3M to Acquire Meguiar's Inc.

ST. PAUL, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--3M announced today it has entered into an agreement to acquire Meguiar’s Inc., the 100-year-old family business that manufactures the leading Meguiar’s brand of car care products for cleaning and protecting automotive surfaces. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Meguiar’s brings its renowned products and proud history—from its beginnings providing Mirror Glaze polishes and waxes for professional use to today’s top-of-the-line products for everyone dedicated to maintaining a brilliant finish on their vehicles—to 3M’s range of automotive aftermarket products. Meguiar’s products include waxes, polishes, cleaners, conditioners and protectants for the automotive and marine markets.

“The addition of Meguiar’s builds on our professional offering for the automotive industry and brings the expertise of Barry Meguiar in the growing enthusiast market for car care products,” said Ian Hardgrove, vice president, 3M Automotive Aftermarket Division. “Together, Meguiar’s and 3M will collaborate to deliver even more innovative high performance products for enthusiasts around the world.”

Car enthusiasts know Meguiar’s not only for its products but also for its presence at thousands of car shows across the country featuring every type of collector car from hot rods and muscle cars to exotic sports cars to vintage classics. Through Meguiar’s internationally syndicated, multimedia broadcasting network, people with a passion for cars can experience major automotive events and the latest collector car hobby news.

“Combining with 3M will greatly enhance our ability to serve and support Car Crazy people on a global basis,” said Barry Meguiar, president and CEO, Meguiar’s Inc. “We are excited about the opportunity to grow our business by joining forces with one of the world’s great global companies—working together to increase our support of the car hobby worldwide.”

3M’s Automotive Aftermarket Division provides a comprehensive line of 3M products for auto body repair professionals and auto enthusiasts. Products include abrasives and accessories, performance cleaning products, waxes, masking tapes, panel bonding adhesives, general adhesives coatings and sealers, paint finishing polishes and compounds, and paint application systems. Complementary acquisitions such as this support 3M’s growth strategy to strengthen its core businesses and expand into adjacent markets.

Meguiar’s is headquartered in Irvine , Calif. , and employs approximately 115 people. The transaction is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.

Sawaya Segalas & Co., LLC acted as exclusive financial advisor to Meguiar's Inc.

About Meguiar’s Inc.

For over 100 years, Meguiar’s Inc. has been providing Car Crazy people with specialized state-of-the-art formulations for making the appearance of cars “show car perfect.” Chosen by 20 out of 24 “Best of Class” winners at the 2008 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, Meguiar’s provides highly specialized products for every automotive surface, including paint, wheels, tires, and interiors. As part of its passionate support for the car hobby, Meguiar’s sponsors more than 11,000 car shows globally and produces Meguiar’s Car Crazy Television and Radio that represent car enthusiasts worldwide.

About 3M

A recognized leader in research and development, 3M produces thousands of innovative products for dozens of diverse markets. 3M’s core strength is applying its more than 40 distinct technology platforms – often in combination – to a wide array of customer needs. With $24 billion in sales, 3M employs 79,000 people worldwide and has operations in more than 60 countries.

 

It will be interesting to see how this pans out. I think it was a great move on both their parts on a business level. This will most likely shut out competitors like Turtle Wax, Simoniz, etc.

 

Hopefully Meguiar's doesn't ruin 3M's good products.

 

I actually discussed this with another detailer and we think that it is going to be a really good thing considering that we have believed for a long while that 3M manufactured most of Meguiars best products anyway. It is widely known that Meguiars outsourced a lot of their products to other companies, and 3M was believed to be a major source of that, so hopefully this just carries that transition further.

 

Megs was in bad shape for awhile so 3m bailing them out was probably the only way out of a bad situation.

 

A lot of suppliers and distributors were very unhappy with the way operations were handled in the last few years at Meguiar's. Meguiar's is an iconic brand and part of our American Automotive history. Would be a shame to see them go bankrupt. I may not like some of their products, but I cannot say anything negative about how they bring car enthusiasts to the same table. I'm hoping that 3M will restructure the company to be back to where it was when Meguiar's was more focused on products than PR. Nevertheless, good move on both their part.

 

Ya, my grandfather is an old skool body repairman. He swears by 3M products. Especially their compounds and polishes. It'll be interesting to see what they come up with.

 

It is my understanding that about 6 months ago, Mr. Meguaires was already taking a back seat, it is amazing to me that they sponsor 11,000 cars and more amazing that they only have 115 employees, I can’t find my notes but last time that a huge merge like this was done, (I may have the wrong name here so please correct me if I’m wrong) the deal was done by Eagle, which has lost a huge share of the market.

The car care market has become just like the energy drink market, you can buy a red bull 8oz for $3.00 dollars or you can buy a 16oz Monster drink for $1.99, every day a new car care company comes alive thinking that there products are much better that the one from the other guy, time will tell how things will work out from this merge.

I can tell you that I work for a company that has 17,000 employees and we purchase companies almost every single month, once we get in things change and they change a lot. This merge will be a huge test to the loyalty of the customers of a well known established brand.

 

It was Eagle One. They were bought out by Valvoline several years ago and I can tell you from inside information that it wasn't a seamless transition. In fact, one of the key detailers that I worked with at Eagle One, went to work for Meguiar's. Barry Meguiar is a great guy--and a personal friend--but I believe his focus in recent years has been on the TV show, car shows, the Web community, the Meguiar's Awards and other things. I'm sure that the 3M purchase will make both companies better and stronger in the long run. After all, Meguiar's was the "car care product of choice" for nearly all winning vehicles at the Concours de Elegance in Monterrey, California this year.

 

Thanks for the info ! I was very close Welcome to the forum by the way.

 

Agree with your whole statement other than the last sentence. Meguiar's is the main care care advertising sponsor at Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. This means all those that are brought to Pebble to show their car get a free goody bag from Meguiar's. Most of the time, people use the detail spray in the goody bag to wipe down their wheels, the paint, etc. So Meguiar's boasts about them being the car care of choice when in reality, they're just giving away free stuff and people grab for it since it's just there.

In 2005, I, and the owner of zymol, detailed the Best of Show winner and it also happened to be my first year there. 8 of the 20 cars in the Winner's Circle were cars we did or knew of personally that had Zymol on them. Somehow Meguiar's claimed 18 or 19 of the cars were detailed with Meguiar's. Since then, I don't believe any of their claims because I was there and knew the truth. My 2 cents.

 

Thanks Tito. I'll try to drop in as often as I can to see what's shakin'. I write for DUB...and other magazines...and the kinds of cars you guys own/want to own/love to talk about are a big part of the dub scene.

 

That's an insightful observation about Pebble Beach...and one that never occured to me. Thanks for pointing that out. Good marketing strategy too, and cheap for Meguiar's when you think of the "press" and street creds it gives them.

As for the zymol incident, that is something I am actually "shocked" to hear, perhaps because of my personal relationship with Barry and his family, but I believe you. Barry and the marketing people are horses of a different color.

I have worked with Meguiar's as a journalist for 30 years so I know their products are good--especially the Mirror Glaze line and the NXT line. As for 3M, their professional products are top quality and the DIY line is great too. I've used the Perfect-It system to remove some really nasty swirl marks--even on black paint.

I'm sure that with the resources 3M brings to the table the end results will be better for both pros and DIYers...so it's all good!

 

I hope that 3M does carry the torch well for Meguiar's. Regardless of how I feel about their products on a consumer level, not completely negative, they are very smart about reaching their end-users. I think they have done a great job of getting enthusiasts together and caring for cars that make us smile. At the end of the day, it's all about bringing people of all demographics together and enjoying the automotive lifestyle.

 

You're absolutely right! No other consumer brand has done as much as Meguiar's to get people excited about taking care of their cars. And that's all Barry's doing. He's "car crazy," as he puts it, and he has brought that passion to his brand and to his customers.

By the way, aren't you the guy who detailed the awesome 1937 Delage D8-120 S Pourtout Aero Coupe that won Pebble Beach in '05? Sweet ride!