Wipro Consumer Care, currently the number two Personal Care company in Malaysia and owner of the number one Halal facial care brand Safi, aims to be number one with the acquisition of Philippines personal care company, Splash Corporation.
Announcing this to the media today, Wipro said the acquisition is its 11th and the largest since its acquisition of Malaysian-born company Unza in 2007.
Deepak Chandran, Chief Financial Officer – International Business, Wipro Consumer Care, said, “The acquisition is in line with our vision of becoming one of the top three players in the personal care market in Asia and our strategy of investing in market-leading local brands in emerging markets. We see significant opportunity to leverage both companies’ established manufacturing, world-class R&D sourcing capabilities, sales and marketing to drive growth in the Philippines and across the region where we both have strong brand equity.”
Commenting on the transaction, Kumar Chander, President – South East Asia and MENA region, Wipro Consumer Care said, “The acquisition of Splash Corporation further strengthens our position in the Philippines, the third largest beauty and personal care market in the region, valued at over USD4 billion.”
He added that the acquisition would enable Wipro to further establish its presence in the attractive and growing Philippine market by leveraging Splash’s distribution capabilities across key categories, as well as in other countries where Splash had a strong presence, such as Indonesia, Vietnam, Hong Kong and across the Middle East.
For Wipro, the deal is a gateway for Splash products to enter Malaysian consumer market leveraging Wipro’s strength.
“We look forward to bringing Splash’s market leading and innovative products to Malaysian consumers and sharing our own leading personal care brands with more people across the region. We’re to achieve this alongside Splash’s passionate and experienced team who have successfully built a leading business over the last 30 years,” said Wendy Yeh, Merger & Acquisitions, Wipro Unza
Wipro will look at opportunities to share its market leading brands like men’s toiletries range Romano, skin replenishing brand Bio Essence and body lotion brand Enchanteur with more consumers across the region. Similarly, they will look at expanding Splash’s brands to other international markets where Wipro has a footprint, including Malaysia.
Meanwhile, Dr. Rolando B. Hortaleza, CEO and founder of Splash Corporation, said, “I am pleased that Splash is now part of the Wipro family, giving us immediate access to resources and markets that will fuel faster growth and enable us to unlock the true potential of our products.”
According to Andy Manotok, Chief Financial Officer, Splash Corporation, it took some seven good years for the acquisition to be concluded. “The founders are now ready to let go as they are confident that the fruit of their labour is now in goods hands and the Splash brand name will continue to thrive under Wipro.”
On a separate topic, Andy said for a company to accelerate its grow, it has to team up with big names or what he calls ‘big brother’ and ride on its partner’s success to gain access into newer market.
“It is wiser to partner a company that already has presence in the target country a company wants to venture into as they are already familiar with the country’s rules and regulations as well as its consumer behaviour,” explained Andy.
