Serta® was founded in 1931 by 13 mattress manufacturers who licensed the Serta name; subsequently eight independent licensees acting like a cooperative owned the company. After which, it was controlled and operated as Serta International by its largest licensee, National Bedding Company, In 2005, two private equity groups teamed up to purchase National Bedding Co.--The Ares Corporate Opportunities Fund, the Los Angeles-based private equity fund of Ares Management; and Teachers’ Private Capital, the private equity arm of the Ontario (Canada) Teachers’ Pension Plan. From 2012 Simmons together with Serta are owned by Boston-based private equity firm Advent International. The American company Serta International is a subsidiary of the American company Serta Simmons Holdings LLC.

Serta is the largest mattress brand in the United States, and offers three major types of mattresses - gel infused memory foam, natural Talalay latex, and inner-spring. Serta products are used extensively in the lodging industry, with Hilton Worldwide and Wyndham Worldwide among its customers. Serta mattresses are also offered on cable home shopping channel ShopNBC. Well-known Serta brands are: Perfect Sleeper®, iComfort®, iComfort® Directions™, iSeries® - Serta iSeries®, Trump Home™ iSeries®, Perfect Day® iSeries®, Bellagio® at Home iSeries®, Serta® Brand Collections - Bellagio®, Sertapedic®, Perfect Elements®.