Sandy Springs-based Newell Rubbermaid said it will acquire Ignite Holdings LLC, the company behind the Contigo and Avex beverage container brands, for $308 million.
Newell Rubbermaid is acquiring Ignite from the private equity firm North Castle Partners.
“We intend to invest behind the business to build on Ignite’s current strong momentum, expanding product lines, channels of distribution and geographic footprint over time,” Newell Rubbermaid Chief Development Officer Mark Tarchetti said in a statement.
Ignite, a global company, is expected to have $125 million in net sales this year.
President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Polk said the acquisition is part of the company’s “Growth Game Plan” to “transform Newell Rubbermaid into a larger, faster growing, more global and more profitable company.”
In May, the company opened a new design center in Kalamazoo, Mich., to accelerate new product designs and innovation and share ideas and technologies among the company’s brands.
The company also has been cutting costs by shedding business units while focusing more on its stronger brands, which include Rubbermaid food containers, Calphalon pots and pans, Goody hair accessories and styling products and Levolor blinds. Other products include writing instruments such as Sharpie, Parker and Paper Mate to baby products made by Graco.
Last September, the company completed the sale of its cabinet hardware business to Nova Capital for $214 million. The company also sold its Mimio and Headsprout interactive teaching technology brands to Skyview Capital.
Newell Rubbermaid, which had $5.7 billion in sales last year and expects 3 percent to 4 percent sales growth this year, said the Ignite acquisition is expected to be accretive to earnings in the first year.
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