GOJO, Akron-based maker of Purell, is up for sale, Wall Street Journal reports

GOJO Industries, the Akron-based maker of Purell, is up for sale, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Family-owned GOJO has hired JP Morgan Chase to run an auction, the newspaper reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The Wall Street Journal said the company could be valued at around $3 billion with about $1 billion of annual sales, citing anonymous sources saying the process is at an early stage.

In a statement provided to the Beacon Journal, GOJO Strategic Communications Vice President Samantha Williams said: “Because of our many strengths, others have always been interested in buying the company – There is nothing new to report. We continue to be focused on our purpose of saving lives and making life better through well-being solutions.”

When asked to confirm whether GOJO was seeking a buyer, Williams sent this reply: “Our purpose has always driven us to make the biggest impact possible, on the most people and institutions, in the most ways and places. We have always worked with banks to deliver on our purpose and support growth.  These include JP Morgan, who is in our current commercial banking group.”

GOJO during COVID: Bold innovations help GOJO thrive during COVID-19, create 140 billion Purell doses in 2020

What impact would a GOJO sale have on Greater Akron?

In a statement, Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan said: "GOJO has been and will continue to be a cornerstone of the business and civic community here in Akron. As a thriving company, there will always be interested parties but I'm confident in GOJO's commitment to our city."

Mayor Don Walters of Cuyahoga Falls, where GOJO has the Lippman manufacturing campus, said: "GOJO is a valued employer in Cuyahoga Falls and I look forward to them continuing their manufacturing here."

More: GOJO signs 20-year lease to remain in downtown Akron

The company is headquartered in downtown Akron. In late 2021, GOJO signed a 20-year lease to remain in Akron. The company agreed to a sale-leaseback arrangement for GOJO Plaza on South Main Street. As part of that, GOJO sold the property to a buyer and signed a 20-year lease agreement.

"GOJO Plaza is our world headquarters, and we have no plans to move our headquarters from GOJO Plaza," Williams said at the time.

If GOJO is sold, that doesn't necessarily mean bad things for Akron, said Steve Millard, president and CEO of the Greater Akron Chamber.

"I think it's pretty cool that a company that was born and raised here essentially is looking at suitors who want to pay $3 billion for it. That's a credit to the sucess of the company," said Millard, who read about the possible sale in the Wall Street Journal and has been fielding calls from concerned colleagues.

"People think it means the company is going to go away or something like that," said Millard. "Think of what they've invested in here — the operations they have here, being a brand leader, a market leader. They have great innovation.

"For a well-heeled suitor that wants to invest in something strategic, GOJO is a great opportunity and that could mean they bring a lot more resources and capital to help accelerate growth and success," Millard said.

GOJO has Akron tire roots

GOJO was founded in Akron by the late Jerry Lippman and his wife, Goldie, in 1946 to create a cleaner to replace tire workers having to wash their hands with kerosene and benzene to remove carbon black and graphite. Marcella Kanfer Rolnick, the third generation of the Lippman-Kanfer family, is the company's executive chair, taking over in 2018 for her father, Joe Kanfer, who remains involved with the company.

GOJO found success during the COVID-19 pandemic as it made bold moves to handle production delays in January 2020 as the world was figuring out what to make of the virus, its President and CEO Carey Jaros said.

More: GOJO names new CEO

Jaros had been in the top job for less than two weeks, she told the Akron Roundtable during a speech in July 2022.

The virus had not made its way to the U.S. yet, but the company had to decide whether to turn all of its production plants on 24/7 to begin increasing production of its Purell sanitizer. Jaros and her team decided to go for it.

It paid off, she said.

More: Third-generation leader taking the helm at GOJO in Akron

But more decisions had to be made. As GOJO ramped up its production, there weren’t enough products and raw materials to run the lines as the supply-chain disruptions hit the global economy. GOJO went through its entire ethanol contract — a key product in Purell — by the end of April 2020.

The company first went to fellow Ohio company Procter & Gamble to use small bottles usually used for Dawn dish soap at the beginning of the pandemic. The company then began blow-molding its own bottles and injection-molding all components in a Purell bottle and refills that go into dispensers in its own facilities.

More: Of Purell, PB&Js, popcorn and pandemics: GOJO Industries celebrates 75 years of growth

In 2020, with all of the changes made by GOJO, the company produced 140 billion doses of Purell.

The international company has its headquarters in downtown Akron with Northeast Ohio facilities in Cuyahoga Falls, Wooster, Massillon, Maple Heights and Ashland.

Company spokeswoman Williams said the company has 2,300 team members worldwide. The company doesn't break employment down by region, but Williams said there are about 1,800 team members in Ohio.

Betty Lin-Fisher can be reached at 330-996-3724 or blinfisher@thebeaconjournal.com

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron-based GOJO is up for sale, sources say