Godrej Consumer Products, will buy out its partner Sara Lee’s 51 per cent stake in joint venture company Godrej Sara Lee Limited.
Godrej Sara Lee is into household insecticides, and owns brands such as “Goodknight” and “Hit.”
The FMCG major will pay a total of 185 million euros — approximately Rs 1,050 crore — for the stake. This is the fifth acquisition by the company in the recent months. In April, Godrej had annoucned the acquisition of Megasari, an Indonesia based insecticide player.
It had acquried 3 other Africa based firms earlier. Godrej Cosumer Products was amongst the top gainers on the bourses on Thursday, up 13.8 per cent.
“The acquisition catapults GCPL to becoming one of the strongest performers in the home and personal care space in India,” said group chairman, Mr Adi Godrej.
The group is trying to build a presence in three continents, Asia, Africa and Latin America in three core categories — home care, personal wash and hair care, he added.
In a note on the transaction, Angel Broking says that the deal is priced attractively at 15 times FY10 earnings and 2.1 times sales.
Post the Megasari acquisition, GCPL’s debt-equity ratio is believed to have risen to 1.5. Hence, the current transaction is likely to be funded via a fresh issue of shares, notes the brokerage. The brokerage firm has maintained its “buy” rating on the stock with a price target of Rs 357.