(Reuters) -British pest control company Rentokil Initial said on Wednesday it would sell its workwear, flat linen and clean room business in France to H.I.G. Capital in a deal that values the business at about 410 million euros ($463.8 million).
The sale positions the company “more clearly as a streamlined pest and hygiene & wellbeing business”, it said in a statement. Rentokil’s $6.7 billion acquisition of Terminix in 2021 made it the largest player in the U.S. pest control market.
Rentokil said it expects net cash proceeds of about 370 million euros from the sale, which it will use to pay down debt and invest in bolt-on mergers and acquisitions.
The French workwear business made up about 6% of the company’s total revenue last year.
($1 = 0.8840 euros)
(Reporting by Shashwat Awasthi in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D’Souza and Rashmi Aich)
