P&G sells Escudo soap brand to Kimberly-Clark de Mexico

By Simon Pitman

- Last updated on GMT

P&G sells Escudo soap brand to Kimberly-Clark de Mexico
Procter & Gamble continues its march towards becoming a leaner and more focused business with the sale of the Escudo soap brand to Kimberly-Clark de Mexico.

The anti-bacterial soap brand was first launched in the Mexico market more than 50 years ago, and has gone on to become one of the biggest names in the category, while also being distributed in a number of other Latin American countries.

P&G has built up the brand in Mexico on the back of growing awareness over the spread of bacteria and infections through hand contact.

Divestment set for second half of 2016

The divestment will take place in the second half of 2016 and no financial details of the transaction are being made available publicly.

In recent years Escudo antibacterial soap has been specifically recommended as a preventative measure against the spread of influenza H1N1, which hit Mexico hard back in 2009.

The brand has also had a close association with Global Handwash Day, held every year in October, and has also played a part in programs designed to educate school children about the importance of handwashing.

The divesture of the brand is part of considered efforts to trim down and refocus the P&G portfolio, which have been gathering momentum since the company announced the sale of its over 40 beauty brands to Coty back in July last year, at a value of $12.5bn.

P&G CEO confirms move to trim the business

Last week all eyes were on David S. Taylor, as he made his first public presentation as CEO and President of Procter & Gamble since he was appointed to the position last year.

Industry observers and financial analysts were keen to discover what direction the new company head is mapping out for the consumer giant, and the message was clear: he will be overseeing the transition to a leaner more efficient business with a stress on greater powers for regional managers.

“A few years ago we got too central and global and too slow to address market opportunities. We need more direct ownership for our regional managers all the way to the store shelf,”​ Taylor said at the analyst conference in New York, on Friday.

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