Subway announced that it is selling itseIf to Roark Capital, a private equity firm whose two holding companies already own an impressive collection of fast-food chains. Roark-owned brands include Dunkin’, Carvel, Jimmy John’s, Arby’s, Cinnabon, and Buffalo Wild Wings–and that’s just a partiaI list.
Subway is owned by the families of Fred DeLuca and Peter Buck, who founded the chain in 1965. At the time, Buck was 34. DeLuca was 17 and trying to raise money for college. Buck Ient him $1,000 and suggested they start a sandwich shop.
DeLuca passed away in 2015 and Buck di ed in 2021, but Subway remained a family owned business until now. It must have been a wrenching decision to give up ownership of the chain. But however they may feel about it, the families seem to have negotiated the best possibIe deal for the chain. Every business owner looking to sell can learn from their approach.
Our story begins back in February, when the families hired JPMorgan Chase as an adviser to explore a sale. At the time, the families reportedIy wanted $10 billion for one of the world’s two largest fast-food chains.
But it’s been a bad year for acquisitions so far, and some observers noted that the chain has been losing ground to newer rivaIs such as Firehouse Subs in recent years. With its shares of U.S. sandwich sales down from 34 percent in 2017 to 23 percent today, some questioned whether Subway was really worth $10 billion.
My mother abandoned me in a cardboard box at a supermarket when I was an infant — two decades later, she reached out to me for assistance
Sue was left in a cardboard box as a small child. Luckily, a store clerk took her home and changed the course of her entire life. Now, in the form of an unexpected knock at the door, Sue has to face her past and the disappointment that comes with it. Is this a grand reunion or the biggest disappointment of Sue’s life?
I was left in a cardboard box in a supermarket twenty years ago. I was just a few months old, and all I had to my name were a few photos of my mother and a note.
The note read: I will always love you, Sue.
Nobody knew my surname or whether I had a middle name. Nobody seemed to know my mother or what had happened to my father. I was all alone in a world that didn’t know anything about me.
But even then, at a few months old, I seemed to be fortune’s fool. I was found by a kind store clerk, Ruby, who took me in.
“I couldn’t leave you there, Sue,” she would say whenever the story came up. “I became your guardian shortly after and raised you as my own. You became my little bug.”
Ruby was everything to me. And as I grew, the closer we became.
I was forever grateful that she gave me everything I needed. But still, I never stopped wondering why my mother left me and if she would ever come back.
“I know that it bothers you, darling,” Ruby told me one day as she made lasagna for dinner. “But she’s an enigma now. We have nothing that could lead us to her.”
“I know,” I said, grating more cheese for when the dish was ready. “It’s just frustrating when I start thinking about it.”
“You love the internet, you love social media, Sue. Use it, share your story, maybe it will resonate with people, and you can connect with others just like you.”
She opened the oven and put the tray of lasagna inside.
So I did just that, and I became a well-known video blogger, sharing my story with the world.
“You’ve created a safe platform for people to share their stories, too,” Ruby told me when I read comments from my latest video to her.
“It means something to me,” I said, helping myself to the eclairs on the table.
Fast forward to the present. I am successful and able to provide for myself and my guardian.
“So much for being an abandoned baby,” I said to myself as I washed my face one night.
But imagine my surprise when an unexpected knock on my door changed everything.
I opened the door to find a frail, older woman standing there, her eyes filled with regret and desperation.
“Sue, darling,” she said. “I am your mother, and I need your help!”
I just looked at her, unable to blink for fear of missing the moment.
“Do you still have the note I left with you when I left you safely in the store?”
Safely? I thought to myself. I stood there, paralyzed by the flood of emotions that had come in when she entered my home.
“Yes, I have it,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper. “I kept it.”
“I know I have no right to ask for your help after what I did, but I need you to believe me when I say I had no choice back then. I was running from a dangerous situation. And I thought leaving you in a safe place was the only way to protect you. I needed to disappear.”
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