Listed cleaning technology group expands US footprint with latest acquisition

Rotherham cleaning technology group Xeros, which is trying to revolutionise how the world does its washing, has expanded its reach in the US with the acquisition of a company specialising in cleaning, inspection and repair services for firefighter personal protection equipment.

Xeros, which has developed a patented solution to use polymer beads, which reduces water usage by 70% and energy needs by 50%, has acquired Gloves for an initial cash consideration of $800,000 with a further contingent cash consideration of up to US$300,000, subject to certain growth targets.

For the year ended 31 December 2017, Gloves, which operates from facilities in Atlanta and Miami, generated revenues of US$0.99m and EBITDA of US$0.36m on gross assets of US$0.15m.
Xeros’ strategy is to achieve national coverage by operating specialist cleaning facilities serving the major US metropolitan areas.

It said the acquisition of Gloves, along with the acquisition of MarKen PPE in July 2017, represent “key milestones” towards achieving the goal of having four sites by the end of 2018, with national US coverage expected to be achieved in 2019.

With 1.1m firefighters in the US, the annual value of the firefighter PPE cleaning market is estimated to be US$330m.

The Xeros cleaning solution, which will be deployed at Gloves’ facilities, is able to remove harmful contaminants and extend the life of expensive PPE garments.

Mark Nichols, chief executive of Xeros, said: “Our acquisition of Gloves is the next step in bringing the transformational benefits of our technology to the entire US firefighter PPE market. The learning and competence which we are now acquiring will be the platform from which we can make our technology available on a global basis for a number of high performance workwear markets.”