Envu, formerly Bayer Environmental Science, promises new solutions for LCOs

(Photo: Envu)

The company has a new name, but the product portfolio and the desire to help lawn care professionals deliver beautiful yards for their clients worldwide remains the same, says Envu CEO Gilles Galliou.

Bayer completed the sale of its Environmental Science Professional business to international private equity firm Cinven. The purchase price: $2.6 billion. In 2021, the business generated approximately $587 million USD.

And now, Cinven rebranded the company to move forward under a new moniker: Envu.

Galliou tells Landscape Management that the strength of the new company is that it can focus on its core businesses: turf and ornamental, professional pest management, vegetation management, forestry and vector control.

“We want to be the most agile, the easiest, the fastest and most innovative company for lawn care operators to work with,” Galliou says. “We are 100 percent dedicated to businesses like lawn care and pest control. We only do that. The focus and the dedication we will have in those markets should make us fast and agile and totally focused on our customers and their problems.”

The company, still based in Cary, N.C., employs nearly 900 people. With Envu — the name comes from a combination of environmental and vision — lawn care professionals can expect the catalog of Bayer Environmental Science products as well as many of the same people who previously worked for Bayer.

Envu Headquarters in Cary, N.C. (Photo: Envu)

“Our goal is not to reduce our footprint, not to reduce our presence,” Galliou says. “We might be a smaller team in some locations, but our goal is to hire 200 (additional) people to create Envu. As we bring new innovation, as we bring new solutions, we’ll probably extend our presence. We have to grow first, and we have to find the right solutions for our customers.”

Product portfolio

Envu’s portfolio consists of more than 180 products, many of them lawn care mainstays, like Specticle G and Merit. The new chemistries, like Tetrino for annual bluegrass weevil and white grubs, are also in the portfolio.

Featuring the active ingredient tetraniliprole, Bayer released Tetrino last summer.

“We’re working very hard on annual bluegrass weevil in the Northeast,” Galliou says. “Tetrino has been a very successful launch for us. Insecticides are in our DNA. We know how to work on them.”

Galliou adds that he wants customers to know that not only are all of Bayer Environmental Science’s lawn care products now available from Envu but that they’re also looking to build the company by creating new partnerships in the industry.

“The pipeline of innovation that we have remains the same,” Galliou says. “Except now we have the opportunity to find new partnerships, new solutions, new ways to grow. We can engage with other players. I truly intend to find other partners, maybe in mixing products, to find combined solutions. We will also invest in new technology. This is an innovation company, and it will remain an innovation company.”

In terms of supporting the industry and being visible, from trade shows to industry events, Galliou says nothing will change.

“Our commitment to the big shows, the big industry meetings, will be the same,” he says. “It’s important for people to know we exist, why we are here and how we are different.”