K-Bro Linen Acquires Star Mayan in £107m Deal to Create Top 3 UK Laundry Business
Canadian-headquartered K-Bro Linen Inc has announced a transformative £107 million acquisition of Star Mayan Limited, positioning the company as one of the UK’s top three commercial laundry providers.
The deal, announced on the Toronto Stock Exchange, will see K-Bro expand its UK footprint significantly, combining its Fishers and Shortridge operations with Star Mayan to create a business that spans 17 locations across the UK—from Perth to Central London—and employs around 2,000 people at peak season.
The acquisition is expected to complete in early June and marks a pivotal moment in K-Bro’s international growth strategy. It will immediately cement the group’s presence in the UK healthcare laundry sector and provide a robust platform to scale its hospitality, workwear and cleanroom services nationally.
Michael Jones, UK Managing Director of K-Bro, commented:
“This is a major milestone for K-Bro. I’m proud to say that, in less than 10 years, K-Bro is growing from its roots as Canada’s largest commercial laundry company to become an international player.”
He added:
“Our business in the UK will now have national coverage, with 17 sites and serving both healthcare and hospitality. But more than that, it is assembling a powerful team with the drive and expertise to build further on the platform that it is creating.”
K-Bro entered the UK market in 2017 with the acquisition of Fishers, an established laundry business founded in 1900 with operations across Scotland and Northern England. This was followed by the 2024 acquisition of Shortridge, a family-run business with sites in Workington, Dumfries and Darlington.
The addition of Star Mayan accelerates K-Bro’s ambitions to deliver balanced, high-quality commercial laundry services to both the healthcare and hospitality sectors on a nationwide scale.