Canton, Mass.-based Dunkin' Brands Group Inc., parent company of Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin-Robbins, has announced that it has filed a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed initial public offering of $400 million of its common stock.
According to a company statement, the offering is being made through an underwriting group that includes J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Barclays Capital Inc. and Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc.
BofA Merrill Lynch and Goldman, Sachs & Co. also are acting as joint book-running managers of the move.
Rumors regarding Dunkin Brand's hiring of advisors to help with the transition began floating around in early April.
All of the shares will be sold by Dunkin' Brands. The company intends to use the net proceeds to fund part of the redemption price for its outstanding senior notes due in 2018.
Dunkin' Brands will likely be listed under "DNKN" on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.
Dunkin' Donuts went private in 2005 for a $2.4 billion buyout by Bain Capital Partners, the Carlyle Group and Thomas H. Partners.
At the end of 2010, Dunkin' Brands' nearly 100-percent franchised business model included 9,760 Dunkin' Donuts restaurants and 6,433 Baskin-Robbins restaurants, and the company had systemwide sales of approximately $7.7 billion.
