Church & Dwight acquires Touchland for up to US$880M
Church & Dwight has signed an agreement to acquire hand sanitizer brand Touchland for up to US$880 million. According to the manufacturing company, Touchland is the second most popular and the fastest-growing brand in the US hand sanitizer category.
The definitive agreement was US$700 million at closing with Church & Dwight restricted stock, and a payment up to US$180 million contingent on gaining Touchland’s 2025 net sales.
“My vision is to have a Touchland product in the hands of every consumer. I am confident this vision will be accelerated by leveraging Church & Dwight’s expertise and scale to introduce Touchland to more consumers globally,” says Andrea Lisbona, founder and CEO of Touchland.
“Our journey is still in the early innings, and Church & Dwight is the right partner to take Touchland through its next stage of growth.”
The transaction, subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to close in the second quarter of this year.
Accelerating international growth
Touchland’s net sales for the past 12 months through March 31, 2025, were approximately US$130 million. Touchland’s trailing 12-month EBITDA as of March 31, 2025, was approximately US$55 million.
The hand sanitizer products are currently sold in the US and Canada and were recently launched in the Middle East with Sephora.
Touchland's founders will continue to lead the business despite the acqusition from Church & Dwight.“Recently, Touchland has expanded into Canada and the Middle East, and we plan to leverage our capabilities to accelerate the growth of Touchland in select international markets,” says Rick Dierker, CEO of Church & Dwight.
“We intend to maintain the Miami location and retain Touchland’s employees. Touchland is nimble, asset-light, and should be an excellent fit at Church & Dwight.”
Touchland’s founders are expected to remain and continue to run the business while leveraging Church & Dwight’s scale and capabilities.
“Touchland has built a loyal consumer base through its differentiated consumer proposition and is driving growth in the hand sanitizer category. The brand skews toward younger consumers and already has a high level of brand loyalty and repeat purchase in line with category leaders,” says Dierker.
Church & Dwight has specific acquisition criteria, including the brands being first or second in their category, asset-light, a growing brand, and gross margin accretive to the company.
“The acquisition is expected to be neutral to the [Church & Dwight’s] 2025 EPS, inclusive of transition costs, acquisition-related expenses, foregone interest income, intangible amortization expense, and incremental marketing. In addition, adjusted earnings in 2025 and future years will exclude the impact of restricted stock, which will be treated as compensation,” adds Dierker.
“Touchland’s net sales are expected to grow double digits in both 2025 and 2026. In 2026, the acquisition is expected to be 3% accretive to cash earnings. With this acquisition announced, our strong balance sheet continues to give us the flexibility to pursue additional accretive acquisitions.”
