Pandemic Run on Cleaning Items Ends in Bankruptcy for HIG Unit

A cleaning supply company scooped up by private equity firm H.I.G. Capital at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic filed for bankruptcy after a series of management missteps.

Supply Source Enterprises, Inc. will try to sell itself at a court-supervised auction to help pay lenders about $140 million, according to court papers filed Wednesday.

Before the pandemic hit, the company was consistently profitable and was growing modestly. In 2020, the year that Covid-19 disrupted the global economy, demand for cleaning products shot up and company earnings, under one key measure, tripled to $93 million, company chief restructuring officer Thomas Studebaker ...