Water Pik

Water Pik is an American oral-health and personal-care brand whose best-known products are oral irrigators, commonly marketed as water flossers. The brand traces its origins to 1962, when Aqua Tec Corporation introduced an oral irrigator using a pressurized stream of water to support cleaning between teeth and along the gumline. This product established the core technology and product category with which Water Pik would later become associated. The company’s corporate history has included several major ownership and business-portfolio changes. Aqua Tec was acquired by Teledyne in 1967. In 1999, the business was separated from Teledyne as a public company under the name Water Pik Technologies. At that stage, the company was broader than a conventional oral-care brand: it operated personal-care activities and also marketed swimming-pool and related equipment under brands including Water Pik, Jandy, and Air Energy. In 2006, Water Pik Technologies was acquired by the private-equity firm The Carlyle Group and the French company Zodiac in a transaction reported at approximately $380 million. The company had six major facilities in the United States and Canada at the time. Its pool-equipment activities were subsequently reorganized with Zodiac’s marine and pool operations. In 2007, the pool division was combined with the marine and pool business to create Zodiac Marine & Pool, headquartered in Paris. The Jandy pool business remained associated with that pool-equipment operation rather than the later consumer oral-care business. The separation of the pool activities was an important step in narrowing the Water Pik identity around personal and oral health. In 2013, Zodiac Marine & Pool and EG Capital sold their interest in the remaining Water Pik business, excluding the pool-equipment division, to MidOcean Partners and Vulcan Capital. The company was reported to have approximately 1,400 employees in 2012, although that figure belongs to the wider business before or during the period of portfolio separation and should not be treated as a current employee count. In 2017, Church & Dwight agreed to acquire Water Pik from MidOcean Partners. The transaction announcement described Water Pik as generating approximately $265 million in revenue for the fiscal year ended June 30, with around 70 percent attributed to water-flosser products. Those figures relate to the reported transaction period and are not a current financial measure. Following the acquisition, Water Pik became a subsidiary within Church & Dwight’s consumer-products portfolio. Water Pik’s product range has developed from the original oral irrigator into a broader oral-care assortment. It has included countertop and cordless water flossers, electric toothbrushes, replacement components, and combination devices such as the Sonic-Fusion line, which combines brushing and water-flossing functions. The brand has also sold pulsating showerheads and replacement showerhead products. Its current historical identity is therefore rooted in oral irrigation, while its corporate past also encompasses pool and spa equipment that was separated from the oral and personal-care business before the Church & Dwight acquisition.

Water Pik began in 1962 as Aqua Tec Corporation, a company formed around the development of an oral irrigator. The device used a pulsating, pressurized stream of water rather than conventional floss to help clean between teeth and around the gumline. This invention provided the foundation for the Water Pik name and for the company’s later specialization in home oral-care appliances. Teledyne acquired Aqua Tec in 1967. Under Teledyne ownership, the business developed beyond its original oral-irrigation roots and eventually operated as part of a wider personal-care and equipment portfolio. In 1999, Water Pik Technologies was spun off as a public company. The publicly traded company manufactured personal-care products and swimming-pool products, using brand names that included Water Pik, Jandy, and Air Energy. The company changed ownership again in 2006, when The Carlyle Group and Zodiac acquired Water Pik Technologies in a transaction reported at approximately $380 million. At that point, Water Pik had six major facilities across the United States and Canada. The transaction brought the business into a broader private-equity and industrial-products ownership structure, while retaining both its personal-care and pool-equipment activities. The pool business was reorganized separately from the oral-care business. In 2007, the pool-equipment division was combined by Carlyle and Zodiac with Zodiac’s marine and pool division, creating Zodiac Marine & Pool with headquarters in Paris. The pool portfolio included the Jandy brand and other swimming-pool equipment activities. This restructuring reduced the extent to which the Water Pik corporate identity depended on pool products. A further ownership change took place in 2013. Zodiac Marine & Pool and EG Capital sold their interest in the remaining Water Pik operation, excluding the pool-equipment division, to MidOcean Partners and Vulcan Capital. The resulting business was more closely associated with oral and personal care than with its earlier diversified equipment portfolio. A 2012 report placed employment at approximately 1,400 people, although the historical figure relates to the broader business around the period of the portfolio changes. In 2017, Church & Dwight agreed to acquire Water Pik from MidOcean Partners. Contemporary reporting cited approximately $265 million in revenue for the fiscal year ended June 30 and indicated that roughly 70 percent of that revenue came from water-flosser products. These figures were transaction-period disclosures rather than a continuing public financial series. The acquisition placed Water Pik within Church & Dwight, a consumer-products group, and made the brand part of a larger portfolio of household and personal-care businesses. Water Pik’s product development has remained centered on oral irrigation. Its assortment has included countertop and cordless water flossers, electric toothbrushes, replacement parts, and combination products. The Sonic-Fusion series combined electric brushing with water flossing in one system. The brand has also produced pulsating showerheads and replacement showerheads, reflecting the company’s historical involvement in water-directed personal-care products. Pool and spa brands associated with the earlier Water Pik Technologies portfolio, including Jandy, belong to the separated pool-equipment history rather than to the core oral-care business acquired by Church & Dwight.

1. 2017Church & Dwight acquisition announced

   Church & Dwight agreed to acquire Water Pik, bringing the oral-care brand into its consumer-products group.

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2. 2013Personal-care business sold to MidOcean Partners and Vulcan Capital

   The remaining Water Pik operation, excluding the pool-equipment division, changed hands through a sale by Zodiac Marine & Pool and EG Capital.

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3. 2007Pool division reorganized into Zodiac Marine & Pool

   Water Pik’s pool-equipment activities were combined with Zodiac’s marine and pool operations, separating that business from the later oral-care focus.

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4. 2006Carlyle Group and Zodiac acquisition

   The Carlyle Group and Zodiac acquired Water Pik Technologies in a transaction reported at approximately $380 million.

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5. 1999Water Pik Technologies spun off as a public company

   The company was separated from Teledyne and operated publicly as Water Pik Technologies, with personal-care and pool-product businesses.

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6. 1967Acquired by Teledyne

   Teledyne acquired Aqua Tec, bringing the developing oral-irrigation business into its corporate portfolio.

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7. 1962Aqua Tec Corporation established

   The business began as Aqua Tec Corporation and introduced the oral irrigator that became the foundation of the Water Pik product line.

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A specialist oral-care brand positioned around water-based interdental cleaning and home-use personal care.

• Waterpik water flossersOral irrigators1962

  Water flossers are the brand’s defining product category. They direct a controlled, pressurized stream of water between teeth and around the gumline for home interdental cleaning. The historical range has included countertop units connected to a water reservoir as well as more portable cordless formats. These products developed directly from the oral irrigator introduced by Aqua Tec in the 1960s.

• Electric toothbrushesOral care

  Water Pik’s oral-care range expanded beyond water irrigation to include electric toothbrushes. These products broadened the brand’s role from a specialist interdental-cleaning provider into a more complete home oral-care supplier, while remaining complementary to the water-flosser line.

• Sonic-FusionCombination oral-care system

  Sonic-Fusion is a combination brushing-and-flossing system that integrates electric brushing with water-flossing functionality. The line reflects Water Pik’s effort to combine two daily oral-care actions in one appliance rather than treating brushing and interdental cleaning as entirely separate routines.

• Pulsating showerheadsPersonal care

  The company’s historical personal-care assortment also included pulsating showerheads. These products extended the brand’s use of directed water flow beyond oral care and formed part of the wider Water Pik product portfolio before and after the company’s major ownership changes.

• Replacement showerheadsShower products

  Waterpik has sold replacement showerheads under the Waterpik name. They represent a continuing connection to the brand’s water-directed personal-care heritage, although oral irrigators remain the company’s most distinctive and commercially important product category in the historical record.

• Jandy and related pool productsPool equipment

  Water Pik Technologies historically marketed swimming-pool and related equipment through brands including Jandy and Air Energy. These activities were later separated from the personal-care business and combined with Zodiac’s marine and pool operations. They are therefore part of the company’s corporate history rather than the core Water Pik oral-care assortment.

• 2017Church & Dwight acquisitionM&A

  Water Pik had become primarily associated with oral irrigators and other personal-care products after the separation of its pool-equipment activities.

  What changed. Church & Dwight agreed to acquire Water Pik from MidOcean Partners. The announcement reported fiscal-year revenue of approximately $265 million, with about 70 percent attributed to water-flosser products.

  Aftermath. Water Pik became a subsidiary of Church & Dwight and was incorporated into the larger company’s consumer-products portfolio.

  Revenue. $265 million (Fiscal year ended June 30, reported at the time of the 2017 acquisition announcement)

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• 2013Sale of the remaining personal-care businessM&A

  After the pool-equipment division had been excluded from the remaining Water Pik operation, the business changed ownership again.

  What changed. Zodiac Marine & Pool and EG Capital sold their interest in Water Pik, excluding the pool-equipment division, to MidOcean Partners and Vulcan Capital.

  Aftermath. The transaction reinforced the separation between Water Pik’s oral and personal-care activities and the pool-equipment operations associated with Zodiac.

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• 2007Separation and integration of the pool-equipment divisionStrategy

  Water Pik Technologies combined oral and personal-care products with swimming-pool equipment, creating an opportunity to separate the industrial pool activities from the consumer personal-care business.

  What changed. Carlyle and Zodiac merged the pool-equipment division with Zodiac’s marine and pool business to form Zodiac Marine & Pool.

  Aftermath. The pool operation, including the Jandy business, became associated with the Zodiac pool portfolio, leaving Water Pik increasingly identified with oral and personal care.

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• 2006Sale of Water Pik Technologies to Carlyle Group and ZodiacM&A

  Water Pik Technologies operated a diversified portfolio spanning personal-care products and pool equipment. The acquisition transferred the company to The Carlyle Group and Zodiac.

  What changed. The Carlyle Group and Zodiac acquired Water Pik Technologies in a transaction reported at approximately $380 million.

  Aftermath. The pool-equipment activities were subsequently combined with Zodiac’s marine and pool operations, while the remaining personal-care business continued toward a more focused oral-care identity.

  Reported transaction value. $380 million (2006 transaction)

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• 2017Church & Dwight agreed to acquire Water Pik

  Church & Dwight agreed to purchase Water Pik from MidOcean Partners. The transaction announcement characterized water flossers as the company’s principal revenue driver.

  M&A
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• 2013Remaining Water Pik business sold to MidOcean Partners and Vulcan Capital

  Zodiac Marine & Pool and EG Capital sold their stake in the Water Pik business excluding the pool-equipment division to MidOcean Partners and Vulcan Capital.

  M&A
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• 2007Water Pik pool operations combined with Zodiac marine and pool businesses

  The pool-equipment division associated with Water Pik was merged with Zodiac’s marine and pool operations to form Zodiac Marine & Pool, separating the pool business from the later-focused Water Pik personal-care operation.

  M&A
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• 2006Water Pik Technologies acquired by Carlyle Group and Zodiac

  The Carlyle Group and Zodiac acquired Water Pik Technologies in a transaction reported at approximately $380 million. The business at that time included oral and personal-care products as well as pool-equipment activities.

  M&A
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1. Water Pik