There have been a number of acquisitions in the sector in the past few years, led last year by ISS, but few deals have ever occurred in such quick succession.
'Consolidation will always be in the sector and could happen again in the not too distant future,' said Cleaning Support Services Association head Michael Bisley.
Ramoneur is the latest cleaning company to be swallowed up by a predatory facilities management company looking to extend the range of services it offers its clients.
The cleaning firm succumbed to the charms of the MacLellan Group, which acquired the company for £6m in the second week of August.
As a result of the deal, which has taken the UK's oldest cleaning company out of the independent market, MacLellan has gained access to a large customer base in London and the South East — an area where, to date, MacLellan has had little presence.
At the beginning of August Pall Mall was swallowed by John Mowlem for £42.3m. The acquisition is another major step into the outsourcing sector for the construction company.
Mowlem bought Pall Mall from a management buyout team, backed by private equity firm Gresham.
Bisley said that the sale of Pall Mall had been the expected outcome of the private equity group realising its investment, which would take the form of an acquisition by another private equity firm, in the form of a secondary buyout, or a trade sale.
The deal marked an end to the independence of the cleaning company, which was first established 85 years ago and employs more than 10,000 people nationwide. Both Pall Mall and Ramoneur will continue to trade under their branded names.
In a similar move, Emprise Services ended the independence of retail cleaning specialists Lawrence & Tester when it bought the company to strengthen its own cleaning services unit.
Lawrence & Tester, which was established in 1912, went to the market in search of a merger partner that would enable the cleaning company to keep its identity, after news that one of the company's co-directors and largest shareholders was leaving.
Source
The Facilities Business
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