SantoLubes/Prentiss Purchases EcoSmart’s Commercial Division

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — SantoLubes/Prentiss has purchased the commercial division of EcoSmart Technologies, which includes their EcoPCO, EcoExempt and EcoSmart Commercial product lines. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

SantoLubes entered the pesticide industry when it purchased Prentiss in October 2008, and expressed their interest in growing the company. They have begun that process with the addition of EcoSmart’s commercial division.

“Prentiss and EcoSmart have been close partners since the late 1990’s, when EcoSmart was looking for distribution assistance for its unique line of botanical insecticides”, said Larry Eichler, President of Prentiss. “At that time we saw an opportunity to become EcoSmart’s master distributor and set up a partnership to help both companies prepare for the inevitable changes the professional industry was most certain to experience due to the Food Quality Protection Act passed in 1996.”

David Murphy, VP of EcoSmart’s Commercial Division, said the time had come for EcoSmart to identify a partner to assume the business in both the professional and industrial markets. “We have clearly established ourselves as the industry leader in viable botanical pesticide solutions, but recently we decided to focus more attention on our rapidly growing retail product offerings,” he said. “So it was critical that we handed the commercial baton to the right partner, and Prentiss was by far the best choice.”

Eichler stated that Prentiss plans to continue to build on the positive momentum and interest in green pest management. “Prentiss’ roots are actually in botanicals, so the addition of EcoSMART’s botanical professional and commercial products was a natural extension for us,” he said. “With this addition to our product portfolio, we are well positioned to assist both PMPs and distributors to take advantage of the emerging green pest management market.”