Subway, a chain of sandwich shops with thousands of locations across the U.S., is reportedly on the verge of being sold.
Roark Capital, which already owns the Arby's and Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant chains, is nearing a deal to buy Subway for around USD 9.6 billion (EUR 8.8 billion), the Wall Street Journal reported. The deal could be finalized as soon as the end of the week.
Subway did not respond to SeafoodSource’s requests for comment.
One of the largest restaurant chains in the U.S., Subway had USD 26.7 bilion (EUR 24.6 billion) in sales in 2022 and operated more than 36,000 locations in the U.S., foodservice research firm Datassential told SeafoodSource. Subway was the eighth-largest chain in the U.S. in terms of sales this year, dropping from seventh place in 2022.
Up until recently, Subway had been battling a lawsuit that claimed the restaurant’s tuna sandwiches did not contain any actual tuna. The lawsuit, filed by plaintiffs Karen Dhanowa and Nilima Amin, was dismissed by a federal judge in late July.
The lawsuit originally claimed the tuna used in Subway’s wraps and sandwiches contained no actual fish. As the lawsuit progressed, the lawsuit shifted focus to the sustainability of the tuna, before those claims were dismissed as not being specific enough.
Then, the two plaintiffs filed a revised class-action suit which contended that pork and chicken were mixed with the tuna, instead of it being “100 percent tuna.”
The lawsuit continued until May 2023, when Amin asked U.S. District Judge Jon S. Tiger to dismiss the case, stating that severe morning sickness due to pregnancy made the lawsuit too difficult to continue.
Subway, meanwhile, has requested sanctions of over USD 600,000 (EUR 553,000) against attorneys Shalina Dogra of the Dogra Law Group, Mark Lanier, and Jonathan Wilkerson of the Lanier Law Firm, Patrick McNicholas and Jeffrey Lamb of McNicholas & McNicholas, and Richard Kellner of Kellner Law Group in compensation for legal fees incurred over the various lawsuits.
Despite the case's dismissal, Subway still operates a website, SubwayTunaFacts.com, specifically countering the claims made in the suit.
Subway sources its tuna from Jana Brands and Rema Food Group, and uses skipjack tuna from Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia, it said.
Photo courtesy of monticello/Shutterstock
