Godrej Consumer completes acquisition of Rapidol

Godrej Consumer Products Ltd has announced that on September 01, 2006, the Company completed the acquisition of the South African business of Rapidol, U.K. as well as its subsidiary Rapidol International. As announced in July ´06 the Company had entered into an agreement to acquire these entities subject to certain regulatory approvals.

Commenting on the completion of the acquisition, Mr. Adi Godrej, Chairman and Managing Director, of the Company, said, "This acquisition is accretive for GCPL. It also gives us entry into the large and fast growing African hair colour market, ownership of strong brands and the opportunity to introduce our ´value for money´ product portfolio in those geographies".

The Rapidol acquisition gives the Company ownership of strong ethnic hair colour brands like ´INECTO´ and ´SOFLENE´ in ten countries. It also gives the Company an opportunity to enhance its global presence through the Modern Trade Network and the ownership of customer listings of the INECTO and SOFLENE brands. Rapidol´s distribution network is spread across South Africa and other African nations such as Zambia, Mozambique, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Swaziland, Ghana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mauritius, Seychelles and Madagascar.

Further, through this acquisition, the Company gets an opportunity to introduce some of its products which would include other hair colour offerings and the FairGlow and Evita soap brands in the African continent. The Company also proposes to derive further value from this transaction by leveraging its high quality yet low cost manufacturing skills to enhance the present offerings.

The INECTO brand is already owned by the Company´s subsidiary Keyline Brands Ltd in U.K. and in 21 other countries. In 2005 INECTO enjoyed a 80% share in the ethnic hair colour market in South Africa, and was the leading hair colour brand in several other southern African countries.

In 2005, Rapidol U.K. as well as its subsidiary Rapidol International had a combined turnover of 52 million South African Rand (Approx. Rs 34 crore). Going forward, this acquisition would be highly accretive and strategic for the Company and contribute significantly to the Company´s revenue and profits.

Source : Equity Bulls

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