The janitorial sector has re-emerged as a target for private equity after a pause to assess post-pandemic stability. Disha Mehta, managing director at Houlihan Lokey, noted sponsors waited to see if pandemic-era demand would hold, confirming by 2025-26 that janitorial services are essential and AI-resistant. O2 Investment Partners’ platform 4M Building Solutions, based in St Louis, Missouri, recently acquired Bluegrass Commercial Cleaning (Mayfield, Kentucky) and Rainbow Maintenance Services (Elgin, Illinois), marking its 15th and 16th acquisitions since January 2023.

GI Partners, headquartered in San Francisco, has a long history in the sector, including its 2014 investment in Kellermeyer Bergensons Services (KBS), which grew revenue from ~$400M to ~$900M before exiting to Cerberus Capital Management in 2019; KBS is now majority-owned by KKR, Ares Management, and Black Rock via a 2024 recapitalization. Key drivers include nondiscretionary demand—cleaning remains a small, stable part of operational budgets regardless of economic cycles—and recurring revenue models. Jeff Sheu of GI Partners emphasized that school and university cleaning scales with physical footprint, not enrollment, explaining why demand persists even in declining enrollment regions.

Long-term contracts also exist in healthcare, retail, and warehouse facilities.