• Uniform rental market could see high levels of concentration in Nashville, Atlanta, Miami, Los Angeles if deal goes through, source says
• Cintas has steadily grown through acquisitions of smaller rivals
• FTC spoke with industry participants in late March, early April

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has begun interviewing independent and regional uniform rental companies in connection with Cintas’ proposed acquisition of Unifirst, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The source said they spoke to the FTC “two or three weeks ago” (likely late March or early April) and is aware of the agency reaching out to “a lot” of regional uniform rental companies “all over” the US.

FTC staff were interested in a general conversation about the industry and did not give any inclination of how they were thinking about the deal, the source said.

Cintas announced its proposed acquisition of Unifirst on 11 March. The companies have not publicly announced an HSR filing yet.

Cintas and Unifirst are two of the largest players in the uniform rental industry. Unifirst listed Cintas as one of its primary competitors, alongside Alsco and Vestis, in its 2025 annual report.

Vestis, which was spun off from Aramark in 2023, is the next-largest player.

Alsco Uniforms, based in Salt Lake City, is a family-owned company that had focused more on linens but has been growing in the uniform rental space, the source said. It has locations in more than 25 states and Canada.

There are also some larger regional operators that serve markets across multiple states, the source said. These include Mission Linen Supply and Prudential Overall Supply, both of which are based in California but serve several states.

The rest of the industry is largely made up of smaller, independent competitors, according to the source and an industry participant.

If Cintas acquires Unifirst, it could lead to highly concentrated markets in regions including Nashville, Atlanta, Miami and Los Angeles, the source said.

If the FTC were interested in divestitures as a possible remedy to clear the deal, finding suitable buyers may be challenging, the source added. It is not known whether Vestis, Alsco or any of the regional firms would be interested in acquiring Cintas’ assets.

Vestis may be an unlikely buyer, the source said. “They’re having their own struggles. They’re not really capable of growth,” this source said. S&P Global downgraded Vestis’ credit rating to B in December 2025, citing customer losses and persistent operating challenges.

Cintas also has a history of previous acquisitions, including acquisitions possibly meant solely to remove smaller competitors, the source said.

‘Oppressive contracts’

Some independent competitors are optimistic about the deal, as they expect a surge of current Unifirst customers to leave if the merger is completed, according to the source and the industry participant. Independent providers “are already starting to get calls and opportunities to grow their business as this acquisition looms,” the source said.

“Probably [many] of Unifirst’s customers are there because they don’t want to be Cintas customers,” the source continued.

The source said they had heard that the company can be “authoritative” and some contracts can be “oppressive.”

Cintas has allegedly offered low prices to entice some customers to sign up and then increased those quickly in contracts that may be difficult to exit, the source said. “Before people know it, they’re actually paying more than they ever had for a uniform program. And then it’s very difficult to get out of these contracts,” this source said.

Cintas is the dominant player, and if it gets even larger, the level of customer service and accessibility could potentially decrease, the industry participant added. “They can offer a cheap price for a period of time, but people get frustrated that they don’t have someone they can depend on,” the industry participant said.

When Cintas made previous acquisitions in their region, the industry participant said they benefitted from the customers leaving the merged firm. While Cintas may be able to compete harder on prices because of their size and purchasing power, customers sometimes prefer a smaller, independent provider because of the customer service they receive, the industry participant said.

The customer profile can also differ between national providers like Cintas and Unifirst and regional competitors, with bigger brands relying on Cintas or Unifirst for ease of managing a nationwide network and supply of uniforms, the source and the industry participant agreed.

Additionally, people have lost their jobs from previous Cintas acquisitions, the industry participant said. However, that can also be a positive for regional competitors who see an expansion to the talent pool available to them, the industry participant added.

Supply chain harms

Cintas manufactures many of its products in-house or imports them directly, according to the source and the industry participant. This could lead to issues in the supply chain if Cintas becomes even larger, according to the industry participant.

The industry participant said they share suppliers with Cintas and Unifirst for several items, including uniforms. “If this consolidation happens, my guess is that some of my uniform suppliers might go away or might be disrupted because Cintas’ strategy will be to try to bring all those core items from the Unifirst side and manufacture those themselves,” the industry participant said.

Cintas also has exclusive contracts with suppliers including Carhartt and Chef Works.

One of Unifirst’s largest suppliers is Workwear Outfitters, the parent company of popular workwear brands such as Dickies and Red Kap and one of the largest producers of uniforms for rental, the source said.

The source said they were concerned that suppliers like Workwear Outfitters may lose a sizeable chunk of business as a result of the deal. “Current suppliers will lose a lot of their business, and so their viability will be at risk,” the source said.

That could have a ripple effect on independent competitors who also rely on these suppliers because reduced volume often means increased cost and limited availability, the source said.

On the other hand, independent uniform rental companies will become much more important to suppliers as they make up a larger piece of their customer base and that could benefit the smaller rental companies as suppliers cater more directly to them, the source added.

Acquisition history

In an industry characterized by consolidation, the industry participant said that the possibility of being acquired by Cintas or Unifirst is a reliable exit strategy for many independent operators. If Cintas merges with Unifirst, that could affect the market value of these smaller acquisition targets, as there will be less competition when it comes time to sell, the industry participant added.

One positive outcome of the deal would be if it led to more independents entering the market to challenge Cintas, the source said. However, it would likely be challenging for upstarts to be successful against a “multi-billion-dollar corporation that can just go out and crush them,” the source added.

And barriers to entry in this market are high — uniform rental is a very capital-intensive market, the source said. Expenses such as facilities, products, and trucks for delivery might mean investing millions into starting a new uniform rental company, this source said. That is likely part of why Cintas prefers to grow through acquisition rather than organically, the source said.

Cintas has “driven out a lot of the independents in many markets through acquisition,” the source said.

Cintas has acquired at least five companies in the uniform rental services market in the last 10 years, according to Mergermarket data. Cintas’ 2017 acquisition of Minnesota-based rival G&K services received a second request from the FTC, but was ultimately cleared with no divestitures. That deal was also reviewed by the Canadian Competition Bureau.

Unifirst has been involved in four deals in the last 10 years, including two buyback transactions, according to Mergermarket data. Most recently, Unifirst acquired Clean Uniform, a St. Louis-based independent uniform rental provider for around USD 300m in 2023.

It seems likely that part of Cintas’ strategy may have been to buy smaller companies not to acquire the businesses’ assets but to remove competition, the source said. “They just want to get rid of them, so they just take them out,” the source said.

One example may be Cintas’ acquisition of Kentucky-based independent operator SITEX in 2024, the source said. A large part “of that business was sold and closed… [Cintas] only wanted two or three of the contracts [it] had,” the source said.

“The combination of Cintas and UniFirst is expected to deliver a more complete offering and comprehensive value proposition for businesses of all sizes to better compete in an increasingly competitive market with well-resourced companies increasing their garment & facility offerings and last mile fleets, as well as competition from other procurement options, including direct purchase, direct managed programs, and hybrid approaches,” a spokesperson for Cintas said in a statement.

Spokespeople for Unifirst did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for the FTC declined to comment.

by Serafina Smith