The story
Founded by Chris T. Sullivan and Tim Gannon in 1987.1
The company was founded in August 1988 as Multi-Venture Partners, Inc. in Florida by Tim Gannon, Bob Basham, Trudy Cooper, and Chris Sullivan. In 1988 the first Outback Steakhouse was opened in Tampa, Florida. The company went public in 1991 as a 49-restaurant chain and changed its name to Outback Steakhouse, Inc. Carrabba's Italian Grill was launched in 1993. The company's international expansion began with opening the first Outback Steakhouse in Canada. Revenues for the company exceed $1 billion for the first time. In 1998, the first units of Roy's Restaurant, Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, and Lee Roy Selmon's opened. Cheeseburger in Paradise was launched several years later, in 2002. The Wall Street Journal reported on November 7, 2006, that Bain Capital, Catterton Partners and founders Sullivan, Basham, and Gannon (collectively referred to as Kangaroo Holdings, Inc.), had reached an agreement to buy OSI Restaurant Partners Inc. for about $3 billion.
On April 1, 2019 David Deno became Bloomin' Brands CEO replacing Elizabeth Smith. September 3, 2024, Michael L. Spanos replaced David Deno as CEO.
Before the company becoming OSI Restaurant Partners, LLC, Outback Steakhouse Inc. owned Paul Lee's Chinese Kitchen, Cheeseburger in Paradise, Lee Roy Selmon's, Bonefish Grill, Roy's, Carrabba's, Fleming's and Zazarac brands.
The company formerly held the Cheeseburger in Paradise and Lee Roy Selmon's restaurant concepts. OSI also opened Blue Coral Seafood & Spirits in 2006 and planned 15 locations. They had opened two in California: one at Newport Beach in Orange County, and a second in San Diego, until deciding to close in 2009.
On June 14, 2007, OSI Restaurant Partners completed a stock repurchase plan, and the company became privately held. In April 2012, OSI filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to raise up to $300 million in an initial public offering.
On August 7, 2012, after their initial public offering, OSI Restaurant Partners was renamed Bloomin' Brands, named after the Bloomin' Onion, a menu item sold by Outback Steakhouse. The company began trading on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol "BLMN."
In August 2023, it was announced the New York-headquartered hedge fund, Starboard Value, had acquired a 5% stake in Bloomin' Brands for an undisclosed amount.
From Wikipedia’s article on Bloomin' Brands, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.7