Reckitt's Personal Lubricants Buy May Lessen Competition -UK Regulator
22 May 2015 - 5:06PM
Dow Jones News
By Tapan Panchal
LONDON--U.K. consumer goods company Reckitt Benckiser Group
PLC's (RB.LN) anticipated acquisition of the K-Y brand could lead
to higher prices for personal lubricants, the U.K.'s competition
regulator said Friday.
Reckitt, which makes Durex condoms and already sells lubricant
under the Durex brand, signed an agreement in March 2014 to buy the
K-Y brand of lubricants from Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) subsidiary
McNeil-PPC Inc. for an undisclosed sum.
The U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority said that it
provisionally believes the merger could lead to a substantial
reduction in competition, possibly through higher prices.
"We are now inviting responses to these provisional findings and
will continue to assess all the evidence before we make our final
decision," inquiry chairman Phil Evans said.
Write to Tapan Panchal at tapan.panchal@wsj.com
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