S.C. Johnson Vies with P&G for Sara Lee Unit
S.C. Johnson Vies with P&G for Sara Lee Unit
S.C. Johnson Vies with P&G for Sara Lee Unit
S.C. Johnson & Son Inc. has joined the bidding for Sara Lee Corp.'s air-freshener business, according to people familiar with the matter, pitting it against consumer-products giant Procter & Gamble Co.
A deal for the unit, which could fetch more than $700 million, could still be weeks away. S.C. Johnson is also interested in other parts of Sara Lee's international household-care business, which includes insecticides and Kiwi shoe polish, the people said. Sara Lee declined to comment, as did S.C. Johnson, of Racine, Wis.
The emergence of competition for P&G, whose interest in the air-care business surfaced last month, could be another step toward Sara Lee's goal of selling its international household and personal-care business. The company officially put the operations on the auction block in March and hired Goldman company Unilever NV for about $1.9 billion.
The protracted auction had led to speculation that Sara Lee would either have to accept a lower price for the assets than it hoped or pull some of them off the market.
A person briefed on the matter said that a number of possible bidders are still in the running for other parts of the household-products business and that all of the operations could be worth more than $1 billion. That could bring total proceeds from the household and personal-care sale to more than $3 billion—higher than some analysts estimated the businesses would fetch when they were first put up for sale.
Sara Lee had originally hoped to sell the entire household and personal-care business to a single buyer but soon had to settle for a piecemeal sale.
Ambi Pur, the flagship brand of Sara Lee's air-freshener business, had about $470 million in sales last year. Putting it together with closely held S.C. Johnson's Glade air freshener, which has a big presence in Europe, could yield big benefits, one of the people said. It is unclear whether such a combination would raise antitrust concerns.
In addition to products such as Crest toothpaste and Tide detergent, Cincinnati-based P&G makes the odor remover Febreze.
Sara Lee Chief Executive Brenda Barnes has reshaped the Downers Grove, Ill., company since she took the helm in 2005, when it was a sprawling consumer-products giant. The sale of the international brands is part of a four-year effort at the company to slim down. Shedding the household and personal-care brands would reshape the company into a conglomerate mostly focused on food and beverages.
Sara Lee shares rose 20 cents to $12.18 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday, giving the company a market value of about $8.5 billion. After a decade-long slide, the shares have gained roughly 75% since March.
Boutique executive search services with best in class global network, contacts and market mastery.
Deeply connected and engaged personal service approach, long-term investment in client community and 25 year history of strong relations with both Multi-National leaders and Private Equity partners.