Cintas, UniFirst shares tumble as FTC signals intent to block $5.5 billion merger
Investing.com -- Shares of Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ: CTAS) and UniFirst Corporation (NYSE: UNF) fell sharply on Tuesday following reports that the Federal Trade Commission plans to sue to block their proposed $5.5 billion merger.
Cintas traded down 6% after dropping as much as 7.5% intraday—its steepest decline since December 2024. UniFirst shares slid 9%, recovering slightly from an early plunge of 17%, which marked the stock’s worst intraday showing since March 2025. The sell-off was triggered by a Semafor report citing unnamed sources, which stated the FTC has formally notified both companies of its intent to halt the transaction in court.
The antitrust hurdle threatens a deal that UniFirst shareholders overwhelmingly approved at a special meeting on June 11, 2026. More than 99% of votes cast—representing approximately 95% of all outstanding UniFirst shares—supported the acquisition.
Under the agreed terms, UniFirst shareholders are slated to receive $155.00 in cash and 0.7720 shares of Cintas stock for each UniFirst share held.