Scotts sees opportunity for profit in pest control

The Bottom Line Other Business Features Local Stories from ThisWeek Enlarge Image By Mary Vanac The Columbus Dispatch Friday February 7, 2014 2:33 AM

Scotts Miracle-Gro, best known for helping to grow plants, is turning its attention to killing pests.

The Marysville 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.

We currently are exploring acquisition opportunities in (the pest-service) space, and I wouldnt be surprised ... if we dont 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 companys 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.

The U.S. pest-control industry currently is dominated by Rollins, which operates under the Orkin brand, and ServiceMaster, which has the Terminix brand. The industry had revenue of $11.1 billion and profit of $858.1 million last year, according to IBISWorld, an industry market-research firm.

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.

Scotts acquired a majority interest in its first lawn-care company, Emerald Green Lawn Service, in 1997 and started its lawn service a year later, spokesman Lance Latham said in an email.

It has not been ... the most-awesome journey ever, Scotts CEO and Chairman, Jim Hagedorn, told analysts yesterday. We acquired a lot of stuff probably too fast and didnt control it as well as we could have, and we had some pretty significant integration issues that we have corrected.

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Scotts sees opportunity for profit in pest control