September 2, 2016

Henkel significantly strengthens its laundry care business in North America

Henkel closes acquisition of The Sun Products Corporation

•	Step-change for Henkel in North America
•	Henkel reaches No. 2 position in the North American laundry care market
•	Attractive portfolio with strong and successful brands
•	Potential to leverage innovation leadership

Düsseldorf – Henkel has closed the acquisition of the laundry and home care company The Sun Products Corporation, based in Wilton, Connecticut, USA, on September 1, 2016. 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 US dollars (around 3.2 billion euros) 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 US dollars (around 1.4 billion euros) in the USA 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.

Henkel in North America and the USA
North America is one the most important regions for Henkel and the USA accounts for the highest sales globally. Henkel operates with all three business units in the region: Laundry & Home Care, Beauty Care and Adhesive Technologies. Henkel’s portfolio of well-known consumer and industrial brands in the USA 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, total sales in North America amounted to more than 3.6 billion euros (around 4.0 billion US dollars). Over 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.

About Henkel
Henkel operates worldwide with leading brands and technologies in three business units: Laundry & Home Care, Beauty Care and Adhesive Technologies. Founded in 1876, Henkel holds globally leading market positions, both in the consumer and in the industrial businesses, with well-known brands such as Persil, Schwarzkopf and Loctite. Henkel employs about 50,000 people and reported sales of 18.1 billion euros (20.1 billion US dollars) and adjusted operating profit of 2.9 billion euros (3.2 billion US dollars) in fiscal 2015. Henkel’s preferred shares are listed in the German stock index DAX. For more information, please visit www.henkel.com or www.henkel-northamerica.com

This document contains forward-looking statements which are based on the current estimates and assumptions made by the corporate management of Henkel AG & Co. KGaA. Forward-looking statements are characterized by the use of words such as expect, intend, plan, predict, assume, believe, estimate, anticipate, forecast and similar formulations. Such statements are not to be understood as in any way guaranteeing that those expectations will turn out to be accurate. Future performance and the results actually achieved by Henkel AG & Co. KGaA and its affiliated companies depend on a number of risks and uncertainties and may therefore differ materially from forward-looking statements. Many of these factors are outside Henkel’s control and cannot be accurately estimated in advance, such as the future economic environment and the actions of competitors and others involved in the marketplace. Henkel neither plans nor undertakes to update forward-looking statements. This document has been issued for information purposes only and is not intended to constitute an investment advice or an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities.

Contact

Investors & Analysts	Press & Media

Renata Casaro	Lars Witteck
Phone:	+49 211 797 - 1631	Phone:	+49 211 797 - 2606
Email: 	renata.casaro@henkel.com	Email:	lars.witteck@henkel.com

Dr. Eva Sewing	Wulf Klüppelholz
Phone:	+49 211 797 - 5277	Phone: 	+49 211 797 - 1875
Email:	eva.sewing@henkel.com	Email:	wulf.klueppelholz@henkel.com

Christopher Huesgen	Hanna Philipps
Phone:	+49 211 797 - 4314	Phone:	+49 211 797 - 3626
Email: 	christopher.huesgen@henkel.com	Email:	hanna.philipps@henkel.com

Ewa Penczek	Wilson Solano (in North America)
Phone:	+49 211 797 - 7151	Phone: +1-860-571-5393
Email: 	ewa.penczek@henkel.com	Email: 	wilson.solano@henkel.com

	Natalie Violi (in North America)
	Phone: +1-480-754-5442
	Email:  natalie.violi@henkel.com

	Kathryn Corbally (in North America)
	Phone: +1 203 254-6762
	Email:  kathryn.corbally@sunproductscorp.com

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