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LATEST INDUSTRY NEWS & ACTIVITIES

The restaurant and foodservice industries are experiencing significant changes and consolidation through partnership, mergers, acquisition and investments. Here are some of what has happened in the past year. 

For those interested in the latest news and activity in the foodservice operations and restaurant technology space, bookmark this page as the Tacit Team will add to this list so you may easily view any significant changes the industry needs to be aware of. 
What's New
toastIPO
August 2021

Restaurant technology company Toast is seeking an initial public offering of up to $100 million, according to an S-1 filing submitted Friday to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Earlier this year the company was rumored to be seeking a valuation of $20 billion.

August 2021

Two months after publicly filing plans for an IPO, Dutch Bros Coffee revealed in new documents Friday that it plans to raise $100 million. 

The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined. The brand intends to list its stock as “BROS” on the New York Stock Exchange. 

July 2021

Portillo’s, the drive-thru hot dog chain that started near Chicago in 1963 in a trailer without running water, confidentially submitted documents to begin the process of becoming a publicly traded company Monday.

In submitting its IPO documents, Portillo’s joins a large number of restaurant chains planning to go public in recent weeks. Early this month, Krispy Kreme raised $500 million in its IPO, selling 29.4 million shares of its stock to investors.

July 2021

Krispy Kreme Inc. priced its initial public offering at $17 a share, down from an earlier projected range of $21 to $24 a share, as it begin trading Thursday on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. It closed Thursday at $21 a share, more than 23% above its midday debut.

June 2021

The fast-casual salad chain has filed confidential paperwork for an initial public offering, the company said on Monday, with plans to list its stock after a review by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The price range and number of shares on offer for the proposed IPO have not yet been determined, Sweetgreen said.

June 2021

Dutch Bros, the drive-through chain of coffee stands based in Grants Pass, says it has filed for an initial public offering after years of rapid growth. It could be Oregon’s first major IPO since 2004.

June 2021

Recipe Unlimited Corp. says it has signed a deal to sell its Milestones chain of restaurants to Quebec-based Foodtastic Inc.

Financial terms of the deal were not immediately available.  Recipe chief executive Frank Hennessey says the deal helps the company further rationalize its portfolio to focus on large brands.

June 2021

Restaurant management platform Restaurant365 has acquired Compeat, which is known for its restaurant back-office, workforce and business intelligence software, according to a press release. The acquisition brings together two companies that focus solely on the restaurant industry, the release stated. Customers can see a reduction of around 2% to 5% of food and labor costs by using a unified platform for accounting, payroll, operations and purchasing.

June 2021

Toast is adding to its toolbox with the acquisition of xtraChef, which automates back-office tasks such as accounts payable and inventory management. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The companies said it would give restaurants a better picture of their finances by integrating data from both platforms.

May 2021

Yum Brands publicized its plans to acquire Australia-based Dragontail Systems Limited. The company is a well-known and highly valued provider of AI-based kitchen order management and delivery technology. The merger will allow for easier access to new technology and innovation that will help drive improvements in customer experiences and service options for restaurants throughout the food and beverage industry.

May 2021

Recipe Unlimited Corporation (“Recipe”) is pleased to announce that on May 6, 2021, it completed the acquisition of Crave It Restaurant Group’s (“Crave It”) ownership interest in both The Burger’s Priest and the ‘Fresh – Crave It – Recipe’ joint venture for new market growth of Fresh Plant Powered (“Fresh Restaurants”).

April 2021

PAR Technology Corporation, long considered a leading provider of restaurant software globally, acquired Punchh Inc. Punchh has earned a reputation as a leader in loyalty and guest engagement solutions. According to the ParTech website, this acquisition makes PAR a unified commerce cloud platform for enterprise restaurants. It will help the company improve services with integrated point-of-sale, back office, payment options, and guest engagement solutions.

April 2021

 Elior has acquired French startup Nestor for an undisclosed amount. Nestor originally started with a simple idea to differentiate itself from food delivery giants, such as Deliveroo, Uber Eats and others.  Every day, the startup offered a single menu for lunch. If you liked what was on the menu, you could order and get it delivered 10 to 20 minutes later. By offering a single menu, a delivery person could deliver several clients in a single ride. Similarly, by managing its own kitchen, Nestor could improve its margins as it didn’t have to pay third-party restaurants.

April 2021

PAR Technology Corporation, long considered a leading provider of restaurant software globally, acquired Punchh Inc. Punchh has earned a reputation as a leader in loyalty and guest engagement solutions. According to the ParTech website, this acquisition makes PAR a unified commerce cloud platform for enterprise restaurants. It will help the company improve services with integrated point-of-sale, back office, payment options, and guest engagement solutions.

March 2021

Delivery company Waitr is acquiring Delray Beach, Fla.-based provider Delivery Dudes for $23 million in stock and cash, the company announced Tuesday. The move will help Lafayette, La.-based Waitr expand its footprint in the Sunshine State, where it currently operates in eight markets. Delivery Dudes is concentrated in small and medium-sized markets mainly in South Florida and also has some coverage in Pennsylvania and Tennessee. 

February 2021

DoorDash made headlines when it announced that it had bought Chowbotics electrical company. Chowbotics are the famous developers of a robot that can create custom fresh salads in under a minute at convenient kiosk-style ordering locations. DoorDash merchants can offer more food service options and expand their menu selection without changing their physical kitchen or functional space. 

October 2020

Inspire Brands acquired Dunkin’ Brands Friday for $11.3 billion including the assumption of Dunkin’s debt, in what is easily the largest deal between two restaurant companies of the year. The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2020.  Inspire will buy Dunkin’ for $106.50 per share, resulting in a valuation of roughly $8.8 billion. With the deal, the parent of Dunkin’ and Baskin-Robbins will go private. 

August 2020

Well-known and trusted restaurant management platform TouchBistro acquired TableUp, a company focused on the creation and marketing of customer loyalty software for the food and beverage industry. TouchBistro did release a statement to The Spoon that it will fully integrate TableUp’s CRM and loyalty capabilities into its existing platform and expand and grow current services and features to reach more customers.

August 2020

Seated, which provides a restaurant booking platform that rewards customers with credits for gift cards at select other retailers like Amazon, Nike, Sephora and Uber when they show up to eat, has acquired another industry startup, VenueBook, a platform for event planners to reserve space at restaurants and other venues. Today VenueBook has some 120,000 event planners using its service across the New York tri-state area, Denver, San Francisco and the surrounding Bay Area, and the wider Washington, D.C. region.

July 2020

Uber will acquire food delivery service Postmates in a $2.65 billion all-stock deal intended to give the ride-hail company a much-need jolt after its offer to buy Grubhub fell apart amid antitrust scrutiny.

July 2020

European food-ordering firm Just Eat Takeaway said on Wednesday it had agreed to buy U.S. peer Grubhub in an all-stock deal that, if completed, would create the world’s largest food delivery company outside China.