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Blackstone has moved to exit another of its top-performing portfolio companies, this time iconic American sandwich chain Jersey Mike's Subs.

The New Jersey-based business, known as much for its subs as it is for its association with actor and superfan Danny DeVito, filed an S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday, paving the way for a debut on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker "JMKE."

The number of shares on offer and the price range have yet to be disclosed.

Proceeds will be used, in part, to pay down a portion of the $760 million of debt the company took on earlier this year to refinance existing borrowings from 2019 and 2021, to make debt repayments and to fund a dividend payout to its sponsor, Blackstone, according to the filing.

The company was reportedly seeking more than $1 billion from the IPO at a valuation of at least $12 billion, according to a Bloomberg report in April.

Morgan Stanley, Jefferies and JPMorgan are the lead underwriters for the IPO.

Growing from a mom-and-pop sandwich shop in Point Pleasant, NJ, into one of the largest sub franchisors in the country with nearly 3,300 locations, Jersey Mike's has remained a private company since its founding in 1956.

In 2025, the chain generated roughly $4.2 billion in sales from company-owned stores and franchises, up 13% from the prior year's $3.7 billion, according to the IPO filing.

The company's adjusted EBITDA reached $339 million in 2025, a nearly 29% increase from the previous year.

From 2020 to 2025, same-store sales grew by a cumulative 50%, a trend that defies the weakness seen in the broader restaurant industry over the past few years.

Blackstone acquired Jersey Mike's in late 2024, at a valuation of $8 billion.

Soon after, the company appointed Charlie Morrison, the former head of fast-food chain Wingstop, as its new chief executive, succeeding founder Peter Cancro. It also hired Michele Allen, the former finance head of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, to succeed longtime CFO Walter Tombs.

After the IPO, Blackstone will continue to hold the majority of voting power in Jersey Mike's, keeping the PE firm in the driver's seat on the sub chain's growth plans.

With the M&A market largely dried up, a flurry of PE firms this year have turned to the public markets to exit their backlog of assets.

Blackstone has been among the most active. So far this year, it has taken marketing business Liftoff Mobile public and prepared Jersey Mike's and PGP Glass for IPOs.

In April, Jonathan Gray, Blackstone's president and chief operating officer, called 2026 "the year of the IPO," as the listings of several of the largest tech companies help to boost overall market sentiment. Blackstone has nine companies in the IPO pipeline, he added.

Across the PE market, asset sales to strategic buyers and other PE firms slowed in the last quarter, according to PitchBook data. Buyers have pulled back amid jitters in the credit market, tighter LBO financing, geopolitical conflicts and AI-induced volatility in the software sector.

IPO exits, by contrast, have gained momentum, growing to become 30% of total US PE exits, nearly triple last quarter's share, according to PitchBook's Q2 Global PE First Look.

It is uncommon for a PE firm to take a portfolio company public after such a short stint of ownership. In the typical PE playbook, a sponsor will hold a company for three to five years, and increasingly much longer.

Historically, IPOs have been a less preferred exit path for GPs. It could take several rounds of block trades and several years for investors to fully exit from a company after it lists. Swings in stock prices during that time affect proceeds received from an IPO and returns for PE funds.

Blackstone declined to comment.

This article originally appeared on PitchBook News