ABM Industries Reaches Deal to Buy GCA Services for $1.25 Billion

ABM Industries Inc., one of the nation's largest providers of janitorial and building services, said Wednesday it has reached a deal to acquire privately held rival GCA Services Group for $1.25 billion in cash and stock.

The tie-up, which will expand New York-based ABM's reach in the educational and commercial markets, is expected to close by September after any regulatory hurdles are cleared.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that a deal was imminent.

GCA, based in Ohio, has traded hands a few times in recent years. It is currently owned by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and private-equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners LP. GCA was acquired from Blackstone Group LP in 2016. Terms of that deal weren't given. Blackstone bought GCA in 2012 from a group led by investment firm Nautic Partners LLC for an undisclosed sum.

ABM, which has a market value of about $2.2 billion, will pay $851 million in cash and $399 million in common stock for GCA, ABM said in a prepared statement. ABM will incur a $70 million charge in connection with the deal, and it is expected to add about $1.1 billion in revenue after a year, with $600 million coming in the education industry group.

ABM provides cleaning, parking and maintenance, among other services, to office buildings and other facilities. GCA provides similar custodial services and has aggressively expanded into public schools.

The combined company will have a total of 137,000 employees. In 2016, ABM's annual revenue rose 5% to $5.14 billion from a year earlier. Last month, the company unloaded its government-services business for $35.5 million to Valiant Integrated Services LLC.

Shares of ABM have climbed 9.8% over the past 12 months. Shares were inactive Wednesday premarket after closing up a penny at $40.69 on Tuesday.

Write to Ezequiel Minaya at ezequiel.minaya@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 12, 2017 08:11 ET (12:11 GMT)