Sun Products Corporation, a portfolio company of Vestar Capital Partners, has signed an agreement to be acquired by Henkel for €3.2 billion ($3.6 billion). With the acquisition, Henkel will become the second largest seller of laundry products in North America.
Sun Products is a provider of laundry detergent, fabric softeners and other household products. Brand names include All, Snuggle, Wisk, Sun, Surf, and Sunlight. The company employs approximately 2,000 people and has manufacturing facilities in Salt Lake City, UT and Bowling Green, KY. The company has annual revenues of approximately $1.6 billion and is headquartered near Stamford in Wilton, CT (www.sunproductscorp.com).
Sun Products was formed by Vestar in September 2008 when it acquired the laundry business of Unilever in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico for approximately $1.5 billion. The acquired assets included the All, Wisk, Sunlight, Surf, and Snuggle brands. The acquired Unilever laundry assets were merged with Huish Detergents, which had been a portfolio company of Vestar since April 2007.
Henkel (GSI: DAX) operates through three business units: laundry and home care; beauty care; and adhesive technologies. Major brands owned by the company include Dial soaps, Persil and Purex laundry detergents, Right Guard antiperspirants, Got2b hair gels, and Loctite adhesives. Henkel employs about 50,000 people and has annual revenues of €18.1 billion ($20.1 billion) and adjusted operating profit of €2.9 billion ($3.2 billion). Henkel was founded in 1876 and is headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany (www.henkel.com).
“This transaction is a major strategic move for Henkel. North America is one of the most important regions for us worldwide. With the acquisition of Sun Products we will improve our position in the US – the world’s largest laundry care market – and Canada,” said Henkel CEO Hans Van Bylen.
Vestar specializes in management buyouts and growth capital investments. The firm targets equity investments in the range of $50 million to $150 million in US-based middle-market companies with enterprise values ranging from $250 million to $1 billion. Sectors of interest include consumer; diversified industries; healthcare; and financial services. Since the firm’s founding in 1988, Vestar has completed more than 75 investments in companies with a total value of more than $40 billion. Vestar has offices in New York, Boston, and Denver (www.vestarcapital.com).
© 2016 Private Equity Professional • 6-28-16
