Financial terms of the transaction were not announced. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to be completed during the 2nd quarter of this year.
Plee-Zing markets products branded under the Plee-Zing and Lil' Brave brands. The addition of Plee-Zing will add some 160 distributor locations to the Progressive Group Alliance portfolio, bringing customer reach to almost 1,000 distributor locations that have combined sales exceeding $20 billion.
"This acquisition is the continuation of Progressive Group's long term growth strategy that was first implemented in 1999. With the addition of Plee-Zing, we believe we will continue to add strength to our procurement programs, as well as help drive down headquarter costs by spreading relatively fixed costs over a larger base of business. Additionally, with this larger base of distributors, we anticipate that our Business Services Unit will be able to extend its reach to help more distributors create new profit dollars and to capitalize on cost savings. Our 75-plus Business Services Programs are designed to help our distributors either make money or save money," Steve Push, president of distributor development for Progressive Group Alliance, noted.
William Stickney III, whose grandfather founded Plee-Zing more than 75 years ago will remain as chairman, and will help with the strategic direction of the company through mid-year 2005. Don Donakowski, Plee-Zing's longtime president with primary responsibilities of looking after the distributor side of the business, is expected to continue in that role. An office presence in Glenview is expected to remain in place for the next few months.
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