Shipley Do-Nuts sold to California-based private equity firm
Fast-growing Shipley Do-Nuts has new owners.
Levine Leichtman Capital Partners (LLCP) has partnered with management to acquire the nearly 90-year-old coffee and donut chain from Peak Rock Capital. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but Bloomberg reported that the deal could value the donut chain at $400 million.
Peak Rock acquired the majority share in Shipley from the founding family in 2021 and ramped up the company’s growth. The brand marked its 18th consecutive quarter of positive sales growth in the second quarter of 2025, while expanding into two new states. With more than 375 locations across 14 states, Shipley is on track to open a record-setting 40-plus new shops by the end of 2025.
Best known for its handcrafted, fresh-made-daily donuts (with over 60 varieties), Shipley will continue to be run from its Houston headquarters by the existing executive team, which is led by CEO Flynn Dekker.
"Shipley is growing faster than ever in its history, and partnering with LLCP presents an outstanding opportunity for Shipley to accelerate our growth and bring the world's greatest donut to an even wider audience,” Dekker said. Their extensive expertise in franchise food brands will be pivotal in driving future growth and supporting our franchisees, while preserving our commitment to fresh-made quality and our original recipes that have made our brand the icon it is today."
Shipley is the fourth platform investment of LLCP. The middle-market private equity company has extensive experience investing in the franchising industry, including prior investments in Tropical Smoothie Cafe, Nothing Bundt Cakes and Hand & Stone.
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“We are excited to partner with Flynn and the outstanding Shipley management team, who have been executing on a successful growth strategy,” said Matthew Frankel, managing partner of LLCP. “Together, we see a tremendous opportunity to build on this foundation by expanding unit count even further to capture the substantial whitespace and driving strong same-store sales growth."
