ServiceMaster

ServiceMaster was founded in 1929 by Marion E. Wade, a minor league baseball player, as a moth-proofing company in Chicago, Illinois. It was incorporated in 1947 and expanded to franchised carpet cleaning in 1952.{{cite web |url=https://www.servicemaster.com/company/about/history |title=History |publisher=ServiceMaster |accessdate=June 17, 2017}} Its movement into business services makes it a large outsourcing company.{{cite web|url=http://corporate.servicemaster.com/index.asp |title=ServiceMaster |publisher=Corporate.servicemaster.com |date= |accessdate=2012-07-07}}

In the 1980s, the company acquired several branch and franchise-based service companies, including Terminix, TruGreen (1991),{{Cite web |last=Staff |date=2014-03-07 |title=TruGreen Ready for Life on its Own |url=https://turfmagazine.com/trugreen-ready-for-life-on-its-own/ |access-date=2025-02-12 |website=Turf Magazine |language=en-US}} Merry Maids (1988),{{Cite web |title=SERVICEMASTER SWEEPS UP HOUSECLEANING SERVICE |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1988-07-07-8801130439-story.html |access-date=2022-05-28 |website=Chicago Tribune}} and American Home Shield (1989).{{Cite web |last=Tribune |first=Chicago |date=1989-04-06 |title=SERVICEMASTER TO BUY AMERICAN HOME |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1989/04/06/servicemaster-to-buy-american-home/ |access-date=2025-02-12 |website=Chicago Tribune |language=en-US}}

A group of equity sponsors led by Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) acquired ServiceMaster in July 2007 and took the company private.{{cite book | last=Orol | first=R.D. | title=Extreme Value Hedging: How Activist Hedge Fund Managers Are Taking on the World | publisher=Wiley | year=2008 | isbn=978-0-470-19891-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DBNClmcUI4oC&pg=PA233 | access-date=November 5, 2017 | page=233}}

In 2011, Hank Mullany, former executive vice president of Walmart U.S. and president of northern U.S. Walmart, was appointed as CEO for all ServiceMaster brands.{{cite web | last=Dries | first=Bill | title=Mullany Outlines Goals For ServiceMaster Brands | website=Memphis Daily News | date=November 4, 2017 | url=https://www.memphisdailynews.com/news/2011/oct/13/mullany-outlines-goals-for-servicemaster-brands/ | access-date=November 5, 2017}} Robert J. Gillette was appointed chief executive officer in June 2013.{{cite web|title=ServiceMaster Appoints Robert J. Gillette As New Chief Executive Officer|url=http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/6/prweb10845271.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180702143038/http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/6/prweb10845271.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 2, 2018 |publisher=PRWeb|author=ServiceMaster|date=June 18, 2013|accessdate=2017-12-18}}

As of January 1, 2014, TruGreen is no longer a brand of ServiceMaster, having instead become a separate privately held company.{{Cite web |date=2013-11-14 |title=ServiceMaster slates TruGreen separation {{!}} Landscape Management |url=https://www.landscapemanagement.net/servicemaster-slates-trugreen-separation/ |access-date=2024-10-25 |language=en-US}}

ServiceMaster Global Holdings, Inc., then the parent of ServiceMaster Brands, announced on June 25, 2014, that it had priced an initial public offering of 35,900,000 shares of common stock at $17.00 per share.{{cite web|url=http://servicemaster.com/media-center/press-releases/servicemaster-global-holdings-inc-completes-its-initial-public-offering |title=ServiceMaster Global Holdings, Inc. Completes Its Initial Public Offering |publisher=ServiceMaster Global Holdings, Inc.}} The shares began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on June 25, 2014, under the ticker symbol SERV. The company continues to be majority-owned by private equity firms Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, StepStone Group and Ridgemont Equity Partners, and JPMorgan Chase Funding.{{Citation needed|date=May 2022}}

Nikhil Varty was appointed chief executive officer in July 2017. Varty stepped down in 2020.{{Cite web |date=3 February 2020 |title=Nik Varty Steps Down as ServiceMaster CEO; New Terminix Residential President Named |url=https://www.pctonline.com/article/nik-varty-steps-down-as-servicemaster-ceo--new-terminix-residential-president-named/ |access-date=2024-10-25 |website=pctonline.com}}

On July 26, 2017, ServiceMaster Global Holdings, Inc. announced a plan to spin off its American Home Shield business from its Terminix and Franchise Services Group into a separate publicly-traded company.{{Cite news |date=2017-07-26 |title=BRIEF-Servicemaster announces intention to spin off American Home Shield |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/brief-servicemaster-announces-intention-idUSASB0BASI |access-date=2022-04-25}}

In 2020, Naren Gursahaney was appointed as chief executive officer, later that year, Roark Capital Group purchased ServiceMaster Brands.{{Cite web|date=2020-10-01|title=Roark Capital Acquires ServiceMaster Brands|url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201001005688/en/%C2%A0Roark-Capital-Acquires-ServiceMaster-Brands|access-date=2021-03-04|website=www.businesswire.com|language=en}}

In August 2021, ServiceMaster Brands purchased Two Men and a Truck, a family-owned moving franchise.{{Cite web |last=Lyons |first=Craig |title=Family-owned Two Men and a Truck, founded and headquartered in Lansing, sold to Atlanta firm |url=https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/2021/08/03/two-men-and-a-truck-lansing-company-sale-servicemaster-inc/5471484001/ |access-date=2021-09-14 |website=Lansing State Journal |language=en-US}} As part of the sale, ServiceMaster Brands agreed to make charitable contributions to the nonprofits supported by Two Men and a Truck over the years.

In April 2022, ServiceMaster Brands purchased Aftermath Services, a privately owned trauma & biohazard cleanup company.

ServiceMaster Clean (established 1952): Janitorial and carpet cleaning

Terminix (founded 1927, acquired 1986, separation 2020): pest control; divested from Terminix Global holdings October 2020

Merry Maids (acquired 1988): maid services

American Home Shield (acquired 1989); spun off in 2018

Furniture Medic (acquired 1996): furniture repair

Rescue Industries and American Residential Services, now known as ARS/Rescue Rooter: RI acquired in 1998; ARS acquired and merged with RI 1999; sold 2006

ServiceMaster Restore (established 2013): disaster restoration

AmandaSpec (acquired 2007): home inspection

Two Men and a Truck (acquired 2021)

Aftermath Services (established 1996, acquired 2022): trauma & biohazard cleaning

Indoor Science (acquired 2022)

ServiceMaster Brands sold Furniture Medic and AmeriSpec to Eagle Merchant Partners in April 2023.{{Cite web |title=Eagle Continues Franchised Services Strategy |url=https://peprofessional.com/2023/04/eagle-merchant-partners-makes-investment-in-franchised-services-industry-with-furniture-medic-and-amerispec-acquisitions/ |access-date=2025-03-19 |website=peprofessional.com}}

Amerispec is a franchisor which sells and supports residential and commercial inspection services franchisees throughout the United States and Canada.{{cite book | last=Plunkett | first=J.W. | title=Plunkett's Real Estate & Construction Industry Almanac 2007: Real Estate & Construction Industry Market Research, Statistics, Trends & Leading Compani | publisher=Plunkett Research Limited | series=Plunkett's Real Estate & Construction Industry Almanac | year=2007 | isbn=978-1-59392-071-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oDOosCtgVbQC&pg=PT479 | access-date=November 5, 2017 | page=479}}{{cite book | title=SMU Law Review: A Publication of Southern Methodist University School of Law | publisher=Southern Methodist University School of Law | issue=v. 55, no. 2 | year=2002 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UDxMAQAAIAAJ | access-date=November 5, 2017 | pages=1100, 1108–1109}}{{cite book | last=Klarfeld | first=P.J. | title=Covenants Against Competition in Franchise Agreements | publisher=Forum on Franchising, American Bar Association | series=Hein's ABA Archive Microfiche Collection | year=2003 | isbn=978-1-59031-114-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tQB3401-ioEC&pg=PA415 | access-date=November 5, 2017 | page=415}} The company's main services are general home inspection, relocation inspections and commercial property inspections. AmeriSpec has around 300 independently owned and operated franchises in the United States and Canada.{{cite book |last1= |first1= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gUlkxjpxnVwC&pg=PT363 |title=220 Best Franchises to Buy: The Essential Sourcebook for Evaluating the Best Franchise Opportunities |last2= |first2= |publisher=Crown Publishing Group |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-307-43211-7 |page=363 |access-date=November 5, 2017}} In January 2007, after previously being a wholly owned subsidiary of American Home Shield, the company was sold to the ServiceMaster Holding Company and was placed under the leadership of the other ServiceMaster Brands.{{cite web | title=ServiceMaster is one of area's largest private employers | website=archive.commercialappeal.com | date=April 30, 2016 | url=http://www.commercialappeal.com/business/public-corporations/servicemaster-is-one-of-areas-largest-private-employers-31901f82-222b-5e8f-e053-0100007fbd35-377633861.html | access-date=November 5, 2017}}

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• {{cite book | title=SMU Law Review: A Publication of Southern Methodist University School of Law | publisher=Southern Methodist University School of Law | issue=v. 55, no. 2 | year=2002 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UDxMAQAAIAAJ | access-date=July 31, 2017 | pages=1100–1109}} {{subscription required}}
• {{cite book | last=Appeals | first=Georgia. Court of | title=Reports of Cases Decided in the Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia | publisher=State Library | year=1994 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NpFPAQAAIAAJ | access-date=July 1, 2017 | pages=669–671}} {{subscription required}}
• {{cite book | last1=Harrington | first1=K. | last2=Cohen | first2=M.N. | title=The 100 best spare-time business opportunities today | publisher=Wiley | year=1990 | isbn=978-0-471-61133-2 | url=https://archive.org/details/100bestsparetime00harr | url-access=registration | access-date=July 31, 2017 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/100bestsparetime00harr/page/11 11]–12}} {{subscription required}}

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Category:Business services companies of the United States

Category:Companies based in Atlanta

Category:Business services companies established in 1929

Category:Franchises

Category:1929 establishments in Illinois