Henkel acquires Sun Products for $ 3.6 bn from Vestar Capital Partners

Germany’s Henkel has signed an agreement to acquire the laundry and home care company The Sun Products Corporation, based in Wilton, Connecticut (USA), from a fund of Vestar Capital Partners for $ 3.6 billion (around Euro 3.2 billion) including debt. “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 USA, the world's largest laundry care market, and Canada,” said Hans Van Bylen, CEO, Henkel.
 
With the acquisition, Henkel will advance to second position in the laundry care market in North America.
   
Sun Products has a portfolio of leading laundry care brands, such as All and Sun as well as the fabric conditioner Snuggle. The company also develops and manufactures laundry brands for leading retailers in North America.
 
In fiscal 2015, the company generated sales of $ 1.6 billion (about Euro 1.4 billion) in the USA and Canada. Sun Products employs approximately 2,000 people and has two production sites and one R&D center in the USA.
 
"Sun Products will complement and strengthen our existing laundry and home care portfolio with well-established and successful brands in North America. The Sun Products brands will enable us to further leverage Henkel's innovation leadership and increase our relevance to trading partners in North America,” explained Bruno Piacenza, executive vice president and responsible for Henkel’s laundry and home care business.
 
North America is one the most important regions for Henkel and the US accounts for the highest sales globally. Today, Henkel has more than 6,000 employees in North America and operates with all three business units in the region: laundry & home care, beauty care and adhesives technologies. Henkel's portfolio of well-known, leading consumer and industrial brands in the USA include Persil and Purex laundry detergents, Schwarzkopf hair care products for retail and professional customers, Dial body care and Loctite adhesives.
 
In fiscal 2015, total sales in North America amounted to more than Euro 3.6 billion euros ($ 4 billion). Over the past decades the business in the region has continuously strengthened through successfully integrated acquisitions, for examples Loctite, Dial, National Starch's adhesives businesses as well as the hair professional companies Sexy Hair, Kenra and Alterna.