Pentair Buys Pleatco

Leading pool equipment manufacturer Pentair has finalized an agreement to purchase Pleatco, major manufacturer of filter cartridges, pre-filters, DE grids and filtration accessories, headquartered in Louisville, Ky.

The sale culminates a remarkable rise for the company, which has grown over the last decade to prominence through research and development of products and savvy marketing, including its popular annual Pleatco Perfect PoolGuy and PoolGal contest.

“With the planned acquisition of Pleatco, we are excited about the opportunity to offer additional options to pool, spa and industrial air customers, and we are looking forward to welcoming the Pleatco employees to our Pentair team,” says John Stauch, Pentair president and CEO.

From the seller’s perspective, Rob Langley, managing partner for Pleatco’s parent company, ACP, which purchased Pleatco four years ago, says, “Pleatco has been truly transformed through an aggressive series of investments in people, systems, facilities and products. The key tenets of the business that attracted us to the investment years ago are still driving the company forward today. Pleatco benefits from the recurring nature of its highly engineered, consumable products that are focused on serving pool, spa and industrial air customers’ aftermarket needs.”

Over the past four years since Pleatco was acquired by ACP, executive leadership from within the industry was recruited including President Seth Soltow and active board member Rick Von Drehle. The management team was rounded out with a new CFO, Sharon Adams and CRO, Pete Todd to work beside long term Pleatco brand leader CMO, Battista Remati while supplementing strong existing talent at the company and transforming the sales organization. Pleatco also completed add-on acquisitions, which drove product expansion into industrial air and diversified the company’s pool and spa filter offerings and capabilities.  

“It’s been incredible to see the pace of change and growth within Pleatco since I joined the company in 2018,” says Mr. Soltow. “ACP’s operating and growth resources served as active partners who committed much more than just capital to our management team. Today, the company is well positioned for continued growth alongside the additional scale and resources that Pentair provides.”