Woodstream presented an exciting opportunity for Vestar to invest behind a strong, but underinvested brand franchise. The firm recognized the value in the Company’s core pest and animal control segment, which featured consumable, non-discretionary products in stable categories. Vestar sought to refocus the business on this segment by divesting or discontinuing non-core assets, while investing in sales, marketing and R&D to accelerate growth in the key pest and animal control segment. Vestar also identified several attractive opportunities for organic growth, including product innovation, expansion into new geographies and channels, and continued penetration of online channels.

Decades of experience investing in the CPG sector opened the doors to a vast network of tenured industry executives that Vestar could tap to fill key management and Board positions. Within the first year of ownership, the firm hired Miguel Nistal as CEO, Andy Church as CFO, and added Rick Kash and Lyle Heidemann to the Board of Directors. The objective was to build a world class leadership team that could take the company to the next level.

Leveraging years of experience in the CPG sector, the Vestar team supported Woodstream management and provided guidance on product innovations, organizational developments and strategy. Over the course of the partnership , we developed a collaborative relationship with management, giving them the flexibility and operating autonomy needed to successfully lead the business through this period of growth.

During Vestar’s ownership, Woodstream completed a significant acquisition, grew net sales and EBITDA at double-digit CAGRS, improved new product vitality rate by over 4x, and made significant share gains in e-commerce.