With the acquisition of the Boston-based Gillette Co., Procter & Gamble Co. is now the largest consumer-products manufacturer in the world, with 22 brands having at least $1 billion in sales each. The Cincinnati-based P&G makes beauty, health, baby, family and household care items. Among its popular products are Bounty, Charmin, Crest, Tide, Folgers, Iams, Pampers, Pantene and Pringles. The acquisition of Gillette adds P&G Gillette and Braun's shaving and grooming products, the Oral-B dental-care line and Duracell batteries.
History
In 1837, William Procter and James Gamble founded P&G in Cincinnati at the suggestion of their father-in-law. At the time, Procter had been working as a candlemaker and Gamble had established himself as a soap-maker. Twenty-two years after forming the partnership, sales reached $1 million and the company employed 80 people. In 1879, Procter's father, Harley, coined the name Ivory soap and later convinced the partners to allocate $11,000 to advertise Ivory nationally. By 1890, P&G was selling more than 30 different types of soap. In 1911, the company introduced Crisco, the first all-vegetable shortening. Throughout the early 20th century, the company continued expanding its presence worldwide with new production facilities and began introducing new products, including Tide (1946), Crest toothpaste (1955), Downy (1960) and Didronel (1978), a treatment for Paget's disease and one of P&G's first pharmaceutical products. By 1980, total sales reached $10 billion. In 2001, P&G acquired the Clairol business from the Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. On Oct. 1, 2005, the company's acquisition of the Gillette Co. closed.
Officers
Alan G. Lafley is P&G's board chairman, president and CEO. Lafley joined P&G in June 1977 as a brand assistant for Joy dishwashing soap. He held several other positions from 1978 to 1988 before being named vice president of laundry and cleaning products for P&G USA in 1991. After holding other executive positions from 1992 to 1999, Lafley was elected in 2000 as president and CEO. Two years later, he was elected board chairman of P&G. Clayton Daley Jr. is P&G's CFO. He joined the company in 1974 as the East River Plant cost department manager in Green Bay, Wis. He was named vice president and treasurer in 1994. He was elected senior vice president in 1998 and became CFO in 1999. George Gilbert Cloyd is the company's chief technology officer. He also started at P&G in 1974 and was named CTO in 2000.
In The News: P & G: Buying And Selling
The big news for P&G in 2005 was the company's $57 billion acquisition of Gillette. The company expects the purchase will result in more growth opportunities and increased shareholder value. But the company isn't keeping all the Gillette brands. The company said on Oct. 24 that it would sell Gillette's Rembrandt line of oral care products to Personal Products Co., a unit of Johnson & Johnson, according to an Associated Press story published in The Boston Globe. At the time, the value of the transaction was not disclosed. Prior to the acquisition, P&G sold its SpinBrush brand to Church & Dwight Co. Inc. for $105 million. The company was directed to divest Right Guard, Gillette's top-selling deodorant.
-- Compiled By Jonathan Katz. This appeared in IW's Dec. 16, 2005 issue.
Primary Industry
Chemicals
Executive 1
Alan G. Lafley, Chmn., Pres., CEO
Executive 2
Clayton Daley Jr., CFO
Revenues (US$ Millions)
51407
Revenue Growth (%)
18.51
Earnings Per Share (US$)
2.32
Total Equity (US$ Millions)
17278
Profit Margin (%)
12.61
Return On Equity (%)
40.04
Debt To Equity Ratio (%)
0.73
Market Capitalization (US$ Millions)
138484.48
Revenue Growth (%)
18.51
Note: Financial data appeared in IW's August 2005 issue.
IW 50 Best Manufacturing Company
