Former IHOP

International House of Pancakes, stylized as its acronym, IHOP, is an American multinational pancake house/fast casual family restaurant chain that specializes in breakfast foods. It is owned by DineEquity, with 99% of the restaurants run by independent franchisees. While IHOP’s focus is on breakfast foods such as pancakes, French toast, crepes, and omelets, it also offers a menu of lunch and dinner items. The company has 1,650 locations in the United States, Canada and the Middle East. It is known for many of its locations being open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. For locations that aren’t open 24 hours, the franchise’s minimum operating hours are Sunday through Thursday from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Fridays and Saturdays from 7 a.m. to 12 midnight.

On July 16, 2007, IHOP Corporation stated its desire to acquire the bar-and-grill chain Applebee’s International, Inc. in an all-cash transaction, valued at approximately US $3.1 billion. Under the deal, IHOP would pay $25.50 per share for Applebee’s. IHOP stated it would franchise most of Applebee’s 500 company-owned facilities. Applebee’s had 1,943 restaurants worldwide at the time, including those operated by franchisees. With a larger than 70% vote, the company approved the undertaking of this enterprise, which closed on November 29, 2007. The deal beat 26 other offers to purchase the flagging Applebee’s.