Subway owner makes major billion-dollar fast food acquisition
The $1 billion deal may help to breathe new life into the fast food portfolio.
Many of us take our favorite fast food restaurants for granted.
After all, these dining establishments aren't exactly made for us to meditate on.
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They're intended to serve up a hot meal quickly and allow customers to get on their way as fast as possible.
And many newer conveniences and advancements have only made rapid dining even quicker.
Drive-thrus, mobile ordering, and delivery options allow customers to get their meals with just a click of a button -- or sometimes without even leaving their homes or cars.
So it's probably not often that you consider the underlying business and logistics that make your favorite fast food meal possible.
For instance, not many people think about the Starbucks business model.
We just know that there's one on every corner, and that seems to work pretty well.
But Starbucks has spent years researching and discovering that a cafe on every corner doesn't just capture the maximum number of patrons -- it also crowds out competition.
Starbucks isn't alone.
Fast food companies across the U.S. have deliberated for years on business best practices -- and rapidly change based on what they learn.
Fast food chains constantly iterate
Fast food restaurants are constantly working to improve the customer experience so they can quickly serve as vast of a population as possible.
In the 2010s, for example, when having a wide array of choices was popular, menus expanded.
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Suddenly, chains from Chipotle to Starbucks to Subway to Wendy's grew their menus to offer more choices for a diverse customer base.
Nowadays, many customers are more health-conscious.
So chains like Steak and Shake and In-N-Out are doing away with less healthful ingredients and swapping them for things like beef tallow or less-processed products.
Subway owner buys a new chain
Of course, those at the top of the food chain are always in growth mode.
In addition to catering to an ever-changing customer taste, the biggest fast food chains are constantly expanding to either beat out competition -- or buy them outright.
And now, Roark Capital, a private equity firm, will buy Dave's Hot Chicken -- a popular fried chicken chain.
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Dave's Hot Chicken serves things like chicken sliders with varying levels of heat, ranging from no spice to reaper level.
It has over 300 locations across the globe.
The deal, which is reportedly worth about $1 billion, will allow Dave's Hot Chicken to expand further. It currently has plans to grow up to 400 restaurants around the world by the end of 2025.
Roark Capital owns a fast food portfolio which includes Subway, which has been struggling lately. It closed over 600 restaurants in 2024.
It also has substantial investments across the fast food industry.
"Our largest sector, food and restaurants, encompasses investments in brands such as: Inspire Brands (the owner of Arby’s, Baskin Robbins, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dunkin’, Jimmy John’s, and Sonic), Subway, Nothing Bundt Cakes, CKE Restaurants (the owner of Carl’s Jr and Hardee’s), GoTo Foods (the owner of Auntie Anne’s Pretzels, Carvel Ice Cream, Cinnabon, Jamba, McAlister’s Deli, Moe’s Southwest Grill, and Schlotzsky’s), Miller’s Ale House, Culver’s, Jim ‘N Nick’s BBQ, and previously Corner Bakery, Il Fornaio, Naf Naf Middle Eastern Grill, The Cheesecake Factory (the owner of North Italia and Flower Child), and Wingstop," it writes on its website.
