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Gojo Industries Inc, which invented Purell in 1988, was hoping
to be valued at more than $2 billion when it launched a process
to sell itself earlier this year, according to people familiar
with the matter.
SC Johnson, Ecolab Inc, Essity AB and Kimberly-Clark Corp were
among the companies that participated in the auction, the
sources said.
Yet after it received final offers earlier this month, the
Lippman-Kanfer family that owns Gojo found all the offers
undervalued the Akron, Ohio-based company, the sources added.
A deal for more than $2 billion would have valued Gojo at well
over 20 times its adjusted 12-month earnings before interest,
taxes, depreciation and amortization of close to $100 million, a
price tag that many potential buyers found too rich, according
to the sources.
It is unclear whether the family will now hold on to Gojo and
try to seek a sale in the future.
A Gojo spokeswoman declined to comment on the sale process,
stating only that the company is "focused on delivering its
innovative, well-being solutions to more people and places in
service of public health."
Gojo was founded in 1946, when rubber factory worker Goldie
Lippman and her husband, Jerry, partnered with chemistry
professor Clarence Cook to invent what became the world's first
one-step, rinse-off hand cleaner. The company expanded into
skincare and invented Purell, an alcohol-based hand cleaner
which dries on its own, in 1988. The company launched Purell in
the consumer market in 1997.
Global revenue in the hand sanitizing industry skyrocketed from
about $1 billion in 2019 to $6.3 billion in 2020, according to
Statista Market Insights, as the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic
fueled demand. But sales dropped to $2.95 billion in 2022 as the
pandemic subsided. Statista forecasts the market to grow by
3.96% on a compounded annual basis over the next four years.
(Reporting by Abigail Summerville and Anirban Sen in New York;
Editing by Leslie Adler)
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