Henkel Closes Sun Acquisition

Sun is done. Henkel closed the acquisition of the laundry and home care company The Sun Products Corporation, based in Wilton, Connecticut,  yesterday. The agreement to buy all shares of the company from a fund of Vestar Capital Partners was signed on June 24, 2016 and is valued at $3.6 billion including debt.

“The acquisition of Sun Products is a major strategic move for Henkel and a step-change for our business in North America. We reach a No. 2 position in the North American laundry care market. With a transaction volume of around 3.2 billion euros this is the second-largest acquisition in Henkel’s history,” said Henkel CEO Hans Van Bylen.

The acquisition includes 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 the fiscal year 2015, Sun Products generated sales of around $1.6 billion in the US and Canada.

“This acquisition complements and strengthens our existing laundry and home care portfolio with well-known and successful brands in North America,” explained Bruno Piacenza, executive vice president and responsible for Henkel’s Laundry & Home Care business. “The Sun Products brands enable us to further leverage Henkel’s innovation leadership and increase our relevance to trading partners in North America. We see excellent opportunities for our combined businesses to serve our customers and consumers even better. We are also excited to welcome the strong team of Sun Products.”

“It’s a great opportunity to become part of the global Henkel organization. The entire Sun Products team is looking forward to further advance our combined portfolio of successful laundry care brands in North America,” said Jeffrey Ansell, CEO of Sun Products Corporation.

According to Henkel, North America is one the most important regions for the company, and the US accounts for the highest sales globally. Henkel operates with all three business units in the region: laundry and home care, beauty care, and adhesive technologies. Henkel’s portfolio of well-known consumer and industrial brands in the US include Persil and Purex laundry detergents, Schwarzkopf hair care products for retail and professional customers, Dial body care and Loctite adhesives. 

In the fiscal year 2015, Henkel's North American sales were approximately $4.0 billion. During the past decades the business in the region has been continuously strengthened through successfully integrated acquisitions; e.g. Loctite, Dial, National Starch’s adhesives businesses as well as the hair professional companies Sexy Hair, Kenra and Alterna.