Former Domino’s CEO Patrick Doyle has reemerged after a yearlong hiatus—and not with another restaurant chain.
On Wednesday, Doyle and investment firm The Carlyle Group announced a partnership to invest in businesses in need of a “technological transformation.” The partnership will invest in companies with valuations of up to $10 billion and will focus at least initially on the consumer and retail sectors of North America.
Doyle will be an executive partner and will work with Jay Sammons, Carlyle’s head of global consumer and retail. They will leverage Carlyle’s resources and Doyle’s experience, and the former Domino’s executive will personally invest in each of the acquired companies.
The firm expects to target public and private companies as well as family-owned businesses with proven business models. It’s uncertain whether the group would target restaurant chains, but the industry is a big focus for investment firms and is loaded with companies in need of technology.
“Patrick Doyle has a proven track record of driving revenue growth, brand recognition and shareholder returns through technological transformation,” Kewsong Lee, Carlyle’s co-CEO, said in the announcement. “We see untapped opportunity to work with established, proven businesses who want to do the same.”
Doyle retired a year ago as Domino’s CEO, having led the company through a decadelong period in which its system sales doubled and its share price soared to over $200. The company did this in part by transforming into a tech-savvy pizza chain, deploying data to make decisions and marketing its ease of use.
His departure led to some speculation as to his next steps, though Doyle himself insisted he had no immediate plans and instead planned to take a break before deciding on his next career move.
That move will be to apply the strategies Doyle used at Domino’s in other businesses. He will work with Carlyle, a massive investment firm with $223 billion in assets under management.
“Carlyle has a team of exceptionally talented people who recognize the opportunity to drive growth in companies through technology and advanced analytics,” Doyle said in a statement. “We believe this partnership will deliver meaningful returns and are eager to engage with companies that fit the strategy.”
Sammons in a statement said the partnership will look for “established companies that consider technological and digital improvement a top priority but haven’t yet had the adequate resources or expertise to pursue this evolution of their businesses.”
The partnership will work “collaboratively” with the companies to identify opportunities, implement teams, structures and systems “to evolve their businesses and ultimately drive growth and value creation.”
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