Jersey Mike’s IPO 10x oversubscribed ahead of pricing, with crypto investors getting a seat at the table

Jersey Mike’s hasn’t even priced its IPO yet and investors are already fighting over shares like it’s the last sub in the deli case. The New Jersey-based sandwich chain’s initial public offering is reportedly more than 10 times oversubscribed, meaning investor demand far exceeds the 43.5 million Class A shares on offer. For a company that sells hoagies, that’s a remarkable level of institutional enthusiasm. And for crypto-native investors, there’s an unexpected twist: Gate.io’s IPO Access platform is letting eligible users subscribe to the offering using stablecoins like USDT and GUSD. The numbers behind the hype Jersey Mike’s is targeting a price range of $21 to $25 per share for its NYSE listing under the ticker JMKE. At the midpoint of that range, the company carries an implied equity valuation of roughly $7.3 billion. Gross proceeds from the offering could land somewhere between $913 million and $1.1 billion. Up to 68% of the offering involves secondary sales by existing shareholders. In plain English: most of the money raised isn’t flowing into Jersey Mike’s coffers to fund new stores or operations. It’s going into the pockets of early investors who are cashing in on their pos...