On December 12, 2005, Pernod Ricard, which had just taken control of Allied Domecq, announced the sale of Dunkin' Brands to a consortium of private equity firms consisting of Bain Capital, The Carlyle Group and Thomas H. Lee Partners for $2.425 billion in cash.

On November 30, 2007, Dunkin' Brands sold Togo's to Mainsail Partners, a San Francisco-based private equity firm, in partnership with Tony Gioia, a former president of Baskin-Robbins.

[7][8] In July 2011, Dunkin' Brands completed its initial public offering and became listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market (NASDAQ-GS large cap) under the symbol "DNKN".

[10] On July 30, 2020, the organization announced it would permanently close 800 of its donut and coffee shops by the end of the year due to a sales slump caused by the coronavirus pandemic, primary locations inside convenience stores, namely Speedway.

The potential deal includes Dunkin' Brands private stocks would be sold at $106.50 a share, a 20 percent premium over the closing prices reported on the 23rd of October, implying that the company is being evaluated at around $8.8 billion.