New Delhi : FMCG major ITC has entered into an agreement with Johnson & Johnson to acquire its brands, ‘Savlon’ and ‘Shower To Shower’, in India.
This acquisition will be ITC’s first purchase in the personal care segment.
“The company entered into asset purchase agreements with Johnson & Johnson Ltd, India & Johnson & Johnson Pte Ltd, Singapore yesterday for purchase of ‘Savlon’ and ‘Shower To Shower’ trademarks and other intellectual property, respectively, primarily for use in India,” ITC said in a statement.
Savlon is an antiseptic brand while Shower To Shower is a prickly heat powder falling under personal care product brand.
These agreements are subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory permissions as may be necessary, it added.
During the third quarter ended December 2014, ITC reported 10.47 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 2,635 crore as against a net profit of Rs 2,385.34 crore in corresponding quarter a year earlier.
The Kolkata-headquartered firm’s net sales increased by marginal 2.05 per cent to Rs 8,800.22 crore as against Rs 8,623.11 crore in the same period last year.
Earnings from the company’s FMCG business, including cigarettes, increased by 4.23 per cent to Rs 6,456.06 crore, while that from the non-FMCG business grew 0.31 per cent to Rs 9,582.95 crore.
Savlon, a part of Johnson and Johnson’s oral and wound care portfolio, comes in liquid, soap and hand wash forms and is a distant second to market leader Dettol in the antiseptics market.
According to an estimate by Religare Capital Markets Ltd, the two brands together clocked a revenue of Rs.90 crore in 2013-14. Of this, Savlon with its products that included antiseptic soaps and hand washes contributed Rs.65 crore turnover and the balance came from Shower to Shower prickly heat powder.
