Bankers said Deutsche Bank is rumored to be providing a loan backing Prestige Brands International's acquisition of Procter & Gamble's Comet cleaning brands. Prestige bought Prell Shampoo from Cincinnati-based P&G, at the end of 1999. A banker familiar with the deal, said the price of Comet would be in the region of $70-100 million, adding, P&G is looking to divest itself of smaller non-core brands and concentrate on building the bigger brands, such as Febreze, Pampers and Pringles. Monica Collins, a spokeswoman for P&G, could not speculate on whether Comet has been sold, though she confirmed Goldman Sachs was hired in the summer to select bids for Comet. Timing of the launch of the loan and possible pricing could not be ascertained. Calls to officials at Prestige were referred to Elise Donahue, v.p., sales and marketing who did not return calls. Ted Meyer, spokesman at Deutsche Bank, did not return calls by press time.
Deutsche Bank Rumored To Back Prestige Comet