In-line with a growing number of ‘cleaning’ product suppliers, The Clorox Company has further expanded its infection control repertoire with the acquisitions of Aplicare, Inc. and HealthLink, which are providers of infection control products for the health care industry.
‘These acquisitions are important steps in the company’s effort to increase exposure to faster-growing categories as part of an ongoing portfolio transformation. The acquisitions complement and expand the breadth and depth of the health care portfolio of Clorox Professional Products Company, a division of The Clorox Company,’ stated the official announcement.
“One element of our strategy is making targeted, strategic acquisitions to drive faster growth,” said Clorox chairman and CEO Don Knauss.
“Aplicare and HealthLink build on the success of our 2010 Caltech acquisition, which has strengthened our leadership in bleach-based hard-surface disinfection in hospitals. These transactions reinforce the company’s commitment to meet the unique needs of the health care industry, where the use of infection control products is growing rapidly in response to increased attention on helping prevent health care-associated infections.”
Aplicare specialises in developing and manufacturing different forms of products for helping prevent skin infection from needles or surgery. The company sells its products to hospitals and to other companies that create kits for use by health care facilities.
HealthLink bundles a wide assortment of products — including AloeGuard antimicrobial hand soap — for use by individual physicians, doctors’ offices, outpatient care centres and other health care facilities.
Combined, Aplicare and HealthLink represent more than 1 percent of Clorox Company annual sales on an ongoing basis and will be slightly dilutive to diluted earnings per share in fiscal year 2012.
The combined purchase price for both transactions was in the range of US$80 to US$90 million, subject to post-closing adjustments, and was funded through cash and commercial paper borrowing. The transactions will not impact Clorox’s dividend policy or plans to repurchase shares using the remaining proceeds from the sale of the company’s former Auto Care businesses.
According to a report by the Freedonia Group, infection control in the US is a US$2.5 billion market and expected to grow to US$3 billion in the next five years.