P&G Renews Efforts to Buy Beiersdorf

The Procter & Gamble Co. said to be reviving efforts to acquire Beiersdorf AG, the maker of Nivea skin products, according to industry reports.

German business newspaper Handelsblatt cited company sources as saying P&G was doing all it could to buy shares in the Hamburg-based group, currently controlled by insurer Allianz and family-owned coffee-to-retail group Tchibo. The newspaper said P&G, which has just completed a 5.6 billion euro acquisition of German hair care firm Wella, had declined to comment.

Beiersdorf, which has a market capitalization of 9 billion euros, has been the subject of takeover speculation for well over a year. Allianz, which wants to reduce some of the bigger German equity stakes in its portfolio, has been sounding out potential buyers for its 44% Beiersdorf holding.

But previous approaches by P&G and Germany’s Henkel have foundered not least because Tchibo’s owners were unable to decide whether to sell their 30% stake or seek to buy more shares from Allianz to cement their control.

Buying Nivea would help P&G, maker of Oil of Olay, close the gap on France’s L’Oreal in the skin care market. It would also boost Nivea’s position in the Americas, where Beiersdorf’s first half sales fell 20% due to the strong euro and rose just 1.2% in currency-adjusted terms.