As per the Wall Street Journal story on Friday, Blackstone, a prominent investment firm, has been in talks with Jersey Mike’s regarding a possible $8 billion acquisition of the sandwich business.
The Jersey Although Peter Cancro, the chain’s owner and CEO, told Restaurant Business in June of last year that he was beginning to consider selling the company, Mike’s would neither confirm nor deny having had talks with Blackstone.
Jersey Since its 1956 launch in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, tucked away on the Jersey Shore, Mike’s Subs has gone a long way. There are currently approximately 2,800 active or planned locations for the submarine sandwich chain.
Jersey, Cancro stated. Mike’s figures exceeded the profitability figures of those businesses as well as Jimmy John’s, the sandwich company that Inspire had previously purchased for a sum of $2.3 billion.
The Journal characterized the conversations between Blackstone and Jersey Mike’s as “on-and-off,” citing unnamed sources.
Cancro began his association with Jersey Mike’s at the age of 14, when he and his brother John worked in the first establishment. At seventeen, he borrowed money from his high school football coach to purchase what was then a single-unit enterprise.
He currently divides his time between a home in Florida and a home in New Jersey, but he is still heavily involved in the chain’s daily operations.
When discussing the prospect of a sale last year, Cancro stated that he would continue to be involved with the company but that he might dedicate more of his time to Jersey Mike’s numerous humanitarian endeavors afterward. During what the company refers to as the Month of Giving, the chain raised $25 million for roughly 200 local charities last month.