Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ: CTAS) and UniFirst Corporation (NYSE: UNF) have announced a definitive agreement under which Cintas will acquire UniFirst for $310.00 per share in cash and stock, representing an enterprise value of approximately $5.5 billion. This transaction will bring together two family-founded companies with longstanding commitments to customer service and operational excellence, delivering innovative products and outstanding services to approximately 1.5 million business customers across North America.
The deal is expected to generate approximately $375 million of operating cost synergies, including material cost, production expense, service expense, and selling, general, and administrative expense, within four years. Moreover, the combined company will deliver compelling financial benefits, with the transaction expected to be accretive to Cintas' earnings per share by the end of the second full year after closing, and the net leverage ratio at close expected to be 1.5x debt to EBITDA.
In terms of financial performance, Cintas reported a revenue of $2.84 billion for its fiscal 2026 third quarter, marking an increase of 8.9% compared to the previous year's third quarter. The organic revenue growth rate for the third quarter of fiscal 2026 was 8.2%, adjusting for the impacts of acquisitions and foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations.
UniFirst Corporation, on the other hand, will report its financial results for the second quarter of fiscal 2026 on April 1, 2026. However, in light of the pending transaction with Cintas, UniFirst does not intend to hold quarterly conference calls or provide guidance updates going forward.
The transaction, which has been unanimously approved by the Cintas and UniFirst boards of directors, is expected to close in the second half of calendar 2026, subject to customary closing conditions, approval by UniFirst shareholders, and the receipt of certain regulatory approvals. Entities affiliated with the Croatti family, which control approximately two-thirds of the voting power of UniFirst's common stock and class B common stock, have entered into a voting support agreement under which they have agreed to vote their shares in favor of the transaction.
The market has reacted to these announcements by moving the company's shares -1.23% to a price of $209.80. Check out the company's full 8-K submission here.
