Rentokil North America Acquires Eradico Pest Services

READING Pa., and NOVI, Mich. — Rentokil North America announced it has acquired Eradico Pest Services, based in Novi, Mich.

Eradico has six offices in Michigan and ranked 58th on PCT’s 2014 Top 100 list. The acquisition significantly expands Rentokil’s existing presence in the Detroit metropolitan area and much of Michigan. The acquisition was finalized March 2, 2015.

Eradico, which was founded in 1931, has been a leader throughout the region in providing residential and commercial pest control services. The company employs 96 people, including 62 pest control technicians. All current employees are to remain with Rentokil and co-owners David Sidder and Chuck Russell will remain with Rentokil to facilitate the move of Eradico to Rentokil’s primary pest control brand in Michigan, Ehrlich Pest Control. Eradico will continue to operate out of its existing six locations and will transition to the Ehrlich brand over time.

“The addition of such a respected brand as Eradico strengthens our capabilities in an important growth market,” said John Myers, president and CEO, Rentokil North America. “The breadth of services offered by Eradico throughout Michigan, as well as their cultural fit and commitment to customer service is well aligned with our overall growth strategy.”

In a follow-up interview with PCT, Chuck Russell said he, his brother and Sidder, had been contemplating the company’s future for some time and engaged in serious discussions with Rentokil, via Lance Tullius, managing partner, Tullius Partners, in summer 2014. “We were running a very profitable business that was running well, and we wanted to [explore] what was out there because we didn’t to sell the business when it was at a point of weakness,” said Russell.

In mapping the company’s future, Russell said the fact that Eradico Services is a second-generation company with two families involved provided some “minefields.” “We knew that taking that next step – going from a $10-million company to a $20-million company – would have meant expanding to other states and it would have required a significant amount of human and financial capital.”

Russell had met Rentokil’s Myers at an industry event several years ago and Myers had impressed him as an accomplished, but humble leader with high character. “Yes, we wanted to get as good an offer as we could, but we also wanted to sell to someone with the same values and cultures as us. It was also very important that our people were taken care of – we are a very people-centric organization. We felt that John and Rentokil would do the right thing not only for us, but for the people in our organization.”

Russell, who is 50, said he is looking forward to his next challenge. Not included in the sale were Eradico’s Weed Man and Christmas Décor franchises, which will continue to be owned and operated by the Russells. Under the direction of Steve Russell, these business segments have grown to make up $3 million of Eradico’s $13 million yearly revenues. Eradico has sub-franchise responsibilities for Weed Man for five states (Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee). Once Chuck transitions out of Eradico he will more closely work with Steve on these holdings. “I’m looking forward to getting into the lawn care industry at a closer level than the 30,000-foot view I had been,” said Russell, who added that this venture will also provide opportunities for the next generation of Russells to become involved in service industries, if they so choose.