Private equity group BC Partners is preparing the sale of Italian-French domestic cleaning products and insecticides maker Spotless Group and is looking for an enterprise value of between 900 million euros to 1 billion euros, MF-Milano FInanza writes today, confirming a previuos article by Les Echos.
Rothschild and JP Morgan are likely to be selected as financial advisors to conduct the sale of the group starting next September, which might attract interest from many industrial group in the sector as the US Energizer, Spectrum and SC Johnson or German Henkel.
BC Partners bought the Spotless Group in 2010 from Axa Private Equity (recently renamed Ardian) European Capital and Italian Gualandi family on a 600 million euros enterprise value. The group was created following the acquisition in 2005 of the market leader in French laundry and homecare products, Eau Ecarlate, and Italian laundry, homecare and insecticides maker Guaber (which distributes well known brands like insecticide Vape, stain remover Grey and xx Vim).
Spotless previously bought Lcs plant in San Marino from the Gualandi family. That plant being the one where all Vape brand’s products are produced. Vape brand is the only brand which is not owned by Spotless. However Guaber has been given the brand as a unique licence for Europe by Japanese owner Fumakilla since decades. As for the Gualandi family it has nothing to do with Guaber or Spotless since 2010 and it is not solely involved with its activity in the personal care sector with well known brands such as Bionsen and Angelica.
Spotless group reached 300 million euros in revenues in 2013 up from 268 millions in 2012 when it reached an ebitda margin of more than 20pct. In the last few years Spotless grew a lot thanks to a series of brands acquisitions all over Europe both in the insecticide and in the laudry and homecare products sector. For example it bought German Globol and some brands from Sara Lee (such as Catch, Bloom and Vapona) and two brands from L’Oréal (Iba and Croc’odor). Last year Spotless bouth K2r stain remover brand from German Hedoga.
