Is it a case of life imitating a silly spy movie parody? The Carlyle Group, in a joint venture with Bain Capital Partners and Thomas H. Lee Partners, is acquiring Dunkin’ Donuts from the French company Pernod Ricard for $2.4 billion dollars.

Remember how Starbucks was Dr. Evil’s shadow corporation in “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me?” The Carlyle Group is a consortium of former world leaders and inside-the-beltway billionaires. I didn’t know dealing in donuts was such a good deal. Do I detect a whiff of world domination here?

Dunkin’ Donuts currently has 6,500 branches, mostly in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. Carlyle and its cohorts plan to expand Dunkin’s presence across the country and market it as a cheaper alternative to Starbucks. If all those latte drinking liberals want to pay extra for coffee cups with controversial slogans, let ‘em. Dunkin’ Donuts will be laughing all the way to the World Bank.

Anthony DiNovi, co-president of Thomas H. Lee Partners, told the New York Times "Dunkin’ is so much more than a doughnut company." Apparently, it’s also a slayer of small businesses; DiNovi noted that both Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks "are continuing to take share from mom-and-pop coffee shops."

I’ll be the first to admit that Dunkin’ Donuts does brew a consistently good cup of coffee. But will it leave a bitter aftertaste to know you’re supporting a company that’s wallowing in warbucks? I don’t know about you, but I hate the smell of corporatocracy in the morning.