R$1.14bn acquisition was unveiled in October and concluded after approval by antitrust regulator CADE

02/06/2022

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Softys, a subsidiary of Chilean group CMPC, took over Carta Fabril, owner of the brands Cotton and Coquetel, on Wednesday and overtook Santher, becoming the leader in the Brazilian market of toilet paper, with a market share close to 30%.

The R$1.14 billion acquisition was announced in October and concluded after approval by antitrust regulator CADE, 15 days ago.

With the deal, the third acquisition by the Chilean group in the tissue paper sector in the country since 2009, Softys Brasil now has 4,000 employees and a production capacity of 370,000 tonnes per year of tissue paper and almost 6 billion units of personal care products in five plants.

Carta Fabril operates two plants, in Goiás and Rio de Janeiro, with a production capacity of 100,000 tonnes per year. The unit in Rio, according to the chief executive of Softys Brazil, Luis Delfim, is today the most modern among the 23 factories of the Chilean group. “This asset was one reason why we decided to make the purchase offer,” he told Valor.

Gonzalo Darraidou — Foto: Silvia Zamboni/Valor

According to the chief executive of Softys, Gonzalo Darraidou, another factor taken into consideration was the possibility of expansion in the two Carta Fabril factories. The projects are already underway and will require about $30 million in investments.

“The idea is to maintain certain [Carta Fabril] brands and enhance Softys brands,” he added, referring to the portfolio analysis that is underway. It is already certain, however, that the Cotton brand of toilet paper will be maintained, given its strength in the Rio de Janeiro market.

According to Mr. Darraidou, efforts are now focused on integrating operations and capturing the relevant synergies that have already been identified. Therefore, today, Softys says it is not evaluating new acquisitions. Despite that, the company has been named as one of the potential buyers of Kimberly-Clark assets to be put up for sale in Latin America.

Softys owns the brands Elite, Kitchen, Sublime, Babysec, and Ladysoft, among others. With the acquisition, plus investments in expansion, it will increase its diaper production capacity to 2.5 billion units per year, similar to that of leaders Procter & Gamble (P&G) and Kimberly-Clark in Brazil.

Source: https://valorinternational.globo.com/