Britain's Reckitt Benckiser Goes Shopping

Bart Becht spent $3.89 billion on condoms and foot care last month. Becht is not a man of unusual proclivities. He's the chief executive officer of Reckitt Benckiser, one of Britain's most successful companies. On July 21, he announced the biggest deal of his career: the purchase of SSL International, maker of Durex condoms and Scholl foot products. The acquisition is meant to shore up Reckitt's revenue growth, which at 18 percent last year was higher than that of any consumer-products rival.

The Slough (U.K.)-based maker of Clearasil acne cream and French's mustard faces challenges. It has seen a slowdown in Europe, its main market. Its core business in household cleaners is under siege there from Procter & Gamble (PG), which has launched detergents and stain removers that directly compete with Reckitt's Finish and Vanish brands. What's more, Suboxone, a heroin-dependency drug that generates 8 percent of Reckitt's sales, may soon have competition in the U.S. from generics. "It's been five or six quarters where Europe is relatively flat, North America is marginally up, and most of the growth is coming out of emerging markets," says Becht. "We do not see that trend changing in the near term."