New purchases by the private equity fund Roark Capital. Now the American has announced that it is about to close the purchase of the fast food restaurant chain specializing in sandwiches, Subway, for around 9,600 million dollars; that is, 8,825 million euros to change, as confirmed by the American media The Wall Street Journal.
According to sources familiar with the situation, the purchase of Subway could be completed this week, after a long struggle between different funds, including TDR and Sycamore, although the newspaper notes that a bigger offer could still come from some interested group.
Since its founding in 1965, Subway has been owned by its two founding families and is currently the eighth largest restaurant chain in the United States, with a turnover of 9.8 billion dollars (9.009 billion euros) in the country, where It has 20,810 points of sale, according to the market research firm Technomic.
Despite the closures in the United States, the chain is expanding abroad, after signing 15 agreements with international franchisees since 2021 with the goal of opening around 9,000 restaurants, including the opening of almost 4,000 locations in China in the next 20 years.
For its part, Atlanta-based fund Roark is no stranger to investing in restaurants and food, as its portfolio has included pretzel purveyor Auntie Anne’s, sandwich chains Arby’s and Jimmy John’s, as well as brands Baskin-Robbins and Carvel ice cream.
