Cooper leaves BedBug Central for Terminix

Cooper Pest Solutions’ Dr. Rick Cooper (left) and Phillip Cooper.
Photo: Frank Veronsky

With the recent acquisition by Terminix of BedBug Central’s former parent company, Lawrenceville, N.J.-based Cooper Pest Solutions, BedBug Central has announced a change at the top of its organization. Its longtime VP of Sales, Robert DiJoseph, is taking over as president. He succeeds Phil Cooper, who is stepping down as president and CEO of BedBug Central to focus on his duties as president of Cooper Pest Solutions and a regional director of Terminix. His brother, Dr. Rick Cooper, is now a senior director of training for Terminix.

The acquisition of Cooper Pest does not include BedBug Central, based in Hamilton, N.J. It will continue to operate financially and strategically as a separate and distinct entity, focusing on education under the BedBug University brand, and distribution of bed bug monitoring and interception devices under its SenSci brand.

“It’s been almost a 10-year labor of love, but I leave knowing the company is in capable hands,” Cooper says. “We are thrilled to be working with Nik Varty, Matt Stevenson and the Terminix team. Having spent a great deal of time with them, we are convinced their vision aligns with that of the Cooper team and value all that is special in the Cooper organization. We will continue to deliver our amazing experience to our customers as Cooper.”

LR Tullius represented and acted as exclusive financial advisor to Cooper Pest Solutions on the transaction. Cooper is a Copesan service provider and will continue to service Copesan’s national accounts under the Copesan brand, service and account management business model. Terms were not disclosed.

DiJoseph, along with Director of Innovation and Technical Content Jeff White, will continue to handle BedBug Central’s day-to-day operations.

“I’m thrilled for Phil as he embraces his new challenges with Terminix, and I’m truly excited for this opportunity to guide the company, along with Jeff, that I helped to develop back in 2009,” says DiJoseph.