ServiceMaster
ServiceMaster Brands, is a privately held company that provides residential and commercial services. Its headquarters are located in Memphis, Tennessee, after moving there from Downers Grove, Illinois, in early 2007.[1] Brands operated by ServiceMaster include: ServiceMaster Clean, ServiceMaster Restore, Merry Maids, AmeriSpec and Furniture Medic. The core services of the company disaster response and restoration, janitorial service, professional home cleaning, furniture repair, and home inspections.
 | |
| Type | Privately held |
|---|---|
| Industry | Service |
| Founded | September 7, 1929, incorporated June 5, 1947 Downers Grove, Illinois, U.S. |
| Founder | Marion E. Wade |
| Headquarters | Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. |
Number of locations | More than 7,000 company-owned, franchised and licensed locations |
Key people |
|
| Revenue | $2.59 billion (2015) |
Number of employees | 13,000 (2015) |
| Website | servicemaster |
ServiceMaster has more than 7,000 company-owned and franchise locations around the world. It has 13,000 corporate employees and a franchise network that independently employs over 33,000 additional people. In 2007, the company had approximately 5,500 locations.[2]
History
ServiceMaster was founded 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.[3] Its movement into business services makes it a large outsourcing company.[4]
In the 1980s, the company built a network of branch and franchise-based service companies including Terminix, TruGreen, Merry Maids and American Home Shield. In 2001, ServiceMaster divested its management services businesses to focus more on its residential and commercial business.
A group of equity sponsors led by Clayton, Dubilier and Rice (CD&R) acquired ServiceMaster in July 2007 and took the company private.[5] In the same year, the company moved its headquarters from Downers Grove, Ill., to Memphis, Tenn., to better enable the corporate staff to work with all of its business units. 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.[6] Robert J. Gillette was appointed chief executive officer in June 2013.[7]
As of January 1, 2014, TruGreen is no longer a brand of ServiceMaster, opting instead to remain a privately held company. TruGreen acquired Scotts Lawn Service in 2016.
ServiceMaster Global Holdings, Inc., the parent of The ServiceMaster Company, LLC,[8] 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. 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.
ServiceMaster announced a relocation of their global headquarters from East Memphis to Peabody Place in Downtown Memphis in June 2016.[9] The move was completed in 2018.
Nikhil Varty was appointed chief executive officer in July 2017. On July 26, 2017, ServiceMaster Global Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: SERV, $42.18, Market Capitalization: $5.7 billion) announced plan to spin-off its American Home Shield business from its Terminix and Franchise Services Group into a separate publicly traded company.
Brands
- ServiceMaster Restore (established 2013): disaster restoration
- 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
- AmeriSpec (acquired 1996): home inspection
- Furniture Medic (acquired 1996): furniture repair
- Merry Maids (acquired 1988): maid services
- Terminix (founded 1927, acquired 1986, separation 2020): pest control; divested from Terminix Global holdings October 2020.
- ServiceMaster Clean (established 1952): Janitorial and carpet cleaning
AmeriSpec
 | |
| Type | Private (Held by Clayton, Dublier and Rice Inc.), Subsidiary of The ServiceMaster Company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Service |
| Founded | 1987 |
| Headquarters | Memphis, Tennessee, USA |
Key people | Thomas J. Coba, President |
| Website | www.amerispec.com |
Amerispec is a franchisor which sells and supports residential and commercial inspection services franchisees throughout the United States and Canada.[10][11][12] It is a subsidiary of ServiceMaster. 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.[13] It is a subsidiary of The ServiceMaster Company, and was formerly a wholly owned subsidiary of American Home Shield, another ServiceMaster company.[14]
AmeriSpec History
- 1987 - AmeriSpec incorporated in Orange County, California[15]
- 1988 – begins to provide home inspection franchises.[16] Since its inception, the company has conducted in excess of 2 million quality home inspections.
- 1980 to 2000 – further expansion of The ServiceMaster Company's Consumer Services business formed a network of service companies, headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, including ServiceMaster Clean, Terminix, TruGreen, Merry Maids, American Home Shield, Furniture Medic and AmeriSpec.[10]
- Jan. 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 Franchise Brands.[17]
Controversy
On July 24, 2007, a lawsuit was filed against American Home Shield alleging that "American Home Shield engaged in a pattern and practice of failing to fulfill its contractual obligation to its customers". In February 2008 American Home Shield announced a proposed settlement.
See also
References
- "The ServiceMaster Company Investor Relations". Corporate-ir.net. Retrieved 2012-07-07.
- Plunkett, J.W. (2007). Plunkett's Real Estate & Construction Industry Almanac 2007. Plunkett's Real Estate & Construction Industry Almanac. Plunkett Research Limited. p. 479. ISBN 978-1-59392-071-5. Retrieved July 31, 2017.
- "History". ServiceMaster. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
- "ServiceMaster". Corporate.servicemaster.com. Retrieved 2012-07-07.
- Orol, R.D. (2008). Extreme Value Hedging: How Activist Hedge Fund Managers Are Taking on the World. Wiley. p. 233. ISBN 978-0-470-19891-9. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
- Dries, Bill (November 4, 2017). "Mullany Outlines Goals For ServiceMaster Brands". Memphis Daily News. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
- ServiceMaster (June 18, 2013). "ServiceMaster Appoints Robert J. Gillette As New Chief Executive Officer". PRWeb. Retrieved 2017-12-18.
- "ServiceMaster Global Holdings, Inc. Completes Its Initial Public Offering". ServiceMaster Global Holdings, Inc.
- "ServiceMaster to Relocate Headquarters to Downtown Memphis". mediacenter.servicemaster.com.
- Plunkett, J.W. (2007). Plunkett's Real Estate & Construction Industry Almanac 2007: Real Estate & Construction Industry Market Research, Statistics, Trends & Leading Compani. Plunkett's Real Estate & Construction Industry Almanac. Plunkett Research Limited. p. 479. ISBN 978-1-59392-071-5. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
- SMU Law Review: A Publication of Southern Methodist University School of Law. Southern Methodist University School of Law. 2002. pp. 1100, 1108–1109. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
- Klarfeld, P.J. (2003). Covenants Against Competition in Franchise Agreements. Hein's ABA Archive Microfiche Collection. Forum on Franchising, American Bar Association. p. 415. ISBN 978-1-59031-114-1. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
- Group, T.P.L.; Arden, L. (2010). 220 Best Franchises to Buy: The Essential Sourcebook for Evaluating the Best Franchise Opportunities. Crown Publishing Group. p. 363. ISBN 978-0-307-43211-7. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
- Plunkett, J.W. (2007). Plunkett's Real Estate & Construction Industry Almanac 2007: Real Estate & Construction Industry Market Research, Statistics, Trends & Leading Compani. Plunkett's Real Estate & Construction Industry Almanac. Plunkett Research Limited. p. pt479. ISBN 978-1-59392-071-5. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
- Franchise Times. Restaurant Finance Corporation. 2001. p. 8. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
- Levonsky, R.; Conley, M.A. (2004). Ultimate Book of Franchises. Ultimate Book of Franchises. McGraw-Hill Companies,Incorporated. p. 260. ISBN 978-1-932156-86-7. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
- "ServiceMaster is one of area's largest private employers". archive.commercialappeal.com. April 30, 2016. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
AmeriSpec sources
- SMU Law Review: A Publication of Southern Methodist University School of Law. Southern Methodist University School of Law. 2002. pp. 1100–1109. Retrieved July 31, 2017. (subscription required)
- Appeals, Georgia. Court of (1994). Reports of Cases Decided in the Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia. State Library. pp. 669–671. Retrieved July 1, 2017. (subscription required)
- Harrington, K.; Cohen, M.N. (1990). The 100 best spare-time business opportunities today. Wiley. pp. 11–12. ISBN 978-0-471-61133-2. Retrieved July 31, 2017. (subscription required)