Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. is an American multinational consumer products conglomerate headquartered in Middleton, Wisconsin. It was established in 2005 as the successor to Rayovac Corporation. The company manufactures and markets home appliances under the Remington,

Black & Decker Black+Decker is an American manufacturer of power tools, accessories, hardware, home improvement products, home appliances, and fastening systems, headquartered in Towson, Maryland, north of Baltimore, where the company was originally establis ...

George Foreman George Edward Foreman (January 10, 1949 – March 21, 2025) was an American professional boxer, businessman, minister, and author. In boxing, he competed between 1967 and 1997, and was nicknamed "Big George". He was a two-time world heavyweig ...

, and Russell Hobbs brand names, lawn and garden care products under the Spectracide and Garden Safe brand names, and insect repellents under the Cutter and Repel brand names. Spectrum owns several pet care companies, both in the aquarium supply and companion animal trades. In the aquarium business, Spectrum owns Tetra, Whisper, Marineland, Perfecto, Jungle, Instant Ocean, Visi-Therm, and other product lines. Companion animal lines consist of Dingo, Nature's Miracle, Lazy Pet, Wonderbox, Furminator, IAMS, Eukanuba and others. Both aquarium lines and companion lines are concentrated into Spectrum's United Pet Group based in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

History

Rayovac Corporation (1906–2005)

In 1906, the French Battery Company was founded in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

by James Bowen Ramsay (1869–1952). Its first president was German-born chemist Alfred Landau, who had been making batteries in Europe. The Ramsay collective invested in Landau's functioning low-profile Columbia Dry Battery Company which had been halted by copyright issues regarding the adopted name "Columbia". The re-started and re-named assembly plant soon relocated to Wisconsin where Landau's efforts to advance the French company too quickly, combined with a bad run of batteries, led to virtual bankruptcy and he was sacked. He moved on to

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

and set up a factory making X-Cell brand batteries for Canada. Neither Ramsay nor the other shareholders knew how to make batteries, but Ramsay's leadership kept the enterprise alive, by having assembly line staff make the "Fleur de lis" branded batteries to a lower standard. Ramsay's fiery self-belief in the industry led him to contract a university chemist C. F. Burgess to concoct a battery to rival those made in America and Europe. Burgess actually succeeded, to his own financial cost, and the company survived, with him becoming a shareholder; but after a fire destroyed the plant in 1915, he left to found his own successful battery company. French battery production accelerated through World War I, and by 1920, the French Battery Company had US$2.74 million in sales and 600 employees, and 1,000 employees in 1931. In 1930, the company name was changed to Ray-O-Vac, an allusion to the then-new technology of

vacuum tube A vacuum tube, electron tube, thermionic valve (British usage), or tube (North America) is a device that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which an electric voltage, potential difference has been applied. It ...

s and electron rays. In 1933, the company patented the first wearable vacuum tube

hearing aid A hearing aid is a device designed to improve hearing by making sound audible to a person with hearing loss. Hearing aids are classified as medical devices in most countries, and regulated by the respective regulations. Small audio amplifiers ...

. During World War II, Rayovac supplied the United States military with nearly 500 million batteries. As a result of this, they were awarded eight Army-Navy "E" awards for major contributions to victory. In 2003, Rayovac decided to diversify, and acquired non-battery related businesses including Remington Products and United Pet Group. In 2004, Rayovac successfully underbid Energizer ( Eveready) as RadioShack's battery supplier and produced the " Enercell" brand of battery sold exclusively at RadioShack. In January 2005, Rayovac purchased United Industries Corporation for about $476 million in cash and stock. Brands included in United Industries were Vigoro, Spectracide and Sta-Green lawn products, Cutter, Hot Shot and Repel insect control products, and pet supply products with the Marineland, Perfecto, and Eight in One brands. In 2005, Tetra, a major provider of pet-fish products, was acquired. This diversification prompted the name change from Rayovac to Spectrum Brands. Rayovac also bought other battery companies including VARTA, Ningbo Baowang, and Microlite S.A. The Microlite acquisition included the rights to the Rayovac name in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, giving the company worldwide rights to the Rayovac name. With this acquisition, Rayovac consolidated its presence in the majority of countries in Latin America.

Spectrum Brands (2005–present)

On February 3, 2009, Spectrum filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company later emerged from bankruptcy on August 28, 2009. Since emerging from Chapter 11, Spectrum has announced year-over-year increases in sales and adjusted

earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization A company's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (commonly abbreviated EBITDA, pronounced ) is a measure of a company's profitability of the operating business only, thus before any effects of indebtedness, state-mandat ...

(EBITDA) for the second quarter of their fiscal 2010. Rayovac, as a division of Spectrum Brands, remained headquartered in

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...

, along with Remington, while parent company Spectrum Brands was headquartered in Georgia. On April 15, 2010, Spectrum Brands announced that it would be moving its corporate headquarters back to Madison; Spectrum Brands moved its headquarters to the suburb of Middleton, Wisconsin, in October 2013. Spectrum Brands finalized a merger with Russell Hobbs, Inc. on June 16, 2010, to form a new $3 billion consumer products company. Russell Hobbs' brands include George Foreman Grill, Toastmaster, Black & Decker Home appliances, and Russell Hobbs. In 2012, Spectrum also purchased many non-tool assets from

Stanley Black & Decker Stanley Black & Decker, Inc., formerly known as The Stanley Works, is a ''Fortune'' 500 American manufacturer of industrial tools and household hardware, and a provider of security products. Headquartered in the Greater Hartford city of Ne ...

, primarily hardware, plumbing, and locks. While the Russel Hobbs purchase brought Black & Decker licensing to Spectrum (for small appliances), the HHI purchase did not involve brands marketed under the Black & Decker name. In 2022, Spectrum began negotiations to sell the HHI division to Swedish lockmaker Assa Abloy. On April 28, 2015, Spectrum Brands entered the automotive supply business by acquiring Armored Auto group. On January 16, 2018, the Rayovac division was bought by Energizer for $2 billion. On February 26, 2018, Spectrum Brands announced it was merging with controlling shareholder HRG Group, Inc. The move would not affect the pending sale of its battery division to Energizer. Spectrum management was expected to run the merged entity. The combined company is to be named Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. and trade under the ticker symbol SPB. The company will remain in Middleton. In September 2021, Spectrum sold its Hardware and Home Improvement ("HHI") division to Assa Abloy for $4.3 billion. HHI has a varied portfolio of products, including patented SmartKey technology and electronic, smart and biometric locks. Key brands include Kwikset, Baldwin, Weiser, Pfister and National Hardware. HHI is headquartered in Lake Forest, California with some 7,500 employees worldwide and has manufacturing facilities in the United States, Mexico, Taiwan, China, and the Philippines.

Battery products

Rayovac formerly manufactured alkaline batteries ranging in size from AAA to 9V, rechargeable nickel–metal hydride batteries, hearing aid batteries, lithium photo batteries, specialty batteries and portable power chargers. In addition, a variety of portable LED flashlights and lanterns are produced under the Rayovac brand, prior to its sale to Energizer Holdings. Energizer continues to manufacture some battery products under the Rayovac brand. In November 2018, the company sold their global auto care division (brands which included Armor All, STP, and A/C Pro) to Energizer as well.

History

Rayovac Corporation (1906–2005)

Spectrum Brands (2005–present)

Battery products

See also

References

Further reading

External links