ST. CHARLES, Ill. — January 5, 2023 — Healthcare Linen Services Group (HLSG), a portfolio company of York Capital Management’s private equity group (York Private Equity) and a provider of mission-critical healthcare laundry services in the Midwest and Central United States, today announced it has acquired Linen King, the largest independent provider of healthcare laundry services in the South Central part of the United States. The acquisition expands HLSG’s operations into attractive markets and adds new major customers for HLSG to service. As part of the transaction, Seaport Capital, a New York-based private equity firm that acquired Linen King in 2019, will receive shares in HLSG. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Founded in 1999, Linen King operates the largest independent network of healthcare laundries in the South Central part of the U.S., serving approximately 460 customers across seven facilities in five states. Linen King processes approximately 100 million pounds of healthcare laundry annually at facilities located in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, and Tennessee. Chris Corcoran, Linen King’s CEO, will remain with the business and serve as Regional chief operating officer of HLSG.
Following this transaction, HLSG will operate 21 linen processing plants across six premier regional brands — Logan’s Linens, Logan’s Uniform Rental, Superior Health Linens, Textile Care Services, Reino, and now Linen King — that process approximately 350 million pounds of healthcare linen on an annual basis for nearly 1,000 customers in 19 states.
“This partnership reaffirms our commitment to executing on our growth strategy, which includes expanding our geographical reach into new contiguous markets, increased processing capacity, and, ultimately, our ability to service customers in a more comprehensive way,” said Joe LaPorta, president and CEO of HLSG. “Importantly, the Linen King brand will stay intact and remain under the operational leadership of Chris, who will bring his proven industry operating expertise to HLSG.”
“The addition of Linen King bolsters HLSG’s leadership position in the healthcare linen industry, and we will continue to support the company’s organic and M&A strategies,” said Seth Pearson, managing director of York Private Equity.
Corcoran added: “This is an exciting day for Linen King and our employees, and we look forward to joining the HLSG family. Importantly, HLSG has an outstanding reputation and shares our values and commitment to providing customers with the best service in the industry.”
Drew Meyers, a Seaport Capital partner who will be joining the HLSG board, stated, “We are thrilled to join HLSG as a meaningful investor and continue to support Linen King in its next stage of growth under the HLSG umbrella.”
The Linen King transaction represents HLSG’s fourth acquisition since York Private Equity made a strategic growth investment in March 2022, and follows the October 2022 acquisition of Reino Linen Service, a premier provider of healthcare linen solutions.
Posted: January 6, 2023
Source: York Capital Management
