Reckitt shares slide up after K-Y acquisition
RECKITT Benckiser, the consumer conglomerate behind Nurofen painkiller and Durex condoms, has expanded into lubricants after buying the global rights to K-Y from Johnson & Johnson yesterday.
Shares in the firm defied a tumbling FTSE 100 yesterday to close up 0.3 per cent. Reckitt, which did not disclose the price of the deal, said K-Y had “a high trust score among women” and would compliment its Durex brand to create “a unique portfolio of brands in the sexual wellbeing category”.
“Its addition will immediately transform RB’s sexual wellbeing category in the US and Brazil,” it added.
K-Y started in 1917 as a prescription medical product to improve women’s comfort during pelvic exams before becoming available over the counter in 1980 as a sexual lubricant.
“It has been the historical innovator in the category and was the brand that built the female intimacy enhancement segment in lubricants,” Reckitt said.
The brand is sold in 50 countries and had sales last year of over $100m (£60m), with the majority coming from the US, Canada and Brazil.
No employees or fixed assets are included in the deal with Johnson & Johnson subsidiary McNeil-PPC, which is due to complete in mid-2014. Reckitt has made a string of acquisitions in the sector including Durex-maker SSL, in 2010, which gave it a 30 per cent share of the condom market.