New York
CNN
—

Jersey Mike’s Subs is selling a significant stake to private equity giant Blackstone, ending its nearly seventy-year existence as an independent company that grew into a major competitor to well-entrenched brands like Subway.

Blackstone announced Tuesday that it has acquired a “majority stake” in Jersey Mike’s, valued at about $8 billion, according to a source familiar with the matter. The influx of cash will help the sandwich chain “accelerate its expansion within and beyond the U.S. market, as well as its continued investments in technology and digital transformation,” according to a statement.

Jersey Mike’s founder and CEO Peter Cancro, who has been with the chain for some 50 years, will remain with the company in a leadership position and acquire a “significant equity stake.

The 66-year-old started working at the original New Jersey location in 1971, when he was a high school student, and bought the location company, then called Mike’s Subs, in 1975, when he was just 17. He adapted the name to the In the 1980s, he began franchising the brand, allowing it to grow to approximately 3,000 locations in the US and Canada.

“We believe we are still in the early stages of Jersey Mike’s growth story and that Blackstone is the right partner to help us reach even greater heights,” Cancro said in a statement.

Jersey Mike’s is the second largest sandwich chain in terms of sales after Subway. Data from QSR Magazine shows that Jersey Mike’s locations bring in about $1.35 million per unit, while an average Subway location brings in less than $500,000.

Blackstone’s transaction is the largest since Subway sold itself to private equity firm Roark Capital last year for about $9.6 billion.