Outback Steakhouse

Outback Steakhouse is an Autstralian-themed American casual dining restaurant chain, serving American cuisine, based in Tampa, Florida with over 1,000 locations in 23 countries throughout  North and South America, Asia, and Australia. It was founded in March 1988 in Tampa by Bob Basham, Chris Sullivan, Trudy Cooper, and Tim Gannon. It was owned and operated in the United States by OSI Restaurant Partners until it was acquired by Bloomin’ Brands, and by other franchise and venture agreements internationally.

Canadian Outback restaurants began in 1996. In March 2009, Outback Steakhouse Canada abruptly closed all nine locations in the province of Ontario, citing poor economic conditions. However, the restaurant later opened a location in Niagara Falls, Ontario which is the only Outback restaurant left in Canada.

In 1997, Outback entered the South Korean market through the franchise agreement with Aussie Chung Inc. Currently, there are 101 Outback Steakhouse locations throughout South Korea. Outback opened its first location in Japan in 2000; it now operates nine restaurants there.

On June 14, 2007, OSI Restaurant Partners completed a stock repurchase plan, and the company became privately held. In April 2012, Bloomin’ Brands, the current owner of Outback Steakhouse, filed with the SEC to raise up to $300 million in an initial public offering.

Bloomin Brands Inc became a publicly traded company on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol “BLMN.