SC Johnson to acquire Method soap brand

17-Sep-2017 - Last updated on 18-Sep-2017 at 14:27 GMT

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The household chemical and product maker announced the forthcoming transaction late last week. It’s a deal that will add Method’s hand and body soaps to the SC Johnson portfolio.

A private company called People Against Dirty currently owns the Method brand. Method makes not only hand and body soaps, but also soaps for laundry and dish washing, as well as home cleaning products like floor cleaners and all-purpose cleaners. People Against Dirty owns Ecover as well. Ecover specializes in laundry soaps, dish washing soaps, and home care cleaning products.

According to the SC Johnson press release, the company has signed a letter of agreement to acquire both brands from People Against Dirty.

Of course the deal is subject to customary approvals and conditions, in this case regulatory approval will need to be granted in the US, the UK, and Germany. Financial details have not been disclosed and likely won’t be, as SC Johnson is also a privately held company.

Personal business

The deal is in keeping with SC Johnson’s market position as a family-focused household brands company. “Method and Ecover have a strong tradition of innovation and delivering on consumers’ needs. They are a great complement to SC Johnson’s trusted lineup of iconic brands,” Fisk Johnson, chairman and CEO of SC Johnson, tells the press.

SC Johnson’s business and influence has crossed into the personal care sector before. In early 2015 SC Johnson acquired the Deb Group, which was a player in the away-from-home skin care space. And, the company’s initiatives to disclose ingredient information has held the attention of the personal care and cosmetics industry for some time now.

Precedent setting

In 2014 SC Johnson added fragrance ingredients to its disclosure program, as Cosmetics Design reported. This publication called the move, “an exceptional step away from proprietary formulation for a leading US consumer packaged goods company,” noting that “fragrance formulas, in particular, are closely guarded across industries.”

And, in May of this year SC Johnson debuted an ingredient index on its site to further give consumers transparent access to information that could have implications for safety and buying choices.

“SC Johnson is once again raising the bar for other companies,” commented Ken Cook, president and co-founder of the Environmental Working Group (in a press release SC Johnson issued in May). “This level of transparency is sweeping across other industries and is rapidly becoming the new normal for companies, like SC Johnson, who place a premium on giving consumers more, rather than less, ingredient information.”