Subway Considers Sale: Report

MILFORD, CT ? Subway is considering a sale that could value the company at more than $10 billion, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

The privately held company is in the early stages of exploring a sale, according to WSJ.

"As a privately held company, we don?t comment on ownership structure and business plans," a subway spokesperson told Patch in a prepared statement. "We continue to be focused on moving the brand forward with our transformational journey to help our franchisees be successful and profitable."

Subway founders Fred DeLuca and Peter Buck launched the company with a single Bridgeport location in 1965, which grew to 16 locations by 1974, according to the company?s website.

At one point, the company had more than 40,000 location and was the largest restaurant chain by locations in the world. However, many locations have closed in the past decade and Subway is down to about 37,000 locations, which puts it second to McDonald's.

Subway named former Burger King CEO John Chidsey as its CEO in 2019. The company embarked on a large restaurant remodeling plan to make their locations more modern and competitive with the growing sandwich restaurant competition. It also upgraded its menu and online ordering system.

The company announced plans to relocate its longtime Milford headquarters to Shelton last year. The move is expected to happen this spring. Subway will make its new Connecticut home at 1 Corporate Drive. Some of the company?s consumer-facing business units moved to Miami in 2021.

Read the full WSJ report here.