Century Linen Acquired by Falcon Affiliates
Century Linen & Uniform recently announced the majority acquisition investment by family-office-based investor Falcon Affiliates. The current Century Linen CEO and third-generation family owner, Dick Smith, will remain a significant minority shareholder of the company, according to a news release. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
In addition to the deal with Falcon Affiliates, Century also has subsequently completed the add-on acquisition of New England plant operations from Angelica Corp., a national healthcare linen services provider. With the recently completed acquisition of Angelica’s New England plants, Century’s operating footprint now fully extends from New York state through Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island and directly into the Greater Boston area.
“As part of a long-term planning process, the future of this company and our family of employees and customers was of critical importance to me – I was not interested in handing over the keys to a typical ‘private-equity’ firm or industry competitor,” Smith said. “Falcon was different from day one. It was clear they understood taking care of our employees and serving our customers is at the heart of everything we do here at Century. With Falcon’s solid track record of growing businesses over the long term and supporting their management teams, Century is positioned better than ever before to pursue new opportunities and initiatives.
“We are thrilled to welcome our new employee team members into the Century family and provide them with supportive local leadership and team culture. Century’s expansion into adjacent markets strongly benefits both existing and new customers, from independent providers to regional networks, by further enhancing our program offerings, service capabilities and geographic reach.”
Joe Benevento, managing director at Falcon Affiliates, said that, “Falcon is excited to invest in and partner with Century, Dick and the management team to help drive the company’s next chapter of growth. Century provides an essential service to its customers and has always taken immense pride in doing so. When it comes to quality, reliability and responsiveness at the local level, Century has led the way for over 100 years, as evidenced by its long-standing customer relationships, top service and delivery metrics, and ongoing investment in modern facilities and equipment. At Falcon, we focus on human capital, not just financial capital. The foundation of Century’s success has clearly been its people and we look forward to continuing to grow and re-invest in Century’s people, operations and customers.”
PNC Mezzanine Capital and Bank of America provided financing support for the transactions. EdgePoint served as financial adviser to Century. Williams Mullen was legal counsel to Falcon. Century is a member of TRSA and is Hygienically Clean certified. Century was founded in 1915 and is headquartered outside of Albany, NY.
For more information on Falcon Affiliates, visit www.falconaffiliates.com.