Spotless Group SAS was a pan-European manufacturer of insect control and laundry products, based in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

. In 2015, it became part of Germany's

Henkel AG & Co. KGaA, commonly known as Henkel, is a German multinational chemical and consumer goods company headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany. It is active in both the consumer and industrial sectors. Founded in 1876, the DAX company is organ ...

group.

Operations

Spotless Group was established by AXA Private Equity (renamed Ardian in 2013) in 2005, upon AXAs acquisition of French homecare company Eau Ecarlate. The incumbent CEO of Eau Ecarlate, Pierre le Tanneur, assumed the presidency of Spotless. In 2006, the second year of its existence, Spotless Group acquired

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

-based homecare company Guaber and Irish shoe-care manufacturer Punch Industries. The group made further acquisitions in 2007, of sewerage disposal company Eparcyl and the

Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy ...

brand Ballerina. In 2008, the company purchased Dylon International, the UK's leading dye producer, from the Mayborn Group. Spotless Group owns a total of 18 brands as of 2008. In 2010, AXA Private Equity (renamed Ardian in 2013) sold its 65.6% stake in Spotless Group to British private-equity company

BC Partners BC Partners is a British international investment firm with over $40 billion of assets under management across private equity, credit and real estate in Europe and North America. Its global headquarters are in London. The firm invests across all ...

for a reported €600 million, according to

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was est ...

. In 2014, Germany's

, a specialist in laundry products, offered to buy Spotless for 940 million Euros (about $1.3 billion) in cash. “By acquiring the Spotless Group, we will strengthen our market position and enter highly profitable growth segments,” Henkel chief executive Kasper Rorsted told reporters. The deal, which was subject to approval from antitrust authorities, was completed in May 2015. The deal would slightly increase Henkel's share of the $82 billion global laundry care market to 8.7%, still well behind

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer he ...

's 26.6% and the 14.8% market share held by

, which sells

Persil Persil is a German brand of laundry detergent manufactured and marketed by Henkel around the world except in the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Latin America (except Mexico), China, Australia and New Zealand, where it is manufactured and m ...

detergent - a Henkel brand - in some markets. ''Germany's Henkel expands laundry brands with $1.3 billion French deal'', Victoria Bryan and Martinne Geller, Reuters news agency, 5 June 2014
Retrieved: 31 May 2015.

Subsidiaries

Spotless Group had subsidiaries in 8 European Countries: *Guaber, Italy *Spotless Hungary, Hungary *Punch Industries, Ireland *Eau Ecarlate, France *Spotless UK, United Kingdom *Spotless Benelux, Netherlands *Spotless Iberia, Spain *Boston Scandinavia, Sweden

Products

Spotless Group owned the brand Colour Catcher, which is the market leader in washing machine colour protection. Other Spotless Group brands include:

Notes and references

{{reflist Manufacturing companies established in 2005 Multinational companies Manufacturing companies based in Paris Corporate subsidiaries 2015 mergers and acquisitions French companies established in 2005