Cintas Buying Work Uniform Rival Unifirst for $5.5 Billion

Cintas, a company that brags it prepares 1 million businesses for work every day with uniforms and materials, plans to buy one of its chief rivals for $5.5 billion.

The stock-and-cash deal will give Cincinnati, Ohio-based Cintas control of UniFirst in Wilmington, Massachusetts. While both companies are associated with providing materials to manufacturer, both are major producers themselves.

In regulatory filings, Unifirst (No. 375 on the IW U.S. 500 list of the largest publicly traded manufacturing companies in the country) notes that it makes uniforms in Mexico and Nicaragua, and it has a plant in Tennessee where it makes floor mats for factories.

Cintas (No. 169) has five manufacturing facilities globally, including operations near Chicago where it manufactures and distributes uniforms.

Founded by the Croatti family in 1936, UniFirst still has several family members in its executive ranks and on its board of directors. Three of those issued a statement, saying the merger with Cintas was in the best interests of all involved.

“As stewards of that legacy, we reflected deeply on how best to build on UniFirst’s rich history as an industry pioneer and unlock additional opportunities for growth, innovation, and long-term value creation for our stakeholders,” Cynthia, Carol and Matthew Croatti said. “We see in Cintas a family-founded partner that both respects the strong business we have built and fundamentally shares our values. Underscoring our confidence that this is the right path forward for UniFirst, we will retain an ownership position in the combined company.”

Cintas officials said they expect to cut $375 million in expenses from the combined company throughout the next four years as they eliminate redundant operations. In a presentation to investors, Cintas stressed that the deal will give it more scale, potentially improving its purchasing power with its suppliers. Targets for savings include merging ERP systems, integrating logistics networks and cutting management (selling and general administration) costs.

The companies expect the merger to clear regulatory steps and close in the second half of 2026.