Godrej acquires 51% stake in pan-African hair care company

Darling Group’s current management team will continue to manage the business. GCPL will put in place a cross-functional team consisting of current Darling Group management and GCPL’s team members. These teams will work in the areas of marketing, sales, manufacturing, finance and human resources.

GCPL believes that over time, this acquisition can provide a strong distribution and marketing platform for taking other home and personal care products from the company’s portfolio to the African consumer.

As part of increasing its emerging markets footprint, GCPL recently acquired Megasari Group, a household care company in Indonesia — Tura, a personal care company in Nigeria — and Issue Group and Argencos, two hair colorant companies in Argentina.

GCPL chairman Adi Godrej said, “The Darling Group enables us to take our presence in Africa to the next level. Our aspiration is to touch the lives of at least 100 million consumers across Africa in the next 5 years through superior quality innovative products at affordable prices. We believe that the timing is opportune for us to scale up our presence in the region. More than ever, we are convinced about the tremendous potential that Africa offers. There are also several similarities in the retail and distribution environments across India and Africa.”