Jersey Mike's didn't get a big bite from Wall Street yesterday, with shares falling about 6% after its $1 billion IPO.

• I spoke just after trading opened with Charlie Morrison, the former Wingstop CEO who Blackstone put in charge of Jersey Mike's last year after its $8 billion buyout.
• What follows is part of our conversation, lightly edited for length and clarity:

You took Wingstop public over a decade ago. What was the biggest difference between that IPO process and this one?

Charlie Morrison: "There's a lot more involved conversations that happen well in advance of the roadshow and IPO."

• "These days there's something called 'testing the waters' which can span for several months, where you meet with investors and gain insights into how they're thinking. It's very involved, but I like it, because you develop good relationships with your investors."

None of the current cyclospora outbreak has been tied to Jersey Mike's, but how has it impacted your business?

"No impacts. We do use iceberg lettuce, but buy it all from the Salinas region in California and it comes to us as whole heads, not pre-bagged. And then we peel a couple of layers off."

It hasn't caused reduced lettuce requests?

"Some customers will ask us about it, and they always have the option on what ingredients to use. But we also respond by saying that we have the utmost confidence in our product."

You currently have 3,300 stores. Does future store growth come in the U.S. or elsewhere?

"Both. The 3,300 is in the U.S. and we believe we could have a total of 7,500 or more here. There's a lot of white space available to us."

• "Internationally, we've had real good success in Canada, and are getting ready to open in the U.K. and Ireland before year-end, so a total potential of 15,000 stores."

When you say "white space," is that just geographies without a Jersey Mike's or ones that also don't have a rival like Subway?

"We don't worry about who else is in the market with us. We steal [business] from the bowls like Chipotle and from other places that are different from us, like Taco Bell and Chick-fil-A."

Wingstop was owned by private equity firm Roark Capital before it went public. Roark now owns Jimmy John's, whose parent company Inspire Brands is prepping an IPO. Is it weird to now compete with Roark?

"No, not at all. We're all friends in this business. Roark also owns Subway, and we're stealing a ton of share from them."

Danny DeVito, who stars in Jersey Mike's ads, helped you ring the NYSE bell this morning. Does he get free subs?

"If Danny calls me and needs a sub, we'll be happy to give it to him for the rest of his life."

Alimentation Couche-Tard (TSX: ATD), the Canadian owner of Circle-K, agreed to buy listed Polish convenience store operator Zabka, whose backers include CVC Capital Partners and Partners Group, for around $8.7 billion.

Why it's the BFD: No matter how much Couche-Tard and 7-Eleven owner Seven & i Holdings want to quit each other's narratives, they can't.

• Seven & i had been linked to Zabka until just earlier this week, after which Couche-Tard swooped in.
• Couche-Tard previously tried to buy Seven & i for around $47 billion, but finally gave up the ghost last July.

Elsewhere: SoftBank, PayPay, and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial each agreed to invest around ¥100b into Seven & i.

The bottom line: "Zabka operates more than 13,000 stores across Poland and Romania and boasts around 4.3 million average daily transactions. The Polish food retailer also boasts around 11.7 million users across its digital channels." — Megan Cheah, WSJ

• Whatnot, an LA-based live-shopping platform for collectibles, is raising new funding at around a $20b valuation, per Business Insider. Last year it raised at $11.5b led by DST Global. axios.link/4wxibjD

• Xsight Labs, an Israeli fabless semiconductor startup, raised more than $300m at a $2.8b post-money valuation. Fidelity led, joined by Aliya Capital Partners, Atreides Management, Artisan Partners, Battery Ventures, Diagonal Capital, Intel Capital, Key1 Capital, Maverick Capital, Sienna, T. Rowe Price, Union Group, and Valor Equity Partners. axios.link/4bkZ6c3

• DataBahn, a Dallas-based data pipeline platform, raised $40m in Series B funding. Insight Partners led, joined by GTM Capital and S3 Ventures. axios.link/4hG8NFG

• Dili, an NYC-based compliance platform for infrastructure, raised $15m in Series A funding. Khosla Ventures led, joined by YC, Allianz, Brick and Mortar Ventures, and Rebel Fund. axios.link/4yQoHDB

• Discern Security, a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based agentic cybersecurity company, raised $13m in Series A funding. Forgepoint Capital led, joined by First Rays Ventures, Growth Enjin Partners, and Vela Ventures. axios.link/4hpg4Kf

• Smallest, an SF-based foundational AI research lab focused on enterprise voice, raised $13m in Series A funding. Seligman Ventures led, joined by Sierra Ventures and 3one4 Capital. axios.link/4vVATAj

• Ellis, an operations platform for private credit, raised $10m in seed funding. First Round Capital led, joined by 645 Ventures, Harlem Capital, Khosla Ventures, Slow Ventures, Wilshire Lane, Westbound, Collide Capital, Gallery Ventures, Mellody Hobson, Josh Kushner, and Immad Akhund. axios.link/44YiOXy

• Discern, a Stamford, Conn.-based legal entity management platform, raised $10m in Series A funding led by Walkabout Ventures and Bungalow Capital. axios.link/4boHcVH

• Cantina, a Miami-based cybersecurity startup, raised $8m led by Framework Ventures. axios.link/45BEcBS

• Perceptron, a decentralized AI data network, raised $6.5m from Sigma Capital, Selini Capital, QCP Capital, P2 Ventures, CoinDCX Ventures, Momentum6, DeFi Capital, Walrus Foundation, Aethir, Colosseum, GuruDev Capital, Tempo Finance, NewTribe Capital, Digital Consensus Fund, and CodeCraft Capital. axios.link/3Ttu9MB

FIFA's proposed private equity investment from Thrive Eternal and others is facing new opposition, as North American and Asian soccer federations joined their European peers in rejecting the deal.

• This is beginning to feel like the sequel to Super League, although it's a bit rich for all this furor over PE involvement in a sport where it's already deeply entrenched. Let alone the pearl clutching over profit motives after the World Cup just gouged fans for every last dollar...

• Abry Partners is making an initial $75m into the North American business of French payments firm Edenred (Paris: EDEN). axios.link/4vXh0c0

• Balance Point Capital Advisors and Inverness Graham Investments recapitalized ShipSigma, an Indianapolis-based supply chain optimization company. axios.link/4bkOFFg

⚡ Blackstone Energy Transition Partners agreed to acquire Canadian infrastructure inspection company DarkVision Technologies from Koch Engineered Solutions. axios.link/4xfM0W3

🚑 Charterhouse Capital Partners completed its £235m take-private buyout of Animalcare, a U.K. maker of health products for companion animals, equine and production animals. axios.link/4yKO1Lf

⚡ Madison River Capital acquired Nexus Power, a Utah-based provider of power systems design, engineering, procurement, and project management. axios.link/4vWlRug

• Palladian Investment Partners invested in leasing broker Global Vehicle Group. axios.link/4pXvCqM

• Professional Fighters League, a mixed martial arts group that's raised over $300m in PE funding, is merging with Jake Paul's Most Valuable Promotions. axios.link/453m7fZ

• Platinum Equity invested in LMPG, a Canadian manufacturer of specification-grade lighting solutions. axios.link/4yRGw5l

• Tricentis, a portfolio company of GTCR, acquired Tabnine, an Israeli AI-coding platform for enterprise software development. axios.link/3TJLpgD

• Truelink Capital agreed to acquire JT Thorpe Group, a Richmond, Calif.-based industrial maintenance services company, from H.I.G. axios.link/4pLfQis

• TSG Consumer acquired Saltair, a body care brand founded by Iskra Lawrence. axios.link/4h6i5Lc

🚑 Apnimed, a Cambridge, Mass.-based developer of a pill for obstructive sleep apnea, raised $192m in its IPO. It priced 12m shares at $16, versus plans to offer 10m shares at $14-$16. It will list on the Nasdaq (APMD) and had raised over $430m from firms like Morningside, Alpha Wave, and Sectoral Asset Management. axios.link/4wwFuu8

• Churchill Capital XIII, a SPAC led by Michael Klein, raised $360m in an upsized IPO. axios.link/456gqhf

Situational Awareness, an AI-focused hedge fund founded by a former OpenAI researcher, yesterday sold all of its public equities portfolio to Ken Griffin's Citadel.

• It also reportedly held talks to sell a $3.5 billion Anthropic stake to Greenoaks and Sequoia Capital, but pulled the plug Thursday morning.

• Apax Partners reportedly is seeking to sell Pickles, an Australian auction house that could fetch more than A$1b. axios.link/4h2Xfw7

• IG Group (LSE: ICG) agreed to buy NYC-based sports betting app Underdog for up to $1.3b. Underdog had raised $110m, including at a $1.3b post-money valuation in 2025, from firms like Corner, Acies Investments, Mantis VC, Electric Feel Ventures, Makai VC, Berkocorp, and McArthur Capital. axios.link/44UqhH5

🚑 Martis Capital is seeking to sell Alcanza Clinical Research, a Lake Mary, Fla.-based clinical trial site provider, per Axios Pro. axios.link/4g0NHAJ

• Okta (Nasdaq: OKTA) acquired Permiso, a McLean, Va.-based identity security startup, for a reported $200m. Permiso had raised around $50m from firms like Altimeter, Point72 Ventures, and Vertex Ventures US. axios.link/4xgfe7e

⚡ BP (LSE: BP) said it plans to explore a sale of its North Sea business. axios.link/4w4Ja5c

🎲 Churchill Downs (Nasdaq: CHDN) hired Macquarie Capital to sell nine of its regional casinos. axios.link/4yMCLOw

• eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) completed its $1.4b acquisition of secondhand clothing marketplace Depop from Etsy (NYSE: ETSY). axios.link/4h6DmUS

• GFL Environmental (NYSE: GFL), a waste management company with nearly a $15b market cap, confirmed that it's received take-private acquisition offers. axios.link/4wsvlyh

• Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE) agreed to buy MarketAxess (Nasdaq: MKTS), a fixed income trading platform, for $6b in cash, or $167 per share (33% premium to Wednesday's closing price). axios.link/4hIpgsZ

• Sainsbury's (LSE: SBRY) agreed to sell generalist retailer Argos to Swift Partners for £120m. axios.link/4xgFz55

• Sargento Foods agreed to acquire La Terra Fina, a Union City, Calif.-based maker of dips, spreads and quiches, from Catamount Management. axios.link/4fHYvCi

⚡ Shell (NYSE: SHEL) agreed to sell its Cypress business to listed Hungarian energy firm MOL Group for up to $720m. axios.link/4bpjAQV

• Blue Owl Capital has secured $10.6b for its sixth GP stakes fund, which is targeting a total of $13b. axios.link/3RGWlLu

• Index Ventures raised $2b in new fund capital, including a $900m VC fund, a $400m seed fund, and $700m more for an existing growth fund that originally closed in 2024 with $1.5b. axios.link/4bXAxSD

• TelkomMetra, a unit of state-owned PT Telkom Indonesia, is weighing the sale of MDI Ventures, per CNBC. axios.link/4yPqQ2x

• Maisha Glover joined Capitol Meridian Partners as an operating partner. She previously was a partner with McKinsey & Co., focused on U.S. defense and national security. axios.link/4bXHlzF

• Todd Manley joined PayPal as global head of M&A integration. He previously was with Intel. axios.link/4x6rJ52

Elon Musk is strongly denying a WSJ report that Tesla "executives have been told to prepare for a separation of the China business ahead of a potential merger" with SpaceX.

• Musk took time out from his anti-immigration tweets to write: "This has never even come up in a discussion ever. Absurdly fake news. People should assume news is fake until proven otherwise."