GCPL subsidiary acquires Colgate-Palmolive brand in UK

Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL) today said its UK-based subsidiary has acquired Colgate-Palmolive's Soft & Gentle brand for an undisclosed amount.

Keyline Brands Ltd, the company's UK-based unit, has acquired the Soft & Gentle brand from Colgate-Palmolive, GCPL said in a statement. Soft & Gentle, which is the UK's fourth largest female deodorant brand by market share, had posted sales of 21 million pounds in 2011, it added.

"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 very tough market environment that is witnessing little to no growth," GCPL chairman Adi Godrej said.

The company said acquisition is being funded by low-cost debt and the impact on GCPL's consolidated debt equity ratio is 0.03. Godrej said the company's UK business has historically 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," he added. Commenting on the acquisition Keyline Brands managing director Anand Rangaswamy said the company can use the strong latent brand equity combined with updating the fragrance technology to develop further range extensions within the female personal care category. Shares of GCPL were trading at Rs 723.75 on the BSE in afternoon trade, up 0.26 per cent from its previous close.