Scotts Eyeing Pest Control Market

COLUMBUS, OHIO - Scotts Miracle-Gro, the Marysville, Ohio, maker of lawn- and garden-care products, said yesterday that it is planning to acquire at least one regional pest control service company this year and will launch a new line within its growing lawn care service business, the Columbus Dispatch reported.

“We currently are exploring acquisition opportunities in (the pest-service) space, and I wouldn’t be surprised ... if we don’t make our first test acquisition in 2014,” Barry Sanders, Scotts’ president and chief operating officer, told analysts during a conference call reviewing results of the company’s first fiscal quarter yesterday.

 “While lawn care remains the overwhelming piece of the business, (Scotts LawnService) continues to expand ... into pest service, as well,” Sanders said.

Sanders said his company has a 6 percent market share of the $4 billion lawn care market and a “nonmaterial” share of the pest-control service market. His company plans to acquire a few pest control businesses over the next couple of years “and make sure we get it right before we begin to scale it,” he said.

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Source: Columbus Dispatch