Reckitt facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC

Reckitt's logo since 23 March 2021
Trade name	Reckitt
Type	Public
Traded as	LSE: RKT FTSE 100 Component
ISIN	ISIN: [https://isin.toolforge.org/?language=en&isin=GB00B24CGK77 GB00B24CGK77]
Industry	Consumer goods
Founded	1814; 210 years ago (1814) (J&J Colman) 1823; 201 years ago (1823) (Benckiser) 1840; 184 years ago (1840) (Reckitt & Sons) 1938; 86 years ago (1938) (merger of Reckitt & Sons and J&J Colman) 1999; 25 years ago (1999) (merger of Reckitt & Colman and Benckiser)
Founders	Isaac Reckitt (Reckitt & Sons branch) Jeremiah Colman (J&J Colman branch) Johann Benckiser (Benckiser N.V. branch) Edward Mead Johnson (Mead Johnson branch)
Headquarters	Slough, England
Key people	Christopher A. Sinclair (Chairman) Kris Licht (CEO)
Products	Cleaning agents skin care personal care nutrition consumer healthcare
Revenue	£14,607 million (2023)
Operating income	£2,531 million (2023)
Net income	£1,657 million (2023)
Number of employees	40,000 (2024)
Subsidiaries	Mead Johnson UpSpring

Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC, trading as Reckitt, is a British multinational consumer goods company headquartered in Slough, England. It is a producer of health, hygiene and nutrition products. The company was formed in March 1999 by the merger of British company Reckitt & Colman plc and Dutch company Benckiser N.V.

Reckitt's brands include the antiseptic brand Dettol, the analgesic Disprin, the sore throat medicine Strepsils, the hair removal brand Veet, the immune support supplement Airborne, the Australian insecticide brand Mortein, the indigestion remedy Gaviscon, the baby food brand Mead Johnson, the air freshener Air Wick, and other brands and products like: Calgon, Clearasil, Cillit Bang, Lysol, Mycil, Enfamil, and Vanish.

History

Origins

Stoke Holy Cross Mill, in Norwich, England, the home of Colman's mustard from 1814 to 1862

Historical logos

First logo, used from 1999 to 2009

Second logo, circa 2009 to 2014

Third logo, used from 2014 to 2021

Johann Benckiser founded a business in Pforzheim, Germany, in 1823. Its core business was industrial chemicals. Ludwig Reimann, a chemist, joined the business in 1828 and married Benckiser's daughter. Benckiser died in 1851 and the business came under Reimann's ownership. Reimann opened a new chemical plant and, in 1858, moved it to Ludwigshafen. Under Reimann's descendants the business grew rapidly in the latter half of the 20th century: it acquired Coty, Inc., a North American beauty products manufacturer, in 1992. Benckiser's other products included Vanish and Cillit Bang. It went public in 1997.

Reckitt & Sons started in 1840 when Isaac Reckitt rented a starch mill in Hull, England. He diversified into other household products and after his death in 1862, the business passed to his three sons. In 1886, Reckitt opened its first overseas business in Australia. The firm was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1888. Harpic Lavatory Cleaners was acquired in 1932, and that same year, Dettol was launched.

In 1938, Reckitt & Sons merged with J. & J. Colman, which had been founded in 1814 when Jeremiah Colman began milling flour and mustard in Norwich, England, to become Reckitt & Colman Ltd. The company made several acquisitions, including the Airwick and Carpet Fresh brands (1985), the Spanish cleaning products company Camp (1989), the Boyle-Midway division of American Home Products (1990), and the Lehn & Fink division of Sterling Drug, maker of Lysol disinfectant (1994). The Lehn & Fink purchase doubled Reckitt & Colman's American business in one stroke. It acquired several brands from DowBrands in 1998.

Reckitt & Colman also made several divestments during this time, including the fine arts and graphical products (with brands such as Winsor & Newton) and Conimex Dutch food business in 1990, Colman's of Norwich UK food business and Robinsons soft drink products in 1995, and Keen's Australian and Canadian food business in 1998.

1999 to present

The company was formed by a merger between Britain's Reckitt & Colman plc and the Dutch company Benckiser NV in December 1999. Bart Becht became CEO of the new company and has been credited for its transformation, focusing on core brands and improving efficiency in the supply chain. The new management team's strategy of "innovation marketing" – a combination of increased marketing spend and product innovation, focusing on consumer needs – has been linked to the company's ongoing success. For example, in 2008, the company's "rapid succession of well publicised new product variants" were credited for helping them "to capture shoppers' imagination". Business Week has also noted that "40% of Reckitt Benckiser's $10.5 billion in 2007 revenues came from products launched within the previous three years."

In October 2005, Reckitt purchased the over-the-counter drugs manufacturing business of Boots, Boots Healthcare International, for £1.9 billion. The three main brands acquired were Nurofen's analgesics, Strepsils sore throat lozenges, and Clearasil anti-acne treatments. In January 2008, Reckitt acquired Adams Respiratory Therapeutics, a pharmaceutical company, for $2.3 billion; one of the major brands acquired was Mucinex. Reckitt acquired SSL International and Scholl's footcare products, for £2.5 billion in July 2010.

In January 2011, Reckitt purchased Combe's cold remedy/skin care business. In September 2011, Bart Becht retired as CEO of Reckitt Benckiser, being replaced by executive vice-president of Category Development, Rakesh Kapoor, who had played a key role in recent acquisitions.

On 27 August 2011, Reckitt recalled all remaining stock of its major analgesic product, Nurofen Plus, after packs were found to contain an antipsychotic drug.

In November 2012, Reckitt acquired Schiff Nutrition, a Salt Lake City-based manufacturer of vitamins and nutritional supplements including Digestive Advantage, MegaRed, Airborne, and Move Free, for US$1.4 billion (£877 million). In December 2014, Reckitt spun off its speciality pharmaceuticals business, which produces Suboxone, into a separate company named Indivior.

In 2014, Reckitt Benckiser dropped its full name in favour of the RB brand. According to Kapoor, the old name was "a bit of a mouthful" and the name change would make life easier.'

In February 2017, the company bid $16.7 billion for the American infant formula maker Mead Johnson. In February 2017, Reckitt Benckiser announced it had bought Mead Johnson for $16.6 billion. To effect the transaction, Reckitt Benckiser incorporated a subsidiary in Delaware into which Mead Johnson Nutrition would be transferred, with Mead Johnson Nutrition being the sole surviving entity at completion. Following the acquisition of Mead Johnson, Reckitt Benckiser split its business into two divisions: consumer healthcare, and home and hygiene. While some expert analysts viewed this move as a precursor to a possible sale of the home division, Kapoor said that it was only to improve the performance of each of the divisions.

In July 2017, McCormick acquired Reckitt's food brands, including French's Mustard & Frank's RedHot, for $4.2 billion, subject to regulatory approval.

Kapoor retired in September 2019 and was replaced by Laxman Narasimhan, PepsiCo's global chief commercial officer. Narasimhan developed a turnaround strategy designed to rejuvenate the company "following a series of missteps and lacklustre growth that marked the final years of his predecessor".

In March 2021, the company rebranded from RB to Reckitt - including a new logo and visual identity as a next step in delivering on the strategic purpose of the company.

On 1 September 2022, Reckitt announced that Narasimhan had chosen to resign as CEO, citing "personal and family reasons", and would relinquish his position at the end of the month. It was also revealed that he is expected to become the next CEO of Starbucks. Narasimhan's unexpected departure "came as an unwelcome shock to shareholders", with the company's share price falling by "more than 5 per cent in early trading [...] before recovering somewhat to 4.5 per cent below their opening price" on the day of the announcement.

Senior Independent Director Nicandro Durante was appointed to serve as CEO on an "interim" basis "while the board considers a longer-term replacement".

Operations

Reckitt is headquartered in Slough, Berkshire, England, and has operations in around 60 countries. Its products are sold in nearly 200 countries. Reckitt organises the majority of its products into three main categories – health, hygiene and home – with other brands belonging to three further categories: food, pharmaceuticals and portfolio brands. The company's strategy is to have a highly focused portfolio concentrating on its 19 most profitable brands, which are responsible for 70% of net revenues.

Reckitt products, extant in 2017, are listed below:

Powerbrands

Other brands

• 

  Glass Plus glass cleaner

• 

  Lysol multi-surface cleaner

• 

  Strepsils throat lozenges

Corporate governance

As of 2020, Reckitt's directors were: Christopher Sinclair (chairman), Laxman Narasimhan (CEO), Jeff Carr (CFO), Andrew Bonfield, Nicandro Durante, Mary Harris, Dr. Mehmood Khan, Dr. Pamela Kirby, Sara Mathew, Elane Stock, and Warren Tucker. As of 2020, members of the executive committee were: Laxman Narasimhan (CEO), Rupert Bondy (General Counsel), Jeff Carr (CFO), Kris Licht, Aditya Sehgal, Ranjay Radhakrishnan, and Harold van den Broek.

From the company's creation in 1999 until he retired in 2011, Bart Becht was CEO. The Guardian called him "one of the most successful businessmen of his generation". Under him, the company focused on its core brands, and on improving efficiency in the supply chain. It also increased its marketing budget. BusinessWeek noted that "40% of Reckitt's $10.5 billion in 2007 revenues came from products launched within the previous three years". Becht was Britain's highest-paid businessman, taking home more than £90 million in 2009. In April 2011, he announced that he would step down in September of that year, to be replaced by Rakesh Kapoor, who had been with the company since 1987. Reckitt Benckiser shares fell by 6.6% on the news.

Corporate public relations

The company supports Save the Children. Reckitt has also implemented an environmental initiative called Carbon 20. The initiative, which was announced in November 2007, aimed to cut the total carbon footprint of its products—from creation to disposal by 20% by 2020. As part of the initiative the company has reduced by 70% the amount of plastic in the packaging of its Vanish cleaner.

Lawsuit

In New York in February 2009, Earthjustice filed a lawsuit against Reckitt and others. The petition seeks to compel the companies to identify all of the ingredients used in their products. Earthjustice contacted several companies in September 2008 requesting that they comply with a 1971 law requiring them to disclose the ingredients in their products and make available any associated health or safety studies. Reckitt and the other defendants ignored or refused the request. Earthjustice eventually lost the case, after which it lobbied the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, which in 2018 unveiled new requirements for manufacturers of cleaning products to publicly detail their ingredients.

See also

In Spanish: Reckitt Benckiser para niños