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Dabur not in a hurry for Unza holdings

April 02, 2007 12:01 IST

Dabur is not in a hurry to bid for acquiring Singapore-based, Unza Holdings.

According to an investment banker, apart from other international suitors, the Indian companies such as Godrej and Marico too have been approached for picking up the stakes in the home and personal care products company.

Private equity firms Actis and Standard Chartered who together hold 60 per cent stakes in Unza are believed to have been looking at exiting the firm for close to a year now.

Hoshedar Press, president, Godrej Consumer Products declined to comment on the matter. He, however, said the company was on the lookout for acquisitions, which would complement its existing product portfolio.

"We want to globalise our hair colour business, so any country with dark hair is a potential market for us," said Press.

In the past 18 months, Godrej Consumer has acquired the UK-based personal care products maker Keyline Brands and South African hair colour firm Rapidol.

Unza has brands such as Calista, Gervas Max and Sassy, which are present in hair colourants.

Marico is also approached to acquire Unza. The company's executives declined to comment specifically on the matter.

However, they added that they wanted to primarily focus on the brands that the company has already acquired.

Further, Unza has a large number of stock keeping units and a manufacturing presence in the four countries, which the company was not too keen on. Also, the company has products in categories such as laundry, which Marico is not keep on entering.

Another reason why the company is unlikely to buy Unza is that, till date Marico has acquired only brands and not the entire companies.

Industry experts point out that Unza's product profile makes it a better fit with Dabur or Godrej among the Indian fast moving consumers goods companies.

"The large range of products across different home and personal care categories fits better with Dabur or Godrej who already have a presence across more product categories. Marico on the other hand, is present largely in personal care products, primarily hair care," he said.

Unza has a portfolio of about 48 brands across 275 products and 1,500 packaging formats.

Some of its key brands include Enchanteur, Safi, Eversoft and Romano in personal care products and Vigor and Maxkleen in the household products market.

Actis and Standard Chartered are reportedly looking at selling their 60 per cent stake at about Rs 600 crore (Rs 6 billion).

The Singapore-based company posted a net profit of $7 million last year against revenues of $125 million.

Priyanka Sangani in Mumbai
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