Here's how much P&G got paid for one of its big brands

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P&G has sold its majority interest in the No. 1 alkaline battery manufacturing company in China, one of the latest moves in CEO A.G. Lafley’s effort to streamline operations and focus on core brands.

Barrett J. Brunsman

Staff reporter- Cincinnati Business Courier

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Procter & Gamble was paid $556 million for its majority interest in the No. 1 alkaline battery manufacturing company in China, according to reports.

The deal in which Cincinnati-based P&G sold its nearly 79 percent stake in the Fujian Nanping Nanfu Battery Co. to a private equity fund managed by CDH Investments, a leading Chinese asset manager, closed Sept. 15.

I reported Oct. 1 t hat Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) expected the transaction to be completed between November and December. The Cincinnati-based consumer goods company had refused to disclose the financial terms, but China Daily did so Dec. 4 in reporting the leveraged buyout was completed Nov. 13.

Procter & Gamble acquired Nanfu as a result of its 2005 purchase of Gillette, which also owned Duracell. Gillette reportedly bought 72 percent of Nanfu in 2003 from China Battery International Limited. At the time, Nanfu had annual sales of more than $80 million.

Nanfu, which is based in Nanping, has operated as a standalone business of P&G.

Procter & Gamble CEO A.G. Lafley announced in August that P&G would sell or discontinue about half of its 160 to 190 brands to focus on the most profitable ones.

Lafley revealed Nov. 13 that P&G had agreed to sell its Duracell battery brand, which has annual sales of about $2 billion, to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

Brunsman covers Procter & Gamble Co. and health care.