Soft and Gentle, the UK’s fourth largest female deodorant brand in terms of market share was recently acquired by the British subsidiary of India’s Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL), for about $31 million.
Adi Godrej, Chairman of GCPL, said, “Over the last few years, Keyline Brands (owned by GCPL) has grown in double digits in a very tough market environment. Our 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. With the Soft and Gentle acquisition, the salience of owned brands will become greater. We expect this acquisition to be accretive in year one.’’
Keyline Brands was acquired by GCPL in October 2005 and its portfolio includes a number of niche personal care and home care brands such as Cuticura, Aapri (both skin care), Inecto and Touch of Silver (hair care).
What this means:
Godrej is steadily moving forward in global spread not only in emerging countries but also in carefully selected niches in India-friendly markets such as the United Kingdom. Other CPG players in India have been nervous about expanding into developed country markets and facing up to the likes of Unilever and Procter & Gamble on their home turfs.
