The Clorox Co., one of the most recognized consumer products companies in the world, announced this week it will sell is auto care business to private equity firm Avista Capital Partners. The business is being sold for gross proceeds of approximately $780 million. The transaction, which is subject to regulatory and other customary approvals and closing conditions, is expected to close by the end of this calendar year. Included in the transaction are substantially all of Clorox’s global auto care businesses, the majority of which are in the U.S., Australia, Canada and Europe, including worldwide rights to distribute the Armor All and STP brands. As part of the transaction, Avista will acquire two auto care manufacturing facilities, one in the U.S. and one in the U.K. Employees at these facilities, the auto business management team and other employees affiliated with the global auto care business will transfer to the buyer. Clorox has agreed to provide transition services to the buyer for a period of up to 18 months. Outside of the automotive industry, Clorox owns such well-known brands as Pine-Sol, Brita, Glad and Burt’s Bees. The company had revenues of $5.5 billion in the 2010 fiscal year.
In personnel news this week, Best Brakes announced three executive appointments, including naming H. Kevin Wells to the post of vice president, sales and marketing, North America. In this role, Wells will lead all sales and marketing efforts worldwide for Best Brakes. For the past six years Wells has successfully managed the sales and marketing efforts for the company’s eastern division in North America. The company also appointed Jeannie Garcia to sales and marketing coordinator and Neiva Alderete to customer service manager. Best Brakes distributes the Global Pro brand brake rotors and brake drums throughout North America and several foreign markets.
Also highly read this week was a report from AAIA, which noted that President Obama does not believe Democrats can procure the 60 votes needed to invoke cloture and proceed to a final vote on the Employee Free Choice Act. The legislation, a high priority of the administration, would amend the national Labor Relations Act, removing the requirement for a private ballot election and instead, permit a shop to be unionized by having employees sign authorization cards, a process known as “card check.” Card check legislation was defeated in the Senate in 2007 but was reintroduced in 2009 and again this year.
On Monday, California-based luxury hybrid maker Fisker Automotive announced it will debut the first factory-built Karma at the 2010 Paris Motor Show. Fisker said it will also announce details about the expansion of its global importer network, as well as updates to its international marketing campaign at the event. Designed by company co-founder, CEO and Executive Design Director Henrik Fisker, the four-door, four-passenger Karma offers luxury car buyers a responsible alternative to traditionally powered vehicles by combining exotic car styling with advanced powertrain technology. The company’s namesake is responsible for designing some of the most iconic and desirable luxury sports cars of the modern era, including the Aston Martin V8 Vantage, Aston Martin DB9 and BMW Z8.
The final item in our round-up of the week’s top news comes from AutoZone, which reported its fourth quarter sales this week. The Memphis-based parts retailer reported net sales of $2.4 billion for its fourth-quarter (16 weeks) ended Aug. 28, an increase of 9.5 percent from the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009. Net income for the quarter increased $32.8 million, or 13.9 percent, over the same period last year to $268.9 million, while diluted earnings per share increased 27.7 percent to $5.66 per share from $4.43 per share in the year-ago quarter. For the fiscal year ended Aug. 28, sales were $7.4 billion, an increase of 8 percent from the prior year, while domestic same store sales were up 5.4 percent.
