Colgate-Palmolive is exploring the potential sale of certain mass-market personal care brands, including Softsoap, Irish Spring, and Speed Stick, according to sources familiar with the matter cited by Reuters. The sources said the company is considering divesting only a few brands within its personal care unit, a subset that could be worth more than $1 billion, and Colgate-Palmolive is working with investment bank Goldman Sachs on the process. The exact number of brands that could be sold, as well as their names, has not been publicly disclosed, and neither Colgate-Palmolive nor Goldman Sachs has publicly confirmed the potential sale. The review comes despite overall sales growth, with net sales up 4.9% year over year in the second quarter of fiscal 2026, while the Personal Care segment accounted for 18% of net sales and North America net sales fell 3% to $891 million, the company's only region to decline. Chairman, President, and CEO Noel Wallace said the company was not satisfied with its North America performance and would take surgical actions by category and channel to drive market share improvement.
Colgate-Palmolive CompanyColgate-Palmolive is exploring a potential divestiture of personal care brands (Softsoap, Irish Spring, Speed Stick) worth over $1B, a portfolio/M&A move whose net effect is unclear.
Goldman Sachs Group IncGoldman Sachs is named as the investment bank advising Colgate-Palmolive on the potential brand sale, a passing advisory role.
