Peter Cancro was 17 in 1975 when his high school football coach loaned him the money to buy Mike's Subs, a single-store sandwich shop in Point Pleasant, New Jersey (S-1). Fifty years, 3,300 stores, and one Blackstone buyout later, Jersey Mike's Subs Inc. filed an S-1 on July 2, 2026 to list Class A common stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker JMKE (S-1 cover).

Blackstone acquired the company on January 16, 2025 for a purchase price of $6.3 billion (S-1 MD&A). Eighteen months later, Blackstone Funds are the selling stockholders, and Jersey Mike's will list as a "controlled company" under NYSE rules with the Sponsor holding a majority of the combined voting power after the offering (S-1 Prospectus Summary).

The origin story

Mike opened his sub shop in Point Pleasant in 1956 (S-1 Company Overview). Cancro worked there as a teenager and, at 17, borrowed the money to buy the store from his youth football coach (S-1). He began franchising in 1987 and was CEO of the private company from November 2007 until April 2025 (S-1 Management).

Systemwide sales climbed from $3.3 billion in 2023 to $4.2 billion in 2025, store count from 2,686 to 3,256, with 20 consecutive years of positive same-store sales growth (S-1 MD&A). In November 2024, Cancro signed the equity purchase agreement with Blackstone, and the deal closed on January 16, 2025 (S-1). Cancro retired as CEO in April 2025, retained a "meaningful equity ownership," and signed a Master Franchise Agreement to run the UK and Ireland expansion himself. First UK stores are projected in greater London toward the end of 2026 (S-1 Founder Letter).

The people running it

Charlie Morrison, 57, has been CEO since April 2025 and is the second CEO in the company's 50-year history (S-1 CEO Letter). He was Chairman and CEO of Wingstop from June 2012 to March 2022, where he took the company public, and before that CEO of Rave Restaurant Group. Between Wingstop and Jersey Mike's, he ran Salad and Go (S-1 Management). His stated go-to Jersey Mike's order is the #13 Original Italian, Mike's Way, with banana peppers (S-1 CEO Letter).

Michele Allen, 51, has been CFO since December 2025. She was CFO and Head of Strategy of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from November 2019 to November 2025 (S-1 Management).

Stacy Peterson, 51, has been President and COO since September 2025. She was CEO of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams from December 2022 to August 2025, and before that spent nearly a decade in senior digital and technology roles at Wingstop, overlapping with Morrison (S-1 Management).

Andrew G. Skehan, 65, is President, International. He was CEO of Home Franchise Concepts and, before that, President of Krispy Kreme U.S. & Canada. He is a U.S. Naval Academy graduate and served as a Surface Warfare officer, including on the Staff of the Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet (S-1 Management).

Nigel Travis, 76, is Chairman. He has been a Senior Advisor at Blackstone since July 2022, was CEO of Dunkin' Brands from January 2009 to July 2018, and chairs Abercrombie & Fitch (S-1 Management). Three other directors, David Kestnbaum, Devon Rinker, and Michael Staub, are Blackstone Private Equity Group Managing Directors, and all three also sit on the board of Tropical Smoothie Café, another Blackstone franchise portfolio company (S-1 Management). Peter Cancro, 69, remains on the board (S-1 Management).

By the numbers

  • Systemwide sales: $3,342M (2023), $3,735M (2024), $4,217M (2025), $1,097M in Q1 2026 (S-1 MD&A).
  • Same-store sales growth: 8.4% (2023), 2.0% (2024), 3.2% (2025), 1.7% in Q1 2026 versus 4.9% in Q1 2025 (S-1 MD&A).
  • Company revenue: $561M (2023), $653M (2024), $724M combined across the Predecessor and Successor periods of 2025, $185M in Q1 2026 (S-1 Selected Financial Data).
  • Adjusted EBITDA margin: 35% (2023), 40% (2024), 47% in the Blackstone-era portion of 2025, 45% in Q1 2026 (S-1 MD&A). Q1 2026 GAAP net loss of $24 million driven by $30 million of interest expense against $12 million of operating income (S-1 Selected Financial Data).
  • Unit economics: $1.4 million AUV, 16% Store-level Margin, roughly $515,000 average Build Cost, 42% Cash-on-Cash Returns in Fiscal 2025 (S-1 Prospectus Summary). 630 franchise owners, largest runs 91 stores, or about 3% of the system.
  • Cash: $232 million as of March 29, 2026, versus $811 million as of December 31, 2024. The difference exited through the Sponsor Acquisition (S-1 Selected Financial Data).
  • Long-term debt: $2.06 billion of Securitization Notes outstanding as of March 29, 2026 (S-1 Selected Financial Data).
  • Founder-directed items: Founder-directed discretionary bonuses and charitable donations totaled $112M (2023), $192M (2024), and $11M (2025). In addition, the founder paid $411 million of transaction bonuses in 2025 tied to the Sponsor Acquisition, not included in the Consolidated Statement of Operations (S-1 MD&A).

What could break

The Sponsor took a dividend from the pre-IPO debt raise. On February 9, 2026, the Master Issuer issued $250 million of Series 2026-1 Class A-2-I Notes at 4.952% and $510 million of Class A-2-II Notes at 5.481%. Proceeds were used to redeem older notes, pay transaction fees, and for "general corporate purposes, including a dividend to our Sponsor and debt repayment" (S-1 Description of Certain Indebtedness).

The whole-business securitization is load-bearing. Substantially all royalty and license revenue flows through a bankruptcy-remote Master Issuer that services the Series 2021-1, 2024-1, 2025-1, and 2026-1 Notes (S-1 Description of Certain Indebtedness). As of December 28, 2025, the leverage ratio was greater than 5.0x, which required a $5 million mandatory principal payment in February 2026 (S-1 Description of Certain Indebtedness).

Same-store growth is decelerating into the IPO. SSSG went from 8.4% in 2023 to 2.0% in 2024, to 3.2% in 2025, to 1.7% in Q1 2026 versus 4.9% in the year-ago quarter (S-1 MD&A). Unit growth of 8.5% in 2025 and 8.1% in Q1 2026 is doing most of the top-line work (S-1 MD&A).

The offering

The July 2, 2026 filing is a preliminary S-1 with all pricing terms blank: share count, price range, and implied valuation are placeholders (S-1 cover). The company applied to list Class A common stock on the NYSE under the ticker JMKE (S-1 cover).

Underwriters: Morgan Stanley, Jefferies, and J.P. Morgan are the Global Coordinators and Joint Bookrunners; Barclays and Guggenheim are Co-Global Coordinators; the wider syndicate includes Goldman Sachs, BofA Securities, Wells Fargo, Evercore ISI, UBS, Deutsche Bank, and fifteen other names. Blackstone Capital Markets is listed as a Co-Manager (S-1 cover).

Use of proceeds: Jersey Mike's Subs Inc. will use net proceeds to buy newly issued Common Units of Jersey Mike's Holdings, which will in turn repay a portion of the Series 2026-1 Notes and cover general corporate purposes (S-1 Use of Proceeds). The company will not receive any proceeds from the selling stockholders, which are Blackstone Funds Boardwalk ML Holdco I L.P. and Boardwalk ML Holdco II L.P. (S-1 Principal and Selling Stockholders).

Existing more-than-5% owners: the Blackstone Funds and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, which shares dispositive power over the Boardwalk II shares through its subsidiary Platinum Falcon B 2018 RSC Limited (S-1 Principal and Selling Stockholders).

What to watch

  • The pricing S-1/A: shares, price range, valuation, and Blackstone's post-IPO voting stake are still blank (S-1 cover).
  • Series 2026-1 Notes anticipated repayment dates: February 2031 (Class A-2-I) and February 2034 (Class A-2-II); final maturity February 2056 (S-1 Description of Certain Indebtedness).
  • The next quarterly leverage ratio on the Securitization Notes: above 5.0x triggers additional mandatory principal payments (S-1 Description of Certain Indebtedness).
  • Peter Cancro's first UK store openings under the Master Franchise Agreement, projected in greater London toward the end of 2026 (S-1 Founder Letter).

Sources

Not financial advice.