PRIVATE EQUITY OWNED
Sonic Drive-In
Includes Sonic
fast food · Oklahoma City, OK
- PE Firm
- Roark Capital →
- Acquirer
- Inspire Brands
- Year Acquired
- 2018
Bought for $2.3 billion. Kids hired for $7.25.
The PE Playbook
- Inspire Brands (Roark Capital) acquired Sonic for $2.3 billion in 2018, taking it private
- Multiple child labor violations: 91 underage children found working illegally across 13 South Carolina locations
- Class action lawsuit filed against 30 Sonic locations for wage theft and overtime violations; settled in 2022
- Franchisees fined over $70,000 for child labor violations including allowing minors to operate commercial fryers
Since the Acquisition
- Employees at three Ohio locations resigned en masse in February 2019 after Inspire management changes, alleging a 50% cut to hourly pay
- Class action lawsuit alleged workers at 30 locations were forced to work 30+ minutes off-the-clock after shifts
- A 73-unit franchisee filed bankruptcy in 2020; 10 Pacific Northwest locations shut down by court order after franchisees couldn't pay $2 million in fees
- Some franchise locations quietly added a 2% surcharge to every order — a hidden fee that customers only noticed when they checked their receipts
Sources
- Sonic pays $70K+ for breaking child labor laws — CBS News(2023-08-23)
- Sonic franchisees fined $61K for child labor — QSR Magazine(2023-08-22)
- DOL finds Sonic Drive-Ins violated child labor laws — DOL(2023-08-22)
- Roark Capital Considers Inspire Brands IPO That Could Raise About $2 Billion — Yahoo Finance(2026-03-06)