Exclusive-Colgate-Palmolive seeks to divest some personal care brands, sources say

By Abigail Summerville and Amy-Jo Crowley

NEW YORK/LONDON, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Colgate-Palmolive is exploring a sale of certain mass-market personal care brands, including Softsoap, Irish Spring and Speed Stick, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The consumer goods company is working with investment bank Goldman Sachs on the process, the sources said, who asked not to be named in order to discuss a private matter.

Colgate's personal care unit includes deodorants, bar and liquid soaps, shower gels, and skin care products. It currently only plans to divest a few brands in the unit, which together could fetch over $1 billion, the sources added.

Colgate and Goldman Sachs declined to comment.

CONSUMER GOODS SECTOR SHAKEUP 

Many consumer conglomerates are reshaping and focusing their portfolios to better weather the storm of tariffs, financially pressured consumers and higher costs for energy and other inputs that are impacting their earnings. Offloading pieces of a broader portfolio also helps concentrate resources on core brands.

This year has seen Unilever agree to sell its food business to McCormick for $45 billion. It also spun off its Magnum ice cream unit last year following the sale of more than 20 beauty and personal care brands to Yellow Wood Partners in 2024. 

Earlier this month, Nestle agreed to sell its vitamins business to Yellow Wood for around $1 billion after divesting a stake in its waters and premium beverages business to another buyout firm, Platinum Equity.

New York-based Colgate has a roughly $70 billion market capitalization, and its stock is up around 11% year to date, according to data provider LSEG. In its most recent quarterly earnings, net sales rose 4.9%. Organic sales in its North ⁠American market, however, fell 3%. 

Colgate CEO Noel Wallace told the Barclays consumer conference this week that it was facing intensifying competition in North America and getting the business where it needs to be would involve a "long-term turnaround". 

Colgate's entire personal care unit, which includes both mass and prestige brands, accounted for 17% of net sales in 2025, implying around $3.5 billion of net sales. 

Its largest segment is oral care, which includes its namesake Colgate toothpaste brand and accounted for almost half of net sales. Its other segments are home care and pet nutrition.

(Reporting by Abigail Summerville in New York and Amy-Jo Crowley in London; Editing by David French and Joe Bavier)