Reckitt Benckiser has announced that it will split its business into two units - consumer healthcare and home and hygiene products, in an attempt to revive stagnant sales.
RB Health, comprising the recently-acquired Mead Johnson infant milk business and brands including Nurofen painkillers and Mucinex cold and flu meds, will be led by CEO Rakesh Kapoor.
The RB Hygiene Home unit will include household cleaning and laundry brands such as Air Wick, Vanish and Lysol and will be run by Rob de Groot, currently head of Europe and North America.
While CEO Kapoor did not confirm that the reorg was related to future acquisitions, analysts have speculated that Reckitt could sell its home products brands to help fund a purchase of Pfizer's consumer healthcare business, if the drugmaker decides to put the unit up for sale. Kapoor did confirm potential interest in Pfizer's unit, telling Reuters “If one of those options (being considered) is going to be a sale, we are going to look at that. But we should not try and pre-guess.”
Read the Reuters coverage