VVF Ltd acquires Colgate's Kansas city plant

Chennai, Mar 20: Leading soap, oleochemicals and homecare product manufacturer VVF Limited today announced that it had acquired Colgate's Kansas city plant for Rs 100 crore to enhance its existing business.

"VVF will use the new plant to service existing brand-name contract manufacturing customers, with whom it has business in Asia, Europe and the Middle East, and now in North America too", VVF senior vice-president Plyush Jindal told newspersons here.

He said "the Kansas city plant, part of Colgate for over 100 years, was highly automated, state-of-the-art soap and liquid cleaning products manufacturing facility, occupying over 25 acres and well served by rail and road links to the entire North American continent".

Mr Jindal pointed out that VVF will also use the new facility to expand its business in hospitality market, serving major hotel amenity and private label products at the company's Missisauga, Ontario plant, which would be shifted to the Kansas plant.

"VVF private label business with supermarket, mass merchandise and drugstore chains, will be extended to the US market using the new plant", he said, adding the plant will be able to produce 50,000 tonnes to achieve the market share and leadership in the US that it currently enjoys in south-east Asian market for the same products".

"VVF had also recently acquired the assets of Teo Corp, an anti- perspirant deodorant stick manufacturer at the cost of US dollar 10 million", he said.

UNI