PZ Cussons in £46m Polish sale

INTERNATIONAL consumer products group PZ Cussons has agreed a deal to sell its Polish home care brands to German company Henkel for £46.6m in cash.

The Manchester-based group, which owns the Imperial Leather and Original Source brands, expects it to take six months for the transaction to be approved by authorities in Poland and Ukraine.

The Polish brands being sold include a range called ‘E’ and certain smaller brands and are present in the laundry detergent, fabric conditioner and washing-up liquid product categories in Poland, central and eastern Europe.  

In the year to the of May 2012, the brands generated revenues of £51.4m.  As a result of restructuring the business to focus solely on the personal care category, the loss of operating profit to the Group on a full year basis associated with the sale of the brands is estimated to be around £3.5m.

PZ Cussons said it would use the proceeds of the sale to either reduce existing debt or within normal business operations.

Chief executive Alex Kanellis said: “On successful completion of the transaction, the divestment will enable us to focus on developing the Personal Care business in Poland and will further strengthen our balance sheet, improving our flexibility to take advantage of new investment opportunities as they arise.”