Cintas and UniFirst set December 11 as earliest date to close merger

The companies have signed a timing agreement with the FTC after both certified compliance with requests for more information.

Cintas and UniFirst have entered into a timing agreement with the Federal Trade Commission that sets December 11, 2026 as the earliest date the companies can close their pending merger, unless the FTC tells them sooner that its investigation is finished.

The agreement, signed on October 2, 2026, follows both companies certifying substantial compliance with the FTC's Second Request and completing their response to a supplementary information request from the Canadian Competition Bureau. Cintas says it still expects the deal to close before the end of the calendar year, subject to the usual closing conditions.

Cintas had flagged on its first-quarter call that engagement with the FTC was ongoing. The timing agreement now gives both sides a fixed floor instead of an open-ended wait. It reads closer to a procedural step on timing than a sign of substantive antitrust objection, unlike the Second Request in the Caesars-Fertitta deal, which signaled real resistance from regulators.

With December 11 now the earliest possible close date, Cintas's reiterated year-end target leaves little room to spare if the FTC uses the full review period available to it.