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?