In a brief statement issued on March 24, Cintas Corp. announced that it was ending discussions with UniFirst Corp. on a merger of the two national industrial uniform companies.
Todd Schneider, president and CEO of Cintas, Mason, OH, remarked in the three-paragraph statement that, “We have engaged with UniFirst and its advisors over the past several weeks in an effort to reach a mutual agreement regarding a transaction that we believe offers tremendous value for customers and shareholders. While we continue to believe in the merits of a transaction, we were unable to have substantive engagement with UniFirst regarding key transaction terms. We do not believe further discussions are warranted at this time.”
UniFirst hasn’t issued a formal response to this move by Cintas, which included a proposal to acquire all of the outstanding common and class B shares of UniFirst for $275.00 per share in cash, a premium of 46% over UniFirst’s 90-day average closing price as of Jan. 6, the last trading day before the Proposal was made public. The company did announce plans for a March 27 groundbreaking ceremony for 109,000-square-foot (10,126-square-meter) expansion of its distribution center in Owensboro, KY. The project represents a $28 million investment in the local community, according to a news release.
Meanwhile on March 26, Cintas issued its third quarter 2025 earnings report. That document noted that revenue was up 8.4% to $2.61 billion and gross margin was up 11.1% over last year at $1.32 billion. Operating income was $609.9 million, a 17.1% increase over last year and net income was $463.5 million, up 16.6% year over year. Diluted earnings per share stood at $1.13, a 17.7% increase.
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