Jersey Mike's Sets IPO as Blackstone Shares Ownership with Staff

How a 51-Year-Old Sandwich Shop Got Wall Street Ready

Peter Cancro was a teenager when he bought the original Jersey Mike's sandwich shop. That was 51 years ago. Over the decades, he built it into a chain with thousands of locations, but it stayed private - until 2024, when Blackstone came along.

Blackstone acquired an 80% stake in the sandwich chain at an $8 billion valuation. That was less than two years ago. Now the company is hitting the public markets with an enterprise value of about $7 billion. Blackstone's exit price, including debt, is nearly identical to what it invested.

The transformation happened fast. Blackstone brought in outside professional managers, set up a corporate board, and started giving employees a stake in the business. Cancro transitioned from chief executive to a board role. Charles Morrison, who led Wingstop's 2015 IPO and later ran Salad and Go, became the new CEO.

The board includes Nigel Travis, who spent years leading Dunkin' Brands, serves as chairman. Fran Horowitz from Abercrombie & Fitch sits on the board, along with ex-AutoNation CEO Cheryl Miller, and three Blackstone representatives. The CFO is Michele Allen, previously the finance chief at Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, is the CFO. The COO is Stacy Peterson, formerly CEO of Jeni's Ice Cream.

The chain's roots go back to a single store in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, originally opened in 1956. The brand's growth accelerated over the decades, leading to its current pipeline of 1,600 planned franchise locations, largely from existing operators.

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The Numbers Behind the Sub Shop IPO

Here is how the ownership shakes out. Blackstone holds 80% of Jersey Mike's. The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority owns another 10%. Cancro keeps the remaining 10%.

Blackstone is selling more than 26 million shares in the offering, while the company is creating nearly 14 million new shares. Post-IPO, Blackstone will still control roughly two-thirds of the voting rights and plans a long-term hold. The firm has a track record of keeping stakes in companies it takes public for an extended period - for instance, Hilton was retained for over four years post-IPO.

Growth plans are ambitious. About 90% of those would come from existing franchise owners who want to open more locations.

Jersey Mike's aims for 7,500 U.S. outlets and 15,000 worldwide. It is already expanding internationally. The brand is making its first transatlantic move into the UK and Ireland, where Cancro inked a master franchise agreement for up to 300 locations.

Store count has grown by roughly 8.4% since Blackstone's acquisition.

What This Means for Corporate Employees

Blackstone is providing Jersey Mike's corporate staff with a bonus-based shared ownership program. Eligibility covers the 293 corporate employees on the payroll at the close of 2024. These bonuses, financed by Blackstone's own proceeds, may be cash or stock and vary from zero to twice an employee's base pay. The amount each person receives depends on Blackstone's profit from the deal and can be adjusted proportionally by how long they've worked at Jersey Mike's.

Direct staff who are not in other equity plans and have been with the company for at least one year when Blackstone exits control will receive a bonus. Franchisees, the people making sandwiches at their locations, and those working in company-run shops are excluded.

Blackstone is doing this kind of wide employee ownership plan publicly for the first time. Similar employee ownership programs have been implemented by KKR with Gardner Denver, which became Ingersoll Rand, and by Lineage Logistics. Ingersoll Rand has awarded stock to over 28,000 workers since 2017.

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