CLOROX CO /DE/ acquires Burt's Bees, Inc.

CLOROX CO /DE/ acquired Burt's Bees, Inc. for approximately $925 million (net of an additional $25 million payment for anticipated tax benefits), a transaction completed in November 2007, structured as all cash. The deal was a merger.

Burt's Bees, Inc. operates in Lifestyle - Natural personal care, is based in United States (Durham, North Carolina). Founded in 1984, Burt's Bees is the leading natural personal care brand in the U.S. and is regarded among many consumers of natural personal care products as the 'most natural' personal care brand. The acquisition gave Clorox entry into the highly fragmented U.S. natural personal care market, which at the time represented about $6.4 billion in sales and was growing at about 9 percent annually.

The acquisition is strongly aligned with Clorox's Centennial Strategy to pursue growth in areas aligned with consumer megatrends in health and wellness, sustainability, convenience and a more multicultural marketplace. It allowed Clorox to expand into a growing, higher-margin natural/sustainable business platform.

Leading brand in the high-growth, higher-margin U.S. natural personal care category; margin structure highly accretive to Clorox; strong alignment with health, wellness and sustainability megatrends. Combined with Green Works natural cleaning products and Brita water-filtration, Clorox could leverage Burt's Bees' capabilities and credibility to build a higher-growth natural/sustainable platform. Clorox Lifestyle segment (natural personal care)