by Brianna Crandall — June 7, 2013—Global facilities services provider ISS announced on May 31 that it has completed the sale of 100% of the pest control businesses of ISS in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland to Sweden-based Anticimex, creating an international pest control company.
As part of the transaction, ISS and Anticimex have agreed on a strategic partnership covering the 12 countries, making Anticimex the preferred partner for the delivery of pest control services to ISS customers. The combined group, to be named Anticimex, will have more than 3,000 employees serving around 2.2 million customers in the 12 countries as well as in Finland and Sweden. The activities acquired by Anticimex also include ISS’ washroom businesses in Australia, Italy and New Zealand.
For ISS the divestment reflects an increased strategic focus in the affected countries resulting in a more focused business platform and will furthermore contribute to the continued deleverage of ISS. Jeff Gravenhorst, CEO of ISS A/S, commented that after ISS had reviewed its various services with an eye to streamlining, “it was clear that our pest control business in these countries was not central to our strategy going forward and that Anticimex would be in a better position to realize the full potential of these activities. Through the strategic partnership with Anticimex we will continue to offer our customers in these markets high-quality pest control services.”
Olof Sand, CEO of Anticimex, commented that the combination “is a perfect match between two specialist companies that share the same business philosophy, local entrepreneurship and focus on pest control,” and that Anticimex looks forward to becoming “an even more interesting partner for insurance companies and other partners and clients in Anticimex markets.”
ISS has grown its pest control operations via acquisitions since 2002 and is currently one of Europe’s largest providers of pest control, with leading positions also in Australia and New Zealand. The business is primarily focused towards the commercial sector but also serves the residential sector, especially in Italy and Australia. After the transaction, ISS will continue to have material pest control activities primarily in emerging markets.
