...P&G to Prune Beauty Portfolio: A potential sale of a significant part of Procter & Gamble's (P&G) beauty business as a single block is unlikely to find a buyer among investment-grade peers. Fitch Ratings estimates the value of the whole beauty business to be around USD14bn, although USD19bn has also been quoted. Block Purchase Negative for Acquirers: For most industry players, the acquisition could be transformational, adding a new channel (professional) and new products, but might also require significant operational integration. A mainly debt-financed USD14bn acquisition as a single block would likely negatively impact ratings especially if the assets, given their low profitability, were non-accretive at the outset. Furthermore, while smaller brands could be sold to manage debt levels, the purchase of these could still prove a distraction to the managements involved. USD8bn Business Potentially for Sale: P&G's beauty segment with almost USD20bn in revenues in 2014 spans several personal-care...
