The fledgling laundry and cleaning company Redox Brands Inc. is no longer a one-trick pony, thanks to its acquisition announced Thursday of Procter & Gamble's Biz bleach brand.

        The West Chester-based Redox was founded in June by two former P&Gers who went to market with just one laundry brand, Oxydol detergent, which they also bought from their former employer.

Redox co-founders Todd Wichmann (right) and Richard Owen (File photo) | ZOOM |

        But Redox co-founders Todd Wichmann and Richard Owen — who each worked for P&G for eight years before starting the company — said Oxydol was the only brand they needed to prove that they could execute their business plan.

        Their strategy is to cull what they consider undervalued brands with solid name recognition from major manufacturers that no longer view the brands as priorities.

        By stepping up marketing and sales initiatives behind those brands, Redox's founders figure they can boost sales and market share for products that other companies have written off.

        So far, the plan seems to be working.

        “Our marketing and sales plans have accelerated the growth on Oxydol significantly, and we're also getting into new stores behind those plans,” said Mr. Wichmann, Redox's president.

        Although he declined to provide figures, Mr. Wichmann said first-quarter sales and profits for the privately held company were well ahead of forecasts.

        And, he said, Redox shipped 30 percent more Oxydol to stores in September than it originally had predicted.

        Mr. Owen, Redox's chief operating officer, said beating forecasts was key to attracting the new investment that made the acquisition of Biz possible.

        “I think one of the things that helped us close the Biz deal was that we did have July-August-September numbers behind us that looked better than what we forecast,” he said. “We had a strong forecast for investors, but we beat that forecast, and that certainly helped.”

        The Biz purchase was financed by a group of investors led by Meriwether Capital Corp., which owns shares of Redox, and also backed the company's original purchase of Oxydol.

        Redox also hired a Cincinnati-based consulting firm — The Malibu Group — to advise it on its latest acquisition.

        And although Cincinnati-based P&G was on the sell side of the deal, it still stands to profit from the purchase because it holds a minority interest in its former employees' company.

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