ITC enters personal care, buys J&J's Savlon, Shower To Shower brands

New Delhi: FMCG major ITC has entered into an agreement with Johnson & Johnson to acquire its brands, ‘Savlon’ and ‘Shower To Shower’, in India. This acquisition will be ITC’s first purchase in the personal care segment. [caption id=“attachment_2097477” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Savlon. Image courtesy J&J[/caption] “The company entered into asset purchase agreements with Johnson & Johnson Ltd, India & Johnson & Johnson Pte Ltd, Singapore yesterday for purchase of ‘Savlon’ and ‘Shower To Shower’ trademarks and other intellectual property, respectively, primarily for use in India,” ITC said in a BSE filing. Savlon is an antiseptic brand while Shower To Shower is a personal care product brand. These agreements are subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory permissions as may be necessary, it added. During the third quarter ended December 2014, ITC reported 10.47 percent rise in net profit at Rs 2,635 crore as against a net profit of Rs 2,385.34 crore in corresponding quarter a year earlier. The Kolkata-headquartered firm’s net sales increased by marginal 2.05 percent to Rs 8,800.22 crore as against Rs 8,623.11 crore in the same period last year. Earnings from the company’s FMCG business, including cigarettes, increased by 4.23 percent to Rs 6,456.06 crore, while that from the non-FMCG business grew 0.31 percent to Rs 9,582.95 crore. ITC shares were trading 0.30 percent up at Rs 371.70 apiece during morning session on the BSE. PTI