IWP's Household Products Division

26 July 2002

Tweet
Facebook
LinkedIn
Google plus
Send to

In a deal that is due to complete shortly, Legal & General Ventures has formed a joint venture with IWP International plc to enable the management buyout of IWPâ€™s Household Products Division. The business will be named Jeyes Group and is being acquired debt-free in a transaction that values the business at EUR 134.2m. Legal & General Ventures has invested cEUR 30m into Jeyes in return for a 44% stake of newcoâ€™s equity. IWP will retain a 35% stake in the business through a EUR 33.2m investment consisting of shares and deep discount bonds. In addition to its equity participation, IWP will receive EUR 101m in cash, which it will use to reduce its borrowings. The balance of the equity will be held by the companyâ€™s management, which invested an undisclosed amount in the transaction. A senior debt package to support the unratcheted transaction was provided in equal proportions by Bank of Scotland (lead arranger), Barclays and Scotiabank. The deal was initiated by a direct marketing initiative from Legal & General Ventures.

Company

The household products division of IWP is primarily involved in the manufacture, distribution and marketing of products designed for the household cleaning and hygiene markets and includes the Bloo, Parozone and Wet Ones brands. Based in Thetford, Norfolk, it has operations in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands and its products are distributed in over 60 countries. Its strategy is to focus on areas where it can achieve competitive advantage through technical competence and innovation and it currently offers a range of products in areas including toilet care, air care, wipes, cleaners and insect control. In the year to 31 March 2002, it had sales of EUR 295.9m and operating profit before goodwill amortisation of EUR 15.9m.

People

Ivan Heywood, Michael Oâ€™Donnell, Joanna Parfrey and Bill Priestley coordinated the investment on behalf of Legal & General Ventures. Ivan Heywood and Michael Oâ€™Donnell will be appointed to the board of the company. The debt package was structured by Donald Gately, Gordon Watters and Rob Bonfield of Bank of Scotland, Barclays and Scotiabank respectively. Mike Colley is chief executive of Jeyes.