Over the past several years, there have been many high-profile mergers and acquisitions in the U.S. jan/san market, such as Ecolab’s acquisition of Swisher Hygiene and Sealed Air’s acquisition of Diversey. However, as these businesses are being integrated into their larger parent companies, the portion of the business that does not match the parent company’s core strengths or vision for the future are being divested. According to Kline’s data, the 10 leading suppliers of jan/san cleaning products account for 37% of total sales in 2014. The market continues to change, with companies strengthening their positions in their usual segments, as well as entering new segments through mergers and acquisitions.
Leading U.S. Suppliers of Janitorial and
Housekeeping Cleaning Products
Ecolab divests Swisher Hygiene’s restroom cleaning business
Holding more than half of the market in the food cleaning sector and one-third of the commercial laundry segment, Ecolab ranks as one of the largest suppliers to the U.S. I&I market. To broaden its restaurant-cleaning product portfolio, the company purchased the U.S. operations of Swisher Hygiene Inc. in November 2015. With Swisher Hygiene, Ecolab got access to smaller chains and individual fast and full-service restaurants, which formed the customer base of Swisher prior to acquisition. However, in October 2016, Ecolab divests the restroom cleaning business of Swisher Hygiene to Enviro-Master International Franchise for approximately $28 million. Bob Sherwood, EVP and general manager, Ecolab Institutional North America, states, “The restroom cleaning business provides an important service to the marketplace, but was not a good fit for our long-term goals and objectives.” Ecolab retains the warewashing, kitchen specialty, laundry, and housekeeping cleaning and sanitizing products and services of Swisher Hygiene. This business serves the foodservice, hospitality, retail, and healthcare markets.
SC Johnson acquires Deb Group and STERIS
After having exited the I&I business with the sale of Diversey to Sealed Air in 2011, SC Johnson has made a couple of strategic acquisitions recently to broaden its footprint in the I&I market. SC Johnson decided to expand its market presence in the I&I hand care market with the purchase of Deb Group in February 2015. Prior to this acquisition, SC Johnson manufactured household cleaning supplies and consumer chemicals. Deb Group, in turn, is a world leader in away-from-home skin care, suppling a wide range of hygiene and skin care products to industrial segments, such as industrial, institutional, healthcare, and food service. The company’s wide product portfolio includes heavy-duty hand cleaners, foaming hand soaps, and hand sanitizers. Recently, in September 2016, SC Johnson announces its acquisition of STERIS’ Applied Infection Control business, which will expand its presence in the healthcare end-use segments, including hospitals, surgical centers, medical devices, and research centers.
Sealed Air spinning off Diversey
In October 2016, Sealed Air, an undisputed leader in the market for janitorial cleaning products, has announced its decision to pursue a spin-off of its two divisions, Diversey Care and Food Care, into a freestanding company named New Diversey. The spin-off will allow both companies—Sealed Air and New Diversey—to optimize the performance on their core markets and enhance competitive positions in the food and medical packaging and cleaning markets, respectively.
The merger and acquisition cycles in the I&I market ebb and flow as companies first expand into new market segments in the pursuit of growth and then, in some cases, after becoming too large and diluted, determine that spinning off or divesting these divisions are the best way to operate them efficiently. This is the case for suppliers, as well as distributors, serving the marketplace. These and other changes in the organizational structures and merger and acquisition activities will be covered in greater depth in Kline’s upcoming Janitorial and Housekeeping Cleaning Products: U.S. Market Analysis and Opportunities report. This service is a long-trusted source that provides clients with an understanding of critical success factors and market trends on the U.S. market for jan/san cleaning products. This study includes insights from over 1,000 interviews with end users, covers over 20 product categories used in 15 major end-use applications, and profiles 100 leading suppliers.
