Subway says it’s ‘not for sale’ after franchisees ask for a cut of any potential deal and beg the owner to fix the business

Subway on Wednesday denied rumors that the sandwich chain is looking for a buyer.

“Subway is not for sale,” a representative for the sandwich chain said in a statement to Insider.

The statement came after more than 100 Subway franchisees released an open letter to owner Elisabeth DeLuca on Monday, calling for her to fix the struggling business.

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In addition to calling on DeLuca to address concerns over produce freshness and sales cannibalization, franchisees asked for a royalty rebate of 8% if Subway is sold. (Royalties are fees that franchisees pay to the corporate office, covering the cost of advertising and other services.)

The letter said the rebate would be “a sign of good faith for all of the turmoil, and heartache that we have endured throughout Subway’s 40+ year history.” 

Subway said in a statement on Tuesday that the letter is not representative of the opinions of the vast majority of franchisees. The company said it is committed to franchisees’ long-term success, and that it has exciting announcements on the horizon. 

Rumors that Subway is trying to sell itself have been swirling in recent years.

Current and former corporate employees and franchisees told Insider earlier in April that CEO John Chidsey was following a strategic plan that seemed to indicate he was preparing the company for sale. At the time, Subway declined to comment on the potential sale. 

“What is confirmed through chitchat in the restaurant industry is that both RBI — Restaurant Brands International — and also Inspire, in the last year to year and a half, have done due diligence looking at Subway,” John Gordon, a chain-restaurant analyst with Pacific Management Consulting Group, told Insider earlier in April.

On Monday, the New York Post reported that, if not for the pandemic, Subway would have been sold in 2020, citing industry sources. A sale “will likely start in the third or fourth quarter of this year,” an investor source told the Post. Subway did not respond to Insider’s request for comment on the Post’s report. 

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