FUTURE CLOUDED FOR SCOTT BRANDS
By Adnews Staff
The fate of some brands marketed by Mississauga, Ont.-based Scott Paper Ltd. is up in the air, with the latest development in the merger of two large paper products companies. Last week U.S.-based Kimberly-Clark Corp. announced it has put up for sale its 50.1% share in the Canadian branch of U.S.-based Scott Paper Co. Kimberly Clark obtained its holding in the Canadian company when it bought the Scott parent company late last year. Kimberly-Clark already has a Canadian subsidiary and federal officials said it would have to divest some of its brands in Canada if it wanted to keep Scott's Canadian operation. Kimberly-Clark did not feel this was feasible. Scott in Canada owns White Swan and Purex brands. However, it sells Cottonelle and Scott brands under a licence from Scott in the U.S. Now that Kimberly-Clark owns Scott, it also owns the latter two brands, and it remains to be seen if the licensing arrangement will be continued in Canada. Also, Kimberly-Clark merged its Kleenex bathroom tissue with Scott Paper's Cottonelle brand in the U.S., to produce a new toilet paper called Kleenex Cottonelle. It went on store shelves this month. J. Walter Thompson's Toronto office handles advertising for most Scott products in Canada. Bozelle Palmer Bonner, also in Toronto, does advertising for Cottonelle, as well as for Scott tissue and baby wipes.