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Procter & Gamble

by TheDeal.com staff | Published March 5, 2010 at 2:25 PM

The $80 billion-in-sales consumer product behemoth was hit hard during the recession as consumers traded down for private label products. To get back to growth, CEO Ron McDonald is getting more aggressive in the dealmaking space.

2010

March 5: In a stock market statement, the Office of Fair Trading said it was considering whether Procter & Gamble Co.'s planned €320 million ($435.62 million) acquisition of Sara Lee Corp.'s European air freshener business, Ambi Pur, agreed to in December, should be examined in the U.K. under its own jurisdiction or whether the matter should be referred to the European Commission in Brussels as a matter of cross-border interest. - Jonathan Braude

2009

Dec. 11: Procter & Gamble Co. signs a binding offer with the Sara Lee Corp. to acquire Ambi Pur for $470 million (euro 320 million).

Read Kenneth Klee's in-depth look at P&G's growth strategy under the helm of CEO Bob McDonald after the company's investor-pleasing third quarter results.

Aug. 25: Chilcott acquisition of P&G drug unit to be financed exclusively through debt: Private equity-backed Warner Chilcott plc has agreed to buy Procter & Gamble Co.'s prescription drug business for $3.1 billion in a deal that will be financed entirely through debt. - Christine Idzelis, Vipal Monga and Lou Whiteman

Aug. 24: P&G to sell prescription drug business for $3.1B: Warner Chilcott plc said Monday it would acquire Procter & Gamble Co.'s prescription drug business for $3.1 billion. Belfast, Northern Ireland-based Warner Chilcott, a maker of oral contraceptives, skin products and hormone therapy creams, said the deal would more than triple its revenue. The acquirer, which counts Bain Capital Investors LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP among its largest investors, reported sales of $938.1 million in 2008, and said the business it is buying had $2.3 billion in revenue during the 12 months ended June. - Lou Whiteman

July 22: Warner Chilcott and P&G pharma: Warner Chilcott Ltd. (NASDAQ:WCRS) was identified as a possible buyer for the prescription drug business of Procter & Gamble Co. back in February, when (as noted on The Deal Pipeline -- subscription required) the unit officially went on the block. But a report in Wednesday's Wall Street Journal naming Warner as a finalist (along with Cerberus Capital Management LP) in a late stage of the process was also a reminder of a significant detail about Warner as a potential buyer. - Ken Klee

June 16: P&G grabs Zirh men's skincare brands: Procter and Gamble Co. announced Tuesday, June 16, it has acquired Zirh men's skincare and shaving products for undisclosed terms from New York's Zirh Holdings LLC. The Cincinnati consumer products giant said Zirh will become part of its beauty and grooming products division which includes Old Spice, Gillette, and Braun shaving products. Zirh was founded in 1995. P&G's beauty products division generate annual sales of $28 billion. - Thomas Zadvydas

June 10: McDonald is P&G CEO, replacing A.G. Lafley: Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE:PG) named 29-year veteran and chief operating officer Robert McDonald as CEO of the Cincinnati-based consumer conglomerate, replacing nine-year chief A.G. Lafley. Lafley increased the firm's free cash flow productivity by 111% since 2001 and will keep his chairmanship, while McDonald becomes CEO and joins the board on July 1. - Baz Hiralal

March 31: P&G sells Johnson Products: Procter & Gamble Co. has sold its Johnson Products Co. division to Los Angeles private equity firms Rustic Canyon/Fontis Partners LP and St. Cloud Capital LLC. No terms were disclosed. Johnson Products is the maker of Ultra Sheen hair care products for African-Americans. Eric Brown and Renee Cottrell-Brown, the husband and wife team who will run the spun off unit, held senior executive positions at Dallas perfume and cosmetics supplier Pro-Line International Inc. Johnson Products has been a mainstay brand for more than a half-century. - Greg Johnson

March 5: Procter & Gamble Co. announced Wednesday that it had agreed to sell its Infusium 23 hair care business to Helen of Troy Ltd. as it continues to auction off assets. Terms were not disclosed, but Helen of Troy said it expects Infusium to generate about $40 million in annual sales. The acquisition is scheduled to close by March 31. The El Paso acquirer said it will be immediately accretive to earnings. - Demitri Diakantonis

Deal Memo:

Feb. 6: Endo Pharmaceuticals, Forest Laboratories, and Warner Chilcott are likely bidders for P&G's pharma unit, which could sell for between $3 and $4 billion, analysts told Bloomberg.
Feb 5: Procter & Gamble has retained Goldman Sachs to help it find potential buyers for its pharma unit, the FT reports. P&G said the division accounts for global sales of more than $2 billion.

2008

Dec. 15: Procter & Gamble is expected to sell debt in the form of 5-year notes via Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, according to IFR. The deal is expected to be of benchmark size, typically at least $1 billion. - Deal Memo

Dec. 11: P&G to wind down pharma business, may divest brands: Procter & Gamble chief executive A.G. Lafley (pictured) told analysts in New York Thursday the company will halt pharmaceutical R&D and may divest all or some of the four drugs it already has on the market. The move will result in the loss of about 200 jobs. Lafley also lowered P&G's second-quarter sales outlook. According to the Dayton Business Journal, Lafley said regulatory pressures that had extended the length of time to get a drug to market had sent the cost of remaining competitive in pharma soaring. - Suzanne Stevens

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Tags: Biotech | M&A | Pharmaceutical | Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) | Warner Chilcott plc

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