News
LDC exits Pelsis following international growth journey
5 Aug 2021
Mid-market private equity firm LDC has exited its investment in Pelsis, a leading global manufacturer and distributor of pest control products, to Pamplona Capital Management (Pamplona). Financial details are undisclosed.
Headquartered in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, Pelsis is a trusted global supplier to the world’s largest pest control operators, distributors and retailers through leading brands such as Edialux, Insect-O-Cutor, B&G, Curtis Dyna-Fog and Pest-Stop. Pelsis is recognised for its technical products and innovation, with a strong presence in global pest control markets.
LDC backed the secondary buyout of Pelsis in August 2017 to help drive global growth. With LDC’s support, Pelsis delivered a targeted buy-and-build strategy that has enabled the business to more than double in size. This included the acquisitions of US-based Curtis Gilmour, French pest control supplier Edialux France and California-based Bird-B-Gone, the leading manufacturer of humane bird deterrents.
Through these acquisitions Pelsis was able to further extend its international footprint and grow its portfolio of brands, helping the business to increase its headcount from 270 to more than 600 people. Over the last four years it has also grown its global sales from €87m to €150m.
The transaction will enable Pelsis and its existing management team to drive further international growth. With the support of Pamplona, it will now look to establish its position as the global market leader of pest control products.
We have always been focused on our objective to become a world leading supplier of pest control products. LDC has been a supportive investor throughout our partnership. They knew we wanted to grow through acquisition and they absolutely delivered by helping us to make three significant acquisitions. Today the business is a leader across multiple categories."
“We are very excited to begin this new chapter for Pelsis together with Pamplona. Pamplona will actively support Pelsis in achieving our shared goals and growing further into the US and Europe, consolidating our position as a market leader and introducing new, innovative products to the market. Having met the Pamplona team, we look forward to working with them in driving the company’s further success.”
Dale Alderson, Head of the North West at LDC, added: “We partnered with Pelsis to support its international acquisitive growth strategy. During our partnership, Andrew and his team have cemented Pelsis’ market-leading position by making astute acquisitions. I have no doubt they will continue to go from strength to strength as they continue to expand across the world.”
Martin Schwab, Co-Managing Partner at Pamplona, said: “We are looking forward to partnering with Andrew and the management team of Pelsis and are impressed by the work they have done to build the company into an attractive growth platform in recent years. As a global leader in the highly resilient pest control market, we believe Pelsis is very well positioned to take advantage of the strong trend towards greater focus on health and hygiene, and continued growth and development of the pest control industry.”
Pelsis was advised by Rothschild (financial advice), DLA Piper (legal advice), PWC (financial due diligence) and OC&C (commercial due diligence).
Pamplona was advised by Houlihan Lokey and William Blair (financial advice), and Kirkland & Ellis (legal advice).