The Sun Products Corporation (now Henkel North American Consumer Goods Inc.) was a United States–based manufacturer of laundry detergent, fabric softeners, and other household cleaning products. With annual sales of $2.0 billion, the company's brands included All, Wisk (discontinued), Snuggle, Sun, Surf, and Sunlight. Sun Products holds the second largest market share in the $10 billion North American fabric care market as of 2010. In addition, Sun Products was the manufacturing partner for many retailer brand laundry and dish products in North America.
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Cleaning agents |
| Founded | 1975 (Huish Detergents Inc.) 2008 (Sun Products) |
| Defunct | 2018 |
| Fate | Acquired by Henkel North American Consumer Goods in 2016 Sun name retired in 2018 |
| Headquarters | Wilton, Connecticut United States |
Area served | North America |
Key people | Jeff Ansell (CEO) |
| Revenue | US$ 2.0 billion (2008)[1] |
| Owner | Henkel North American Consumer Goods |
Number of employees | 3,400 (2008) |
| Website | sunproductscorp.com |
Sun Products maintains manufacturing facilities in Bowling Green, Kentucky; Pasadena, Texas; Dyersburg, Tennessee; and Salt Lake City, Utah. It has research and development facilities in Trumbull, Connecticut; Salt Lake City, Utah; Bentonville, Arkansas, and Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
History
editThe predecessor of Sun Products was founded by Dan Huish in 1975 under the name Huish Detergents, Inc. It grew to become the largest manufacturer of retailer/store brands of laundry and dish detergent products in addition to its own Sun brand.[2]
In March 2007, Vestar Capital Partners acquired a majority stake in the company.[3]
In 2007, the company acquired the White Rain hair care brand from Florida-based Diamond Products Company.[4] In 2012, it sold the White Rain brand to High Ridge Brands, which owns other former brands of Alberto-Culver.[5]
In September 2008, Vestar Capital Partners acquired the North American (United States, Canada and Puerto Rico) laundry business of Unilever, which included the Wisk, All, Surf, Sunlight, and Snuggle brands. The former Unilever businesses were combined with Huish Detergents, Inc. to form The Sun Products Corporation.[6][7]
On June 24, 2016, Henkel North American Consumer Goods Inc., a subsidiary of Henkel AG & Co. KGaA agreed to acquire The Sun Products Corporation for $3.6 billion.[8]
In July 2017, operations of Sun Products was relocated to Stamford, Connecticut in order to consolidate its operations with The Dial Corporation[9][10] and be closer to parent Henkel's North American headquarters (Henkel Corporation) in Rocky Hill, Connecticut. After consolidation, the business was renamed Henkel North American Consumer Goods (Henkel Corporation) in 2018.
References
edit- ^ "The Sun Products Corporation Company Profile". Yahoo! Finance. Retrieved 2010-03-03.
- ^ Taylor, Bart (8 November 2015). "The Sun Products Corporation". Company Week. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
- ^ "Vestar Capital Partners to acquire Huish Detergents, Inc" (Press release). Vestar Capital. 9 March 2007. Retrieved 5 April 2018 – via Business Wire.
- ^ Cetamayo, Ameerah (1 December 2007). "Franklin site may make White Rain brand more prevalent". Bowling Green Daily News. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
- ^ "High Ridge Brands To Acquire the White Rain Brand from Sun Products" (Press release). Brynwood Partners. June 26, 2012. Retrieved April 3, 2014 – via PR Newswire.
- ^ "Vestar Capital Partners completes acquisition of Unilever laundry business and merger of Unilever unit to Huish Detergents". Vestar Capital. 9 September 2008. Retrieved 5 April 2018 – via Business Wire.
- ^ "Unilever Sells U.S. Laundry Business". Adweek. 28 July 2008. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
- ^ "Henkel buys laundry care firm Sun Products in $3.6 billion deal". Reuters. 24 June 2016. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
- ^ Wiles, Russ (5 October 2016). "Parent of Dial to move jobs, legacy from Arizona". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
- ^ Sunnucks, Mike (31 May 2017). "Exclusive: German Giant Henkel Selling Dial Headquarters in Scottsdale". Phoenix Business Journal. Retrieved 14 March 2018.