Deal completed

Deal completed: Strix Group acquires Billi facilitating new growth opportunities for both entities.

THOMASTOWN, VIC, Australia –  Following its agreement to combine with Waterlogic Group Holdings (“Waterlogic”),  Culligan International (“Culligan”), has completed the deal to sell Billi, global designer & manufacturer of filtered boiling and chilled multifunctional taps, to Strix Group Plc (“Strix”). This divestiture was completed after fully addressing concerns raised by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), and the New Zealand Commerce Commission (NZCC).

The agreement to divest Billi to Strix, a global leader in kettle controls and filtration technologies, resolved any discrepancies surrounding overlap between the Billi and Zip businesses in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. No such overlap existed previously, and all parties to the deal worked collaboratively to avoid any misconceptions of a future overlap, throughout the process.

This agreement reflects undertakings that were submitted to regulators to divest the Billi business to Strix and was subject to the relevant approvals by the competition regulators. As regards the UK, the CMA confirmed that the offer to divest Billi UK was accepted as a suitable remedy, and their assessment continued through to final approval of the deal. The undertakings to divest the Billi business in Australia and New Zealand were previously accepted by the ACCC and NZCC, subject to approval of Strix as a purchaser.

This new and committed investor will support Billi to thrive and flourish independently under new ownership and further expand in the fast-growing area of under-the-sink solutions for premium filtered drinking water systems to the benefit of employees, distributors and customers.

Strix CEO, Mark Bartlett said, “The acquisition of Billi accelerates our strategy within our Water and Appliances categories which is core to Strix’s five-year plan. We look forward to welcoming the Billi team to the Strix Group and working together to grow our combined businesses.”

The deal was completed 1 December, 2022.

ABOUT STRIX

Isle of Man based Strix, is a global leader in the design, manufacture and supply of kettle safety controls and other components and devices involving water heating and temperature control, steam management and water filtration.

Strix’s core product range comprises a variety of safety controls for small domestic appliances, primarily kettles. Kettle safety controls require precision engineering and intricate knowledge of material properties in order to repeatedly function correctly. Strix has built up market leading capability and know-how in this field since being founded in 1982.

Strix is admitted to trading on the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange (AIM: KETL).

Media contact
Daniel Walker
Head of International Marketing

T: +61 499 400 041

E: mailto:daniel.walker@billi.com.au