(Bloomberg) -- UniFirst Corp. shares jumped after Cintas Corp. said it made an offer that values the uniform maker at about $5.3 billion.
Cintas sent a proposal to UniFirst’s board offering $275 a share, the company said in a statement. That’s 62% higher than Monday’s closing price. Cintas delivered the proposal on Nov. 8, but UniFirst’s board has refused to meet, Cintas said.
“While we would have preferred to have discussions with UniFirst in private, this is the second time in nearly three years that UniFirst has refused our constructive attempts to engage on an extremely compelling offer,” Cintas Chief Executive Officer Todd Schneider said. He added Cintas, which is a supplier of workgear and safety products, sees “a compelling strategic fit between our two companies.”
Cintas released letters exchanged between Cintas and UniFirst in the statement.
UniFirst’s stock surged as much as 44% to $243.70 in the opening minutes of trading in New York. Cintas shares gained as much as 2.3%.
UniFirst, which is scheduled to report first-quarter results on Wednesday, generated $2.4 billion in sales during the fiscal year through August. That’s about a quarter of the annual revenue generated by Cintas.
The Wall Street Journal earlier reported the proposed deal.
(Updates with offer being made public beginning in first paragraph.)
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