Chemicals firm Ecolab has agreed to buy a French company that specializes in disinfection products for the health care industry, officials announced Wednesday. Terms were not disclosed.
Ecolab's binding offer is for Laboratoires Anios, based in Lille, France. The company — which also makes hygiene products for food and beverage processors and the food service industry — employs 700 people and generates about $245 million a year.
Laboratoires Anios does business in about 85 countries. It is owned by Bertrand and Thierry Letartre and a private investment firm called Ardian.
Officials of St. Paul-based Ecolab said the transaction is expected to close in late 2016 and is being structured as a binding offer "with exclusivity protection."
The offer allows the sellers to consult with their French works councils before entering into the definitive purchase agreement, which must be approved by select regulatory and competitive authorities before closing.
In a statement, Ecolab CEO Douglas Baker said the two companies share "complementary" geographic and product footprints.
He noted that Ecolab provides hospitals and health care clinics with products for infection prevention and hygiene, and that Laboratoires Anios does so, as well.
"We are excited to join forces with Anios because of our shared passion for this mission. Their innovative product line expands the solutions we can offer while also providing a complementary geographic footprint," Baker said. "Its presence in the food and beverage processing and food service markets also complements ours."
