ServiceMaster To Be Acquired

I haven't had much time to post with some big projects at work keeping me busy, but trust me, I have been following the financial markets. The story that really caught my eye today was the fact that Servicemaster is being acquired, which boosted the stock 12% today. Not to be confused with funeral services firm Service Corp. Intl, Servicemaster provides residential and commercial services in the US (notably, the company owns the Terminix termite-control brand, and the Merry Maids housekeeping service, among other businesses).

I thought it was interesting that the EBITDA multiple seemed pretty high on the business 11-12x vs last year's typical multiple of 8-9x. It shows that buyout firms are still going strong despite some of the recent volatility in the market. This is one of those franchise businesses I really like, especially since the company doesn't face much foreign competition (in order for someone to get termites out of your house, they probably need to be in the country first).

Anyway, this and some other news sparked a slight rally today.