JohnsonDiversey in equity investment and rebranding

Global supplier of cleaning products to the professional cleaning market JohnsonDiversey - which has its headquarters in the US - has entered into an agreement with a private equity firm under which it will invest €322.7 million ($477 million) for a 46 per cent equity interest.

The agreement has been signed with Clayton Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) as part of a broader recapitalisation transaction valued at €1.8 billion ($2.6 billion). Under the terms the Johnson family of Wiconsin will retain 50 per cent ownership and S Curtis Johnson will remain as chairman. CD&R operating partner James Berges is to be chairman of the executive committee.

New corporate identity

Unilever will also retain a four per cent interest. JohnsonDiversey has been one-third owned by Unilever NV since its acquisition of DiverseyLever in 2002. JohnsonDiversey has agreed to purchase all or part of Unilever's ownership at a future date.

The company will also adopt a new corporate identity early next year and the name will be changed to Diversey - with the tagline 'for a cleaner, healthier future'. Said Johnson on the announcement: "Our new identity will both acknowledge our rich heritage and offer a compelling view of the enduring benefits that our products and services provide."

As part of the rebranding JohnsonDiversey will also simplify its collection of brands in the marketplace. Names including Butchers and Johnson Wax Professional (JWP) will be integrated under the Diversey brand.

Specific needs

"This portfolio makes it extremely easy for end users and distributors to identify the best products to address specific cleaning and sanitation application needs," said John Alexander, president for the Americas region of JohnsonDiversey. "Offering our products under a single portfolio allows us to provide customers with the same trusted products, backed with even stronger support and service."

For more information: www.johnsondiversey.com  

Washroom focus in Amsterdam

Organisers of the ISSA/INTERCLEAN exhibition in Amsterdam next year are to introduce a hall called 'Washroom' which will be dedicated to the sanitary sector. Exhibitors relevant to this sector of the industry will be grouped together in that hall to enable visitors to target them more specifically.
Among the companies which will be in this hall are SCA Hygiene Products, Vendor, Satino and Lotus Professional.

Speaking about the new initiative Åsa Kalentun, regional marketing director northwest for Tork/SCA Hygiene Products said: "It is very important for us to approach our target group correctly with Tork's brand message. The hall 'Washroom' is in creates added value because enormous synergy develops by putting all the providers of washroom products together. We are convinced that this will reinforce the message by reaching the right visitors."

For more information: www.issainterclean.com

Hygiene survey highlights failings

Global hygiene and paper products company SCA has followed up its far-reaching Hygiene Matters research from last year with a more in-depth study into key aspects of the UK's hygiene habits.

Last year almost 5,000 people from Mexico, Australia, America, France, the UK, Russia, Sweden, Germany and China answered questions about subjects including their frequency of showering, hand washing, comfort levels when exposed to a variety of personal situations, grooming practices, and reactions when exposed to illness. The SCA UK Keeping Clean survey and UK Showering poll were conducted in July.

This year's research highlighted the fact more than a third of UK adults are still are not washing their hands regularly despite the ever-present threat of swine flu. And nearly eight out of 10 British parents are failing to ensure their children wash their hands before eating.

Furthermore, around 14 per cent of 16-24 year olds did not wash their hands after using the toilet at home while 55 per cent of the UK population  failed to wash their hands after sneezing or blowing their nose.

Regular hand washing with soap and water is being advised by all key health organisations in the fight to halt the spread of swine flu. Most health bodies also emphasise the need to wash the hands after using the washroom; after sneezing or blowing the nose, and before and after eating.

Other interesting facts came to light from the Hygiene Matters research. For example China was ranked last in terms of showering frequency, with almost half the population showering only twice a week. The most popular activities that drive people to shower are: after going to the gym (98 per cent), before going on a date (96 per cent) and before going to a job interview (95 per cent). And 40.4 per cent of respondents would hire someone who didn’t shower on a daily basis.

Ignorance and myths

Jan Johansson, ceo of SCA Group commented on the findings: “Whilst hygiene is one of the most important questions of our time, it is also an issue characterised by considerable ignorance that breeds myths and is also strengthened by various social and cultural taboos.

"We hope this research will alert both decision makers and the general public about the importance of hygiene and put a sharper focus on what is increasingly appearing to become one of the most important public health issues for people across the globe.”

www.sca.com

Environmental credentials supported by US research

Tennant's chemical-free cleaning technology ec-H2O has been proven to significantly reduce environmental footprints across seven key categories when compared to traditional cleaning chemicals. The findings are revealed in an independent study conducted by the US environmental sustainability group EcoForm.

To obtain conservative footprint reduction calculations, the study compared a Tennant T3 50 cm scrubber dryer with ec-H2O technology to a conventional T3 using traditional cleaning chemical over 2,325 square metres cleaning five times per week for education facilities and seven times per week for retail and healthcare facilities.

The analysis included an evaluation of the cleaning machine, the technology and the packaging, including materials used and processes employed during manufacturing. In the study traditional neutral pH cleaning chemicals were set as the base. Using ec-H2O technology will reduce the footprint significantly from that base. As an example it could reduce the energy footprint by 95 per cent.

All-purpose cleaner

The system converts plain tap water into a chemical-free all-purpose cleaner and is available on a number of Tennant's floor cleaning machines. In all the categories tested - energy, global warming, ozone depletion, smog, acid, water pollution and air pollution - ec-H2O scored extremely highly, often over 90 per cent.

"Typical footprint reductions on ‘environmentally sustainable’ cleaning technologies are between 10 to 20 per cent compared to traditional methods," said Chris Killingstad, president and ceo of Tennant Company, which is based in the US. "But even taking a conservative testing approach, Tennant’s ec-H2O technology is achieving environmental footprint reductions as high as 98 per cent - that’s a 98 per cent improvement in environmental sustainability over traditional cleaning chemicals."

www.tennantco.com

KC targets distribution in environmental drive

Kimberly-Clark Professional, washroom products supplier, is continuing to expand its sustainability programme with a number of measures targeting the distribution chain. Improvements have been made to packaging and distribution efficiencies which the company claims will result in reductions in transportation-related carbon emissions.

Environmental impact in the UK for example, has been minimised by reducing the occasions when trucks are running empty. Kimberly-Clark has introduced an integrated transport solution in which the same trucks are used for outbound customer deliveries as well as inbound logistics back to mills, such as pallets, waste paper and supplies. In 2008 this helped cut empty running down to 24 per cent.

And at the company's mill in Germany the railway connection from its main distribution centre was reconstructed.

The mill produces 53,000 metric tons of products per year, including bath tissue for hotels and restaurants and specialised wiper products for the manufacturing industry. In total delivering these goods by rail will save more than 2,500 truck deliveries each year.

When vehicles are sent out, every square inch of loading space is maximised using the latest packaging and palletisation techniques.

“The actions we have taken are good for the environment as well as our business,” said Lisa Morden, head of global sustainability at Kimberly-Clark Professional. “With the focus on resource reduction, these initiatives are at the heart of our 'Reduce Today, Respect Tomorrow' sustainability programme.

"This has led us to focus on reducing consumption at every stage of the product life cycle – from design and manufacture to distribution and disposal."

HTC head

Floor maintenance systems specialist HTC Sweden has appointed Lars Landin - previously sales and marketing director - as the new president and ceo of HTC Group.

Landin commented on his appointment: "HTC has had remarkable growth but there is still huge potential for the company to develop further and we shall do so by continuing to offer our customers the very best flooring solutions."

The company's principal owner and resigning ceo Håkan Thysell has chosen to focus on development and protection of HTC's patents.

www.htc-floorsystems.com

Public sector outsourcing prediction

Public sector outsourcing is set to soar in light of the most serious retrenchment in public spending in 50 years. That was the opinion at the recent Brewin Dolphin Investment Banking’s (BDIB) annual support services sector conference in London.

A number of key trends emerged from the event - among them:

• Extreme financial pressure from public sector debt is forcing more central and local government bodies to consider outsourcing services.

• Even the UK's National Health Service (NHS) is likely to undergo significant cuts, despite the fact that patient demands are on the
increase, particularly in respect of the provision of cutting
edge treatments.

• Against this backdrop there will be a significant drive to change procurement procedures in the public sector in order to facilitate more efficient public private partnerships.

Opportunities

• There will be significant business opportunities for support services companies working with the public sector if they recognise and embrace impending change.

Sir Andrew Foster, chairman of the Commission on 2020 Public Services, believes that the onus is on private sector organisations to innovate and work closely with the public sector to develop more efficient delivery mechanisms, generate cost savings and improve the quality of services. He also suggested that devolution of services should be explored as the red tape surrounding the management of large central budgets is typically accompanied with a substantial cost, and because centralised management can lose sight of individual local requirements.

Overhaul requirement

Mark Fleetwood, business support services analyst a Brewin Dolphin Investment Banking concluded: "There is a significant requirement for an overhaul of procurement procedures - as it currently stands, procurement in the public sector stifles competition, which ultimately makes it a more costly exercise than it should be. Outsourcing is meant to cut costs and improve quality and these attributes are going to become increasingly crucial in the current environment.”

www.brewindolphin.co.uk