Wipro acquires personal care company in Phillippines

Bengaluru: Wipro Consumer Care on Monday said that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Splash Corporation, a Philippines-based personal care company, for an undisclosed amount.

The transaction strengthens Wipro’s consumer care portfolio in personal care and completes its South-East Asian footprint.

This is Wipro’s 11th acquisition in the consumer line business, and the 9th acquisition in the personal care segment overall. The company has already made five acquisitions in the Indian market in the consumer line business and several other aggressive buyouts in the overseas market.

Other Wipro consumer acquisitions in the overseas market include UK’s Yardley, Singapore-based personal-care company LD Waxson Unza Holdings and China’s Zhongshan among others.

Wipro also acquired a minority stake in consumer products firm Happily Unmarried Marketing Pvt. Ltd for its Ustraa personal care products range.

“This acquisition enables us to grow Wipro brands in Philippines market by leveraging Splash’s distribution strength across market segments. Splash’s brands can be expanded further to other international markets where Wipro has a strong footprint and brands have latent equity. Splash brands are not only strong in the Philippines, but also have tremendous equity in multiple international markets like Indonesia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Middle East and Nigeria." said Nagender Arya, regional director (East Asia, Africa and Europe), Wipro Consumer Care, in a statement.

Wipro Consumer's brand portfolio includes Santoor, Chandrika, Glucovita, North West and Wipro Smartlite are leading brands in India. Enchanteur, Safi, Bio- essence, and Romano are market leaders in ASEAN Countries.

Splash is the largest Filipino personal care player and amongst the top 5 in the Philippines market. It recorded revenues of $80 million last year. The company personal care brands include name slike SkinWhite – a strong brand in body lotions, Maxi-peel the numero uno brand of Exfoliants, Vitress – a leave on hair conditioner.

"We are confident that with Wipro’s marketing expertise and its international distribution network, we will significantly expand our geographical presence and take our brands to new heights," added Dr. Rolando B. Hortaleza, chief executive of Splash Corporation.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.