Fed OK’s P&G’s Acquisition of Clairol

The Procter & Gamble Company today said it will “move briskly ahead” with its acquisition of Clairol, now that the government review process is complete. The move launches P&G into the profitable and growing hair coloring market and adds $1.6 billion to the company’s annual global beauty care product sales.

“Consumers are the big winners in this deal. Clairol hair colorant and hair care brands are known and loved in the U.S. and in key markets around the world-now consumers can look forward to even more innovative and broadly available products in the future,” said A.G. Lafley, president and chief executive of P&G. “We will close this acquisition as soon as possible, as we are eager to learn more about the Clairol business and integrate the Clairol brands to round out our beauty portfolio. There is no doubt this will strengthen P&G’s ability to compete and grow.”

Now that P&G has received regulatory clearance in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Spain, Germany and Mexico, among others, the company will move forward quickly to close. The Clairol acquisition will have a dilutive impact of $.02 per share on the current fiscal year. However, as mentioned in P&G’s first quarter earnings call, the company expects to offset this impact with improved performance on the balance of the business. The acquisition will be accretive in 2002/03.

“The Clairol business is a great fit with P&G. There is so much potential for growth and we are eager to move forward,” said Rob Matteucci, vice president, Clairol Transition.

“We value the tremendous knowledge and experience of the Clairol organization. We will build on the strong plans and commitments that Clairol already has in place,” said Mr. Matteucci. “Beyond that, we will move quickly to identify the next major opportunity for Clairol, based on the synergies of Clairol’s popular brands and P&G’s outstanding capabilities in innovation and global distribution and marketing. We expect to make priority choices and communicate future plans as quickly as possible.”