Godrej eyes overseas aquisitions

Fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) major Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL) is scouting for further acquisitions in Asia, Africa and South America, said a top company official in Kolkata today. The firm is also planning to introduce some of its acquired overseas brands in India and evaluating a re-entry into air freshners.

“If you ask about our company stand in terms of overseas acquisitions, we are looking at right opportunities in basically three continents — Asia, Africa and South America. The categories which we are concentrating are home care, hair care and personal wash,” said Tarun Arora, Executive Vice President (Marketing) of GCPL. The company is also expecting a double-digit growth in its revenue this financial year.

“Moreover, in the domestic market we are looking at more organic growth. Some of our acquired overseas products might be introduced into the Indian market. For example, we might introduce a room refreshner brand Stella of Megasari in India,” he added.

According to reports, the product has 35 per cent marketshare in the $30 million air care category in Indonesia. This will lead to the re-entry of the company into air freshners after it had given the rights of Ambipur brand to Procter & Gamble.

Recently, the company had gone for many acquisitions like the Nigerian personal care brand Tura, Indonesia’s household insecticide brand Megasari, and two hair care firms — Issue and Argencos —in Latin America. The firm had also bought out its former partner Sara Lee from a joint venture in India. According to sources, overseas operations contribute 35 per cent of the total revenue of GCPL.

“Our growth in India will be based on innovations, relaunching and restaging of our products. Since, soaps, insecticides and hari care constitute 90 per cent of our revenue, our focus will be more on those sectors,” Arora said. Meanwhile, the company has launched a new consumer connect initiative called Godrej Power Play for the Indian Premier League season.