ESOP-Owned Emprise Group Makes One of the Largest-Ever Acquisitions by an ESOP Company

Emprise, a 100% ESOP-owned holding company that acquires and invests in middle-market consumer product companies, has acquired Nice-Pak Products through its portfolio company Vivos Holdings, LLC, creating one of the largest companies in its field. Emprise, which the company says stands for "employee" and "enterprise," includes a number of personal care companies, including Consumer Product Partners, Surefil, UpLift Brands, and Vi-Jon, as well as INSPR Labs, which provides research and analytical services for the personal care industry. Nice-Pak is a manufacturer of sanitizing wipes for personal care, babies and toddlers, homes, hospitals, and other users.

Emprise has over 1,200 employees and Nice-Pak over 1,500. Both companies have an emphasis on making sustainable, environmentally responsible products. The acquisition is the sixth-largest ever by an ESOP company. The acquisition will expand Emprise’s reach to global as well as domestic markets.

The NCEO published a report last year on the rapidly expanding trend of ESOP companies buying other companies. We just launched a directory of acquisitive ESOP companies to help brokers and business owners find ESOP companies looking to buy other companies. The directory is part of our toolkit Being Acquired by an ESOP. For details, contact NCEO Executive Director Loren Rodgers at lrodgers@nceo.org.