Emami continues buying spree, acquires Kesh King brand

This comes on the back of acquisition of an organic personal care company Fravin

In keeping up with its brand acquisition spree, Kolkata-based FMCG major Emami Ltd has acquired Kesh King - an ayurvedic hair oil brand - the biggest of Himachal Pradesh-based SBS Biotech. The deal has been valued at Rs 1,651 crores.

This is the company’s fourth acquisition in the last one year. This comes on the back of the acquisition of an organic personal care company Fravin, before which the company acquired Rasoi and She- an edible oil and sanitary napkin brand respectively.

SBS Biotech was set up by Sanjeev Juneja in 2009. The company launched Kesh King as a brand the same year. Under Kesh King, SBS Biotech sells hair oil, shampoo, and ayurvedic capsules.

According to the company, the transaction will allow transfer of the business as going concern on a slump sale basis and will include brand portfolio of ayurvedic medicinal oil, herbal shampoo & conditioner and ayurvedic capsules along with its respective formulations and all related assets, rights and liabilities including working capital.

“The acquisition will be funded by a judicious mix of surplus funds, short term & long term debt and the process is expected to be completed in a month’s time”, said Mr N H Bhansali, CEO – Finance, Strategy & Business Development, Emami Limited.

“The acquisition of Kesh King business which offers great synergy with our business of personal & healthcare products. This acquisition is a part of our aggressive growth strategy and marks our foray into the ayurvedic hair and scalp care segment. We plan to leverage the target business with our existing strength to make our presence stronger and deeper. The transaction is a perfect strategic fit for Emami,” said Harsha V Agarwal, director, Emami Ltd.

According to reports, mid-tier FMCG companies, including Dabur, Bajaj, and Wipro, were in the race for the brand. While Emami and Bajaj were the front runners, Emami put in the highest bid. The hair oil market is estimated to be of Rs 6,000 crore and is dominated by Emami, Marico and Dabur.

Emami has been aggressively looking to expand its haircare portfolio and already has few of the leading products in this segment. Emami’s current oil portfolio includes Navratna Cool Oil, in the therapeutic cooling oil segment and Emami 7 Oils in One Damage Control Hair Oil in the light hair oil segment.