Unilever’s forced sale of the Sanex deodorant business is drawing bids and interest from rivals including Procter & Gamble, Henkel AG and Colgate-Palmolive.
The maker of Dove soap, which gained Sanex when it bought Sara Lee’s international toiletries business in December for 1.21 billion euros ($1.69 billion), is in advanced talks to sell the brand for as much as $1 billion, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the discussions are private. A transaction may be completed in the next few weeks, they said.
P&G and Colgate “clearly have the financial firepower” to acquire Sanex. Colgate is “trying to lessen their dependence on oral care,” while P&G “has been making a lot of changes to its portfolio.”