Dunkin Brands Explores Sale Or Merger With Inspire Brands

Dunkin Brands Group Inc DNKN confirmed a New York Times report that the company has expressed an interest in selling itself.

What Happened: Dunkin Brands is the parent company of Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin Robbins. The New York Times reports the company is in talks to sell itself to private equity-backed Inspire Brands.

Inspire Brands is the holding company of such restaurant brands as Arby's, Buffalo Wild Wings and Jimmy John's.

"Dunkin Brands confirms that it has held preliminary discussions to be acquired by Inspire Brands," the company told NYT. "There is no certainty that any agreement will be reached. Neither group will comment further unless and until a transaction is agreed."

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Why It's Important: "The deal being discussed, which could be announced as soon as Monday, would take Dunkin Brands private at a price of $106.50 a share, said two people with knowledge of the negotiations," according to NYT.

Dunkin's stock closed Friday's session at $88.79 a share. The take-out offer would imply a valuation of about $8.8 billion.