Restaurant chain Jersey Mike's prices IPO at $23 per share

Adds company confirmation, context on IPO market and company

By Abigail Summerville and Echo Wang

NEW YORK, July 29 (Reuters) - Sandwich chain Jersey Mike's JMKE.N on Wednesday said it priced its U.S. initial public offering at $23 per share, at the midpoint of its indicated price range, making it one of the largest restaurant IPOs in recent years, confirming an earlier Reuters report.

The IPO raised around $1 billion based on around 43.5 million shares sold, implying a valuation for the Blackstone-backed restaurant chain of around $7.3 billion.

While blockbuster IPOs in sectors such as technology and industrials have pushed U.S. ​IPO volumes to all-time highs this year, raising over $130 billion, there have been very few ⁠consumer and retail IPOs in 2026.

In restaurants, the last sizeable U.S. IPO was Mediterranean chain ​Cava's CAVA.N in 2023 when it raised $318 million for a $4.7 billion valuation.

Jersey Mike’s, the second-largest sub-style sandwich company in the U.S. by sales behind Subway, has 3,300 locations across ​the U.S. and ⁠Canada with plans to expand abroad. Former CEO Peter Cancro started working at the company's Point Pleasant, New Jersey location in 1956, bought the original storefront in 1975, and then began franchising the chain.

Private equity firm Blackstone BX.N completed the acquisition of a majority stake in Jersey Mike's last year in a deal that valued the Tinton Falls, New Jersey-based chain at around $8 billion. Blackstone will still hold around two-thirds of the company’s voting power after the IPO.

This is a quick partial exit for Blackstone at a time when many private equity firms have struggled to sell or IPO their investments. Permira-backed womenswear retailer Reformation REF.N is also listing on Thursday in a rare apparel IPO. Many buyout firms have turned ​to alternatives such as continuation vehicles as they hold assets for longer than originally planned.

Jersey Mike’s said earlier this month it plans to sell around 13.8 million shares, and current investors plan to sell about 29.7 million shares in the offering.

Morgan Stanley, Jefferies, J.P. Morgan, Barclays and Guggenheim are joint book-running managers for the offering.

Jersey Mike's shares are scheduled to start trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday under the symbol JMKE.

(Reporting by Abigail Summerville and Echo Wang; Editing by Chris Reese)

((abigail.summerville@thomsonreuters.com))