Ecolab, Inc., said Monday that it has agreed to buy Cleantec, an Australian developer, manufacturer, and marketer of cleaning and hygiene products.

St. Paul-based Ecolab will buy the company from Brisbane, Australia-based Campbell Brothers, Ltd., which manufactures and distributes commercial chemicals and industrial cleaning agents.

Financial details of the transaction weren't disclosed but Ecolab said that it will pay cash for Cleantec, which has about $55 million in annual sales. The deal is pending regulatory approval and customary closing conditions.

“Australia is a strong and stable market for Ecolab,” Douglas M. Baker Jr., Ecolab's chairman, president and CEO, said in a statement. “This acquisition complements our existing Australian business very well. It will expand our customer base, improve our positions in our food and beverage processing, food service, hospitality and textile care businesses, and create opportunities to offer our water-care and pest-elimination services to additional customers.”

Ecolab, founded in 1923, manufactures and distributes cleaning and maintenance products for the hospitality, institutional, and industrial markets. It is among Minnesota's 20-largest public companies based on revenue, which totaled $5.9 billion in 2009. The company employs more than 26,000 people.