PNC, Steel City Finance Resilience's Acquisition of CR Brands
Tuesday, October 02, 2012
CR Brands, Inc., a national manufacturer and marketer of well-known and affordable branded and private label household cleaning and laundry products, announced that it has been acquired by Resilience Capital Partners, a lower middle-market private equity firm. PNC Business Credit and Steel City Capital Funding provided financing for the transaction.
Headquartered in West Chester, OH, CR Brands operates manufacturing facilities in Spartanburg, SC, and markets its products under the nationally recognized brands Mean Green, Biz, Oxydol, Pine Power and Magnum Power. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
CR Brands was founded in 2000 by Rich Owen, the company's current president and CEO and a ten-year veteran of Procter & Gamble. As Owen saw a growing opportunity to capitalize on strong but underserved brand equities, together with a partner he formed Redox Brands, Inc. by acquiring Oxydol and Biz from Procter & Gamble. In 2006, Redox merged with ChemPro Inc., the maker of Mean Green and Pine Power, to create CR Brands. Today, CR Brands enjoys national distribution and deep customer relationships with leading retailers such as Dollar General, Family Dollar, Walmart, Target and Kroger. The company has also partnered with certain customers (e.g. Kroger, Publix) to manufacture a broad assortment of proprietary store brand household cleaning products. The company's senior leadership team will continue to manage the company’s day-to-day operations.
"CR Brands has a strong track record of offering brands that deliver strong performance and exceptional value to its customers and consumers. We look forward to working with the company's management team to continue to develop a leading household products platform," said Bassem Mansour, co-CEO of Resilience Capital Partners.
Michael Merriman, an operating executive of Resilience, has been appointed chairman of the board of CR Brands, supporting the current leadership team led by Owen. Prior to joining Resilience in 2008, Merriman served as CEO of Lamson and Sessions Corporation (2006-2007), as CFO of American Greetings Corporation (2005-2006) and as CEO of Royal Appliance Mfg. Co., the manufacturer of Dirt Devil vacuum cleaners (1995-2004).
Merriman added, "The acquisition of CR Brands is a unique opportunity to acquire a leading household products platform with multiple growth opportunities. We look forward to working with CR Brands and its strong management team to drive growth in its well established portfolio."
Sawaya Segalas & Co., LLC, a consumer-focused investment banking firm, acted as exclusive financial advisor to CR Brands in connection with the transaction. Jones Day served as legal counsel to Resilience and its affiliates.
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