Spectrum Brands Completes First Stage of United Industries Integration
ATLANTA, Jun 09, 2005 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Spectrum Brands, Inc. (NYSE: SPC) (formerly Rayovac Corporation), a global consumer products company with a diverse portfolio of world-class brands, announced today that it has completed the first stage of its integration initiatives related to the February 2005 acquisition of United Industries. Effective July 1, the United Industries Consumer Home & Garden organization will be combined with the existing Spectrum Brands North American business unit. The Global Pet business unit, which encompasses both the United Pet Group and Tetra, will operate as a separate business unit headquartered in Cincinnati.
As part of this reorganization, Spectrum Brands' and United Industries' sales management, field sales operations and marketing teams (including customer teams located in Atlanta, Bentonville, and Charlotte) will be merged into a single North American sales and marketing organization reporting to Spectrum Brands' North American management team located in Madison, Wisconsin. Canadian Consumer Products sales and marketing teams have been merged as well and will report to a single country manager based in Toronto. United's finance, information services, customer service and other administrative functions will be combined with existing counterpart organizations in Madison. Legal and certain corporate accounting functions will be combined directly into Spectrum Brands' global headquarters in Atlanta.
"The new merged North American structure will optimize the expertise and customer relationships inherent in both organizations to present a unified corporate face to our retail customers," commented Spectrum Brands Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Dave Jones. "The integration expertise we gained through our successful acquisitions of Varta and Remington gives us confidence that these first organizational changes are key to leveraging the potential of our combined companies and achieving the $75 million in synergies we identified as part of our acquisition due diligence efforts."
Functional groups continuing to operate in St. Louis, Missouri, include the company's U.S. Home & Garden marketing, research and development, and regulatory compliance, as well as certain manufacturing and distribution functions. Ultimate reporting responsibility for these groups will reside in Madison.
As a result of this restructuring, Steve Tooker, President, U.S. Home & Garden, will leave Spectrum Brands to pursue other opportunities. Bob Caulk, President and Chief Executive Officer, North America, said, "Steve's leadership and extensive knowledge in the consumer products industry has been an invaluable asset to the U.S. Home & Garden Team during his tenure with United Industries and most recently with Spectrum Brands. We wish Steve every success in his future endeavors."
Planning for the integration of Spectrum Brands' legacy Rayovac and United Industries supply chain, manufacturing, and distribution operations, and for the integration of United Pet Group and Tetra Holding, is continuing and is expected to be completed this summer. Details will be provided as plans are finalized.
About Spectrum Brands, Inc.
Spectrum Brands (formerly Rayovac Corporation) is a global consumer products company and a leading supplier of batteries, lawn and garden care products, specialty pet supplies, shaving and grooming products, household insecticides, personal care products and portable lighting. Spectrum Brands' products are sold by the world's top 25 retailers and are available in more than one million stores in 120 countries around the world. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Spectrum Brands generates approximately $2.8 billion in annualized revenues and has approximately 10,000 employees worldwide. The company's stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SPC.
Forward Looking Statements
Certain matters discussed in this news release, with the exception of historical matters, may be forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause results to differ materially from those anticipated as of the date of this release. Actual results may differ materially from these statements as a result of (1) changes in external competitive market factors, such as introduction of new product features or technological developments, development of new competitors or competitive brands or competitive promotional activity or spending, (2) changes in consumer demand for the various types of products Spectrum Brands offers, (3) changes in the general economic conditions where Spectrum Brands does business, such as stock market prices, interest rates, currency exchange rates, inflation and raw material costs, (4) the company's ability to successfully implement manufacturing, distribution and other cost efficiencies and (5) various other factors, including those discussed herein and those set forth in Spectrum Brands' securities filings, including the most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, respectively.
SOURCE: Spectrum Brands, Inc.
Spectrum Brands, Atlanta Investor Contact Nancy O'Donnell, 770-829-6208 or Media Contact Ketchum Dave Doolittle, 404-879-9266 david.doolittle@ketchum.com