Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget (SCA), a Swedish paper and hygiene products maker, said it had made a binding offer to acquire Taiwanese hygiene products company Everbeauty Corp (全日美實業), aiming to strengthen its presence in Asia.
The Stockholm-headquartered consumer goods company said in a press release that it planned to acquire Everbeauty for approximately 1.9 billion Swedish kronor (US$290 million) on a debt-free basis.
“Asia is expected to account for 60 percent of the global growth within hygiene products. The acquisition of Everbeauty would create good growth opportunities in a strategic growth market and with this acquisition, SCA would be the market leader in incontinence care products in Asia, excluding Japan,” SCA’s president and CEO Jan Johansson said in the release issued on Saturday.
“The acquisition would also strengthen SCA’s market position and geographical reach within baby diapers in Asia” he added.
SCA is competing head-to-head with Kimberly-Clark Corp and Procter & Gamble Co in the business of personal care and tissue products under the brands of TENA and Tork. The company’s sales totaled 106 billion Swedish kronor last year, with approximately 43,000 employees worldwide.
The unlisted Everbeauty, founded in Taipei in 1986 and with a subsidiary established in Shanghai in 1993, reported NT$35.23 million (US$1.2 million) in net income for the first half of last year, down 12.21 percent year-on-year, on revenue of NT$2.06 billion, down 85.9 percent from a year earlier.
The company, with about 900 employees in Taiwan and China, sells baby diapers and incontinence care products under brands of Dr P and Sealer.
SCA said the deal was subject to Everbeauty being privatized under Taiwanese law and would also need to be approved by regulatory authorities. The Swedish company said it expects the deal to be finalized sometime this summer.
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