Rentokil Acquires Atlanta-Based Allgood Pest Solutions

ATLANTA — Rentokil in February announced the acquisition of Allgood Pest Solutions, headquartered in the Atlanta suburb of Duluth, Ga., and also operating in Tennessee. Allgood Pest Solutions is a $27 million company that ranked #29 on last year’s PCT Top 100 list. (Note: This acquisition does not include the purchase of Allgood Services Inc., which is based in Dublin, Ga., and also had operated under the Allgood Pest Solutions brand prior to a recent name change. See story below)

The Allgood Pest Solutions acquisition marks a significant expansion for Rentokil Steritech in the southeast United States. The deal closed on Feb. 1 and terms were not disclosed.

The acquisition brings to Rentokil Steritech 13 branch offices covering northern and coastal Georgia plus eastern Tennessee and a team of 260. The company offers residential and commercial pest control, as well as termite, mosquito, bed bug and wildlife control. All current employees will stay on and the existing leadership will remain in place to run operations going forward to ensure the smoothest transition for all customers.

“We are very excited to have acquired Allgood Pest Solutions of Duluth, Ga. The addition of such a quality team serving the key Southeast market allows us to strengthen both our residential and commercial capabilities,” said John Myers, president and CEO, Rentokil Steritech. “We immediately recognized a strong cultural compatibility between our companies as our teams both deeply value the importance of delivering superior customer service to residential and commercial customers.”

Chuck Tindol, senior vice president of marketing and sales for Allgood Pest Solutions, commented, “This move marks the start of a great partnership with Rentokil Steritech and we are thrilled to join forces with such a well-run and growth-oriented organization.”

Lance Tullius represented and acted as exclusive financial adviser to Allgood Services of Georgia.

‘RIGHT TIME.’ PCT caught up with Chuck Tindol to learn more about the deal and also his future as president of the National Pest Management Association, (NPMA) which ends on July 1, 2017.

Duluth, Ga.-based Allgood Pest Solutions has become a respected name in pest control throughout Georgia and Tennessee the last 25 years. Allgood Pest Solutions started from scratch in 1991 and has grown to become a $27 million company under the leadership of Chuck Tindol and his brother Mike, and their cousin, Perry Tindol. In addition to Perry, Mike and Chuck Tindol, ownership consists of their cousin, Jimmy Allgood, Chuck and Mike’s dad, Bubba Tindol, and Mike Tindol (their uncle).

Chuck Tindol said for the last 10 years the six equal owners have been working on succession planning. “It became apparent that it was going to be difficult for some of us to retire without financially handicapping the remaining ownership.”

Last year, the six owners met with financial advisor and M&A expert Tullius, and began to more seriously explore options.

When Rentokil Steritech’s Myers visited Allgood last year, Chuck Tindol said he felt there were great similarities between company cultures. Those sentiments were confirmed, Tindol said, following the sale. “When we do an acquisition, for example, I would go into that office and spend two to three weeks welcoming people to the family and assuring them that things are not going to only be OK, but better,” Tindol said. “There is going to be more opportunities, better benefits and more personal skills training. And that’s exactly what John and his team have done for our partners at Allgood.”

The acquisition of Allgood helps Rentokil fill several voids. Rentokil currently does not have residential business in Atlanta nor the Southeast; Rentokil does have commercial accounts in Atlanta, and this business should fit nicely with the commercial operations at Allgood.

Chuck, Mike and Perry Tindol are all staying on board post-acquisition in their current roles. Chuck Tindol is currently president of the National Pest Management Association, and he said he is committed to serving out his term. “We had a conference call with the NPMA Board of Directors the day after the sale, and I explained that we sold our operations to Rentokil, but that I am staying on board full time, and that John (Myers) has given me the opportunity to be the best NPMA president I can be — he wants and supports that. My commitment to the industry hasn’t changed at all. We still have a lot of things we want to do in the next five to six months.”

Tindol is mindful that he was elected president of NPMA as an owner of a large, regional business and he now is part of a large, national company. “I’ve been a part of Waste Management, and I’ve been a part of my dad’s company (Tindol Services) and then we started from scratch, so I am a big advocate of small operators — which are most of our members,” Tindol said. “I’m really excited about the Executive Leadership Program, which is something we just launched.”

The Executive Leadership Program is an NPMA initiative in which 10 industry professionals from across the country are receiving skills development and training — including paid trips to NPMA Legislative Day and NPMA PestWorld — for association leadership. — Brad Harbison

Cingo: The New Name for 40-year-old Allgood Pest Solutions

DUBLIN, GA. — Allgood Services Inc., based in Dublin, Ga., has a new name: Cingo.

The company has done business as Allgood Pest Solutions for 40 years. The firm says only the name is changing — the experience built during those years, the commitment to customers and the leadership team led by CEO Lanny Allgood remains the same.

“We have a new name, a new look and the same company leadership that steered 40 years of success,” said Allgood, Cingo’s CEO and sole shareholder. “We are active participants in the communities we serve, and that won’t change.”

The business was founded by Lanny Allgood’s father, Jimmy Allgood, in 1974. Since 1993, it has been one of two companies operating in Georgia under the Allgood name.

Cingo will initially operate in Allgood’s existing markets in middle and south Georgia, Augusta, Savannah and Charleston, S.C.

Why the name Cingo? It’s a word that means to surround and secure, and that represents the foundation of the company’s commitment to protect families from pests, Allgood said. It also represents new opportunities for the company and team members, he added.

“With Cingo, we’ve given our team their own company name,” said Allgood, who has led the company during the past 10 years. “There is exciting opportunity ahead for us all.”

Learn more at www.allgoodpest.com/cingo.

B&G, Airofog USA Involved in Trademark Dispute

BROOKSVILLE, Fla. — B&G Equipment Co., on Dec. 16, 2016, filed a complaint in U.S. federal court alleging that certain products sold by Airofog USA of Brooksville, Fla., infringe upon B&G’s registered trademark rights.

The complaint alleges that Airofog USA is “promoting, selling and offering for sale goods which are confusingly similar imitations of Plaintiff’s trademark goods.” It targets various pest control products sold by Airofog USA, including sprayers, aerosol delivery systems and termite tools.

Airofog USA was founded by Roy Soderquist, who has been involved in the pest control and landscape industries in various capacities for 30 years. The company entered the U.S. pest control market in January 2016, offering a variety of pest control and vector products that are engineered in Germany and manufactured by Airofog Machinery, a Shanghai, China-based manufacturer.

B&G’s attorney, Darius Gambino, said Airofog Machinery has been on B&G’s radar for several years as a company selling “knock off” B&G products. Once its products became available in the U.S. through Airofog USA, Gambino said B&G decided to take legal action. “For us, it’s a battle against a Chinese company that is trying to play off the innovation of an established U.S. pest control company,” he said.

B&G has two registered trademarks on the B&G Sprayer, a product it has been manufactured and sold, in a variety of volumetric sizes, to the pest control industry for 65 years. Trademark No. 3,210,240 is for the following configurations: (1) a cylindrical barrel; (2) circumferential rings extending around the barrel; (3) a slightly conical top member for the barrel; (4) a handle configuration incorporating a tubular gripping portion and a semicircular support member connecting the gripping portion to a pump portion of the barrel; (5) a sprayer wand with an obtusely angled tip portion; and (6) a diagonal mounting pocket for the sprayer wand affixed to the barrel, which holds the sprayer wand generally upright when mounted on the barrel (collectively known as the “Sprayer Trade Dress”).

The second trademark, no. 3,239,891, covers those same configurations in No. 3,210,240, plus the trademarked B&G logo on the barrel.

Rick Fee, attorney for Airofog USA, said his client’s sprayers do not infringe on the B&G trademarks. “It’s utterly untrue that any of the Airofog sprayers have circumferential rings, a slightly conical top or B&G imprinted on the barrel. The Airofog sprayers don’t have what [B&G] has protection for.”

B&G attorney Gambino acknowledged that the Airofog sprayers have some differences, but if you look at B&G and Airofog sprayers alongside one another “they share more common features than not. You can’t just take away one thing or two things and expect that people still won’t be confused. That’s really what we’re talking about here: infringement is confusion,” he said.

Airofog USA President Roy Soderquist disagrees that Airofog sprayers are causing market confusion. “I never wanted a ‘me-too’ sprayer. I wanted and we have created a sprayer that is different from the tip to the bottom of the can. Not one person has said that our sprayer resembles the B&G sprayer.”

In addition to the sprayer, B&G is claiming that Airofog USA’s AF Aerosol Device (AD) infringes on B&G’s Aerosol Delivery Unit (ADU) and that Airofog USA’s termite control device, the AF Injector, infringes on the B&G TT400.

The most recent development was on Jan. 24 when Airofog USA filed in U.S. District Court a motion to dismiss with prejudice the B&G lawsuit on grounds that it “substantively fails the ‘facial plausibility’ requirement for pleading.” — Brad Harbison

Seven New Label Training Modules Now Live on PCT’s Distance Learning Center

VALLEY VIEW, OHIO — PCT’s Distance Learning Center continues to expand with the addition of the following label training modules:

• AMVAC Nuvan Fog 5%
• BASF Termidor SC Termiticide/Insecticide — Part 1
• BASF Termidor SC Termiticide/Insecticide — Part 2
• BASF Termidor SC Termiticide/Insecticide — Part 3
• BASF Termidor SC Termiticide/Insecticide — Pest Control Uses
• Liphatech Takedown Soft Bait
• Syngenta Weatherblok XT

These and other label training modules are the centerpiece of PCT’s Distance Learning Center — a FREE service for the professional pest control market provided by PCT.

Created by Board Certified Entomologist and consultant Stoy Hedges, the courses use photographs, video clips and reference materials to challenge users’ knowledge, experience and problem-solving skills for a wide range of products and pest problems.

Accessible by PC, tablet or smartphone, Distance Learning Center training is presented in modules designed to take a half-hour to an hour to complete. Their brevity gives individuals the opportunity to fit this education in whenever their schedules allow — even during breaks or lunchtime. And if a user needs to stop while taking a course, no problem: He or she can close the program and pick up at the point left off later.

Visit https://training.pctonline.com to get started, and return frequently as new label training modules are being added monthly.

PPMA Appoints John Myers To Board of Directors

FAIRFAX, VA. — The Professional Pest Management Alliance (PPMA), which serves as the consumer education and marketing arm of the National Pest Management Association, announced in February that John Myers of Rentokil Steritech will join its board of directors. Michael Katz, most recently with Western Exterminator Co., a Rentokil company, is retiring.

“I would like to thank Mike for his leadership and commitment to the alliance and welcome John as we continue our mission to grow, protect, promote and defend our incredible industry,” said PPMA Chairman Tom Fortson.

Katz, who is retiring from the industry after nearly 50 years, served on the PPMA board of directors since 2010 and has been an active and integral member, helping to inform the marketing strategy PPMA uses to increase consumer awareness about the value of professional pest control services. “I’ve loved this industry for a long time, and it’s been a particular pleasure to serve on the PPMA board of directors where I could be part of a process helping to guide our industry to an even better future,” said Katz.

Myers, president and CEO of Rentokil Steritech, said he is looking forward to his newly expanded role within PPMA. “Rentokil believes in supporting the industry and I look forward to an active role as a PPMA board member in helping to grow and promote our industry.”

The board of directors of PPMA is comprised of representatives from pest management firms and the supplier community.

Learn more at www.npmapestworld.org/ppma or www.ppmamainframe.org.