By Bill Peters

Sandwich chain's IPO filing offers details about sales gains and family compensation

Sandwich chain Jersey Mike's plans to plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker "JMKE."

Jersey Mike's Subs on Thursday publicly filed its IPO paperwork, a move that brings the sandwich chain closer to a stock-market debut as it seeks to become a global brand in a tough backdrop for the restaurant industry.

The disclosure follows a confidential IPO filing from the chain in April, and comes after SpaceX's (SPCX) debut helped bring some excitement to the IPO market. Bloomberg has reported that Jersey Mike's is seeking a minimum $12 billion valuation, potentially making it one of the biggest restaurant debuts in several years.

The number of Jersey Mike's shares to be sold and their price has yet to be determined. The company plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker "JMKE." Morgan Stanley, Jefferies and J.P. Morgan are acting as global coordinators and bookrunning managers for the offering.

Here are five things to know:

Jersey beginnings, global ambitions

Jersey Mike's started with a single sandwich shop called Mike's Subs in Point Pleasant, N.J., in 1956. Jersey Mike's founder, Peter Cancro, began working there at age 14, bought the business in 1975 and started franchising the chain in 1987.

Jersey Mike's now has more than 3,300 in the U.S. and elsewhere. Cancro, in a letter to shareholders included in the filing, said Charlie Morrison - a former CEO of Wingstop (WING) - had been selected as the CEO of the company.

Morrison, in his own letter to shareholders, said more expansion abroad was ahead for the company, after setting up stores in the U.K. and Canada.

Blackstone ownership

In 2024, Cancro agreed to sell a majority of the company to the investment firm Blackstone (BX).

Once the public offering concludes, Blackstone will hold a majority of the voting power of Jersey Mike's shares that can be used to pick board directors, according to the filing.

A half-decade of sales growth

Jersey Mike's has put up 50% same-store sales growth from 2020 to 2025, a period that covered pandemic lockdowns, surging costs and higher menu prices that scared consumers away. Since then, restaurant chains have been hurling discounts and deals at consumers to win them back.

During the 13-week quarter that ended June 28, that growth stood at 2.3%, the company said, with its popular limited-time chicken salad sub and digital marketing efforts driving the gains. Jersey Mike's said it expects systemwide sales of around $1.2 billion over that time, a bit up from $1.1 billion in the same period last year.

Total sales last year came in at around $4.22 billion, up around 13% from fiscal 2024. In 2025, Jersey Mike's had net income of around $55 million.

The chain's expansion hasn't come without costs. It had racked up $2.1 billion in outstanding fixed-rate debt as of March 29.

Protein craze, higher-income consumers

In the filing, Jersey Mike's pitched itself as a beneficiary of the ongoing protein and GLP-1 craze. Its sandwiches, it said, were "inherently protein-forward."

And as lower-income shoppers, who are more sensitive to price increases, stay cautious about dining out, Jersey Mike's said most of its customers tended to be middle income and higher income.

"This customer profile has demonstrated resilience across economic cycles, benefiting from brand loyalty, habitual visitation and the affordable convenience positioning of the category," the filing said.

Family affairs, and an airplane

The filing also showed that prior to Blackstone's ownership, members of Cancro's family were employed "in various roles" by the company from 2023 to 2025 and received, at times, million-dollar payouts.

For instance, John Cancro, Cancro's brother, received total compensation of around $20 million last year. Daniel Powers, Cancro's brother-in-law, got around $30 million at that time, while Phillip Sivolobov, Cancro's stepson, received total compensation of approximately $50 million.

None of the family members received any compensation from Jersey Mike's in the 13 weeks that ended March 29, 2026, the filing said.

The filing also showed that a corpoate aircraft "was transferred to an entity controlled by Peter Cancro" for around $41 million in conjunction with Blackstone's majority stake.

-Bill Peters

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