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

Explore the Trendline➔

Restaurant Financing

With ongoing macroeconomic pressures facing restaurants, operators are entering into alternative financing, mergers and acquisitions and even bankruptcy to sustain their businesses. 

By Restaurant Dive staff

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 Manning • Dec. 9, 2019

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. 9, 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. 8, 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. 6, 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

Landry's buys Del Frisco's from L Catterton

The private equity firm closed its deal for the restaurant group only to sell Del Frisco's Grille and Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouse to Landry's. It will maintain ownership of Barcelona Wine Bar and bartaco. 

By Julie Littman • Sept. 25, 2019

Huddle House buys Perkins for $51.5M

This latest acquisition tops off a particularly active M&A environment for casual brands in 2019, driven by slow-to-grow sales trends. 

By Julie Littman • Sept. 13, 2019

McDonald's acquires AI tech company Apprente

The chain will also form a global technology team, McD Tech Labs, which will help further support its future innovations. 

By Julie Littman • Sept. 10, 2019

Bloomin' Brands faces more activist pressure to break itself up

Hedge fund Jana Partners is asking the casual dining operator to sell itself entirely or divest brands that aren't Outback Steakhouse.

By Alicia Kelso • Sept. 4, 2019

WeWork enters restaurant space with Spacious acquisition

Spacious turns high-end restaurants into coworking spaces during off-peak hours, and has converted dozens of New York and San Francisco restaurants since its launch in 2016. 

By Alicia Kelso • Aug. 28, 2019

Does DoorDash's latest acquisition give it an edge in autonomous delivery?

The delivery platform bought Scotty Labs, a startup developing autonomous and remote-controlled vehicle technology. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

By Emma Liem Beckett • Aug. 21, 2019

Del Taco reportedly mulling a sale

El Pollo Loco, Dine Brands Global, The Habit Restaurants and other chains and private equity firms have reportedly expressed interest in an acquisition.

By Lauren Manning • Aug. 21, 2019

J. Alexander's considers sale as part of strategic review

The company's board of directors is now considering a sale, merger or acquisition following several transactions within the upscale dining segment.

By Julie Littman • Aug. 13, 2019

What the dine-in sector can learn from the Just Eat merger

In-restaurant mobile ordering hasn't yet reached the ubiquity of delivery, says Wi5 Chief Strategy Officer Gavin Peters, but restaurants who don't anticipate this shift will lose out to digital-first brands.

By Gavin Peters • Aug. 6, 2019

DoorDash acquires Caviar for $410M

This delivery leader's first rival acquisition will give it access to premium restaurants and new customers, and could help it prepare for a future IPO.

By Julie Littman • Aug. 1, 2019

Cheesecake Factory diversifies with $353M Fox Restaurant Concepts buy

The deal brings 45 experience-focused restaurants into the casual giant's portfolio, which the company aims to use as an incubator for future concepts.

By Emma Liem Beckett • Aug. 1, 2019

Elite Restaurant Group adds cupcakes to its growing portfolio

The restaurant operator acquired 68-unit Gigi's Cupcake chain seven months after the bakery filed for bankruptcy protection. 

By Alicia Kelso • Aug. 1, 2019

Delivery.com expands footprint to over 1.8K cities with Mr. Delivery acquisition

With consumer demand for delivery growing, especially outside of large metros, now is the ideal time to expand, says delivery.com CEO Jed Kleckner. 

By Julie Littman • July 31, 2019

Report: Amazon eyes India for its next food delivery venture

The e-commerce giant is working with Indian investment firm Catamaran to launch a food delivery business in the market prior to the festive season in September, Reuters reports.

By Alicia Kelso • July 30, 2019