Subway announced its sale to private equity company Roark Capital last Thursday.
The conditions of the agreement were kept confidential. But reports claimed earlier this week that Roark had outbid rival buyout companies Sycamore and TDR Capital with an offer of roughly $9.6 billion for Subway.
Subway CEO John Chidsey stated that the deal showed the company’s global reach and the enormous value of the Subway brand and its franchisees.
Subway was created in 1965 by nuclear physicist Peter Buck and dentist Fred DeLuca in Bridgeport, Connecticut, under the name Pete’s Super Submarines. In 1968, the fast food chain became known as Subway.
Subway, founded in Connecticut and now operating in over 100 nations with over 37,000 locations, is one of the largest restaurant chains in the world.
Business reports show the brand has been losing ground to newer, more innovative competitors in recent years, such as Firehouse Subs and Panera Bread, which provide a wider selection of food and more locations.
A 2017 initiative to upgrade its stores has spurred Subway’s expansion. It released a new range of chef-crafted sandwiches in 2021 and updated its menu and ingredients the following year.
Roark Capital, a company with $37 billion in assets under control, is a franchise business conglomerate that owns several restaurant franchises. Sonic, Baskin-Robbins, Arby’s, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dunkin’, and Jimmy John’s are all part of the company’s portfolio.
Another problem for Subway was their former spokesman.
In 1999, former Subway spokesperson Jared Fogle gained notoriety for saying that he had overcome his obesity by increasing his physical activity and decreasing his caloric intake from 10,000 to 2,000 per day. A 6-inch turkey sub, baked potato chips, plus a Diet Coke made up the meal. For dinner, he ate a footlong veggie sub and drank Diet Coke. Fogle earned fifteen million dollars in Subway advertising revenue.
Fogle, who police said possessed 400 child-porn recordings, pleaded guilty to possession of child pornographic material and flew from Indiana to New York City in August 2015 and paid for sex with an underage female. He must pay out $1.4 million to 14 different victims.
According to the media, he was sent to the FCI in Englewood, Colorado, where he’ll spend the next 15 years and eight months behind bars.
