Anchor Health plans to acquire global personal, oral care brands

“It has to be an excellent product which would be able to add value in its category. We could enter into an arrangement whereby we could also manufacture the products for the acquired company or brand.”

Mumbai, March 4 Anchor Health & Beauty Care (AHBC) is planning to acquire international brands in the personal and oral care space. Having forayed into soaps and toothpaste, the FMCG company is now keen on making global inroads with the intention of adding distribution muscle in new markets.
Mr Sashi Nair, President, Anchor Health & Beauty Care, told Business Line, “We are now looking at the world as a map to tap into new opportunities and are interested in brands in personal and oral care.” Following the footsteps of others FMCG majors such as Marico and Godrej, which have been on a brand acquisition spree, Anchor believes in looking out for international brands which could add value to its portfolio.
As Mr Nair adds, “It has to be an excellent product which would be able to add value in its category. We could enter into an arrangement whereby we could also manufacture the products for the acquired company or brand.”
Anchor is planning to step up its international presence by taking its own brands to new markets as well bringing in new brands into the domestic market.
It is stepping up its presence in the toothpaste category in the domestic market by roping in actor Kajol as the new brand ambassador for its toothpaste. Being the number three player in the toothpaste category (after Colgate and HUL) with a 6.5 per cent volume share, Anchor is now poised to grow at 12 per cent in the category while the toothpaste category continues to register growth rates between 8 and 9 per cent.
In soaps too, it has already got Katrina Kaif as its brand ambassador and has been in the category for the past year- and-a-half.
“In the soaps category there has been down-trading as people have been shifting from the mid priced to the popular soaps,” observes Mr Nair. In this scenario, Dyna has recorded a turnover of Rs 100 crore for AHBC and is expected to grow at 50 per cent in the next two years. Confectionery segment
However, in the confectionery category, Anchor has been lying low for a while. Explains Mr Nair, “Confectionary has not been a prime focus for the company. There has been consolidation in this category and we continue to have our brand of hard boiled sweets under five variants. But now we are looking at taking this category forward with our brand.”