Subway, the giant sandwich chain, has agreed to sell itself to private equity firm Roark Capital in a deal valuing the company at more than $9 billion.

This marks an end to a long-drawn auction that saw several bids from buyout firms.

Roark Capital beat out a late challenge from a rival bidding group that was led by TDR Capital and Sycamore Partners, who also submitted a final bid of more than $9 billion.

The global sandwich chain has more than 37,000 restaurants located in more than 100 countries.

The company still needs to disclose the terms of the deal.

Through this deal, Roark Capital will become one of the largest restaurant operators in the world, controlling restaurant chains such as Arby’s, Jimmy John, Baskin Robbins, and Buffalo Wild Wings.

In February, Subway had announced that it was exploring possible options for sale, which drew interest from private equity firms, including TDR Capital, Advent International, Roark Capital, TPG, and Goldman Sachs’ asset management arm.

The company was expecting to have a payout of more than $10 billion, having a strong brand and international business. However, the buyout firms countered that it was worth less as they deemed its US business saturated.

The founding families owned the subway since its first outlet opened in 1965.