India’s Wipro to buy Zhongshan Ma Er’s personal care brands
Deal will make Wipro’s consumer care arm the third biggest player in the shower and bath sector in southern China
India’s largest listed congelomerate, Wipro, said on Thursday it would take over four top Chinese personal care brands in what is likely to be the highest profile acquisition this year of a Chinese business by an Indian firm aiming to tap the world’s second largest economy.
The acquisition will see Wipro’s consumer care arm buy the entire stake of shower and bath goods maker Zhongshan Ma Er Daily Products, and subsequently become the third biggest player in this market category in South China.
The Bangalore-based software-to-soaps company, controlled by billionaire Azim Premji, has been on a buying spree of big consumer names, such as Singapore’s skin care brand Bio-essence, across Southeast Asia.
The latest move highlights the foray it has made recently into one of the world’s most sizable and rapidly-evolving consumer markets where people’s tastes are becoming sophisticated.
Though declining to disclose the money involved in the deal, the Indian multinational said it expected its Chinese consumer care business to touch an annual run rate of nearly 1 billion yuan (US$ 150 million) after adding the Guangdong-based firm’s basket of bath, shower and fabric care brands into its portfolio.
“We plan to launch new products in China and leverage our R&D and e-commerce strengths to cultivate our China business,”said Nagender Arya, regional director of Wipro-Unza, the Southeast Asian unit of Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting in an interview with the South China Morning Post.
“Chinese consumers get a lot of choices and are also increasingly discerning, while China has an advantage of size with a population of 1.4 billion.”
