VVF To Acquire Colgate Plant in Kansas City

2006-11-03 | 07:56

VVF Ltd., an Indian manufacturer of soaps, oleochemicals, personal and home care products, will acquire Colgate-Palmolive's Kansas City manufacturing facility. The acquisition is expected to close by year-end.

According to VVF executives, the acquisition provides the company with world-class manufacturing capability for its full line of packaged cleaning products in a key growth market. The new facility will also serve as North American headquarters for the company.

The Kansas City plant, part of Colgate for more than 100 years, is a highly automated, state of the art soap and liquid cleaning products manufacturing facility, occupying over 25 acres and well served by rail and road links to the entire North American continent. VVF will use the plant to service existing brand-name contract manufacturing customers with whom it has business in Asia, Europe and the Middle East .

VVF will also use the new facility to expand its business in the hospitality market, serving major hotel chains with soaps, shampoos and related products. VVF’s private label business with supermarket, mass merchandise and drugstore chains, will be extended to the US market using the Kansas City plant. Company officials insist that the plant’s capacity is sufficient to enable VVF to achieve the same market share and leadership in the U.S. that it currently enjoys in the Southeast Asian market for the same products.

The new operations will be headed up by Kurussh Amrolia, who will relocate to Kansas from Canada where he currently runs VVF’s Canadian company. Mr. Amrolia has over 20 years experience with the company in its personal care products business.