Henkel Sells North American Retailer Brands

As part of its consumer brands portfolio optimization process, Henkel signed an agreement to sell its retailer brands business in North America to an affiliate of First Quality Enterprises, LLC, Great Neck, NY. The retailer brands business comprises products in the detergents, fabric finishers and dishwash categories. The unit serves several retail customers in North America with annual sales of around 500 million euros.

The retailer brands business was identified as a non-core activity within the consumer brands business unit as the potential to leverage synergies and the future strategic fit with the integrated consumer brands platform is limited. With this transaction, Henkel concludes the last major divestment of the portfolio optimization measures announced as part of the merger of the formerly separated consumer businesses. This transaction represents an important milestone in Henkel’s portfolio optimization process within the consumer brands business, according to the company. Including this transaction, Henkel divested or discontinued brands and activities representing total sales of slightly more than 1 billion euros since the beginning of 2022.

A More Focused Portfolio

“Shaping a winning portfolio is a key element of our strategic agenda for purposeful growth. Our active portfolio management, either through acquisitions or divestments, is an important driver in making our business successful in the future. Fostering a strong and more focused portfolio has been a key rationale for the creation of our combined consumer brands platform, and over the past two years, we have delivered tangible results that underpin this strategic rationale,” said Henkel CEO Carsten Knobel. “The divestment of our retailer brands business in North America marks the final step of our portfolio optimization measures which we announced in 2022. We are now focusing with a clear growth mindset on our branded business with technology-driven innovations offering more value for consumers.”

“As we sharpen our portfolio in North America, the world’s largest laundry & home care market, we underpin our ambition in this attractive market with our branded consumer business. With a more focused consumer brands portfolio comprising leading and trusted brands such as All, Snuggle, Dial, Schwarzkopf and Got2b, we will further strengthen our ability via focus on our branded portfolio to serve North American retail partners and consumers, drive a focused innovation pipeline and fuel profitable growth through our iconic national brands in this important region,” said Wolfgang König, executive vice president, consumer brands at Henkel.

The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals. The companies agreed not to disclose financial details of the transaction with the signing.