Subway sandwich chain items may soon be available on another company’s menu.
The company has reportedly retained advisers to explore a sale of the closely held sandwich shop, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Subway is expected to attract potential corporate buyers and private-equity firms, and could be valued at more than $10 billion, according to people familiar with the situation.
Things are in the very early stages and it is possible there won’t be a sale or other deal.
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“As a privately held company, we don’t comment on ownership structure and business plans,” Subway said. “We continue to be focused on moving the brand forward with our transformational journey to help our franchisees be successful and profitable.”
Subway has been owned by its two founding families for more than five decades.
Subway’s approximately 21,000 U.S. locations did $9.4 billion in sales in 2021, up 13% from the year prior as the chain recovered from the pandemic.
The company had around 37,000 stores around the world as of 2021 and was the biggest restaurant chain by U.S. locations.
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The company had been run by late co-founder Fred DeLuca for many decades, before he was diagnosed with leukemia, and his sister Suzanne Greco took the reins of the company until she retired in 2018.
Peter Buck, who lent DeLuca $1,000 to open a sandwich shop in Bridgeport, Conn., in 1965 and helped co-found the chain, died in 2021.
Chief Executive John Chidsey has worked to turn around the chain since taking the helm in November 2019. He has closed locations, restructured company operations and focused on Subway’s menu and food quality.
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The sandwich chain said in October that its same-store sales rose 8.4% in its third quarter compared with the same period in 2021.