Godrej to consolidate business by acquiring foreign brands

FMCG major Godrej today announced it would consolidate its business by going for acquisition of foreign brands, especially in haircare and household insecticide business and fixed a 15 per cent growth target for next year from its current turnover of around Rs 10,500 crore. 

"We have done acquisition of some brands outside India in the past few years. We are mainly looking for acquisition in developing countries like China, Brazil, Indonesia among others," Adi Godrej, chairman of the Godrej Group, told reporters here in an interaction.    

He said the group turnover of Rs 10,500 crore could grow if there were acquisitions.    

One of the key contributors of international business of Godrej Consumer Products (GCPL), its hand sanitizer brand Cuticura was "booming" as a product in the UK, despite the economic slowdown, he claimed, attibuting the swine flu fear also behind surging sales.   

Admitting that there were "gaps" in terms of lack of their company brands in certain spheres like the toothpaste market, Godrej said the company, rather than launching a brand of their own and compete with existing market leaders, was "open to acquire a No 3 or No 4 brand and integrate it with our business".  

To a query, Godrej said his property business wing of the company planned real estate projects across the country, including affordable housing in Ahmedabad, with prices starting from even around Rs 8 lakh. "We will come out with IPO in this sector by this calender year," he added.    

As for the realty business, it was being done on the Joint Venture mode with land owners who would be given a share of profit as per a "pre-agreed manner which had worked well".   

During the economic slowdown, the group overcame the crisis with a series of austerity measures, including rationalisation of travel and communication expenditure, Godrej said.   

However, the economy had now revived and business was "doing very well", he added. To a query, he said the business of Special Economic Zone (SEZ)  "is not as attractiv as it looked" and added that the problems centered around the Direct Tax code. However, he did not elaborate.