Consumer giant could sell major personal care brands

A major consumer company is considering a move that could put several familiar household brands on the market.

The move comes as the company reassesses parts of its portfolio and seeks to strengthen performance in a key market. If completed, the sale could reshape a personal care business that includes well-known products used by consumers for decades.

The potential sale follows a trend of other large companies reshaping their portfolios amid shifting consumer spending, rising costs, and intensifying competition.

Founded in 1806 in New York City, Colgate-Palmolive is an American multinational consumer products company that owns multiple familiar brands in oral health, pet health, personal care, and home care.

Colgate-Palmolive may sell several personal care brands

Colgate-Palmolive (CL) 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 in its personal care unit, which could be worth more than $1 billion. Colgate-Palmolive is working with investment bank Goldman Sachs (GS) on the process, according to Reuters.

The exact number of brands that could be sold, as well as their names, has not been publicly disclosed. Colgate-Palmolive also owns Palmolive, Protex, Sanex, Tahiti, Elta MD Skincare, PCA Skin, and Filorga, in addition to the brands identified in the Reuters report.

Neither Colgate-Palmolive nor Goldman Sachs has publicly confirmed the potential sale.

Because the discussions are ongoing, it is not yet clear which brands, if any, will ultimately be divested.

Why Colgate-Palmolive may sell personal care brands

The potential portfolio changes come despite overall sales growth at the company.

Colgate-Palmolive reported that net sales increased 4.9% year over year in the second quarter of fiscal 2026, according to its latest earnings results.

The company’s Personal Care segment accounted for 18% of net sales during the quarter, making it the second-smallest of its four business segments, with only Home Care generating less.

North America was a weaker area of the business. Net sales in the region fell 3% to $891 million, accounting for 17% of Colgate-Palmolive’s total sales and making North America the company’s only region to report a year-over-year decline during the quarter.

North America’s operating profit was $192 million, also making it the company’s smallest region by operating profit.

Colgate-Palmolive attributed the decrease in North American organic sales primarily to weakness in its Personal Care business, particularly in the bar soap and body wash categories.

Colgate-Palmolive Chairman, President, and CEO Noel Wallace said the company was not satisfied with its performance in North America and would take action to reverse the declines.

“With heightened competition in many of our categories, we will take surgical actions by category and channel to drive market share improvement while still executing behind our revenue growth management playbook,” Wallace said in the company’s latest earnings call.

“We’ve also planned for higher levels of brand support across our core businesses to drive both our equities and win at the point of purchase.”

Wallace also said Colgate-Palmolive would focus on its core businesses while increasing innovation and premiumization and aligning inventory with consumer consumption.

A potential divestiture could give the company more flexibility to concentrate resources on its core businesses and higher-priority categories.

Companies offload brands to focus on growth

Colgate-Palmolive is not the only major company reassessing its brand portfolio.

Several companies have increasingly reviewed their collections of brands and businesses as they navigate economic uncertainty, tariffs, higher costs, and cautious consumer spending. Selling noncore or underperforming assets can give businesses an opportunity to concentrate resources on areas they consider more strategically important.

Here’s some of my previous coverage of companies reshaping their portfolios:

• Calida Group: Sold Cosabella in July 2026 as part of a major restructuring.
• Signet Jewelers: Integrated James Allen and Rocksbox into its more established brands to improve operational efficiency.
• Tapestry: Sold Stuart Weitzman in August 2025 as it focused on its higher-performing brands.

Related: Jewelry chain closes 53 stores after shutting down 2 brands