Reckitt Benckiser to sell Clearasil and other personal care brands

CONSUMER goods group Reckitt Benckiser is preparing to sell some of its non-core personal care brands, including Veet hair removal cream and Clearasil acne cream, four sources familiar with the matter said yesterday.

The package of brands up for sale – which also includes E45 skin cream and Scholl foot products – could be worth as much as £1bn (€1.1bn) in a sale, two of the sources said, based on estimates of annual earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of more than £120m.

The process comes as Reckitt is generating unusually strong sales in its hygiene business due to the Covid-19 pandemic, as people snap up its Lysol and Dettol disinfectants.

It is also a strategic step for its new chief executive, Laxman Narasimhan, who has been in the top job for one year.

Veet hair removal creams may also be seeing a boost, another source said, as people curb salon visits and do more grooming at home.

Reckitt is working with advisers and has already sent out information on the assets, two of the sources said.

Reckitt declined to comment on the potential sale of its businesses.

The brands are likely to appeal to private equity players, the sources said, since they are cashgenerative.

They do not fit into the two main businesses Reckitt has been focusing on – health and hygiene.

Unilever, Beiersdorf and Henkel all sell personal care products and also therefore could be potential suitors, the sources said.

Beiersdorf and Henkel, both based in Germany, are interested in parts of the package, two of the sources said.

Henkel declined to comment while Beiersdorf and Unilever were not immediately available to respond.