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Vestar Capital Partners Agrees to Sell Sun Products

8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago

NEW YORK, NY – June 24, 2016 – Vestar Capital Partners (“Vestar”) announced today
that Henkel Consumer Goods Inc., a subsidiary of Henkel AG & Co. KGaA (“Henkel”),
has signed a definitive agreement to acquire The Sun Products Corporation (“Sun
Products”), a Vestar Capital Partners V portfolio company.


The transaction is valued at
$3.6 billion.
Sun Products, based in Connecticut, has a portfolio of iconic laundry and household
brands, such as all®, Sun®, Wisk®, Snuggle® and Sunlight®. The company also
develops and manufactures laundry and dish care brands for leading retailers in North
America.


In fiscal 2015, the company generated sales of approximately $1.6 billion in the
US and Canada. Sun Products employs approximately 2,000 people.
“This transaction is a major strategic move for Henkel. North America is one of the most
important markets for us worldwide. With the acquisition of Sun Products we will
improve our position in the USA, the world’s largest laundry market,” said Henkel Chief
Executive Officer Hans Van Bylen.


With the acquisition, Henkel will advance to the
number-two position in the laundry care market in North America.
“The partnership between Jeff Ansell and the Sun Products leadership and the Vestar
Consumer team has been highly successful for our firm and our investors,” said Dan
O’Connell, chief executive officer and founder of Vestar Capital Partners. “We are proud
of the company’s many achievements under our ownership, including improved
profitability, healthier core brands and strengthened operations and believe the
combination with Henkel's North America business will create a strong platform for
future success.”


“Joining forces with Henkel is the ideal step following our multi-year journey of
transformation into a competitive and profitable industry leader,” said Jeffrey P. Ansell,
Sun Products chairman, president and chief executive officer. “The collaboration with
Vestar has been outstanding, and together with our talented team we’ve developed a
winning business model that includes strong national and retailer brands, fueled by
innovation leadership, a streamlined cost structure and manufacturing expertise to deliver
consistently high-quality products.


Moving forward with Henkel, we will bring even
more exciting innovation into the North America market, delighting consumers,
customers and our employees with more career-broadening opportunities.”
The closing of the transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and other
customary closing conditions.
Morgan Stanley & Co. acted as financial advisor and Kirkland & Ellis LLP acted as legal
advisor to Sun Products.

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