Home Archive K-Y brand to join Durex at Reckitt Benckiser Group

K-Y brand to join Durex at Reckitt Benckiser Group

K-Y brand to join Durex at Reckitt Benckiser Group

Reckitt Benckiser Group has announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire from McNeil-PPC, Inc, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, the global rights to the K-Y brand, a leader in intimate lubricants. The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions and is expected to close in mid-2014. No employees or fixed assets are included in the purchase.

K-Y started as a prescription medical device in 1917 and switched to over-the-counter in 1980. Reckitt Benckiser Group says that K-Y brand’s clinical and professional heritage is unique in the category and is the underpinning to its trusted and professionally endorsed position. The firm added that K-Y has been the historical innovator in the category and was the brand that built the female intimacy enhancement segment in lubricants.

The statement went on to say that K-Y will sit alongside Durex to create a unique portfolio of brands in the sexual wellbeing category. Its addition will immediately transform RB’s sexual well-being category and K-Y will benefit from RB’s strong innovation, brand equity investment and go-to-market capabilities.

Net sales of K-Y in 2013 were greater than $100 million. It is sold in over 50 countries around the world, with the US, Canada and Brazil accounting for the majority of 2013 sales.