Procter & Gamble to sell towel business for USD 511 million

Consumer products company Procter & Gamble Co. intends to sell its Western European tissue/towel business to Swedish package and paper products company Svenska Cellulosa AB. The deal is evaluated at about $671.9 million (EUR 511 million) in cash.

Photo: Procter & Gamble to sell towel business for USD 511 million

The transaction, which represents about 1 percent of Procter & Gamble's total sales, includes the sale of Procter & Gamble's Tempo brand in Europe and Hong Kong and the licensing of Charmin and Bounty trademarks 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," David Taylor, president of Procter & Gamble's global tissue/towel business, said in a statement.

The company's Charmin, Bounty and Puffs brands in the United States, Canada and Mexico are not impacted by the deal.

Approximately 1,100 workers at Procter & Gamble's plants in Manchester, England; Neuss and Witzenhausen, Germany; Lucca, Italy and Orleans, France, are likely to become part of Svenska Cellulosa, or SCA.

The exact timing of the sale depends on the successful completion of European regulatory processes, the AP reports.

SCA's brands include Libero diapers, Libress personal hygiene products, Velvet tissue paper and several brands of toilet paper. In January, SCA said it agreed to sell its North American packaging operations to U.S. private equity firm Metalmark Capital for $400 million in cash.