PRIVATE EQUITY OWNED
Subway
Includes Subway Restaurants
fast food · Shelton, CT
- PE Firm
- Roark Capital →
- Year Acquired
- 2024
The world's largest restaurant chain sold to PE for $9.55 billion. Footlongs measured at your own risk.
What They Did
- Roark Capital bought Subway in 2024 for a reported $9.6 billion — the third-largest restaurant deal ever, behind Roark's own $11.3 billion Dunkin' purchase — adding it to an empire that includes Arby's, Dunkin', and Jimmy John's
- Subway had lost over 7,000 U.S. locations from its 2015 peak of ~27,000 before the sale, a sign of years of declining traffic
- Founder Fred DeLuca's estate sold after years of quality complaints, the infamous 'footlong' measurement scandal, and a 2015 spokesperson crisis
- Roark now controls roughly 1 in every 13 franchise restaurants in the United States
Since the Acquisition
- Net loss of 631 U.S. locations in 2024 alone — down below 20,000 stores from a peak of 27,000 in 2015
- The $5 Footlong is long gone — footlongs now cost $7 to $15, and the $6.99 footlong deal of August 2024 set off a franchisee revolt over thin margins (Subway insists it made money on average, and brought it back in 2025)
- Franchisees threatened with termination if they don't complete a $100,000+ 'Fresh Forward 2.0' store remodel, accelerating closures
- Subway terminated a 23-unit franchisee in Oregon and Washington in 2024, closing every one of its stores — the operator blamed a hacked bank account drained of hundreds of thousands of dollars
Sources
- Subway sale to Roark closes at $9.55B — Restaurant Business(2024-05-01)
- Subway sale to Roark is complete — Subway Newsroom(2024-04-30)
- Subway sells to Dunkin' owner Roark Capital — CNBC(2023-08-24)
- Subway's corporate profit has taken off under Roark Capital — Restaurant Business(2026-03-01)
- Roark Capital has a deal to buy Subway — Restaurant Business(2023-08-24)
- Subway's latest Footlong offer draws franchisee ire — Restaurant Business(2025-02-28)
- A 23-unit Subway franchisee shuts down — Restaurant Business(2024-08-21)