Ronco, everyone’s favorite direct marketer of consumer products including the Showtime Rotisserie Oven, Six Star Knives, Pocket Fisherman, Pasta Maker, Veg-o-Matic, Great Looking Hair, and Food Dehyrator was featured in the NY Times business section today as the company prepares a comeback. A group of investors purchased Ronco from founder Ron Popeil for $56 million in 2005, however by 2007, mismanagement (among other problems it seems) quickly drove the company (which dates to 1964) into bankruptcy.

What’s lacking from the Times piece is any mention of Ronco’s new owners, that being LA based private equity firm Marlin Equity Partners. Marlin purchased Ronco’s assets for $6.5 million, and now, one year later it looks like a revival strategy is in place.

Ronco’s recovery plan will focus on updated infomercials as well as selling goods through retail stores. The modernized infomercial spots apparently feature old footage of Popeil mixed with new hosts and products.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 1st, 2008 at 7:58 pm and is filed under Private Equity News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.