A former proprietor of the excessive avenue retailers DFS and HMV has joined the suitors vying to take management of Subway, the worldwide quick meals chain.
Sky News understands that Advent International is one in all a number of personal fairness companies which have progressed by to the second stage of an public sale of Subway.
Advent submitted an indicative supply for the US-based firm, which might fetch a valuation of between $8bn (£6.6bn) and $10bn (£8.3bn), earlier this month.
It joined rival bidders together with Goldman Sachs’ asset administration arm, Bain Capital, TDR Capital – the joint proprietor of Asda – and TPG.
TSG Consumer Partners, which counts Brewdog amongst its investments, has additionally been monitoring the scenario.
Family-owned chain Subway mentioned it was exploring a sale final month, paving the way in which for a change of possession for the primary time since its maiden retailer was opened in Connecticut in 1965 by Peter Buck, a nuclear physicist.
Since then, it has grown into one of many world’s largest quick-service restaurant chains throughout 37,000 – primarily franchised – shops in additional than 100 nations.
In the UK, Subway trades from greater than 2,000 websites, promoting made-to-order sandwiches, wraps and salads.
It is larger in Britain by variety of shops than rivals comparable to Greggs and McDonald’s.
In a press release final month, the corporate confirmed that its shareholders had been “exploring a possible sale of the company”.
“There is no indication of timing or assurance that a sale will occur.
“The administration staff stays dedicated to the longer term and can proceed to execute towards its multi-year transformation journey, which features a concentrate on menu innovation, modernization of eating places and enhancements to its total visitor expertise.
“The company recently announced another record-setting year, ending 2022 exceeding global sales projections and achieving eight consecutive quarters of positive same-store sales growth.”
Bankers at JP Morgan are overseeing the sale course of.
At a valuation of $10bn, a takeover could be too giant for among the preliminary bidders to execute alone, which means that some could search to staff up with one another or with traders of their personal fairness funds.
A spokesman for Advent declined to remark.
Source: information.sky.com”
