New Delhi, July 3 -- build a path to a public market exit while the franchise model held its momentum.

That path materialized on Thursday, when Jersey Mike's Subs Inc. filed its S-1 registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, setting the stage for a listing on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker JMKE. The company, incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in Tinton Falls, New Jersey, is targeting a valuation of more than $12 billion.

The filing lands at a moment when the American IPO market is absorbing an unusual variety of companies in rapid succession. Bending Spoons, the Italian company that owns AOL and Vimeo, raised $1.68 billion on Nasdaq earlier this week at an $18.4 billion valuation. IQM Quant...