Church & Dwight acquiring Zicam owner in $530M deal

Church & Dwight has added Matrixx Initiatives, owner of the Zicam brand, to its ranks. The company on Tuesday announced the completion of the $530 million stock purchase that adds the nation’s top-selling zinc supplement in the cough-cold shortening category to Church & Dwight’s portfolio. 

“The acquisition of Zicam represents a superb addition to our existing portfolio and brings to our company the leading brand within zinc supplements, one of the fastest-growing sub-segments of the VMS category, said Matthew Farrell, chairman and CEO of Church & Dwight.

Farrell noted that the company fit the company’s well-established acquisition criteria. “Specifically, Zicam is a No. 1 brand in a niche category; asset-light; a growing brand; and expected to be gross margin accretive to the company,” he said. “ We are excited about adding the company’s 13th  power brand. Acquisitions have been a key driver of Church & Dwight’s consistently strong shareholder returns.”

Zicam is projected to have annual sales of roughly $90 million in 2021, with an expected $36 million in EBITDA. Once the company is fully integrated, Church & Dwight said it plans to leverage its distribution network, operating discipline and support functions to bring annual cost savings of $5 million by 2022. The company expects the acquisition to be roughly 3% accretive to cash earnings in 2021 and neutral on Q4 2020 and 2021 earnings per share.