The media trumpeted with great fanfare news that Procter & Gamble Co. hired Blackstone Group LP to sell Duracell, Folgers and Pringles, but it really shouldn't surprise anyone because industry observers have been anticipating the disposal for months — if not years.
For example, The Daily Deal's Lisa Gewirtz-Ward noted in an August story:
Lehman Brothers Inc. analyst Lauren Liberman and tax expert Robert Willens published a report at the end of July looking at the likely scenario in a P&G sale involving Duracell batteries, Braun appliances, Pringles potato chips and Folgers and Millstone coffee. The study was a response to multiple inquiries from the bank's clients.
The disposal of Folgers and Pringles is part of the company's on-going divestiture of food businesses that predates the 2005 Gillette acquisition. As a matter of fact, as early as 2003, when the company was selling its Sunny Delight juice business, analysts told The Daily Deal that the company should simply divest itself of all its food brands. At the time, the company had already sold its Crisco and Jif peanut butter brands to J.M. Smucker Co. — Matthew Wurtzel
See story from The Wall Street Journal (subscription may be required)
See August story from TheDeal.com
See Gillette-P&G Postmortem from The Deal newsweekly
See 2003 story from TheDeal.com
See auction profile from Auction Block (subscription required)
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