Entrepreneur ranks Lapels in Top 50
Lapels, a
drycleaning company headquartered in Hanover, MA, made the
Franchise 500 list in Entrepreneur magazine’s 26th
Franchise 500 edition and was named one of Entrepreneur’s
Top 50 New Franchises.
“Entrepreneur’s Franchise 500 is the best and most
comprehensive rating of franchises in the world,” said
Lawrence Friedman, CEO and sole owner of the Lapels franchise
organization.
Lapels’ turnkey retail drycleaning
store concept has 20 independently owned franchises in
operation in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and
Texas. Each Lapels store offers drycleaning services that are
sub-contracted to local vendors at pre-approved wholesale
prices.
Entrepreneur’s Franchise 500 criteria include financial
strength and stability, growth rate and size of the system.
The number of years in business and
length of time franchising, start-up costs, litigation,
percentage of terminations, and the availability of company
provided financing are also taken into consideration. Financial
data is independently audited and every company with verifiable
data receives a cumulative score. The franchises with the
highest cumulative scores then become Entrepreneur’s Franchise
500.
Lapels was also named one of the newest
stars in the franchising universe by Entrepreneur. This
ranking lists the 50 top companies that started franchising
since 1999, positioned by their scores during the past five
years in Entrepreneur’s annual Franchise 500.
Teacher’s pension purchases
Alliance
Teachers’ Private
Capital, the private equity arm of the Ontario
Teachers’ Pension Plan, acting through an affiliate,
completed the purchase of Alliance Laundry Holdings, LLC, from Bain Capital Partners, LLC and minority shareholders for approximately
$450 million.
The management of Alliance Laundry
Systems will continue to hold a significant investment in the
company.
“We are looking forward to working
with Alliance’s strong management team to help them grow
the business,” said Jim
Leech, senior vice-president of
Teachers’ Private Capital.
“We are very pleased to have
completed this transaction with Teachers,” said Tom L’Esperance, chief executive officer for Alliance Laundry
Systems, LLC.
“Alliance’s management is
enthusiastic about the opportunities this partnership presents
as we work together to execute our Company’s growth
objectives.”
Alliance Laundry Holdings, LLC, is the
parent company of Alliance Laundry Systems, LLC, a manufacturer
of commercial laundry products and provider of services for
laundromats, multi-housing laundries, on-premise laundries and
drycleaners. The company’s products are sold under the
brand names Speed Queen, UniMac,
Huebsch and Ajax. Alliance has
a network of more than 200 North American distributors and over
100 international distributors, serving over 90 countries. it
also serves multi-housing end-customers through a network of
over 80 route operators.
Teachers’ Private Capital is the
private equity arm of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan,
investing on behalf of 250,000 teachers in Ontario, Canada and
is one of Canada’s largest private investors.
Kaeser duo achieves certification
Roy A. Stuhlman, vice president of sales for Kaeser, and Wayne Perry, technical
director, are now certified Compressed Air Challenge (CAC)
instructors.
CAC is a voluntary, professional
association that educates end-users about the efficient use and
benefits of compressed air. Its instructor selection process
includes stringent prerequisites and extensive testing
requirements.
Stuhlman has more than 35 years of
compressed air experience and provides in-depth training on all
types of compressed air systems in a wide range of industries.
Perry, with over 25 years of experience,
developed and implemented a system-based technical training
program for company representatives while serving on the U.S.
Department of Energy’s Best Practices Advisory Committee,
represented Kaeser to the Compressed Air and Gas Institute
(CAGI), and consulted with the Georgia Tech Energy and
Environmental Management Center’s Consensus Board.
Stuhlman and Perry will present
“Fundamentals of Compressed Air Systems” at
workshops around the country.
For more information about Kaeser’
and its educational materials, call (800) 777-7873 or visit
www.kaeser.com.
Curtis-Toledo ownership transferred
Kenneth M. Carpenter and Karen L. Carpenter, owners of St. Louis-based Curtis-Toledo, Inc., for the past 26 years,
have transferred ownership of the company to FS-America, a subsidiary
of Fu Sheng Industrial Company, Ltd.
Curtis-Toledo, Inc. manufactures
heavy-duty industrial and automotive air compressors. Fu Sheng,
headquartered in Taiwan, is the largest manufacturer and
distributor of compressors in the Greater China region. The
company has machinery, sporting goods and electronic divisions.
Fu Sheng has been a supplier of
compressors to Curtis-Toledo for over 25 years.
Management will continue to operate as in
the past with greater opportunities for growth and expansion in
the near future. Curtis-Toledo maintains a 150,000-square-foot
production facility in St. Louis, MO, as well as facilities in
Buffalo, NY, and San Diego, CA.
The machinery division, of which Curtis
is now a part, includes gas compressors, oil and oil-free
compressors, rotary oil and oil free models, stationary and
portable, and centrifugal compressors 200 to 3500 HP.
The sporting goods division of Fu Sheng
is the world’s largest golf club head manufacturer.
The golf club heads are produced on an original equipment
manufacturer basis for most premium golf brands.
“The Curtis acquisition is part of
Fu Sheng’s global expansion strategy,” said William
Kerins, who serves on the board of directors for Fu Sheng.
“This acquisition will present Fu Sheng tremendous
opportunity in building its compressor business in the
Americas.”
Johnson continues acquisitions
Johnson Service Group, Britain’s
largest drycleaning chain, is continuing on the acquisition
trail in 2005, buying Dewhirst
Corporate Clothing, which
provides corporate wear to a number of the UK’s financial
service providers and other businesses in the hotel and leisure
sectors.
That followed the mid-December
acquisition of Scottish-based S
Yaffy, which supplies outdoor
wear to police forces, and last July’s acquisition of
Dimensions, the UK’s leading supplier of corporate wear
“This acquisition complements our
existing corporate wear businesses of CCM, Dimensions and
Yaffy,” said Stuart Graham, chief executive of the Johnson service Group.
Johnson comprises two main divisions:
textile and hospitality services and facilities management. The
company’s 620 retail drycleaning outlets includes the
upmarket Jeeves of Belgravia in London.
A. O.Smith appoints Anderson
A. O. Smith has appointed Steve
Anderson as vice
president-operations and Mark A.
Petrarca as vice
president-human resources and public affairs.
Anderson will be responsible for the
company’s residential and commercial water heating
manufacturing operations in Ashland City, TN, McBee, SC,
Renton, WA, and Juarez, Mexico. Previously he was vice
president of operations for IMI Cornelius, a manufacturer of
beverage dispensing equipment.
Petrarca will be responsible for all
domestic and international human resources activities. and for
internal and external communications, community relations and
government affairs and will serve as the company’s
official spokesman. He has been with A.O. Smith since 1999 as
vice president-human resources for its water products company.
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