The toiletry brand that simply exudes the English essence, Yardley, will now be owned and adorned by one of Asia’s richest households in the UK, for about £60m.
Boasting of an empire worth £650m, the Jatania family in the UK comes third in the wealthiest Asian family category and is now adopting authentic English class by acquiring Yardley from the leading US consumer goods giant, Procter & Gamble.
Lornamead, which is the Jatania’s present personal care business including popular products like Harmony hairspray, Goldspot breath freshener, Vosene shampoo and Stergene fabric conditioner, will sport the historic Yardley as the new feather in its cap.
Yardley’s origination dates back to 1770, having three royal warrants. In 1910, New Bond Street in London's West End donned its first shop, which later diversified into the American market in 1921. This luxurious English brand has been endorsed by quite a few English beauties to give it its deserved honour, like Jean Shrimpton of 1960 and actress Helena Bonham Carter. However, the latest promoter of Yardley has been a Canadian supermodel, Linda Evangelista.
Yardley, moreover, has been passed on gladly to different owners quite often, as British American Tobacco purchased the brand in 1970, and then passed it on to Beechams, which again sold it off to the Wella branch of P&G in 2000.
Mike Jatania, the chief executive of Lornamead commented, “We believe there is considerable scope to expand Yardley, exploiting the awareness of the brand world-wide as well as new distribution channels.”
Lornamead possesses a license with P&G and Wella for the sale and distribution of hair care brands like Herbal Essence and Silvikrin in Ireland. Furthermore, it has spent as much as $200m in the past five years, acquiring around 30 brands from multinational names such as P&G, Unilever and Sara Lee.
Posted
on : Mon, 03 Oct 2005 08:40 GMT | Business News
By : Pippa Fielding
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