The KIK Story
The KIK story began in 1995 as one manufacturing facility and 100 employees in Concord, Ontario – just north of Toronto – producing private label bleach products for a small number of retailers. By the time the Company went public in 2002, it had expanded to include 11 manufacturing facilities totaling 1.3 million square feet, employing over 700 people and producing more than 1,500 products.
As KCP Income Fund (TSX: KCP.UN) with an injection of new capital from the public offering, KIK continued to grow at a rapid pace, expanding its product offerings to include dish detergents, window cleaners, all-purpose cleaners and more. This helped KIK become a leading supplier of private label bleach and cleaning products with over 80% of North America's largest retailers on its customer list.
Through acquisitions and expansion beginning in 2005, KIK began to move into contract manufacturing for national brands owned by some of the world's leading consumer goods companies. Through these acquisitions, KIK has been able to build on a successful legacy as a contract manufacturer that spans more than 50 years. KIK's business model of delivering high quality products with faster time-to-market, lower supply chain and administrative costs, and exceptional customer service helped it attract many new customers. This created the foundation for our new role as a strategic partner and contract manufacturer for some of the world's most influential brand owners, just as the trend towards outsourced manufacturing was gaining momentum.
Two key acquisitions in 2005 helped KIK build the manufacturing capacity and footprint to fulfill new contracts for branded consumer product manufacturing in household, personal care and pharmaceutical products. Further acquisitions in 2007 gave KIK expanded aerosol filling and packaging capacity and new business in personal care, salon, household, and industrial cleaning products. A strategic realignment of the Company's manufacturing footprint resulted in certain plant closures during 2008 and 2009 in order to maximize available manufacturing capacity and optimize manufacturing and distribution locations to best serve KIK's customers.
In June 2011, KIK acquired Chem Lab Products Inc. (since renamed KIK Pool Additives Inc.), a regional manufacturer of liquid and dry chemicals for the pool and spa markets, as well as retail household bleach. The acquisition expanded KIK's Classic Division footprint and portfolio and gave the Company a platform from which to build a national, private label pool additives business.
Today, KIK Custom Products has over 3,000 employees and operates 17 manufacturing facilities strategically located in 14 different sites throughout Canada and the United States. The Company is now owned by Caxton-Iseman (KCP), L.P. and Caxton-Iseman (KCP) II, L.P., through an acquisition of all the assets of KCP Income Fund in May 2007.
