Global private equity firm KKR has agreed to buy Nothing Bundt Cakes for over $2 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal and Reuters.
Reuters reported in late October that parent company Roark Capital—also the owner of Inspire Brands, GoTo Foods, Subway, and Dave’s Hot Chicken—was exploring a sale of the dessert brand. Roark purchased Nothing Bundt Cakes in 2021 from Levine Leichtman Capital Partners.
The publication previously stated the brand expects to generate $120 million in EBITDA this year.
Nothing Bundt Cakes finished 2024 with 660 locations across the U.S. and Canada, and that’s after opening a net of 236 shops from 2022–2024. It lifted by net 51 stores in 2022, 84 in 2023, and 101 in 2024. During this same period, the brand never closed a store. A vast majority of these outlets are franchised, which continues to be the main vehicle of expansion.
The company’s latest published FDD shows it expected to open 123 locations in 2025, with healthy growth in California (16), Texas (15), and Florida (13).
The chain had around 175 locations when Levine Leichtman took over in 2016. It reached nearly 400 by the time Roark got involved in 2021.
Nothing Bundt Cakes was founded in 1997 in Las Vegas by Dena Tripp and Debbie Shwetz.
KKR, created by George Roberts, Henry Kravis, and Jerome Kohlberg, has been around since 1976. It has offices across America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia Pacific.
