Alliance Laundry Systems
{{Short description|American laundry equipment supplier}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Alliance Laundry Systems LLC
| logo = Alliance Laundry Systems
| image = Alliance Laundry Systems.jpg
| image_caption = Headquarters in Ripon
| type = Private
| owners = BDT Capital Partners {{font|size=75%|1=(majority stake)}}
Teachers' Private Capital
(Ontario Teacher's Pension Plan) {{font|size=75%|1=(minority stake)}}
| founder =
| members = CSC ServiceWorks, Inc. (29.7% stake owned by Ontario Teacher's Pension Plan)
| key_people = Mike Schoeb - CEO
| industry = On premise laundry,
| products = Speed Queen
UniMac
Huebsch
IPSO
Primus
Cissel (discontinued)
| predecessor = Barlow & Seelig Manufacturing
McGraw-Edison's appliance division
Raytheon Commercial Laundry
| foundation = 1998
| location = Ripon, Wisconsin, United States
| website = {{URL|https://alliancelaundry.com/}}
}}
Alliance Laundry Systems LLC is an American provider of commercial laundry systems. The company designs, manufactures, and markets a line of commercial laundry equipment under various brands in over 100 countries.{{cite book
| title = Asian Hotel & Catering Times
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=11gsAQAAMAAJ
| volume = 30
| year = 2005
| pages = 53–
| quote = }} Among the company’s products are washers, drying tumblers and ironers for the coin laundry, multi-housing laundries, institutional laundries and laundries for consumer residences. Alliance Laundry Systems manufactures products under the brands Speed Queen,{{cite book
| title = Tax Notes International
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=a6ZHAQAAIAAJ
| volume = 30
| year = 2003
| publisher = Tax Analysts
| pages = 9–
| quote = The U.S. -based manufacturer of Speed Queen laundry machines, Alliance Laundry Systems LLC, has a 38 percent share of all relevant laundry equipment markets, and makes a mouthwatering 16 percent operating income margin.
| title = Teaming for Efficiency: Energy and environmental policy
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=eMbiAAAAMAAJ
| year = 2002
| publisher = American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy
| pages = 9–311–
| author = Efraim Turban
| title = Electronic commerce 2006: a managerial perspective
| url = https://archive.org/details/electroniccommer00efra
| url-access = registration
| year = 2006
| publisher = Pearson Prentice Hall
| isbn = 978-0-13-185461-1
| quote = }} Primus, Huebsch, IPSO, and UniMac. The company was founded in 1998 and is based in Ripon, Wisconsin.{{cite book
| author = ((Hoover's Business Press))
| title = Hoover's Handbook of Private Companies
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=5sZaAAAAYAAJ
| year = 2010
| publisher = Hoover's Business Press
| pages = 35–
| isbn = 9781573111379
| quote = }} However, Alliance claims Speed Queen's founding date of 1908 as the beginning for the company. {{Cite press release |title=Our story |url=https://alliancelaundry.com/who-we-are/our-story/ |access-date=2023-07-07 |website=Alliance Laundry Systems |language=en-US}}
History
= Background =
The company's precursor Barlow & Seelig Manufacturing was established in 1908 and later introduced a hand-operated washer to the marketplace. The Speed Queen brand was created in 1928 with the introduction of stainless steel wash tubs in 1939{{Cite web|title=The Speed Queen Story - The History and The Present|url=https://speedqueen.com/the-speed-queen-difference/the-speed-queen-story/|access-date=2021-12-23|website=Speed Queen|language=en-US}} and automatic washers and dryers in 1952.{{cite book
| author1 = David Sakrison
| author2 = Harry Heileman
| title = A portrait of Ripon: historic photographs of Ripon, Wisconsin
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=O3EvAQAAMAAJ
| year = 2000
| publisher = Ripon Main Street, Inc.
| pages = 113–
| quote = }} Eventually Barlow & Seelig was renamed Speed Queen Company, and was later purchased by McGraw-Edison. In 1979, McGraw-Edison sold its appliance division to Raytheon Company.
= Formation =
In February 1998, private equity firm Bain Capital agreed to acquire the commercial laundry business from Raytheon for $358 million.[https://www.nytimes.com/1998/02/24/business/company-news-raytheon-in-358-million-deal-to-sell-laundry-business.html Raytheon in $358 million Deal to Sell Laundry Business]. New York Times, February 24, 1998{{cite book
| title = HotelBusiness
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=z0QsAQAAMAAJ
| volume = 7
| year = 1998
| publisher = ICD Publications
| pages = 35–
| quote = Alliance Laundry Completes Raytheon Buy For $358M
| author = Gary Hoover
| title = Hoover's Handbook of American Business
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=j5wYAAAAIAAJ
| year = 1999
| publisher = Reference Press, Incorporated
| pages = 1188–
| isbn = 9781573110457
| quote = }}{{cite book
| title = Executive Housekeeping Today
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=JVwsAQAAMAAJ
| volume = 18-19
| year = 1998
| publisher = National Executive Housekeepers Association
| pages = 37–
| quote = }} And as a result, Alliance Laundry Systems was formed.
In January 2005, Teachers' Private Capital, the private equity affiliate of the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan acquired the majority of the equity interests of Alliance Laundry for $450 million.{{cite book
| author = Hoover's
| title = Hoover's Masterlist of Major US Companies, A-Z
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=dWvM6SmvD1wC
| date = 1 October 2005
| publisher = Hoovers Incorporated
| isbn = 978-1-57311-107-2
| quote = }}[http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20041208005482/en/Ontario-Teachers-purchase-Alliance-Laundry-Systems-LLC]. "Ontario Teachers' to purchase Alliance Laundry Systems LLC". BusinessWire, December 8, 2004{{cite web
| url = https://www.wsj.com/articles/ontario-teachers-pension-plan-to-buy-30-stake-in-csc-serviceworks-1413897033
| title = Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan to Buy 30% Stake in CSC ServiceWorks - WSJ
| first = Amy |last=Or
| date = 21 October 2014
| work = WSJ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240706230813/https://www.wsj.com/articles/ontario-teachers-pension-plan-to-buy-30-stake-in-csc-serviceworks-1413897033|archive-date=6 July 2024|quote=Ontario Teachers’ is a seasoned investor in the laundry business, having already owned Alliance Laundry Holdings LLC. The fund bought Ripon, Wis.-based Alliance from Bain Capital for $450 million in 2005 and still owns the washer and dryer manufacturer. CSC is an Alliance customer, said Robert Warden, a partner at Pamplona. }}
In 2009, the Alliance Laundry Systems University (ALSU) was founded as a corporate university available online to authorized Alliance Laundry Systems distributors, route operators and customers.[http://www.alliancelaundry.com/services/alliance-laundry-systems-university] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150407230333/http://www.alliancelaundry.com/services/alliance-laundry-systems-university/|date=2015-04-07}}. Alliance Laundry Systems University page at Alliance Laundry website
In March 2014, the Alliance Laundry acquired Primus Laundry Equipment headquartered in Gullegem, Belgium for approx. $259.4 million.{{cite web
| url = http://www.laundryandcleaningnews.com/features/featuregiving-laundries-greater-flexibility-with-control-4615944/
| title = Giving laundries greater flexibility with control
| work = laundryandcleaningnews.com
In April 2015, it was reported that Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan was planning to sell Alliance Laundry or issue an IPO, valuing the business at $1.8 billion.[https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-06/ontario-teachers-said-to-plan-sale-or-ipo-of-alliance-laundry]. "Ontario Teachers’ Said to Plan Sale or IPO of Alliance Laundry". BloombergBusiness, April 6, 2015{{cite web
| url = http://business.financialpost.com/news/fp-street/ontario-teachers-pension-plan-said-to-seek-sale-or-ipo-of-2-billion-company-alliance-laundry
| title = Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan said to seek sale or IPO of $2-billion company Alliance Laundry
| author = Scott Deveau and Leslie Picker, Bloomberg News
| date = 6 April 2015
| work = Financial Post
}} Later in 2015, a majority stake was sold to BDT Capital Partners. The Pension Plan retained a minority stake in the company.{{Cite press release|publisher=Alliance Laundry Systems |url=http://www.alliancelaundry.com/news/bdt-capital-partners,-llc-agrees-to-acquire-a-majority-stake-in-alliance-laundry-systems-from-ontario-teachers%E2%80%99/ |title=BDT Capital Partners, LLC Agrees to Acquire a Majority Stake in Alliance Laundry Systems from Ontario Teachers' |access-date=2016-05-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160604063328/http://www.alliancelaundry.com/news/bdt-capital-partners,-llc-agrees-to-acquire-a-majority-stake-in-alliance-laundry-systems-from-ontario-teachers%E2%80%99/ |archive-date=2016-06-04 |url-status=dead|quote=Alliance Laundry Systems announced today that BDT Capital Partners, LLC, through its investment funds, has agreed to acquire a majority interest in the company from Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. The Plan is expected to retain a minority interest in the Company following the completion of the transaction. }}