Elis Confirms Preliminary Acquisition Approach to Vestis

(Reuters) – Elis announced on Friday that it has made a preliminary approach to U.S. uniform supplier Vestis regarding a potential acquisition. This statement confirmed a previous Reuters report, which led to a 16% drop in Elis’s shares.

Elis stated that there is no guarantee that these discussions will result in a signed transaction or any other agreement.

According to Reuters, sources indicated that Elis had made an acquisition offer for Vestis, which is the former uniform rentals business of Aramark.

On Friday, Elis’s stock was one of the biggest losers on the pan-European STOXX 600 index, on track for its steepest one-day decline in four and a half years.

With a market valuation of $3.3 billion, Vestis has attracted acquisition interest after struggling with key customer losses.

Analysts from Midcap Partners noted that the reported approach resembles Elis’s 2017 acquisition of Berendsen, where the company raised its bid multiple times and was seen as overpaying. This situation could pressure Elis’s share price in the short term, even though the U.S. market remains attractive.