RPM Buys Siamons, Boosts Specialty Cleaning Product Portfolio

RPM International Inc.’s (NYSE:RPM) Rust-Oleum unit has acquired Siamons International Inc. and its Concrobium brand of specialty mold cleaners, thereby expanding its specialty cleaning product offering. However, the financial terms of the deal are not yet disclosed.

Ontario-based Siamons’ Concrobium brand includes a wide range of nontoxic and specialty mold-cleaning solutions. These products are utilized on both porous and non-porous surfaces that include wood, fabrics and drywall, and are sold primarily to big-box retailers. Among these products, Mold Control is the most notable one as this solution removes mold and prevents its future growth, as well as cleans mold stains in one step, without the use of bleach, ammonia or VOCs.

Thus, the addition of Concrobium brand is expected to boost Rust-Oleum’s specialty cleaning product portfolio, as well as complement its existing Krud Kutter, Mean Green, Roto-Rooter, Whink, Jomax and Moldex brands. The company believes that this would result in significant cost synergies and improve supply-chain efficiencies. Overall, the acquisition will enhance Rust-Oleum’s capacity to provide a one-stop shopping solution to its retail partners, thereby making it one of the leading solution providers in the specialty cleaning market.

RPM’s Inorganic Drive

Acquisition is an important part of RPM’s growth strategy. In the first quarter of fiscal 2019, acquisitions added 1.5% to net sales. On Sep 10, 2018, the company acquired Nudura Corporation, a leading manufacturer and distributor of insulated concrete forms (“ICF”) in North America.

In March 2018, RPM acquired Miracle Sealants Company through its Rust-Oleum business group, thereby adding another platform within Rust-Oleum’s hard surface care product portfolio.

Apart from this inorganic drive, the company’s cost-saving initiatives bode well for bottom-line performance. It has also been undertaking initiatives to reduce costs by closing plants, merging IT system, centralizing more of its back-office functions and rationalizing its manufacturing footprint. Notably, in the fiscal first quarter, the company reduced more than 150 positions, mainly in the Industrial and Specialty segments. It is well on track to close additional four manufacturing facilities. These efforts will generate $25 million of savings on an annualized basis and significantly improve its operating margin in the near future.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

RPM, which has outperformed its industry so far this year, currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Some better-ranked stocks in the Construction sector are Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (NASDAQ:GLDD) , KBR, Inc. (NYSE:KBR) and EMCOR Group, Inc. (NYSE:EME) . While Great Lakes currently sports a Zacks Rank #1, KBR and EMCOR both carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Great Lakes’ 2018 earnings are expected to increase 111.1%.

KBR has an estimated three-five year EPS growth rate of 10.6%.

EMCOR’s earnings for the current year are likely to grow 20%.

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