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Leadership & Strategy
Inspire Brands acquires hamburger chain Sonic for US$2.3bn
By erptre fusion
May 19, 2020
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Inspire Brands, formed by Arby’s acquisition of Buffalo Wild Wings earlier this year, has announced that it is purchasing drive-in hamburger chain Sonic for US$2.3bn
The definitive merger agreement was announced via a statement on 25 September.
Inspire’s portfolio includes over 4,700 Arby’s restaurants, Buffalo Wild Wings, and Rusty Taco locations around the world, and will add Sonic’s 3,600 US restaurants to its asset pool.
Sonic will continue to operate as an independent brand within the Inspire family of restaurants, and will retain its existing management team.
“Sonic is a highly differentiated brand and is an ideal fit for the Inspire family”, Paul Brown, CEO of Inspire, said in the company’s statement.
“We’re excited to build on Sonic’s momentum as we leverage our combined expertise and capabilities to better serve guests, further support team members and franchisees and drive long-term growth”.
Sonic is America’s largest drive-in restaurant chain, serving around 3mn customers daily.
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“As one of the largest owner-operators of company-owned and franchised restaurant brands, Inspire appreciates the unique culture of collaboration between Sonic and our franchisees”, said Sonic’s CEO, Cliff Hudson.
He added: “We look forward to working closely with Inspire as we continue to provide made-to-order American classics, distinctive flavors and the most personalized guest experience in our industry”.
In 2009, Sonic launched a philanthropic campaign known as Limeades for Learning, and has since donated $10.4mn to public school teachers around the US.
The donations go towards the purchase of resources and materials “to inspire creativity and learning in their students”.
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