Godrej arm makes Soft & Gentle purchase in UK
3 Jan 2013 6:40 AM IST
FMCG major Godrej Consumer Products Ltd's (GCPL) United Kingdom subsidiary, Keyline Brands Ltd, has acquired the Soft & Gentle brand from Colgate-Palmolive. Soft & Gentle, whose invoiced sales in calendar year 2011, was £21 million, is the UK’s 4th largest female deodorant brand (by market share) and retains strong brand equity with retailers and consumers in that country.
Commenting on the acquisition, GCPL Chairman Adi Godrej said, 'The acquisition of Soft & Gentle by Keyline Brands will add profitable scale to our UK business. Over the last few years, Keyline Brands has delivered good performance and grown in double digits in a very tough market environment that is witnessing little to no growth.' 'Our UK business has had a higher mix of distributed brands than owned brands. Strategically, we have been working on changing the mix towards owned brands and building more scale in the business. With the Soft & Gentle acquisition, the salience of owned brands will become greater than that of distributed brands. We expect this acquisition to be accretive in year one itself. We have a strong team in the UK that will work on leveraging the synergies from the acquisition and driving the future growth of the Soft & Gentle brand. I am optimistic that our UK business will continue to outperform the market' added Godrej. Keyline Brands MD Anand Rangaswamy said, 'As the number 4 female deodorant brand in the UK (by market share), Soft & Gentle enjoys strong latent brand equity. The brand was launched for the UK market in 1976 as the first non-sting anti-perspirant for women with consumer loyalty built over three decades.'
'We believe we can use the strong latent brand equity combined with updating the fragrance technology, developing further range extensions within the female personal care category and creating an integrated above the line support campaign to engage consumers and drive strong growth for the brand,' he said. The acquisition is being funded by low-cost debt and the impact on GCPL’s consolidated debt/ equity ratio is 0.03. Established in 1990 in the UK, Keyline Brands was acquired by GCPL in October 2005. It operates in the household and personal care space and its portfolio includes a number of important niche brands like Cuticura, Aapri, Inecto and Touch of Silver.
Commenting on the acquisition, GCPL Chairman Adi Godrej said, 'The acquisition of Soft & Gentle by Keyline Brands will add profitable scale to our UK business. Over the last few years, Keyline Brands has delivered good performance and grown in double digits in a very tough market environment that is witnessing little to no growth.' 'Our UK business has had a higher mix of distributed brands than owned brands. Strategically, we have been working on changing the mix towards owned brands and building more scale in the business. With the Soft & Gentle acquisition, the salience of owned brands will become greater than that of distributed brands. We expect this acquisition to be accretive in year one itself. We have a strong team in the UK that will work on leveraging the synergies from the acquisition and driving the future growth of the Soft & Gentle brand. I am optimistic that our UK business will continue to outperform the market' added Godrej. Keyline Brands MD Anand Rangaswamy said, 'As the number 4 female deodorant brand in the UK (by market share), Soft & Gentle enjoys strong latent brand equity. The brand was launched for the UK market in 1976 as the first non-sting anti-perspirant for women with consumer loyalty built over three decades.'
'We believe we can use the strong latent brand equity combined with updating the fragrance technology, developing further range extensions within the female personal care category and creating an integrated above the line support campaign to engage consumers and drive strong growth for the brand,' he said. The acquisition is being funded by low-cost debt and the impact on GCPL’s consolidated debt/ equity ratio is 0.03. Established in 1990 in the UK, Keyline Brands was acquired by GCPL in October 2005. It operates in the household and personal care space and its portfolio includes a number of important niche brands like Cuticura, Aapri, Inecto and Touch of Silver.
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