3M to Acquire Meguiar's Inc.

3M announced last week that they have entered into an agreement to acquire Meguiar’s Inc., the 100-year-old family business that manufactures the Meguiar’s brand of car care products for cleaning and protecting automotive surfaces. The terms of the transaction have not yet been disclosed.

Meguiar’s car care products were chosen by 20 out of 24 “Best of Class” winners at the 2008 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Not to bad for a company that employs only 115 people out of their headquarters in Irvine, California.

3M on the other hand produces thousands of products for dozens of diverse markets. With $24 billion in sales, 3M employs 79,000 people worldwide and has operations in more than 60 countries.

So why does such a big company need to buy Meguiar’s family owned operation? According to Ian Hardgrove, vice president, 3M Automotive Aftermarket Division:

“The addition of Meguiar’s builds on our professional offering for the automotive industry and brings the expertise of Barry Meguiar in the growing enthusiast market for car care products. Together, Meguiar’s and 3M will collaborate to deliver even more innovative high performance products for enthusiasts around the world.”

All we can say is, way to go Barry Meguiar – you are certifiably “Car Crazy”.