A private equity firm is buying Subway.

From Marketplace.

I'm Subri Venashore, in for David Brunkhotchio.

Subway, the fast food chain, is selling itself to a private equity firm.

Subway was founded 60 years ago in Connecticut, its owned by the Buck and Deluca families,

and they have agreed to sell the company to Rorck Capital for nearly $10 billion, according

to Reuters.

Subway has had its struggles over the past decade between a scandal with its long

time spokesperson and tougher competition from other fast-casual chains, but the company

has seen a recent increase in sales.

The challenge for its new owners, how to keep that momentum going, Marketplace's Henry

Epiports.

Subway's new owners have to figure out how many locations the chain can support in the

U.S.

Because during the Great Recession, the company added too many, says Jonathan Mays, editor

and chief of Restaurant Business Magazine.

I would go to my little community center and there was a subway in that thing, so they

were everywhere.

Since 2016, over 6,000 subways have closed Mays, says, and even with sales now up, the

new owners may need to close more.

They can also change menus, layouts, and marketing, but subway restaurants are operated

by local franchisees, says Alex Suskind, a professor of food and beverage management

...