P&G announces the sale of Western Europe tissue/towel business to SCA

Mar 12, 2007. /Lesprom Network/. The Procter & Gamble Company announced on March 12 that it will divest its Western European tissue/towel business to SCA, a global consumer goods and paper company. The deal involves the sale of manufacturing assets, P&G's Tempo brand in Europe and Hong Kong, and the licensing of Charmin & Bounty trademarks in Europe. Exact timing will depend on the successful completion of all regulatory processes in Europe. "This is a strategic choice to focus on continued growth of P&G's tissue, towel and facial tissue businesses in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico led by billion dollar brands Bounty and Charmin," said David Taylor, president of P&G's global tissue/towel business. P&G's Charmin, Bounty and Puffs brands in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico are not impacted by the SCA transaction in Europe. P&G expects that employees at five manufacturing plants in Europe will become employees of SCA at the deal closing date. P&G's plants are located in Manchester, England; Neuss and Witzenhausen, Germany; Lucca, Italy; and Orleans, France. The divestiture represents about 1% of P&G's total sales. Three billion times a day, P&G brands touch the lives of people around the world. The company has one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands, including Pampers(R), Tide(R), Ariel(R), Always(R), Whisper(R), Pantene(R), Mach3(R), Bounty(R), Dawn(R), Pringles(R), Folgers(R), Charmin(R), Downy(R), Lenor(R), Iams(R), Crest(R), Oral-B(R), Actonel(R), Duracell(R), Olay(R), Head & Shoulders(R), Wella, Gillette(R), and Braun. The P&G community consists of over 135 000 employees working in over 80 countries worldwide. SCA is a global consumer goods and paper company that develops, produces and markets personal care products, tissue, packaging solutions, publication papers and solid-wood products. Sales are conducted in some 90 countries. SCA has annual sales in excess of SEK 101 billion (Euro 11 billion) and production facilities in more than 40 countries. SCA had approximately 51 000 employees at the beginning of 2007. SCA shares are traded on the Stockholm, London and New York stock exchanges.