They Want It All. And Why Not.

U.S based Sara Lee’s global household business is up for sales. With brands like Ambi Pur, Kiwi, Hit and Good Knight in its kitty, Sara Lee deal sure looks good. And big FMCG producing corporations globally have shown their interest in buying it. So has its partner in Indian JV, Godrej.

While P&G announced that it was buying Sara Lee’s air-care brand Ambi Pur, Unilever bought the personal care division of Sara Lee in September for $1.88 billion. Sara Lee, which wants to focus on its core food and coffee operations, is in the process of selling off all other businesses.

51% of Godrej Sara Lee (the name of the Indian JV) is held by Sara Lee. The process of buying out this share by Godrej for about Rs. 800 crore is already underway.

But they want more. Godrej has shown keen interest in Sara Lee’s insecticides worldwide business and will have to fight competition like P&G and Unilever, who are also slugging out for it.

Just like Hutch was sold by Hutchison Whampoa, only to be grabbed up by global telecom major, Vodafone, it is an opportunity for some but usual for others.


Posted by Karan Saharan