Kimberly-Clark puts its Latin American operation up for sale

Kimberly-Clark has put its Latin American operations up for sale, according to market sources. JP Morgan bank would have been hired by the multinational to intermediate the transaction, which could reach R$ 5 billion.

Sources familiar with the matter guarantee that the business is for sale despite the recent announcement made by Gonzalo Uribe, president of K-C in Latin America, to expand the factories in Brazil, with an investment of US$ 120 million.

Yesterday, 11, the executive stated that the company was increasing its operations in Brazil, aiming at consolidating the business as a center of innovation and main point of export to the Latin American market. He highlighted that “by the end of the year, all the factories in the country will produce items that will be exported”.

Investments started in 2020, totaling US$ 120 million – one third of the amount was applied this year – and include increasing production capacity, equipment, installation of new technologies and the construction of a raw material supply network each time more local.

The Brazilian market is the most important for K-C in Latin America, with one of the company’s ten largest operations in the world, employing 4,000 people. According to Uribe, business sales in the country grew by double digits in the first quarter.

The company’s plans to strengthen in Brazil include changes in factories such as Suzano (SP), Mogi das Cruzes (SP) and Camaçari (BA), mainly in the manufacture of personal care products, such as diapers and sanitary pads. The units serve the domestic market and neighboring countries such as Chile, Peru, Bolivia and Argentina.

In Brazil, K-C owns famous brands such as Neve toilet paper and Intimus sanitary pads. In Latin America, the company also has operations in Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Mexico.

*The information comes from Column Radar Econômico, from Veja Magazine, in an article published on May 11. Read the full text by clicking here.*