Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL) announced in December 2012, that its subsidiary in the United Kingdom, Keyline Brands Limited, acquired the Soft & Gentle brand from Colgate-Palmolive for £21m. Soft & Gentle is the UK’s 4th largest female deodorant brand (by market share).
Commenting on the acquisition, Mr. Adi Godrej, Chairman, GCPL 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”.
Anand Rangaswamy, Managing Director of Keyline Brands, added:“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 3 decades.
The acquisition is being funded by low cost debt and the impact on GCPL’s consolidated Debt/Equity ratio is 0.03.
