CR Brands, a portfolio company of Resilience Capital Partners, has sold its Mean Green cleaning products line and its exclusive United States and Canadian license for Roto-Rooter branded drain care products to the Rust-Oleum group of publicly-traded RPM International.
Mean Green is a heavy-duty cleaner and has an array of products for mold, mildew, bacteria, grease and other uses. Roto-Rooter is the number one name in plumbing services, lending brand strength to its line of drain care products that include hair clog remover, gel clog remover, build up remover and septic tank treatment. The Mean Green and Roto-Rooter products are sold in big-box retailers, such as Home Depot, Lowe’s, Wal-Mart and Menards, as well as grocers and other retailers. These product lines have annual sales of approximately $20 million.
CR Brands manufactures and markets both branded and private label household cleaning and laundry products. The company’s branded products are marketed under the brands Mean Green, Biz, Oxydol, Pine Power and Magnum Power. CR Brands has national distribution with retailers such as Dollar General, Family Dollar, Walmart, Target and Kroger. Resilience acquired CR Brands from Juggernaut Capital Partners in October 2012. In December 2013, CR Brands acquired the assets of the Liquids division of oneCARE which included home dry cleaning brand Dryel, as well as drain pipe opening brands Roto-Rooter and Drain Pro. CR Brands is led by CEO Dan Mickelson and is headquartered in West Chester, OH (www.crbrandsinc.com).
“The CR Brands team has successfully positioned Mean Green and Roto-Rooter for continued growth under their new ownership,” said Bassem Mansour, co-CEO of Resilience Capital Partners. “This transaction will enable CR Brands to focus on initiatives to drive continued growth in products such as Biz and Dryel that offer consumers outstanding performance and superior value.”
Resilience Capital Partners invests from $10 million to $40 million in middle market companies with $25 million to $250 million in revenues and EBITDA typically under $20 million. Sectors of interest include industrial manufacturing, distribution, business services, aviation & aerospace, minerals & mining, consumer goods, transportation logistics, building products, metals, and capital equipment. The firm was founded in 2001 and is based in Cleveland (www.resiliencecapital.com).
“Rust-Oleum has made a concentrated effort to build and grow its platform of cleaners, which initially began with the Jomax brand and has since expanded to include the well-recognized brands of Krud-Kutter, Whink and Moldex. Mean Green and Roto-Rooter products are excellent strategic fits that add more dimension to the growing portfolio,” said Frank Sullivan, RPM’s Chairman and CEO. “Utilizing Rust-Oleum’s sales and distribution network will significantly increase the reach of these leading products. At the same time, we expect to leverage their connections to achieve greater penetration of Rust-Oleum’s brands in grocery and other retail channels.”
RPM International (NYSE: RPM) is a multinational manufacturer of specialty coatings, sealants and building materials. The company has annual revenues of more than $5 billion and is headquartered near Cleveland in Median, OH (www.rpminc.com).
KeyBanc Capital Markets was the financial advisor to Resilience Capital Partners and CR Brands.
© 2018 Private Equity Professional | August 6, 2018
