By JOE TASCHLER

A New York private equity firm will invest $477 million in JohnsonDiversey Inc. and assume a 46% ownership stake as part of a broad recapitalization of the company that also includes debt restructuring.

The Sturtevant-based company also said Wednesday that it intends to build a new manufacturing plant adjacent to its current warehouse in Racine and will change its name to Diversey Inc.

Under the terms of the financing agreement announced Wednesday, the Johnson family will retain 50% ownership of the company that makes and markets industrial cleaning, sanitation and hygiene products, and S. Curtis Johnson will remain chairman. Clayton, Dubilier & Rice Inc. is purchasing the 46% stake. The remaining 4% will be owned by Unilever.

JohnsonDiversey is one of four separate companies controlled by the Johnson family of Racine.

The name change is the result of the 2002 purchase of Unilever's Diversey business.

"It was agreed then that we would have access to the Johnson name only for another 10 years and that was to avoid potential market confusion," said John Matthews, JohnsonDiversey senior vice president of corporate affairs. "We're simply taking the opportunity now to formalize our new name."

The equity infusion and planned debt restructuring are part of a $2.6 billion recapitalization plan, JohnsonDiversey said in a statement.

"The recapitalization will provide the company with the financial flexibility to accelerate growth in the global commercial cleaning and hygiene market," the company said.

The moves are the latest in a series that have seen JohnsonDiversey restructure as it has become the world's second- largest company by sales of industrial/institutional cleaning, sanitation and hygiene products.

St. Paul, Minn.-based Ecolab Inc. is the largest company, said Bruce Boynick, a senior associate at Kline & Co. Inc., a New Jersey consulting and research firm that focuses on the chemicals and materials, consumer products, energy, and life science industries.

Boynick estimated the market in which the two companies compete is $25 billion worldwide.

The plan announced Wednesday includes a refinancing of all existing debt, Matthews said. The plan calls for $910 million in bank debt; $500 million in publicly traded bonds; a $250 million revolving credit facility; and $250 million in seller notes to Unilever.

"This is very similar to our current debt," Matthews said. That debt was incurred to fund the acquisition of Diversey, he said. "This is just refinancing debt that we've carried since 2002 as part of that major acquisition."

The debt package is not completely in place and the terms are yet to be negotiated, Matthews said.

The moves are not being made in response to a downturn or economic conditions, he said.

"Our business is fundamentally strong," he said. "The economy didn't influence our ability or our need to do this. This goes back to the original agreement with Unilever."

JohnsonDiversey employs 800 people in Wisconsin and another 10,000 around the world.

In 2005, JohnsonDiversey embarked on a massive restructuring. In 2006, the company made a $118 million profit as the restructuring continued. In 2007, it posted a loss of $86.6 million, and last year, it posted a loss of $11.7 million, according to company financial filings.

Although it is a privately held company, the firm's financial results are public because its debt is publicly traded.

JohnsonDiversey has annual sales of $3 billion and has a presence in 175 countries.

The company also said it is planning to build its own manufacturing plant.

"We intend to expand our production capacity" by moving into a new facility, Matthews said. The facility will employ at least 80 people, he said. Construction is expected to begin in late 2010 or early 2011 with the plant in production by 2012.

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