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When a company the size of Procter & Gamble divests itself of a brand, it's a given that all of the brand assets go along with it. Rarely if ever is there any kind of agreement to retain control over some of the intellectual property. Rarer still is the notion that the seller will structure the sale in such a way that it can keep one of the brand assest for altruistic purposes.

This is what makes P&G's sale of the PUR brand so unusual. While Helen of Troy Limited announced an agreement to acquire the well-known PUR water purification brand from P&G, along with the deal was the unusual provision that P&G could retain the rights to a powder it developed with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The reason? So P&G could maintain its philanthropic commitment to the Children's Safe Drinking Program.

The novel arrangement turns out to be a win-win in the classic business sense.

The win for Helen of Troy: The acquisition of PUR puts Helen of Troy into water purification, a nice expansion into a new growing market. PUR leads the market in U.S. faucet mount and refrigerator filters and is a top brand in water pitcher filtration systems. Helen of Troy, while it is dwarfed by P&G's portfolio of brands, is no minor player in the consumer packaged goods space and it gets another strong brand to add to the family.

The company owns Ammens, Braun, Brut, Dr. Scholl's, Pert, Vidal Sassoon, and Vicks, among others. According to Jack Neff at Ad Age, Helen of Troy has been "a serial acquirer of P&G orphan brands, including Pert Plus, Sure and Infusium23." The Braun, Vicks, and Vidal Sassoon brands are licensed from P&G.Continue reading...