

ImageFIRST
Laundry services for the healthcare industry
Opportunity
Calera partnered with the founder and management team at ImageFIRST to build the clear national leader in healthcare laundry services, while maintaining its best-in-class service and exceptional team culture
- Opportunity to drive accelerated geographic expansion through organic growth and acquisitions and to build a national operating footprint
- Opportunity to expand service offering to cover a broader range of healthcare facilities and a broader set of services within these facilities
Overall goal and opportunity to build a business with $1 billion plus in revenues, while maintaining an unwavering commitment to the ImageFIRST Operating Principles and to positively impacting the lives of the company’s associates, its community, and its customers and their patients
Calera Supported Initiatives:
Calera partnered with the founder and management team at ImageFIRST to execute on their vision of building the clear national leader in healthcare laundry services while maintaining true to their core operating principles. Key initiatives included:
- Geographic Expansion: Expanded from 26 locations in 17 states at the time of investment to over 80 locations in 33 states
- Sales Team Expansion: Invested significantly in sales, growing the sales team by over 3x, while improving core sales processes to drive sales rep level productivity up by over 40%
- Operational Excellence: Invested over $100 million into the company’s laundry facilities to build best in class infrastructure. In parallel, launched new operational processes to create a stronger culture of continuous improvement
- Acquisition Program: Developed a programmatic approach to acquisitions, with 25 acquisitions completed during the investment period
- Platform Build Out: Worked closely with the founder and CEO to develop a future organizational infrastructure, including the addition of multiple senior executives to the organization
Overall Results
These initiatives led to both a significantly stronger overall business and transformative growth, while preserving the company’s best-in-class service offering and unique culture
- Creation of the largest and fastest growing provider of healthcare laundry services in the U.S.
- Revenue and EBITDA increased by more than 4x over the investment period, with the business well positioned for future continued growth and success
Productivity