By Michael Lauzon, Crain News Service
AKRON (Feb. 19, 2015) — Myers Industries Inc. has found a buyer for its lawn and garden business.
The Akron-based conglomerate said Jan. 8 that it agreed to sell the segment to private equity firm Wingate Partners V L.P. of Dallas for $115 million and expects to close the deal early this year after customary closing conditions.
Myers announced in June 2014 its plan to sell the non-strategic lawn and garden business — which injection molds planters and pots and produces related items — so that it could focus on core growth platforms such as material handling and distribution. At the time it said the sale process could take as much as a year. Investment bank William Blair & Co. helped Myers find the buyer.
Wingate's current portfolio lists only one business directly related to polymers. Its Preferred Compounding Inc. subsidiary in Barberton, Ohio, custom compounds rubber and elastomeric compounds. Another business, Stein World of Memphis, Tenn., could be seen as related to Myers' lawn and garden segment. Stein World imports and distributes decorative home accents such as furniture and tables.
Wingate's diverse portfolio includes businesses in safety products, metal components, specialty paper, oil and gas equipment and food processing.
Myers recently restructured the lawn and garden business, consolidating production in Middlefield, Ohio, and Sparks, Nev., and closing operations in Waco, Texas, and Brantford, Ontario.
A Wells Fargo research note stated the sale price for the lawn and garden business includes $90 million in cash on closing and a $25 million subordinated promissory note due in five years. The equity research company expects Myers will use the proceeds to reduce debt it incurred with the acquisition last year of Scepter Corp.
Myers' lawn and garden segment saw an 18 percent decline in sales to $49.8 million for the first quarter ended March 30, 2014. Loss before taxes was $100,000. Myers subsequently stopped reporting the segment's results because it was slated to be sold.
Myers also operates Akron-based Myers Tire Supply Distribution Inc.
This report appeared in Plastics News, a Detroit-based sister publication of Tire Business.