Piramal Enterprises (PEL) has acquired five trademark rights for India from Organon India Pvt. Ltd. and MSD BV. for a consideration of Rs.92 crore to strengthen its consumer product division. The acquisition includes mainly the brands Naturolax, Lactobacil and Farizym, which PEL intends to continue in the gastrointestinal (GI) segment through the over-the –counter (OTC) route. The brands hold a rich legacy in India and have a high consumer pull. The Indian OTC market is approximately Rs.15,000 crore in size growing at 13-14 per cent.
Nandini Piramal, executive director, PEL said, “Our aim is to be a significant player in all the businesses we have retained in the healthcare segment of Piramal Enterprises. We are one of the largest custom manufacturing companies and have manufacturing bases in North America, European Union and Asia. Our critical care business is the third largest player in the global inhalation anesthesia market.
She added, “The third business in healthcare segment is the consumer product business and we intend to be a significant player here too. The consumer products business started its journey as an independent player in 2009 and was ranked 40th amongst all OTC players in India. The business has grown rapidly at 24 per cent over the past 6 years and is now ranked 7th amongst all OTC companies in India.”
“In line with our strategy, we aim to be a top 3 player in the OTC market by 2020 and the addition of this portfolio of brands will help us move swiftly towards that objective. Recently we have also acquired the babycare brand Little’s, which provides well-being solutions for kids up to the age of 4 years,” she stated.
Piramal said “Most of the brands in our portfolio viz Saridon, Ipill, Lacto Calamine, Tetmosol and Caladryl have a strong consumer franchise and are all either 1 or 2 players in its respective categories. We currently have 6 of our brands in the top 100 OTC brands of India and this list will further increase with the recent addition of Little’s and these brands from OPIL and MSD BV.”
Kedar Rajadnye COO – consumer products division said, “Today’s consumers lead a fast and hectic lifestyle. This lifestyle coupled with stress and infrequent food habits tends to take a toll on their digestive well being. The gastrointestinal market which addresses the constipation, diarrhea and appetite stimulant categories is over Rs.2,000 crore market growing at 15-16 per cent. We have an antacid brand Polycrol – which is the number 1 brand in eastern India and with these strong additions, our basket of offerings in the gastrointestinal market will become larger.”
“We expect these brands to leverage the strong sales and distribution capability that we have built over the years and help us improve our profitability margins as there will be higher fixed cost absorption. The consumer product business of Piramal Enterprises caters to all 1 lakh plus populations towns in India and committed to expand our distribution network further to over 20k population towns making it one of the largest distribution footprints in Indian OTC space.”