Reckitt

Reckitt Benckiser Group plc, trading as Reckitt, is a British multinational consumer goods company headquartered in Slough, England. It is a producer of health, hygiene and nutrition products. The company was formed in March 1999 by the merger of British company Reckitt & Colman plc and Dutch company Benckiser N.V.

Reckitt's brands include the antiseptic brand Dettol, the analgesic Disprin, the sore throat medicine Strepsils, the hair removal brand Veet, the immune support supplement Airborne, the Australian insecticide brand Mortein, the indigestion remedy Gaviscon, the baby food brand Mead Johnson, the air freshener Air Wick, and other brands and products like: Calgon, Clearasil, Cillit Bang, Durex, Lysol, Mycil, Enfamil, Nutramigen and Vanish.

History

Origins

Johann Benckiser founded a business in Pforzheim, Germany, in 1823. Its core business was industrial chemicals. Ludwig Reimann, a chemist, joined the business in 1828 and married Benckiser's daughter. Benckiser died in 1851 and the business came under Reimann's ownership. Reimann opened a new chemical plant and, in 1858, moved it to Ludwigshafen. Under Reimann's descendants the business grew rapidly in the latter half of the 20th century: it acquired Coty, Inc., a North American beauty products manufacturer, in 1992. Benckiser's other products included Vanish and Cillit Bang. It went public in 1997.

Reckitt & Sons started in 1840 when Isaac Reckitt rented a starch mill in Hull, England. He diversified into other household products and after his death in 1862, the business passed to his three sons. In 1886, Reckitt opened its first overseas business in Australia. The firm was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1888. Harpic Lavatory Cleaners was acquired in 1932, and that same year, Dettol was launched.

In 1938, Reckitt & Sons merged with J. & J. Colman, which had been founded in 1814 when Jeremiah Colman began milling flour and mustard in Norwich, England, to become Reckitt & Colman Ltd. The company made several acquisitions, including the Airwick and Carpet Fresh brands (1985), the Spanish cleaning products company Camp (1989), the Boyle-Midway division of American Home Products (1990), and the Lehn & Fink division of Sterling Drug, maker of Lysol disinfectant (1994). The Lehn & Fink purchase doubled Reckitt & Colman's American business in one stroke. It acquired several brands from DowBrands in 1998.

Reckitt & Colman sold the Colman's food business in 1995.

1999 to present

The company was formed by a merger between Britain's ''Reckitt & Colman plc'' and the Dutch company ''Benckiser NV'' in December 1999. Bart Becht became CEO of the new company and has been credited for its transformation, focusing on core brands and improving efficiency in the supply chain. The new management team's strategy of "innovation marketing" – a combination of increased marketing spend and product innovation, focusing on consumer needs – has been linked to the company's ongoing success. For example, in 2008, the company's "rapid succession of well publicised new product variants" were credited for helping them "to capture shoppers' imagination". ''Business Week'' has also noted that "40% of Reckitt Benckiser's $10.5 billion in 2007 revenues came from products launched within the previous three years."

In October 2005, Reckitt purchased the over-the-counter drugs manufacturing business of Boots, Boots Healthcare International, for £1.9 billion. The three main brands acquired were Nurofen's analgesics, Strepsils sore throat lozenges, and Clearasil anti-acne treatments. In January 2008, Reckitt acquired Adams Respiratory Therapeutics, a pharmaceutical company, for $2.3 billion; one of the major brands acquired was Mucinex. Reckitt acquired SSL International, the manufacturer of Durex condoms and Scholl's footcare products, for £2.5 billion in July 2010.

In January 2011, Reckitt purchased Combe's cold remedy/skin care business.
In September 2011, Bart Becht retired as CEO of Reckitt Benckiser, being replaced by executive vice-president of Category Development, Rakesh Kapoor, who had played a key role in recent acquisitions.

On 27 August 2011, Reckitt recalled all remaining stock of its major analgesic product, Nurofen Plus, after packs were found to contain an antipsychotic drug. It turned out that this was the work of a codeine addict who had been stealing the pills and replacing them with his anti psychotic medication.

In November 2012, Reckitt acquired Schiff Nutrition, a Salt Lake City-based manufacturer of vitamins and nutritional supplements including Digestive Advantage, MegaRed, Airborne, and Move Free, for US$1.4 billion (£877 million). In December 2014, Reckitt spun off its speciality pharmaceuticals business, which produces Suboxone (an opioid withdrawal medication), into a separate company named Indivior.

In 2014, Reckitt Benckiser dropped its full name in favour of the RB brand. According to Kapoor, the old name was "a bit of a mouthful" and the name change would make life easier.'

In February 2017, the company bid $16.7 billion for the American infant formula maker Mead Johnson. In February 2017, Reckitt Benckiser announced it had bought Mead Johnson for $16.6 billion. To effect the transaction, Reckitt Benckiser incorporated a subsidiary in Delaware into which Mead Johnson Nutrition would be transferred, with Mead Johnson Nutrition being the sole surviving entity at completion. Following the acquisition of Mead Johnson, Reckitt Benckiser split its business into two divisions: consumer healthcare, and home and hygiene. While some expert analysts viewed this move as a precursor to a possible sale of the home division, Kapoor said that it was only to improve the performance of each of the divisions.

In July 2017, McCormick acquired Reckitt's food brands, including French's Mustard & Frank's RedHot, for $4.2 billion, subject to regulatory approval.

Kapoor retired in September 2019 and was replaced by Laxman Narasimhan, PepsiCo's global chief commercial officer. Narasimhan developed a turnaround strategy designed to rejuvenate the company "following a series of missteps and lacklustre growth that marked the final years of his predecessor".

In March 2021, the company rebranded from RB to Reckitt - including a new logo and visual identity as a next step in delivering on the strategic purpose of the company.

On 1 September 2022, Reckitt announced that Narasimhan had chosen to resign as CEO, citing "personal and family reasons", and would relinquish his position at the end of the month. It was also revealed that he is expected to become the next CEO of Starbucks. Narasimhan's unexpected departure "came as an unwelcome shock to shareholders", with the company’s share price falling by "more than 5 per cent in early trading ..before recovering somewhat to 4.5 per cent below their opening price" on the day of the announcement.

Senior Independent Director Nicandro Durante was appointed to serve as CEO on an "interim" basis "while the board considers a longer-term replacement".

Operations

Reckitt is headquartered in Slough, England, and has operations in around 60 countries. Its products are sold in nearly 200 countries. Reckitt organises the majority of its products into three main categories – health, hygiene and home – with other brands belonging to three further categories: food, pharmaceuticals and portfolio brands. The company's strategy is to have a highly focused portfolio concentrating on its 19 most profitable brands, which are responsible for 70% of net revenues.

Reckitt currently produces the following products:

Powerbrands
* Air Wick
* Calgon
* Cillit Bang
* Dettol
* Scholl
* Durex
* Enfagrow
* Enfamil
* Finish (previously Electrasol in North America)
* Gaviscon
* Harpic
* Lactum
* Lemsip
* Lysol
* Mortein (known also as Shieldtox in some ASEAN states like Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore)
* Mucinex
* Nurofen
* Strepsils
* Sustagen
* Vanish
* Veet

Other
* Aerogard
* Airborne
* Amphyl
* Bonjela
* Brasso
* Brio
* Bryza
* Calgonit
* Cēpacol
* Ceraclen
* Cherry Blossom
* Clean and Smooth
* Clearasil
* Cling
* Cling Free
* Cobra Brilliant Shiner
* Colon
* d-CON
* Coral
* Delsym
* Digestive Advantage
* dip-it
* Disprin
* Dosia
* E45
* Easy-Off
* Easy On
* Elena
* Flor
* Fybogel
* Glass Mates
* Glass Plus
* Glassex
* Hoffmann's
* Intima Liasan / Intima Bidex
* Jik
* Kalia
* Kaltron
* K-Y
* Lanacane
* Lanza
* Lemsip
* Lewis Red Devil
* Lime-A-Way
* Lovela
* Masterpiece Metalist
* Mop & Glo
* Move Free
* Mr Min
* Mr Sheen
* Nenuco
* Neutra-Air
* NoSalt
* Noxon
* Nugget
* Nurofen for Children
* Old English
* Perk
* Poliflor Pratic
* Poliflor Maximo Brilho
* Precision Blend
* Quanto
* Resolve
* Rid-X
* Robin Blue
* Sagrotan
* Sani Flush (discontinued after 2010)
* Schiff Vitamins
* Senokot
* Silvo
* Sipuro
* Spray 'n Starch
* Vani-Sol
* Veja (Brazil)
* Vitroclen
* Vivid
* Wenol
* Windolene
* Wizard
* Woolite
* Yes
* Zud

File:Condom box durex.jpg, Durex condoms
File:Glass plus.jpg, Glass Plus glass cleaner
File:Lysolshelf.jpg, Lysol multi-surface cleaner
File:Strepsils.jpg, Strepsils throat lozenges

Corporate governance

As of 2020, Reckitt's directors were: Christopher Sinclair (Chairman), Laxman Narasimhan (CEO), Jeff Carr (CFO), Andrew Bonfield, Nicandro Durante, Mary Harris, Dr. Mehmood Khan, Dr. Pamela Kirby, Sara Mathew, Elane Stock, and Warren Tucker. As of 2020, members of the executive committee were: Laxman Narasimhan (CEO), Rupert Bondy (General Counsel), Jeff Carr (CFO), Kris Licht, Aditya Sehgal, Ranjay Radhakrishnan, and Harold van den Broek.

From the company's creation in 1999 until he retired in 2011, Bart Becht was CEO. ''The Guardian'' called him "one of the most successful businessmen of his generation". Under him, the company focused on its core brands, and on improving efficiency in the supply chain. It also increased its marketing budget. ''BusinessWeek'' noted that "40% of Reckitt's $10.5 billion in 2007 revenues came from products launched within the previous three years". Becht was Britain's highest-paid businessman, taking home more than £90 million in 2009. In April 2011, he announced that he would step down in September of that year, to be replaced by Rakesh Kapoor, who had been with the company since 1987. Reckitt Benckiser shares fell by 6.6% on the news.

Corporate public relations

The company supports Save the Children. Reckitt has also implemented an environmental initiative called Carbon 20. The initiative, which was announced in November 2007, aimed to cut the total carbon footprint of its products—from creation to disposal by 20% by 2020. As part of the initiative the company has reduced by 70% the amount of plastic in the packaging of its ''Vanish'' cleaner.

Lawsuit

In New York in February 2009, Earthjustice filed a lawsuit against Reckitt and others. The petition seeks to compel the companies to identify all of the ingredients used in their products. Earthjustice contacted several companies in September 2008 requesting that they comply with a 1971 law requiring them to disclose the ingredients in their products and make available any associated health or safety studies. Reckitt and the other defendants ignored or refused the request. Earthjustice eventually lost the case, after which it lobbied the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, which in 2018 unveiled new requirements for manufacturers of cleaning products to publicly detail their ingredients.

Controversies

Deaths caused by humidifier disinfectant

In 2001, Reckitt Benckiser acquired the South Korean Oxy brand from Oriental Chemical Industries. Since 1996, Oxy had been using polyhexamethylene guanidine (PHMG) in a humidifier steriliser product called Oxy Ssak Ssak. In 2011, the use of PHMG was dropped when the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) published a report showing a link between the compound and lung damage and deaths. Several other companies in South Korea made humidifier sterilisers with PHMG between 2001 and 2011.

According to a ''BBC
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