Spotless Group

Not to be confused with Spotless Group Holdings.

Spotless Group SAS was a pan-European manufacturer of insect control and laundry products, based in Paris, France. In 2015, it became part of Germany's Henkel group.

Spotless Group

Industry	Consumer Products
Founded	2005; 19 years ago (2005)
Headquarters	Paris, France
Products	Colour Catcher, Keep it White, Vim, Ballerina, Vigor, Eparcyl, Punch, Dylon
Parent	Henkel
Website	www.spotlessgroup.eu

Operations

Spotless Group was established by AXA Private Equity (renamed Ardian in 2013) in 2005, upon AXAs acquisition of French homecare company Eau Ecarlate.^[1] The incumbent CEO of Eau Ecarlate, Pierre le Tanneur, assumed the presidency of Spotless.^[2]

In 2006, the second year of its existence, Spotless Group acquired Bologna-based homecare company Guaber and Irish shoe-care manufacturer Punch Industries. The group made further acquisitions in 2007, of sewerage disposal company Eparcyl and the Unilever brand Ballerina.^[3][4] In 2008, the company purchased Dylon International, the UK's leading dye producer, from the Mayborn Group. Spotless Group owns a total of 18 brands as of 2008.^[5]

In 2010, AXA Private Equity (renamed Ardian in 2013) sold its 65.6% stake in Spotless Group to British private-equity company BC Partners for a reported €600 million, according to Reuters.^[6]

In 2014,^[7] Germany's Henkel, a specialist in laundry products, offered to buy Spotless for 940 million Euros (about $1.3 billion) in cash. "By acquiring the Spotless Group, we will strengthen our market position and enter highly profitable growth segments," Henkel chief executive Kasper Rorsted told reporters.^[8] The deal, which was subject to approval from antitrust authorities, was completed in May 2015.^[9] The deal would slightly increase Henkel's share of the $82 billion global laundry care market to 8.7%, still well behind Procter & Gamble's 26.6% and the 14.8% market share held by Unilever, which sells Persil detergent - a Henkel brand - in some markets.^[10]

Subsidiaries

Spotless Group had subsidiaries in 8 European Countries:

• Guaber, Italy
• Spotless Hungary, Hungary
• Punch Industries, Ireland
• Eau Ecarlate, France
• Spotless UK, United Kingdom
• Spotless Benelux, Netherlands
• Spotless Iberia, Spain
• Boston Scandinavia, Sweden

Products

Spotless Group owned the brand Colour Catcher, which is the market leader in washing machine colour protection. Other Spotless Group brands include:

• Punch
• Vim
• Ballerina
• Eparcyl
• Dylon
• Vigor
• Boston
• Punch
• Fito
• Bloom
• Cucal
• Vapona
• Catch
• Dum Dum
• Tupic
• Carcomin
• Zensect
• Globol
• Tabard
• Iba
• Dr.Optic
• Lord Sheraton furniture polish range (manufactured in San Marino).^[11]

Notes and references

1. Anne-Sylvaine Chassany (23 September 2008). "Axa Said to Be Seeking Sale of Spotless Group for $1 Billion". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 16 February 2010.
2. http://www.spotlessgroup.eu/#management Spotless.eu - Management - retrieved: July 1, 2009
3. http://www.spotlessgroup.eu/#history Spotlessgroup.eu - History - retrieved: July 1, 2009
4. "Eparcyl S.A." businessweek.com. Archived from the original on September 28, 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2010.
5. "Snapshot 2008". Spotlessgroup.eu. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
6. Espana, Zaida (17 February 2010). "RLPC-BC Partners buys majority stake in Spotless Group". Reuters.com. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
7. Henkel to acquire Spotless Group for 940 million euros Henkel corporate website, 4 June 2014. Retrieved: 31 May 2015.
8. Henkel Accelerates M&A Pace With $1.3 Billion Spotless Deal, Alex Webb, Bloomberg news agency, New York, 4 June 2014. Retrieved: 31 May 2015.
9. Avis de projet de fusion (Notice of Merger), Spotless Group corporate website, 28 May 2015. Retrieved: 31 May 2015.
10. Germany's Henkel expands laundry brands with $1.3 billion French deal, Victoria Bryan and Martinne Geller, Reuters news agency, 5 June 2014. Retrieved: 31 May 2015.
11. Lord Sheraton Caretaker Furniture Polish Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine