Ispl Board Ratifies New Name Gillete

The Indian Shaving Products Ltd (ISPL) board, on Tuesday, has approved the proposal of rechristening the company's name as Gillette India Ltd.

An ISPL official said the board decision will be placed before the shareholders and the central government for their approval.

The official said the rechristening was inevitable as the global battery major held over 51 per cent stake in ISPL. The change in name was due for sometime after two Gillette subsidiaries, Wilkinson Sword India and Duracell India, were merged into ISPL this year. The merger was aimed at bringing all the Gillette companies together in order to expand the shaving firm's marketing and distribution network.

The proposed change is aimed at boosting the brand image of the Rs 250-crore shaving products company which has been endeavoring to expand its product as well as distribution range for the past decade or so.

Incorporated in 1984 as a joint venture between the US giant and the Poddar group of Calcutta, the company in the business of stainless steel razor blades and a wide range of shaving and allied products.

Two years after it went public, ISPL took over Sharpedge Ltd, a sick company, from the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction net, to widen its sales and marketing network in 1987. Gillette raised its stake in the company from the initial level of 24 per cent to 51 per cent in 1998. The Poddars hold 22 per cent stake.

With the change in name, four ISPL subsidiaries, namely Sabre Pens, Sheen Dental Products, Klosershaw Products and Vanity Cosmetics, will automatically be holding companies of Gillette India Ltd.

In the second quarter ended September 30, 2000, ISPL's sales grew by 16.34 per cent to Rs 73.05 crore from Rs 62.79 crore in the corresponding previous year. Net profit, during the year, went up to Rs 5.62 crore from Rs 4.83 crore.