts or any of their subsidiaries... so SOMEBODY must be eating a lot of donuts out there.

FESS UP!

Saw them all over the place in Malaysia and Singapore, anyway.

first off Dunkin Donuts locations are franchises, all the three investors are doing is buying the company that, among other things, sells and maintains the franchise licenses. Secondly this isn't all that surprising. There have been rumours of Dunkin Donuts being sold for a while now. Also the report doesn't mention who is putting up how much of the money or what role they will play post acquisition.

I'm tied up in a project right now, but I believe you will find Bain and Lee to have several Bush buddies running their shows.

musical chairs also, must be the season. At least the companies are staying in bounds, er in the US.

to?

Bain Capital LLP is a Boston, Massachusetts-based private equity firm founded in 1984 by Mitt Romney, the current Governor of Massachusetts, and two other partners from Bain & Company, the consulting firm: T. Coleman Andrews and Eric Kriss. Bain Capital was originally conceived as a combined equity start-up and leveraged buyout fund, an innovative strategy at the time. Some of their other holding include Toys R Us, KB Toys, Burger King, Unisource and Staples. And for our Canadian friends Bain owns the Dollarama chain based in Montreal. Mark my words, there will come a time when you won't be able to buy anything without putting money in a Bush pocket. A sad state of affairs indeed. By the way, Eric Kriss currently serves as Secretary of Administration and Finance in the Romney administration.