Elmer's Glue owner explores potential sale - sources
By Lauren Hirsch
Sept 30 (Reuters) - Elmer's Products Inc, the owner of the popular U.S. school glue brand, is exploring a sale that could value it at close to $400 million, including debt, according to people familiar with the matter.
Berwind Corp, the investment vehicle of the wealthy Berwind family that owns Elmer's Products, has hired investment bank Robert W. Baird & Co to explore a sale, the sources said this week.
Elmer's has annual earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of around $53 million, according to the sources.
Suitors would likely include private equity firms, the people said. It may also attract companies such Jarden Corp , a Boca Raton, Florida-based consumer products group, or WD-40 Co, a San Diego, California-based lubricant maker, some of the sources added.
They asked not to be identified because the sale process is confidential. Baird, Elmer's and Berwind did not respond to requests for comments.
Columbus, Ohio-based Elmer's was originally part of Borden Inc, a large dairy company. Elmer's bull mascot, still prominently displayed today, is the mate of Borden's mascot, Elsie the Cow. Elsie is now the mascot for the company's successor, Eagle Family Foods Inc, owned by JM Smucker Co .
Borden was taken private in a $2 billion leveraged buyout by KKR & Co in 1994. KKR spun out Elmer's from Borden in 1999. In 2003, Elmer's Products was sold to Berwind, which combined it with its consumer investment platform that included the X-Acto craft cutting tools.
In recent years, the company has sought to expand beyond glue. Its products now include arts and crafts and home repair products. It also sells Krazy Glue, an instant adhesive.
(Reporting by Lauren Hirsch in New York; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
