Rollins Agrees to Purchase HomeTeam Pest Defense

ATLANTA and DALLAS — Rollins, Inc., parent company of Orkin, has entered into a definitive purchase agreement with subsidiaries of Centex Corporation to acquire, through the purchase of assets, its pest control business, HomeTeam Pest Defense. The purchase price will be paid in cash and is expected to be approximately $137 million. The closing of the transaction is expected in early April, subject to the satisfaction of customary conditions.

Rollins plans to operate HomeTeam separately, along with its other wholly owned pest management subsidiaries: Orkin, PCO Services, Western Pest Services and The Industrial Fumigant Company.

HomeTeam has 50 offices in 13 states and is the nation's third largest residential pest management company and performs services for approximately 400,000 customers coast to coast. Founded in 1996, the company works with over 1,000 builder partners and currently performs more than 1 million pest control services a year. HomeTeam has emerged as a leader in pest management based heavily on its innovation of Taexx(R), HomeTeam's built-in pest defense system installed in tens of thousands of new homes each year.

HomeTeam President Bob Wanzer told PCT that due to the slumping housing market, Centex needed to concentrate more on its core business units, which includes home building operations and mortgage, title and insurance services. Although HomeTeam was creating growth – growing $20 million the past two years – the timing of the sale was right, Wanzer said, adding that “Our growth is going to slow in the next several years until the housing market rebounds, and I think Centex looked at it and said, ‘You know what, it probably makes sense to harvest these monies now, rather than later.’”

Wanzer said HomeTeam looked at several alternatives, including selling to private equity firms, but decided that becoming a part of the Orkin team was the best fit for the company and its employees. “The one thing that we really looked for was someone that really understood and valued our business model and our people,” he said. “With the past three big acquisitions that Rollins did – Orkin PCO Canada, Western Pest Services and The Industrial Fumigant Company – they really demonstrated that they would allow us to operate as a freestanding entity as a wholly owned subsidiary. This set-up is probably much better suited long-term for our goals than (being a part) of Centex. As good of parent company as Centex was, we should thrive even better under Rollins.”

Gary Rollins, president and chief executive officer of Rollins, Inc., said Rollins is pleased with the Centex agreement. "This acquisition provides significant opportunity for Rollins to leverage HomeTeam's proprietary technology and new home marketing expertise to more markets throughout the U.S. The purchase of HomeTeam will provide us with an entry into a new business channel, and provide our company a meaningful opportunity for longer term growth. HomeTeam has built a valuable business enterprise and a loyal customer base, which speaks well for their commitment to service. We look forward to working with HomeTeam's president, Bob Wanzer, and his great team of professionals. Rollins will benefit from their talent and experience." 

Glen Rollins, Orkin president and COO, told PCT that the HomeTeam management will remain in place and continue to be headquartered out of Dallas. “We are just walking into the ownership shoes that Centex — the homebuilder — had. It’s similar to how we walked into the ownership shoes that the Sameths (Bob and Dick Sameth, owners of Western Pest Services) had.”

Additional source: www.rollins.com