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Mega Merger | 24

Mega Merger
ServiceMaster Acquires LandCare USA
DOWNERS GROVE, IL

ServiceMaster and LandCare USA, Inc. have announced through their Boards of Directors that ServiceMaster will acquire LandCare in a stock-for-stock merger. This merger will create the largest commercial landscape company in America, with annualized revenues in excess of $400 million. The company will provide landscape maintenance and tree services to more than 2,500 customers through more than 100 locations across the country.

LandCare USA itself has been busy on the merger front. By the end of 1998, the company had acquired four more companies as follows: Landtrends, based in San Diego, CA; Golden Bear Arborists, Inc., based in Monrovia, CA; Real Property Maintenance Inc., based in Englewood, CO; and Albuquerque Grounds Maintenance, Inc., based in Albuquerque, NM. Following these latest acquisitions, LandCare comprises 23 companies that service approximately 60% of the top forty commercial real estate markets in the United States.

"We launched our landscape operations early in 1998, and believe we are off to a tremendous start in a market that is ripe for internal growth and further consolidation," explained ServiceMaster Chief Executive Officer Carlos Cantu. "We plan to broaden our customer service capabilities, achieve economies of scale, expand market opportunity and develop strong geographic footholds in major cities across America."