American Home Furniture

ServiceMaster is a privately held Fortune 500 company that provides various services to residences and firms. Its headquarters are currently located in Memphis, Tennessee after moving there from Downers Grove, Illinois in early 2007. Brands operated by ServiceMaster include: TruGreen, ChemLawn, Terminix, American Home Shield, Furniture Medic, AmeriSpec, ServiceMaster Clean, InStar Services Group, and Merry Maids. ServiceMaster was founded by Marion E. Wade, a minor league baseball player, as a moth-proofing company in Chicago, Illinois. It was incorporated in 1947 and expanded to franchised carpet cleaning in 1952. Its movement into business services makes it a large outsourcing company. The core services of the company include lawn care and landscape maintenance, termite and pest control, home warranties, disaster response and reconstruction, cleaning and disaster restoration, house cleaning, furniture repair, and home inspection.

ServiceMaster has more than 5,500 company-owned and franchise locations around the country. It employs 32,000 people. Its franchises are mostly in two segments: ServiceMaster Clean, a home and commercial cleaning business, and cleaning company Merry Maids.

In 2006, Executive Vice President Steven C. Preston was appointed Administrator of the Small Business Administration.

Religion

ServiceMaster strives to be perceived as a Christian-oriented company. Representatives explain that the name ServiceMaster comes from a Christian concept called "service thy master".

The company asserts that their Christian leanings are evident in their first stated objective:

• "Honor God in All We Do"

ServiceMaster brands

• ServiceMaster Clean - established 1952 - Disaster Restoration, Janitorial and Carpet Cleaning
• TruGreen - acquired 1990 - lawn care
• ChemLawn - founded 1967, acquired 1992- lawn care
• LandCare USA - acquired 1999- lawn care
• Terminix - founded 1927, acquired 1986 - pest control
• American Home Shield - acquired 1989 - home warranty
• Furniture Medic - acquired 1996 - furniture repair
• AmeriSpec - acquired 1996 - home inspection
• Merry Maids - acquired 1988 - maid services
• ServiceMaster Landscape - licensed in 1990 - Landscape services and outdoor lighting
• ServiceMaster Lawncare
• Masters Green Lawn Care

Buyout

In March 2007, ServiceMaster accepted a $5.5 billion buyout offer from the New York-based private-equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice. CD&R is a nearly 30-year-old, private equity firm with a history of buying and selling companies. Its purchases have included Kinko's, which it sold to FedEx in 2004 for $2.4 billion, and the Hertz rental car business, which it bought with two other firms for $15 billion in 2005.

American Home Shield Lawsuit and Settlement

On July 24, 2007 a lawsuit was field against American Home Shield allegeing that "American Home Shield engaged in a pattern and practice of failing to fulfill its contractual obligation to its customers".

In February 2008 American Home Shield announced a proposed settlement.

Recently, ServiceMaster was sued by its former law firm for breach of contract, involving unpaid legal bills totaling several hundred thousands of dollars.

References

1. ^ http://www.corporate-ir.net/ireye/ir_site.zhtml?ticker=SVM&script=410&layout=-6&item_id=923490
2. ^ http://corporate.servicemaster.com/index.asp
3. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmWLgazNRQ4

• "Home warranties can be a bad deal for consumers", Sam Ali, 'The Star-Ledger', March 31, 2008
• "Edleson Class Action Website"

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