M&A

Dine Brands investor wants to spin off IHOP

Dine Brands' board of directors says that forcing the company into creating a separately traded entity would not be in the best interests of its shareholders.

By Julie Littman • April 03, 2020

Yum acquires leadership development program

The parent company of Pizza Hut and Taco Bell plans to offer Heartstyles, which provides hands-on training, to 98% of its restaurants.

By Julie Littman • March 04, 2020

BBQ Holdings lands 1st acquisition with Granite City Food

This deal is unlikely to be the last for Famous Dave's parent company as it pushes to become a multi-branded concept, mirroring recent moves by Inspire Brands, FAT Brands and Cracker Barrel. 

By Julie Littman • Feb. 14, 2020

Bloomin' Brands closer to divesting Outback Brazil

The company has selected three bidders for its Outback operation in Brazil.

By Alicia Kelso • Feb. 04, 2020

Uber Eats, DoorDash reportedly considered merger in 2019

The two largest delivery providers in the U.S. discussed combining operations around six months ago, following pressure from mutual investor SoftBank, but talks fell apart, according to the Financial Times. 

By Julie Littman • Jan. 31, 2020

British regulators investigate Just Eat, Takeaway.com merger

The British Competition and Markets Authority is determining whether the $8 billion deal could stifle competition in the U.K. market.

By Lauren Stine • Jan. 27, 2020

Chopt buys Dos Toros, forms new holding company

The brands will operate independently under newly formed Founders Table Restaurant Group, and will launch a shared loyalty program.

By Emma Liem Beckett • Jan. 24, 2020

Uber sells India food delivery business to local competitor

The company sold Uber Eats India to Zomato as part of its strategy to leave regions where management doesn't think it can be a top player in the space. 

By Julie Littman • Jan. 21, 2020

Macaroni Grill eyes 2nd acquisition

The once-struggling company hopes to close on another purchase in Q1, one that could bring it halfway to its goal of becoming a $1 billion business, said CEO Nishant Machado.  

By Julie Littman • Jan. 15, 2020

FAT Brands CEO: Chain plans to close an acquisition in Q1, with more in the works

With new funding, the company is poised to buy larger brands as part of its two-pronged strategy to grow organically and through acquisitions, Andy Wiederhorn told Restaurant Dive at the ICR Conference.

By Julie Littman • Jan. 14, 2020

Grubhub says it's not for sale

Contradicting The Wall Street Journal's report, the company said,"there is unequivocally no process in place to sell the company," but that it's exploring acquisition opportunities.

By Emma Liem Beckett • UPDATED: Jan. 10, 2020 at 8:51 a.m.

Yum Brands acquires Habit Burger for $375M

The deal, which is expected to close by the end of Q2 2020, is Yum's first restaurant acquisition since it went public more than 20 years ago.

By Julie Littman • Jan. 06, 2020

10 of the most impactful restaurant acquisitions of 2019

Restaurants and private equity continued to be active buyers this year as restaurant leaders explored ways to grow amid labor and declining traffic pressures.

By Julie Littman • Dec. 20, 2019

Private equity firm acquires 117 Pizza Hut restaurants

Triton Pacific's purchase comes after the pizza chain made plans to restructure its business to address high debt levels and lack of access to capital.

By Alicia Kelso • Dec. 19, 2019

Coffee giants Jacobs Douwe Egberts, Peet's plan to merge and go public

As the coffee space grows at a rapid clip, the market has room for increased competition and JDE Peet's would be well positioned to take significant share.

By Alicia Kelso • Dec. 18, 2019

Delivery Hero to pay $4B for Korean food delivery provider

The acquisition will give Delivery Hero a stronghold in South Korea, where the service is competitive, but still has a lot of room for growth. 

By Julie Littman • Dec. 13, 2019

WeWork shutters restaurant coworking startup Spacious

Spacious, which turns high-end restaurants into coworking spaces during off-peak times, will close at the end of the year, making it the latest casualty in WeWork’s failed IPO.

By Alicia Kelso • Dec. 13, 2019

Chicken Salad Chick bought by new private equity firm

The chain grew system sales seven-fold under previous majority owner Eagle Merchant Partners, and plans to roll out 250 new stores in the next five years.

By Lauren Stine • Dec. 09, 2019

Dive Awards

Deal of the Year: McDonald's acquires Dynamic Yield

The world's largest fast food chain's $300 million purchase of an artificial intelligence company signaled the start of a technology-first age for restaurants.

By Julie Littman • Dec. 09, 2019

Apollo considers selling Qdoba for $550M

The company's asking price is 80% higher than the $305 million it paid to buy the chain from Jack in the Box in 2018. 

By Julie Littman • Nov. 19, 2019

Landry's makes $40M offer for bankrupt Houlihan's

Landry's made its third transaction within the last few months following its acquisition of two Del Frisco's concepts and its bid for Restaurants Unlimited. 

By Julie Littman • Nov. 14, 2019

TGI Fridays will no longer go public in wake of coronavirus

The restaurant's planned $380 million sale to Allegro Merger Corp. was called off last week due to "extraordinary market conditions and the failure to meet necessary closing conditions," according to a regulatory filing. 

By Emma Liem Beckett • Nov. 08, 2019

Bloomin' Brands explores sale, other strategic alternatives

Though it didn't provide a timeline for the review, CEO David Deno told investors that everything is on the table. 

By Julie Littman • Nov. 06, 2019

Cracker Barrel buys Maple Street Biscuit Company for $36M

The casual dining chain will convert its fast casual Holler and Dash concept, which investors have called "an ill-conceived project destined to fail," to Maple Street concepts in the near future.

By Emma Liem Beckett • Oct. 11, 2019

Inspire Brands acquires Jimmy John's

The restaurant group will add its fourth company in its third transaction since its 2018 debut, making it one of the more active acquirers in the last few years. 

By Julie Littman • Sept. 25, 2019