Vestar Capital Partners, a U.S. middle-market private equity firm, entered into a definitive agreement to sell Woodstream, a manufacturer and marketer of branded pest and animal control products, to Bansk Group. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2020, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Woodstream makes pest and animal control, electronic animal containment, and lawn and garden products, under brands such as Victor, Terro, Dynatrap, Safer, Havahart, Mosquito Magnet, Perky-Pet, and Zareba. Its products are sold at more than 100,000 retail locations and online. Headquartered in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Woodstream has manufacturing operations in Lititz, Pennsylvania, and Knoxville, Tennessee, and a broad distribution footprint with facilities across North America.
During Vestar’s ownership, the company significantly increased its strategic focus on the pest and animal control segment of its portfolio, which included divesting and discontinuing certain non-core assets and acquiring DynaTrap, a provider of flying insect traps, last year. Under the leadership of CEO Miguel Nistal and his management team, who will remain with Woodstream post-close, the company invested behind meaningful operational improvements, developed industry-leading innovation and enhanced its e-commerce capabilities.
“Woodstream has achieved double-digit growth in sales and has become a more strategic, consumer-driven organization over the last five years with Vestar’s support, but there’s still more to be done,” says Nistal. “Our strategy of investing behind product innovation has put the company on a strong growth trajectory, and I am grateful to the Woodstream management team, our board of directors and the Vestar partners for their dedication to the company. It’s an exciting time at Woodstream, and we look forward to our next chapter under Bansk’s ownership.”
“We view Woodstream as an attractive long term platform in the growing and on-trend pest and animal control category,” says Brian O’Connor, senior partner and chief investment officer at Bansk. “We look forward to working with Miguel and the management team to accelerate the investment behind the business to take advantage of the compelling market opportunity.”
