Spectrum Brands

Spectrum Brands (NYSE|SPC) is a diversified company established in 2005 as the successor company to Rayovac.The company manufactures and markets batteries under the Rayovac and Varta brand names, electric personal care appliances under the Remington brand name, lawn and garden care products under the Spectracide, Schultz and Garden Safe brand names, insect repellants under the Cutter, Repel and Hot Shot brand names. Spectrum owns several pet care companies and is particularly concentrated in the aquarium supply trade. In the aquarium business, Spectrum owns Tetra, Whisper, Marineland, Perfecto, Jungle, Instant Ocean, Visi-Therm, and other product lines. They are concentrated into Spectrum's United Pet Group based in Cincinnati, Ohio. All brands were acquired from other companies in a short period during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Most notable was the acquisition of Tetra from Pfizer, which took on Tetra in its 1996 merger with Warner-Lambert.

Heavily leveraged in debt, Spectrum attempted to sell its Pet Division (United Pet Group) containing aquarium products and supplies under the Tetra, Marineland, Instant Ocean and Jungle brand names, and pet care products under the Dingo, Firstrax, 8 in 1 and Nature's Miracles brand names. Appliance maker Salton, owned by hedge fund Harbinger Capital, agreed to pay approximately $692 million cash to purchase the pet care division, but the deal collapsed on July 14, 2008. According to Forbes and The Wall Street Journal, the sale was rejected by Spectrum's own key lenders, most likely because the deal valued the brands for less than what the bankers considered them to be worth.Fact|date=July 2008

External links

* [http://www.spectrumbrands.com Official site]